Is It a Daunting Task?

The hardest part of learning how to write a best seller ebook is the first sentence! How will you create a digital empire when you look at the whole project and it seems like an impossible task? The answer is you break it down into manageable tasks.

Think of climbing a mountain. You are standing at the foot of it and looking up at its summit vanishing into the clouds. How can you possibly scale such an immense and dangerous mountain? There is only one way to climb a mountain and that is step by step.

Now think of writing your ebook in the same light. You must create it step by step, and very soon, you will take that last step and find yourself standing on the summit with your head in the clouds and patting yourself on the back for a job well done.

The first thing you have to do, as if you actually were a mountain climber, is to get organized. Instead of climbing gear, however, you must organize your thoughts. There are some steps you should take before you begin. Once you’ve gone through the following list, you will be ready to actually begin writing your ebook and start to create your own digital empire.

Beginning Steps to Write an Ebook – Solve a Problem

First, figure out your ebook’s working title. Jot down a few different titles, and eventually, you’ll find one that will grow on you. Titles help you to focus on your topic; they guide you in anticipating and answering your reader’s questions. Aim for clarity in your titles, and remember that cleverness always helps to sell books as long as it’s not too cute.

Take a look at the following examples of titles:

Remedies for Insomnia: Twenty Different Ways to Count Sheep.

Or:

Get Up and Off of That Couch: Seven Exercise Plans to Whip You Into Shape.

The above titles are very clear and they solve a problem. Next, write out a thesis statement. Your thesis is a sentence or two stating exactly what problem you are addressing and how your book will solve that problem. All chapters spring forth from your thesis statement.

Once you’ve got your thesis statement fine-tuned, you’ve built your foundation. From that foundation, your book will grow, chapter by chapter. For example, your thesis statement could read:

“We’ve all experienced insomnia at some time in our lives, but there are twenty proven techniques and methods to give you back a good night’s sleep”.

Your thesis statement will keep you focused while you write your ebook. Remember that all chapters must support your thesis statement. If they don’t, they don’t belong in your book

Do You Have a Good Reason to Write an Ebook?

Once you have your thesis and before you start, make sure there is a good reason to write your book. Ask yourself some questions:

•    Does your book present useful information and is that information currently relevant?
•    Will your book positively affect the lives of your readers?
•    Is your book dynamic and will it keep the reader’s attention?
•    Does you book answer questions that are meaningful and significant?

If you can answer yes to these questions, you can feel confident about the potential of your ebook.

Who is Your Target Audience?

Another important step is to figure out who your target audience is because this is the group of people you will write to. This target audience will dictate many elements of your book such as style, tone, diction and even length.

Figure out the age range of your readers, their general gender, what they are most interested in, and even the socio-economic group they primarily come from. Are they people who read fashion magazines or book reviews? The more you can pin down your target audience, the easier it will be to write your book for them.

What Are Your Goals?

Make a list of the goals for why you want to write your ebook.

•    Do you want to promote your business?
•    Do you want to bring quality traffic to your website?
•    Do you want to enhance your reputation?

Then write down your goals in terms of publishing.

•    Do you want to sell it as a product on your website?
•    Do you want to offer it as a free gift for filling out a survey or for ordering a product?
•    Do you want to use the chapters to create an e-course?
•    Do you want to use your ebook to attract affiliates from around the world?

The more you know upfront, the easier it will be to write.

Decide on the format of your chapters. In non-fiction, keep the format from chapter to chapter fairly consistent. Perhaps you plan to use an introduction to your chapter topic, and then divide it into four subhead topics. Or you may plan to divide it into five parts, each one beginning with a relevant anecdote.

How to Make Your Ebook “User Friendly”

You must figure out how to keep what you write engaging. Often anecdotes, testimonials, little stories, photos, graphs, advice and tips will keep the reader turning the pages. Sidebars are useful for quick, accessible information and they break up the density of the page.

Write with a casual, conversational tone rather than a formal tone such as textbook diction. Readers respond to the feeling that you are having a conversation with them.

Break up the length and structure of your sentences. You won’t create a digital empire if you hypnotize your readers to sleep. Sentences that are all the same length and structure tend to be a good aid for insomnia!

Good writing takes practice. It takes lots and lots of practice. Make a schedule to write at least a page a day. Read books and magazines about the process of writing, and jot down tips that jump out at you. The art of writing is a lifetime process; the more you write (and read), the better you will become. The better you become, the bigger your digital empire becomes.

Make Your Ebook Easy to Absorb

In an ebook that is read on a computer screen or Kindle be aware that you must give your reader’s eyes a break. You can do this by utilizing white space. In art classes, white space is usually referred to as “negative space.” Reader’s eyes need to rest in the cool white oasis you create on your pages. If your page is too dense, your reader will leave it as soon as their eyes begin to tear.

Make use of lists with bullets or numbers. This makes your information easy to absorb, and gives the reader a mental break from dissecting your paragraphs one after the other.

Finally, decide on an easy-to-read design. Find a font that’s easy on the eyes, and stick to that font in your entire text. Using dozens of fonts will only tire your readers out before they’ve gotten past your introduction.

Use at least one and a half line spacing, and make sure the text is large enough to be read easily on the screen, but small enough so that the whole page can be seen on a computer screen. You will have to experiment with this to find the right combination.

Check Your Spelling and Grammar Before Publishing

Most important of all don’t forget to run a spell and grammar check. You are judged by something as minor as correct punctuation, so don’t mess up a great book by tossing out semicolons randomly, or stringing sentences together with commas. (By the way, that’s called a “comma splice.”)

Last of all, create an index and a bibliography. Now get your ebook published online and watch the download requests come in from your website visitors. There’s no need to worry about how to write a best seller ebook, just take it one step at a time and you’ll be smiling all the way to the bank and creating your own digital empire.