Writing an e-book - Tips needed

Hi,

I noticed that e-books are "in fashion" but since I haven't had much contact with this area of writing, I'm interested in some tips from those who are more knowledgeable.

1. Is length a criterion in selling e-books? For example, do shorter e-books sell better?
2. How do you evaluate an e-book, considering that you will sell this product to multiple buyers? If I evaluate the content at $800 for example, how much should I sell it for?
3. Where can I sell my e-book?
4. How should I advertise my e-book?
5. Should I expect more profit by selling an e-book, rather than the articles/chapters individually?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

1. Length is always an issue. Bigger books, like bigger packaging, has a higher perceived value. However, this is debatable. One person will tell you that shorter sells better, another longer. However, what's in your book is far more important. I was looking at an e-book yesterday that had loads of pages. Stripping out the BS, I could have condensed by 90%.

2. Compare your book to others like it and go from there. And by others, I don't mean just e-books. Look at print books too.

3. Sell through your own Web site is the starting point. Affiliate programs generally come into play. Perhaps someone will elaborate more, because I can't right now.

4. Affiliate programs, Google's Ad Sense, targeted advertisements, etc. All of this is about knowing your target audience. Find out where they hang out, what they read, etc.

5. Who knows. That depends on the item(s), the market, your ability, timing and luck.

 

I have a free book you may want to read.

It covers creating a product, copywriting techniques, ways to advertise etc.

There's a sign in link on Nicksblog

Plus there's some other free reports.

Enjoy

 

Would designing a website for the sole purpose of selling an ebook be effective? I have been working on an ebook, i dont have a website nor a business, what would be the route i should take?

 

Yes. Build a Web site around your book. It could be a single sales page, multiple pages or whatever.

Another idea is to build a blog around your book's topic.

And yet another idea is to put up a page that gives away a free report (and encourage sharing of the report with others). If a report seems like a pain in the butt, give away the first chapter or part of the book (being careful as not to give away the house).

When that's all online start marketing the entry points.

 

I recommend visiting www.allfreelancewriting.com. jhmattern recently did a 14 day ebook writing challenge and blogged about the steps you should take everyday. Those posts will answer a lot of your questions.

 

Wow! A lot of information here, thanks for the helpful replies.

@marketjunction: I particularly liked how you answered my second question; shows that answers that are right under our nose are often more difficult to notice, lol.

@kennick: Thanks for the link, your blog is great! Research keywords, use AdWords, check which keywords sell best and invest in those. Good strategy. How much should one invest in AdWords to see some results without going bankrupt?

@sportsfan: That is indeed a good idea. Is a Blogger page enough, or would I need to start a website from scratch? Couldn't be worse than my cooking experiments..

@latoya: Thanks, I will check that website now. It's amazing how you can find "how-to" manuals on pretty much any topic that springs to mind. I recently found a website where you could learn how to blow your nose.

 

Is length a criterion in selling e-books? For example, do shorter e-books sell better?

Shorter ebooks sell better? Not necessairly. Don't just make ebooks just to make money, provide actual content and do it over as many pages as you need.

How do you evaluate an e-book, considering that you will sell this product to multiple buyers? If I evaluate the content at $800 for example, how much should I sell it for?

How can you evaluate content at $800? Have you ACTUALLY made $800 using those methods? If you have; then post a check.

Where can I sell my e-book?
In the BST of digitalpoint of course.

How should I advertise my e-book?
Through ezine articles and manual traffic exchanges.

Should I expect more profit by selling an e-book, rather than the articles/chapters individually?
Of course.

Let me know if you need any help, but you need to be realistic.

 

@sss3d: I feel that your post is as helpful as it is aggressive - a mix that, I have to admit, confuses me. Thank you nonetheless for taking the time to reply.

Those methods?
Not sure what you mean, but I can rephrase my original question: if by selling the content in individual articles I would make $800, how much should I sell the e-book for?
Marketjunction explained this for me in his first post.

 

You can use Lulu for self publishing. They are GREAT!

 

Oh, and I forgot to say that they publish ACTUAL BOOKS, an interesting concept. But it's cheap. They also publish ebooks for you. Visit them to get the general idea, it took me a while...

 

Sounds interesting. I'll have to find the e-book section there, thanks for the replies!

 

He is assuming you're writing a "how to make money" e-book.

And if that was the case, having made over $800 doesn't mean the book is worth $800. Otherwise, we'd see loads of real estate books on Amazon for $3,000,000 or so.

It's all about value. You have to look at:

1. How much work was put into the book.

2. How unique it is.

3. How hard it would be for someone to find this info? Is it just a matter of checking out two books at the library or visiting a forum? Or will it take hundreds to thousands of hours to get the info?

4. What type of value is being provided to the reader and what will the reader do with the information contained within the book. Are you solving a problem or just providing some leisure reading material?

5. How much of a selling effort do you plan to put in? The higher you go, the more work.

In the end, you have to play around. Here's an example:

Many years ago I wrote an e-book for something. I was unsure how to price it. The market was all over the place on price and there was much direct competition to compare with.

I started selling it for about $15 and sales came in. I raised it to $20 and sales came in. I raised it to $30 and sales came in and I was making more, because sales didn't fall 50% from when it was $15.

Finally, I raised it to $50 and sales really dropped down (about 95%). I either needed to put a lot more work in on the selling effort or fall back. Being a profit/time optimist, I chose to lower the price back to $30 and let the sales roll in.

My advice, unless you need fast cash, is to do the opposite of what I did. Start high and work your way down if it doesn't work. Think of it this way. For each $15 sale I made, I was potentially losing $15, because my research showed that most of the buyers would have paid $30.

Have fun!

 

One problem I have with many ebooks is that you sift through mountains of irrelevant or unimportant information in order to get a few useful and informative nuggets. I recommend that you say what you have to say and make sure that it is worth hearing. Once you've managed to do that you should add an introduction, a conclusion, and a few relative facts along the way. The important thing about your ebook is that what it says matters rather than it saying a "whole lotta nothin'" if you catch my meaning.

You can sell your ebook in all sorts of places. You can even have other people sell your ebook for you by creating an affiliate program designed to sell your ebook. You can also sell your ebook by providing a link in your signature and posting in forums where interest in the topic of your ebook may be present.

You can advertise your ebook by creating a website and linking to it with article directory submissions and pay per click advertisement as well as the affiliate program I mentioned above. There are all kinds of possibilities available to you.

Good luck.