Is my 200 Page E-book Too Long???

[jitterbug978]

I've been working on an Ebook for awhile now, I want this to be different than the ordinary 3-5 page "I need money quick" report..

So, I've been writing and writing.. everytime I think its done I find more to write, are there any downsides in having a 200 page ebook?

It is in the internet marketing niche.

[Eric Graudins]

It depends on what you have to say.
If you have 20 pages worth of information and it takes you 200 pages to say it, then yes - it's too long.

If you have 200 pages of quality information to provide, then it's just the right length.

cheers, Eric G.

[jitterbug978]

I'm saying it as short as I can lol... There is just a lot of it

[summer07]

The length of the book is not as important as the topic and how well it's covered. Ask some people you know who are familiar with the topic for their feedback.

Good luck with your project!

Audre

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Length isn't important. The content is. As long as you're not going on and on and on about nothing, trying to pad your page count, then I wouldn't worry about it.

But, for an eBook of that length, you do want to make sure that it is well-organized. Make sure it's broken down into chapters and sections. People may not read the whole book in one sitting, so you want to make sure there are natural stopping points. Plus, when it is nicely organized, it's much less daunting to take a look at.

For example, a lot of the short eBooks aren't really broken down into sections. The author just goes on and on. While that may be okay for a short book, if it gets to any length, it's just going to seem to be all too much. That is, if all you see is page after page after page of body copy, and not chapters or sections, it's going to look like a novel. And, people looking for Internet marketing information aren't looking for recreational reading!

So, keep your copy on point and keep the whole thing organized, and length should not become an issue.

Hi jitterbug978

From my point of view it is too long. You see I started as an IM only 1½ year ago, and I would never had made it to the end of 200 pages at that time. Having said that it also depends on what the book is about and who your taget group is. If the content was of importance to me, then I might read it to the end today.

[jrmnlitt]

I would say let a friend or family member who is not in internet marketing read it. After they have read it ask them to the point questions about the content, and do they fill it was to the point or just had a lot of filler. More importantly can they now go do what ever you are teaching. if they can't then you know you need to refocus the content of the ebook.

[jitterbug978]

well it starts out simple enough a newbie could do it (will test on a family member) but advanced enough to keep successful marketers interested.

[Joshua.E1]

Its never too long to write a 200 pages book.

A word of advise is that you should put in the result that you have from the strategies you used in the ebook, the more you provide it the more trusting the readers will be.

[chargers]

First release what you have got and later update it and release it as versions

[kendrickyi]

200 pages? How did you do that? lol.
After you've tried it on your family members, see what they say.
200 pages isn't too long for an ebook. I've seen an ebook with 240 pages.
Anyway, an ebook is supposed to be a digital version of a physical book right?
I've seen books in bookshops that contain hundreds of pages, depending on the niche.
200 may or may not be a lot, depending on the niche and the type of book.
That's my 2cents.

[H_Wilhelm]

I would have to agree about what's been said regarding length and topic, as that is what is going to make/break it IMHO!

If you're covering such topics as market research, keyword research, traffic generation (paid vs natural), using web 2.0 properties, building squeeze/landing pages, using opt-in forms, etc., etc, and you're writing it to say a non-IM influenced customer, then I can see the book being about 200+/- minus pages.

On the other hand, if you're talking about just one aspect of something, say using web 2.0 properties and nothing else, then yeah...200 pages is just a TAD TOO LONG...

I guess in the end, I would consider doing this once you're done.

Walk away from it for a few days and then re-read it once again in its entirety. If it sounds to 'wordy' to you, then revise it and see if/how you can make it shorter..if all possible.

On the other hand, give the report to someone who knows nothing about the subject mater and have them read it. Give them a few days to digest the information and then come back to them w/some general questions, such as:

Did it make sense to you?
Did you feel like the information provided was too technical or too boring?
Was the # of pages an issue?

or something along these lines...once you get some feed back from some one who can provide an unbiased opinion, you'll then know if 200+/- pages is too long, or maybe even not enough.


Howie

[Miguel Oliveira]

I agree that length depends on the topic. But whatever the topic, you should make it as short as possible. Personally I prefer small eBooks and large traditional books. An option may be breaking the product in several parts?

[Mike Hersh]

If you didn't filled it with huge screenshots al the way to the end than 200 is perfect.

I know a lot of successful ebooks that were 400 page long and sometimes even more.

Just don't use big font and don't use to much screenshots.

Cheers,

Mike

[dv8]

Originally Posted by jitterbug978

are there any downsides in having a 200 page ebook?

Yes. Not having anyone buy it.

Stop writing. Start selling what you already have. If no one buys, then you just saved yourself some time. If people do buy, survey them and ask them for feedback. Use the feedback for version 2.

Bottom line, it doesn't matter what we think. You only need to be concerned with what your target market thinks of it. They will tell you with their wallet. Or not.

[Patrick Mader]

the question is, can is use this informations at the end of the book or are there only thing i knew before... when i learnd something it does´nt matter the book has 10 or 200 pages.. so go on and make some sales :-)

cheers,

patrick

[Valeriu Popescu]

My book has 300+ pages and deals with a lot of subjects.
My customers do NOT EVER complain about the length.

If it's great info, people will be happy.

Just be sure you break paragraphs with images, etc.

Val

[Karan Goel]

200 pages is not too, it's 3, 4 or may be 5 long..

[bigdaddycool]

If you're worried about the length of the book is there a way you can split it into several smaller reports or modules as I find this method keeps my interest more than reading one really long report. Maybe you could even push it as a membership product by splitting it

[WritingMadwoman]

Originally Posted by bigdaddycool

If you're worried about the length of the book is there a way you can split it into several smaller reports or modules as I find this method keeps my interest more than reading one really long report.

Exactly, I just did this with a longer ebook. There were four distinct sections of the book so I split them into separate PDFs and numbered them so people know which to read first.

Personally, I get tired when reading a really long ebook. Even if the information is good, it just seems like I'll never get to the end of it.

Wendy

[desmond11]

Originally Posted by bigdaddycool

If you're worried about the length of the book is there a way you can split it into several smaller reports or modules as I find this method keeps my interest more than reading one really long report. Maybe you could even push it as a membership product by splitting it

I agree with bigdaddycool. It might be a good idea to break it up into different ebooks. If you're looking to sell them, it could be an upsell opportunity!

[bulldawg13]

200 pages is impressive -- Seems like most I run across are 30 or so pages, and that's w/ liberal spacing, large font, etc.

Nice work!

Steve

[madison_avenue]

Most ebooks are not very long, they are more like extended reports 40-60 pagse is quite long. The concept of an ebook is different to a normal book . A ebook is not a reference or the definitive contribution to a topic but a concise answer to predefined problem in an instantly downloadable form, which can offer a solution, i.e

How do I cure my acne?

How to make more money with adsense?

40 pages is more than enough on this. The ebook has to offer laser targeted small units of information, to solve a specific problem, the solution to which can't be found easily offline. The feel of it is that you are giving someone "secrets" or "inside information' or a "blueprint" it's not a dissertation type treatment.

[jazbo]

200 pages is not a lot if you use font size 72 ! Seriously though, look at it ruthlessly. you may even find you have in effect a "stage 1" and "stage 2" pair of books mixed into one at the minute - meaning you could split them up and make double the money!

[seamusb]

Large fonts take up more pages.

This may not make the ebook any better though

[vagabondette]

Originally Posted by jitterbug978

well it starts out simple enough a newbie could do it (will test on a family member) but advanced enough to keep successful marketers interested.

If it starts simple then gets advanced, why not break it into two books? Sell one to newbies and then they can purchase the 2nd volume and then sell the 2nd volume to experienced people? Then you're developing a series of products instead of just one.

[shermancox]

200 pages in general would be too long...you might split it up into components and sell the compnoents. But then again what are you gonna charge for the thing?

Don't sell the farm for pennies....

[kendrickyi]

Yes, exactly. Split it if you wish. You probably have (more than) enough content to make a decent product. Or, you could use that content in blogs or articles. Reword, reuse, recycle. =P

But anyway you have the final say on what you want to do with the 200 pages. Be creative.

[Charann Miller]

One of my e-books was 200 plus pages, the reason why mine was long was because it was detailed and I didn't want to cut any corners as it catered to the newbie market.

You cut corners and you risk losing them in the process, the last thing you want to do is to leave anyone guessing and confused.

It all depends on your market but I don't think 200 pages is too long, especially if you feel that cutting anything out would compromise your e-book as a whole, so it's all relative and dependent upon what you're trying to convey.

I didn't get any complaints either in regards to the 200 plus page length.

[Vaan]

Originally Posted by shermancox

200 pages in general would be too long...you might split it up into components and sell the compnoents. But then again what are you gonna charge for the thing?

Don't sell the farm for pennies....

I agree about spliting your ebook content,
But after all It's really bored to read 200 pages ebook except you have your own cool writing style, so reader enjoy reading it page by page..

Try considering making the video version of your information so customer will more Excited on your content..

Cheers,
Vaan

[tanya7zhou]

You can come out with 4 books out of this 200 page report. Then start a membership site or something where you take people from one stage to another, you won't overwhelm them and you keep them interested for something the following month.