How to Publish an Ebook the Easy Way

Ebooks are hot right now.Almost half of all Americans are expected to buy at least one ebook this year according to Bookboon, and ebook consumers will grow by over 84% in the coming year.Jumping on the ebook train isn't hard. It just takes some strategic thinking, and some careful effort.The good news? Once you write your ebook, it's done. To publish an ebook, you just have to put in the effort one time, and you can reap the rewards for many months to come.

How to Publish an Ebook the Easy Way

Everyone's an Expert at Something: Sell What You Know

You’ve got an ebook topic inside you, or you wouldn’t be reading this post! What can you share that will help people meet a difficult challenge? What problem can you help them solve?Think about issues that keep people up at night: things that are truly bothersome and that affect their quality of life. What can you write about that they'll pay you to learn?

Structure Your Ebook for Success

Start by thinking about your ebook structure before you write your first word.One approach that works well is to think ahead about how you plan to market your ebook. Write the marketing copy first — plan the bulleted highlights you'd like to include.For example, let's say you're writing an ebook for young mothers to help them manage the stress in their lives.Your bullets might look like this:

• 6 ways to relieve stress that take 5 minutes or less.
• The simple technique that stops stress before it starts.
• How to organize your kitchen cabinets for stress-free meals.

Think about how to market your ebook ahead of time, then write your ebook to match the bullets you'll use to market it.

Get Your Ebook Written with These Two Techniques

You have your structure in place, and now it's time to write. What can you do to get those words out of your head and into your ebook?There are two ways to approach your writing process. Pick the technique that best matches your current lifestyle and your personality.To use a running analogy, write your ebook using a marathon or a sprint technique.The sprint technique involves blocking off large chunks of time, perhaps a long weekend, to write your ebook from start to finish. You might ask your spouse to pitch in so you can get the time you need, or you can use a weekend your kids are away on a camping trip, or at your mother-in-law's house. Whatever it takes, you block out the time, then shut down all distractions and get the first draft of your ebook written.The marathon technique involves blocking off a smaller amount of time every day until your ebook gets done. Maybe you can count on an hour every morning before your children are up, or a couple of hours during the day while they're in school. However you decide to carve it out, apply yourself consistently during the block of time you choose and plug away at it until you have a first draft.

Decide on a Launch Price and a Regular Price

Once you've polished up your draft and created your ebook, it's time to price it.An easy way to create an initial surge of sales is to decide on a "launch price" that you sell it for during a limited time. This might be for the first 48 hours, or the first week. The launch price can be anywhere from 30-50% less than the regular price of your ebook.Offering this discount for a short time is an excellent way to bring in initial sales, and get some momentum going.

Consider a Two-Track System for Distribution

There are two kinds of ebooks today. There's e-reader style ebooks, which can be read on Kindle, iPad and other tablet readers. They're sold at the online bookstores like Amazon and Apple's iBookstore.And there's PDF ebooks, which can also be read on Kindle and iPad, but are easier to distribute from your own website.There's no need to choose between the formats. You can create both!Write your ebook in an e-reader format and sell it on Amazon, for example. Then take the same ebook, make it into a PDF, and add more content to it. Create worksheets, audio recordings and video tutorials, for example, and you can sell it as a course for a higher price from your own website.

Learn More About Ebooks

There's a lot more to writing, creating and marketing ebooks than what I've covered here. If you'd like to attend a free on-demand class I've created that walks you through all the steps, sign up for the Ultimate eBook Kickstart here. And if you're ready to get the tools and support you need to create your ebook, get eBook Evolution here.