Ebook insight...

[aussietimbo]

Hi All,
I’m in the middle of writing my first eBook and was wondering if anyone had some tips or techniques they use to create an effective and informative eBook.
Cheers Tim

[James Spinosa]

My main advice is to only write as much as you need to. eBook writers love to make their book 100+ pages just so that it sounds good when they market it, but in reality a succinct ebook will be the most effective tool you could have.

For a tip, use OpenOffice. It is free and makes organization as well as pdf exports very simple.

[angela99]

I've written quite a few ebooks, so here are my top tips:

* Write the blurb first. The blurb is what sells your ebook. It's both a product description and a sales tool. For effective blurbs, check the back cover material of bestsellers at your bookstore. Your blurb should be no longer than 50 to 100 words.

If you can't get a handle on the blurb, stop writing until you do. The blurb focuses both you and the project, and answers WHO the ebook is for, WHY they need it, and WHAT it will do for them.

All books (even ebooks) tend to morph as you write: with an effective blurb, you've got a road map for the ebook.

* Outline. I just create a list, and I carry the list around with me for several days, thinking and researching. (I use Omni Outliner Pro on my Mac for outlining, because I can write detailed notes. There are lots of PC outliners if you're on a PC.)

* Write the sales page as you write the outline. This reinforces the blurb. You've got to motivate people to read, and motivate yourself as well. Writing the sales page at the same time motivates you -- and the reader.

* Once you've got an outline, start writing. Just WRITE. Don't try to edit at this stage, because you may delete whole chunks later. Just write -- you can edit and do more research when the ebook's initial draft is done.

* Big tip: this initial writing is just a draft. You'll be highly tempted to edit and to do research. DON'T. (It leads to procrastination. When you're in the middle of a project KEEP WRITING -- or you'll NEVER finish.) If you feel you need to research, just type "XXX". When the ebook's complete, do a find of all your XXXs, and research then.

Hope this helps you.

[aussietimbo]

Thanks so much!

[MattSanti]

I've heard it best - write your salesletter first before you even begin writing one page of the ebook. When you go to the write all you have to do is fill in between the lines. Essentially your salesletter becomes your outline.

[ChrisMarx]

Thanks Angela, good strategies.

I do my first outlines with mind mapping software.
Create lots of thought bubbles.

Can anyone recommend any good tools to embed audio and video into your pdfs? (Ideally free!)

[emorrow23]

I really like ebooks that have properly formatted bullets and organized information, and when you summarize chapters and such, use different color text, it is boring to just stare at the same font and the same color text for a whole book.

[LilBlackDress]

Great tips Angela!