"What do I write about?" "Does anyone even buy eBooks?" Actually, putting together an eBook is simple. You write about something you are familiar, put it in a .puff or .exe file and voila, instant eBook that you can sell off your website and make a few dollars, or even thousands of dollars depending on your promotional efforts, and you're all set.
Authors and entrepreneurs are doing this all the time and there's no reason why you can't either.
The first step is determining what you want to write about, of course, and what your goal is for writing your eBook.
In 2004, I became published in print format for the first time. It was for an anthology of soul mate stories. The main reason I wanted to put this book together was because I had a goal in mind. I wanted to show people who have given up on soul mates that they did indeed exist.
After it was published, I started a marketing campaign. I had heard that eBooks were all the rage and that you could make some pretty decent money off of them, so I gave it a try.
I started on another book on relationships, but while waiting on this book to be finished (which was taking an incredible amount of time due to research), I decided to try my hand at writing an eBook and selling it off of my website for added income while I waited on my print book projects to be finished.
This eBook was also centered on the soul mate relationship, which I felt would add to my expertise and would help sell my print books.
It worked.
Even though I only had the eBook up on my website and just a few online storefronts, the orders were coming in. However, I became disillusioned because I didn't just want to sell a few copies; I wanted to sell hundreds or perhaps more.
I developed a plan.
Not only did I list it with any website that would announce my book, write up press releases and send them to every free press release service out there, and a myriad of other places, but I decided I'd write another eBook and give it away free to all those who bought my paying eBook.
This eBook was shorter, but to the point.
After I became successful using this promotional device to sell my paying eBook, I found this experience very rewarding and learned quite a few things in the process:
1.) You do not need a publisher to publish your book.
2.) Self-published eBooks DO sell and create that added income while you're waiting for your print books to sell.
3.) Writing eBooks help give you expert status.
4.) Your eBooks are 100% profit.
5.) The more you promote and make you and your eBook visible, the more income you will make.
Writing eBooks and selling them yourself without the middleman - the publisher - is a great way to make money. Turn that "starving writer" moniker into "successful writer" and start cranking out those eBooks. Once you start, you'll wonder why you never thought of this great way of bringing added income into your household before!
A story can be fictitious or fact, in some cases both. I believe everyone on this planet has a story to tell in some form or another. So many times people say to me, 'I could write a book about my life'. I reply, 'why don't you'. They usually come back with, 'wouldn't know where to start', followed by, 'I don't have the time'.
Okay, lets start with, where to start. I say anywhere! Could be yesterday, last week, last year or five minutes ago. Start anywhere! You can rearrange paragraphs, chapters etc later. Don't stunt your thinking with once upon a time.... Let's say you want to write about your life. You can start with, I'm sitting here without a thought in my head, but five minuets ago, I got a phone call from Joe blogs. Another salesman trying to sell me a mobile phone. Keep going, what happened before that? I was sitting there talking to my friend Betty, before rudely interrupted by the phone. Before that, I was moping the floor. Before that, eating breakfast and my son, daughter, dog, cat, whatever, knocked a pot plant over, messing up my floor. Work backwards if you have to, jump all over the place. Just get your thoughts down, can be 5, 50, 100, 200 pages of just thoughts, then do the rearranging. I call this my first draft. Second, the filling out, third, rearranging, fourth and a thousand times over, proofreading. Some writers would not agree with me on this, everyone is entitled to there opinion. If I'm wrong, why is there such a thing as writers block and the question, where do I start?
Okay, scared to tell people your life history, but want to? Turn it into fiction. Tell your story, giving yourself and others fictitious names, places and settings. Pour your heart out; make readers laugh and cry with you. Don't want dear old mum and dad having a heart attack if they read it, give yourself a pen name. Don't want your girl friend getting her nose out of joint because she does things you aren't game to tell her, make she into a he, the snotty nose two faced snob or the Aunty from hell.
Want to go further; turn your work into a full-blown fictitious novel? Your best mate suddenly becomes the miracle worker, who not only saved your pot plant but your kid, who supposedly fell out of the highchair! The man, who rang you, becomes a stalker. Mobile phone sales were down, the boss was on his back; your refusal of the offer was the last straw. He blames you for being sacked. Add, add, add, use your imagination, it's your life, mix fact with fiction, do what you will with it. Give it a twist; you eventually leave your hubby for the stalker. The stalker teams up with you to get rid of the Aunty from hell. The stalker is really an alien, teaching you a lesson in something. Imagination and fact is wonderful and anything can be done with it.
One thing I always suggest to writers, forget who is going to read it. This will free you up to write what you want and not what you think others are going to like. Remember, you can never please everyone and don't even try to. If you don't love what you're writing with passion, you leave yourself open to beat yourself to death over the slightest criticism.
I personally believe that in every fiction book is part of the author's personality, life, loves, hates, family, acquaintances and all written within the words of a poem, short story and novels.
Haven't got the time? This to me says, I don't want to write, so don't. Better to be honest and say it than to have someone like me trying to convince you to do it. If this is not the case and you really do want to write a story, would it really kill you to dedicate 10 minutes a day to writing one paragraph? Or like some do, jot down a daily note in a diary. Just think; one day you can hand it down to a family member, who might make a million dollars out of it. Take the bible for example; it is a book of letters and private notes. Stones and scrolls exchanged and collected. One day they stuck it all together and whammo, the worlds best selling book. So, there is no reason for people not to write, only if they really, really don't want to be a writer and not everyone wants to. Alas, the reader and the world needs them just as much as writers.
Both Mickebrooks & Christine Jones are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Mickebrooks has sinced written about articles on various topics from E Books.