Warriors! Help me out here!

24 replies
Hi warriors!

I'm about to begin on my first e-book, I have the ideas on what to write, and I'm confident it'll be great!

Now the thing is I haven't written one before, so are there any rules of thumb to take note of? So i don't screw it up, especially not on my first try!

Thanks in advanced!
#warriors
  • Profile picture of the author Teenage Genius
    1) Make sure you put a diclaimer and information about the legal rights to the book in the first pages.

    2) Plan the book before you write it, think in terms of Modules/Chapters.

    3) Back to basics - be sure to include a Beginning (Intro), Middle (Content), End (Conclusion).

    4) Use the tools you've been given. Use things like Bullet Points, they are handy in some cases and no hassle to put in.

    5) Header and Footer - Always a good idea to place a footer in with the Page Number on.

    6) White Space - Some pages should be blank white space, this helps give the readers eyes a little break.

    7) Table of Contents is always handy.

    8) When you've finished remember that it is ONLY A FIRST DRAFT! Go over it a second, third and fourth time to correct any mistakes and tweak your content.

    Just some tips off the top of my dome.

    All the best of luck to you pal,
    T.Genius
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  • Profile picture of the author Christie Love
    Are you a writer? If not, I'd say outsource it. There are tons of writers on the forum who would love to help.
    Signature
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    • Profile picture of the author steven90210
      Originally Posted by Teenage Genius View Post

      1) Make sure you put a diclaimer and information about the legal rights to the book in the first pages.

      2) Plan the book before you write it, think in terms of Modules/Chapters.

      3) Back to basics - be sure to include a Beginning (Intro), Middle (Content), End (Conclusion).

      4) Use the tools you've been given. Use things like Bullet Points, they are handy in some cases and no hassle to put in.

      5) Header and Footer - Always a good idea to place a footer in with the Page Number on.

      6) White Space - Some pages should be blank white space, this helps give the readers eyes a little break.

      7) Table of Contents is always handy.

      8) When you've finished remember that it is ONLY A FIRST DRAFT! Go over it a second, third and fourth time to correct any mistakes and tweak your content.

      Just some tips off the top of my dome.

      All the best of luck to you pal,
      T.Genius
      That's a lot of info! Thanks man

      Really appreciate the help.

      Originally Posted by Christie Love View Post

      Are you a writer? If not, I'd say outsource it. There are tons of writers on the forum who would love to help.
      Yeap I'm a writer myself

      Originally Posted by hometutor View Post

      I'd also place email contact information to report piracy

      Rick
      All right.. Thanks Rick!
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  • Apart from what the posts above mentioned, which are rock solid, I must add the following:

    1. Ensure that you keep the tone of the e-book conversational.
    2. Share your experiences -- this creates a feeling of " Look, I have been there and I did it, before I opened my mouth to tell you"
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    • Profile picture of the author steven90210
      Originally Posted by ashwinsatyanarayana View Post

      Apart from what the posts above mentioned, which are rock solid, I must add the following:

      1. Ensure that you keep the tone of the e-book conversational.
      2. Share your experiences -- this creates a feeling of " Look, I have been there and I did it, before I opened my mouth to tell you"
      Very true..

      There has to be a balance between keeping the book friendly, yet dead serious in helping the reader aite?

      Thanks for the reminder!
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  • Profile picture of the author DotComBum
    How many pages will your ebook be? If it is a short one maybe you can release it as a report instead.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dave777
    Mark Widawer, highly recommended by many, is currently doing a series of blog posts all about ebook creation! Just keep scrolling and reading through his awesome blog.

    Mark shares a ton of quality info. Definitely worth being on all his mailing lists for some excellent free offerings and lessons on pre-selling and other great stuff...
    Ebook Creation | Traffic and Conversion

    Dave
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    • Profile picture of the author tush
      Are you a writer? If not, I'd say outsource it. There are tons of writers on the forum who would love to help.
      I strongly believe that one does not have to be a writer to publish an e-book( Whatever the word writer means). As long as you are passionate about something and you have the knowledge, you can publish a book. These books have helped thousands of people write ebooks for the web. Dr. Ken is now giving them away for free. One is called make your knowledge sell and the other is make your words sell. They will save you lots...
      Make Your Knowledge Sell!

      Make Your Words Sell!
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    • Profile picture of the author tush
      Are you a writer? If not, I'd say outsource it. There are tons of writers on the forum who would love to help.
      I strongly believe that one does not have to be a writer to publish an e-book( Whatever the word writer means). As long as you are passionate about something and you have the knowledge, you can publish a book. These free books have helped thousands of people to write ebooks and for the web. Dr. Ken is now giving them away for free.
      One is called make your knowledge sell and the other is make your words sell. They will save you lots...
      Make Your Knowledge Sell!

      Make Your Words Sell!
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    • Profile picture of the author Rachel Zaouche
      Hi Steven

      The others have listed great tips above. In addition, I would suggest that you get someone else to read your book for you - after you have written it and triple checked it you will begin to read stuff that isnt there!!!

      And you will also benefit from a constructive opinion - if we love the subject we are writing about we sometimes know exactly what we are saying even if the reader gets a bit confused.

      And finally, if it is heavy reading then break up the content with some pictures or graphs (appropriate ones obviously.) And get decent graphics done.

      Perry Belcher tells a great story about a guy who bought the rights to a book, put a different cover on it and went on to sell millions. Did he change the contents of the book - no! Just the cover

      Sometimes us human beings place too much value on whats on the outside and ignore the inner qualities. (I am not suggesting a pretty picture will sell a book that is poorly written - but good graphics will help sales)

      Good luck with your book.

      Best wishes

      Rach
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      • Profile picture of the author steven90210
        Originally Posted by Rachel Zaouche View Post

        Hi Steven

        The others have listed great tips above. In addition, I would suggest that you get someone else to read your book for you - after you have written it and triple checked it you will begin to read stuff that isnt there!!!

        And you will also benefit from a constructive opinion - if we love the subject we are writing about we sometimes know exactly what we are saying even if the reader gets a bit confused.

        And finally, if it is heavy reading then break up the content with some pictures or graphs (appropriate ones obviously.) And get decent graphics done.

        Perry Belcher tells a great story about a guy who bought the rights to a book, put a different cover on it and went on to sell millions. Did he change the contents of the book - no! Just the cover

        Sometimes us human beings place too much value on whats on the outside and ignore the inner qualities. (I am not suggesting a pretty picture will sell a book that is poorly written - but good graphics will help sales)

        Good luck with your book.

        Best wishes

        Rach
        And to keep the reader awake huh? haha.

        Many thanks Rach! I'll keep that in mind..
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    • Profile picture of the author tush
      Are you a writer? If not, I'd say outsource it. There are tons of writers on the forum who would love to help.
      I strongly believe that one does not have to be a writer to publish an e-book( Whatever the word writer means). As long as you are passionate about something and you have the knowledge, you can publish a book. These free books have helped thousands of people to write ebooks and for the web. Dr. Ken is now giving them away for free. One is called make your knowledge sell and the other is make your words sell. They will save you lots...
      http://myks.sitesell.com
      http://myws.sitesell.com
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      • Profile picture of the author Dave777
        Originally Posted by tush View Post

        I strongly believe that one does not have to be a writer to publish an e-book( Whatever the word writer means). As long as you are passionate about something and you have the knowledge, you can publish a book. These free books have helped thousands of people to write ebooks and for the web. Dr. Ken is now giving them away for free. One is called make your knowledge sell and the other is make your words sell. They will save you lots...
        Make Your Knowledge Sell!

        Make Your Words Sell!
        Caution on using affiliate links in the body of your posts x 6! It's free but Ken Evoy's products continually do a great job on upselling SBI...

        Dave
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      • Profile picture of the author islander1
        Originally Posted by tush View Post

        I strongly believe that one does not have to be a writer to publish an e-book( Whatever the word writer means). As long as you are passionate about something and you have the knowledge, you can publish a book. These free books have helped thousands of people to write ebooks and for the web. Dr. Ken is now giving them away for free. One is called make your knowledge sell and the other is make your words sell. They will save you lots...
        I agree, no need to be a writer to publish an ebook. It is alot of work though. If you have the money, it may be worth it to outsource it.

        Before spending money on outsourcing though, I would make sure you are writing a book in a PROVEN market where you are reasonable sure it's going to sell.
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      • Profile picture of the author John Harrison
        To write or to outsource, that is the question.

        You have answered that yourself "I have ideas on what to write, and I'm confident it'll be great"

        All that you need to do now is follow the good advice from Teenage Genius and start to write.

        When you think that you have reached your final draft, ask two or three trusted friends to check and review your work and maybe offer a testimonial.

        Good luck with your ventures

        JH
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        • Profile picture of the author steven90210
          Originally Posted by DotComBum View Post

          How many pages will your ebook be? If it is a short one maybe you can release it as a report instead.
          It should be far longer than a report, but for me the quality of the content is most important

          Originally Posted by Dave777 View Post

          Mark Widawer, highly recommended by many, is currently doing a series of blog posts all about ebook creation! Just keep scrolling and reading through his awesome blog.

          Mark shares a ton of quality info. Definitely worth being on all his mailing lists for some excellent free offerings and lessons on pre-selling and other great stuff...
          Ebook Creation | Traffic and Conversion

          Dave
          I've just seen it Dave, it's a treasure trove in there. I can't thank you enough!

          Originally Posted by tush View Post

          I strongly believe that one does not have to be a writer to publish an e-book( Whatever the word writer means). As long as you are passionate about something and you have the knowledge, you can publish a book. These books have helped thousands of people write ebooks for the web. Dr. Ken is now giving them away for free. One is called make your knowledge sell and the other is make your words sell. They will save you lots...
          Make Your Knowledge Sell!

          Make Your Words Sell!
          Agreed. Thanks for the help! The 2 links will be useful..

          Originally Posted by successminded08 View Post

          If I were you, I'd hire someone from elance.com for a couple of bucks. It'll save you time and energy.
          Yeah well, the thing is I want to write it, because I want to help people using something I did with my bare hands and my knowledge, and who doesn't crave the feeling of having achieved something by yourself?

          Besides, I love writing

          Originally Posted by islander1 View Post

          I agree, no need to be a writer to publish an ebook. It is alot of work though. If you have the money, it may be worth it to outsource it.

          Before spending money on outsourcing though, I would make sure you are writing a book in a PROVEN market where you are reasonable sure it's going to sell.
          Well, I'm reasonably sure that my topic is general enough to target everyone who is trying to sell something..

          Originally Posted by John Harrison View Post

          To write or to outsource, that is the question.

          You have answered that yourself "I have ideas on what to write, and I'm confident it'll be great"

          All that you need to do now is follow the good advice from Teenage Genius and start to write.

          When you think that you have reached your final draft, ask two or three trusted friends to check and review your work and maybe offer a testimonial.

          Good luck with your ventures

          JH
          Will do JH.

          Once I'm done with my e-book, I plan on getting around 5 warriors to review it and write testimonials for it. I'll start a thread when it's ready.

          Thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author successminded08
    If I were you, I'd hire someone from elance.com for a couple of bucks. It'll save you time and energy.
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  • Profile picture of the author tush
    The others have listed great tips above. In addition, I would suggest that you get someone else to read your book for you - after you have written it and triple checked it you will begin to read stuff that isnt there!!!

    And you will also benefit from a constructive opinion - if we love the subject we are writing about we sometimes know exactly what we are saying even if the reader gets a bit confused.

    This is true. I sometimes fall in love with my web pages and I fail to spot the mistakes. Remember love is blind but a different eye will help you out. It is also important that you read out your work loudly... as if you are reading for someone
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  • Profile picture of the author MsAngry
    I'm in the process of finishing my first book and I thing I have found really useful is voice recognition software to dictate my knowledge onto paper.

    Once I trained it to recognise my "dialect/patterns" it was really quick to produce text.

    It was great for expanding on bullet point prompts and also reading and rewording other source material that supported my own knowledge.

    As it's so quick, you can create first drafts your self, then get a writer to tidy it up/edit it for you/fix the homophones it gets wrong like "weather" and "whether" etc.

    I found Dragon NaturallySpeaking brilliant. Best bit of kit I bought since my TomTom 920T

    HTH.

    C
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  • Profile picture of the author omarabid
    Banned
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Harvey Segal
      Steven

      The normal sequence of events is to write a book, then
      create the sales copy, then produce ads for your promotional
      campaign.

      My suggestion is to do everything in reverse.

      1. Before even starting the book plan your ad campaign.

      Produce a 2-line classified ad and think
      how and where you will promote it.

      The reason ?

      This will force you to focus and decide on the main purpose
      (or USP) of your book and your target market.


      2. Next produce a 20-line ad (similar to the sponsored ad
      you see in an ezine). Here you will outline the key
      points/features/benefits of your book.


      3. You then use these points, adding more detail, to produce
      your sales copy.


      4. Now that you have the sales copy, which is like a
      specification for your book, you go ahead and produce the
      book according to that spec.


      5. You can take this forward thinking idea even further:
      before starting the first book consider possible sequels.
      Then you can entice customers with say your plans for
      subsequent books at a reduced price if they order the first
      one.

      Harvey
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  • Profile picture of the author abelacts
    I am the lazy type. If your finances allow, get at least one copy of your competitor's ebook and see how he wrote the ebook and its format. And even what to include in the ebook. Of course, don't copy but get some ideas on how to do it. Put in your own experiences and examples to make it unique.

    But if were to ask me, I am in the stage of hiring writers to do it. It's a great time saver.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Kaye
    Post a thread here in WF asking for some trained eyes to take a look at it for you first. That will get you:

    1. Professional Marketing Suggestions
    2. GREAT ideas on how-to make it better from a creative standpoint
    3. Testimonials from experts...

    Pick an ebook that you really like and use the structure to write your own...don't copy the content, just the template.

    Good luck!
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    • Profile picture of the author steven90210
      Originally Posted by MsAngry View Post

      I'm in the process of finishing my first book and I thing I have found really useful is voice recognition software to dictate my knowledge onto paper.

      Once I trained it to recognise my "dialect/patterns" it was really quick to produce text.

      It was great for expanding on bullet point prompts and also reading and rewording other source material that supported my own knowledge.

      As it's so quick, you can create first drafts your self, then get a writer to tidy it up/edit it for you/fix the homophones it gets wrong like "weather" and "whether" etc.

      I found Dragon NaturallySpeaking brilliant. Best bit of kit I bought since my TomTom 920T

      HTH.

      C
      Hmm sure makes it sound easier! I'll go have a look see Thanks!

      Originally Posted by omarabid View Post

      Let me help you a little.
      Search for different ebooks about the niche you are going to write about.
      By reading you accumulate different idea ==> you then create yours.
      Choose the best presented e-books and clone its presentation (sure change the design, but I mean the planing)
      Hope this get you started
      Sure did! That's an excellent idea..

      Originally Posted by Harvey.Segal View Post

      Steven

      The normal sequence of events is to write a book, then
      create the sales copy, then produce ads for your promotional
      campaign.

      My suggestion is to do everything in reverse.

      1. Before even starting the book plan your ad campaign.

      Produce a 2-line classified ad and think
      how and where you will promote it.

      The reason ?

      This will force you to focus and decide on the main purpose
      (or USP) of your book and your target market.


      2. Next produce a 20-line ad (similar to the sponsored ad
      you see in an ezine). Here you will outline the key
      points/features/benefits of your book.


      3. You then use these points, adding more detail, to produce
      your sales copy.


      4. Now that you have the sales copy, which is like a
      specification for your book, you go ahead and produce the
      book according to that spec.


      5. You can take this forward thinking idea even further:
      before starting the first book consider possible sequels.
      Then you can entice customers with say your plans for
      subsequent books at a reduced price if they order the first
      one.

      Harvey
      Interesting idea Harvey.. I do plan to throw in a few bonus books along with my main e-book, so your last point would help!

      Originally Posted by abelacts View Post

      I am the lazy type. If your finances allow, get at least one copy of your competitor's ebook and see how he wrote the ebook and its format. And even what to include in the ebook. Of course, don't copy but get some ideas on how to do it. Put in your own experiences and examples to make it unique.

      But if were to ask me, I am in the stage of hiring writers to do it. It's a great time saver.
      Haha true.. But i just write because I like it.. Thanks for the ideas..

      Originally Posted by Mark Kaye View Post

      Post a thread here in WF asking for some trained eyes to take a look at it for you first. That will get you:

      1. Professional Marketing Suggestions
      2. GREAT ideas on how-to make it better from a creative standpoint
      3. Testimonials from experts...

      Pick an ebook that you really like and use the structure to write your own...don't copy the content, just the template.

      Good luck!
      Thanks Mark! I do plan to let a few warriors review my e-book once I'm done with it. Hopefully some great testimonials come my way!
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