Writing An E-Book? Hope This Helps You Reach Your Goals!

[Craig Fenton]

Hi all Warriors:

Hope the day went well.

As an author, writer, public-speaker, and former radio personality I am asked articulate questions all the time about getting a message across.

I noticed of late two things that are prevalent in a lot of E-Books that can hurt sales and prevent the contents from being fully digested.

1) Be aware of what you are saying. This may sound funny but today it happened again where Point A and Point B were contradicting each other. The E-Book was written to reinforce proper frame of mind, positive things in your life, and goal setting.

The author in the first line said "Before I became successful in ***** I graduated college, got married, had two kids, a dog, and a big house. I know nothing exciting, it was ho-hum."

If you break that apart it isn't logical. You are talking about positive thinking and the good yet find those things ho-hum. Most people don't have a college degree and a big house. You would think being married and having two kids and a dog is a special thing and not- so what.

2) Before the nuts and bolts of the contents from the E-Book kicked in I was on Page 8. You have to keep in mind some factual realities here. Many people who purchase a physical book even after paying hard earned money will not read it if they don't feel engaged by the 5th or 6th page. As people get older and they are further removed from a classroom (high school, college, or trade) they find it hard to be bombarded with boredom.

Capture the attention of the audience soon. Make an opening sentence strong. It should be well conceived and lay a foundation. Get the quality as soon as possible.

Hope this helps and have a great night.

[ehicks727]

This is exactly why I started studying NLP. One of the first lessons is learning to recognize incongruencies. In online marketing, you need to eliminate these from your web copy, and in this case, your ebook.

The other lesson was to speak in general terms, except when you're asking them to buy something... then get specific.

[Jenn Dize]

Craig,

Those are great tips! Keeping readers engaged is very key. Even with fiction books it doesn't matter if the book is the best in the world, if the first few pages don't hook me, I'm gone

[Dennis Gaskill]

Your first point seems a little picky to me. I think most people would just take it that the author trying to show he's just an average guy, probably so the prospective buyer would feel he or she can do whatever the author is offering.

Your second point is very valid. I've read ebooks that NEVER engage the reader. I read the first 15 pages of one and realized the author hadn't really said a darn thing yet. So I started skipping ahead, and found nothing compelling whatsoever. I'm not saying an author has to be highly skilled, just that if I give my time and/or money to you for an ebook, I'd better walk away feeling I've benefited from it in some way, however small. I don't think that's asking too much.

[Simontherrien]

thanks for the tips craig.

[Craig Fenton]

Hi Ehicks727:

Thanks for the reply. Incongruities is a perfect term! Have a great night.

[Craig Fenton]

Hi Simon:

My pleasure and be well!

[Craig Fenton]

Hi Dennis:

Thanks for the reply. The reason I take a different point of view and this is only an impartial opinion on the way the author of the book talked about positive things in their life and then about the ho-hum existence was because of the topic.

If the book was about YouTube Traffic for 2009 and they wanted to show they are the average Jane/John Doe it would resonate better with me. When talking about positive thoughts, motivation, etc. I feel there should be a consistency.

Thank you for your time.

[Craig Fenton]

Hi Jenn:

Thanks so much for the nice words and it is always my pleasure to help.

Have a great night.

[Dennis Gaskill]

Originally Posted by Craig Fenton

Hi Dennis:

Thanks for the reply. The reason I take a different point of view and this is only an impartial opinion on the way the author of the book talked about positive things in their life and then about the ho-hum existence was because of the topic.

If the book was about YouTube Traffic for 2009 and they wanted to show they are the average Jane/John Doe it would resonate better with me. When talking about positive thoughts, motivation, etc. I feel there should be a consistency.

Thank you for your time.

I understand, Craig. I may have arrived at the same conclusion if I had read the entire sales page. It's hard to draw a full picture from a brief description...so I'll take your word for it!

[Craig Fenton]

Hi again Dennis:

That is the great thing about choice. You may or may not have agreed with my point of view.

Hope all things are going well for you in marketing land. Enjoy the evening.

[Kate Carpenter]

Thank you for the insight, and I agree on both points.

Related to your first point are IM emails. I'm on several lists. I have to smile when I receive an email from someone who is telling me how, if I buy this particular product, my internet business will explode and I'll be rolling in dough. Yet, in the same email, he's telling me he's having mac & cheese for dinner, or his car broke down and he can't fix it or, one of my favorites, his wife is nagging him to get a job.

What am I to think? He's a great success because he uses the product he's promoting, or he's desperate for money?

Hope I didn't take too long getting to my point (#2).

[Craig Fenton]

Hi Kate:

Thanks for your post and never would a Warrior take too long to make their point. You have every right to explain as you see fit.

It is great that you are very perceptive. On the one hand if you buy their product you'll work 1 hour a day and make millions but on the other he or she is working two jobs and not even breaking even!

Have a great Wednesday and please keep up your terrific insight.