Ten Steps to Go From Idea to Ebook for Sale
By Stacy Karacostas
Have you ever thought about writing and publishing a book, but didn't know where to
start? Or maybe you were afraid of ending up with hundreds of copies gathering dust in
your garage? Perhaps you've even started writing, but you don't yet have a plan for
getting the book printed and sold.
If any of these are you, then you should consider publishing your work as an e-book!
Why? Because...
• An e-book won't cost you an arm and a leg to publish.
• You can sell it online without having to deal with printing, storing,
and packing or mailing books-saving you time and making you more money.
• You can test various titles and marketing concepts to find the one
that works best.
• You can get your wisdom into way more people's hands without having
to go on a book tour, or beg bookstores for shelf space. Heck, I've had someone in New
Zealand buy one of my e-books.
• If your e-book sells well online, it's much easier to find a publisher
who's willing to take you on... And actually give you the budget and marketing support
you need to make it a winner.
• Plus it's better for the environment.
How exactly do you turn your idea into an e-book for sale?
Step 1. Write your e-book. E-books usually range from about 25 to 200 pages, and
include a Table of Contents that ideally links to the appropriate page in the e-book.
Step 2. Format the pages of your e-book. You want plenty of white space and a sans
serif font so it's easy to read on screen. It's best to do this in a program like InDesign
if you ever plan to get it published in print. Otherwise, you can do this in MS Word
though there are some weird software glitches you'll have to work around.
Step 3. Get an e-book cover created. A number of different people specialize in just
this, and I suggest you hire one of them versus using your regular graphic designer.
You'll get a better end result for less money. Check out the resources page on my Website
for a specific recommendation.
Step 4. Turn your e-book into a secure PDF. Plenty of free programs can do this for you
I like and use Primo PDF to create all my PDF documents.
Step 5. Create a mini-Website, or a sales page on your current site, to promote your
new e-book. Usually these are long form sales letters that give people all the information
they need to make a confident purchase. Though sometimes a short blurb will do (especially
if you're selling your e-book for less than $20).
Step 6. Upload your new e-book, then create a Thank You Web page with a link to
download the product.
Step 7. Hook up some sort of shopping cart system so people can buy online. If you
don't have a budget for this, you can start with PayPal at no cost. However, some people
really hate using PayPal, so I recommend using a full-fledged shopping cart as soon as you
can afford it.
These typically give you a shopping cart plus an email autoresponder system at a very
reasonable price. It's much easier to run your online business if the two are integrated.
Again, you can check out the resources page on my Website for specific recommendations.
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