How long does it take to write and eBook?

8 replies
I have my own website and I'm looking new way of monetising.

Time ago I posted here and I was recommended to write an eBook. I was told as well that I can use some of the information of my website as content for the eBook and then write about 20%-30% new content.

Now, the questions are...

- How many page should it have?
- How long will it take? (hours)
- How much should be the price?

The topic/niche is about a particular video game, people is looking guides about it.
#ebook #long #write
  • Profile picture of the author David McGimpsey
    - How many page should it have?

    A good report should take just as long as it needs to get the message across. If you're giving the report away for free it could be less than 10 pages. If you're charging for the report, because the quality and detail of information needs to be higher, the page count is going to go up.

    - How long will it take? (hours)

    How fast can you write. I find if you spend a bit more time planning, the first draft of a good sized ebook can be done in a couple of days.

    - How much should be the price?

    What do think the information is worth. If you look on Clickbank reports generally range from $10 up to about $50. Sometimes they go as high as $97. The higher the price, the more content, detail, and actionable advice people are going to expect. If you want to build a list or have back-end products to sell you might want to charge a lower price for this report to get the customer as a lead.
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  • Profile picture of the author Francisco PIW
    I am planning to sell it on Amazon, since it's a video game eBook nobody will spend $50 on it for sure (well maybe just one person).
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    Have you done any research to see if there's a demand for such a book?
    If not, I would start there because if you can't get any sales, is it worth writing it?

    Your questions are too broad.
    If you ask 10 writers the same questions, you'll get a lot of different answers.
    Signature

    Cheers, Laurence.
    Writer/Editor/Proofreader.

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  • Profile picture of the author gvidass
    agree, if yu haven't done research about demenad of this kind of books, you should do it now. And how popular is this game?

    My suggestion would be to get good selling book about this game in the same area and learn key factors, why it's so special and good sellingl, is it offering good content, how it is written and how you could make your version even better.

    And good luck, hope you are going to make it
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Since you want to sell it on Amazon, the place to do your research is the Kindle Marketplace on Amazon. Once you figure out if there is any interest (has anyone else published a guide?) the rest of your questions can be answered easily.

    Originally Posted by Francisco PIW View Post

    - How many page should it have?
    As many as it takes to cover the topic. Even the idea of "pages" breaks down on Kindle. If I'm reading a book on my laptop, my 7" tablet or a 3" phone, the number of pages will be different. You can use the 'estimated pages' as a rough guide.

    Originally Posted by Francisco PIW View Post

    - How long will it take? (hours)
    How fast can you write, assemble any screen shots or other images, format the book, etc.

    It should take as long as it takes to look professional. Read the 1 and 2 star reviews for other video game guides to see what not to do.

    Originally Posted by Francisco PIW View Post

    - How much should be the price?
    Again, look at the range of prices others are charging for video game guides. You want to be near the upper edge of that range. For example, if others are all in the $2.99-$4.99 range, you want to start at $4.99. You don't want to start at $9.99 or $0.99 because shoppers will make value assumptions based on price plus reviews.
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  • Profile picture of the author Synnuh
    A minimum of 20 pages. Longer, the better.

    I can bang out a 20 page eBook in an hour, or two. I've got writers than can do it just as quickly.

    Pricing depends on how long you want it. Don't spend less than 2 cents per word, 3 cents per word is the general jumping off point for the quality to improve.

    Most times, you can get a 20-page eBook for $100 and be OK with the quality.

    Some writers get $10 a page, depending on the content, screenshots, tutorials, etc involved.
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  • Profile picture of the author wrcato2
    Writing an eBook is a really great idea. Are you writing it for your business to show that you are the authority over your competition. I did this when I owned and operated my plumbing company.

    What I did was write a 30 page report that showed home owners how to fix plumbing issues that are so common that their six year old could fix. This report was printed and sold for $19.00 and I used a short 4 page sales letter and direct mail to get more potential clients. Plus I had a striped down version of the eBook I gave away for free as a lead generator.

    That eBook took from concept to finished a week to write. I have written 50 page eBooks from scratch that took 3 months to write and short 10 page reports that took 3 days to two weeks to finish. Much of this really depends on how much time you research and how detailed you want to make it.

    One of the fastest ways I know to get an eBook written is to start a blog and write for your audience. After you have a couple hundred articles you can find out what your audience wants then use your postings to create an eBook that they will pay good money for. One that solves a problem for them.
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  • Profile picture of the author PassiveIncomes
    Originally Posted by Francisco PIW View Post

    I have my own website and I'm looking new way of monetising.

    Time ago I posted here and I was recommended to write an eBook. I was told as well that I can use some of the information of my website as content for the eBook and then write about 20%-30% new content.

    Now, the questions are...

    - How many page should it have?
    - How long will it take? (hours)
    - How much should be the price?

    The topic/niche is about a particular video game, people is looking guides about it.
    can be 20 pages, up to 300 pages. It varies the more pages the more value is in it. The price vary on how much value you put in the eBooks for example a 20 page eBook you can sell for $17.
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