How to write an ebook
A successful ebook is one that readers find valuable. Both fiction and nonfiction can be successful. The main underlying theme is that you'll want to make sure you're giving your readers bang for their buck. Readers love to see what's going to be included and have a chance to read a piece of your work. Ebooks are generally longer - so it's a bit of a commitment for a reader. To derisk this, it's a good idea to provide a few tantalizing pieces to your readers to draw them in.
Create an into and an outline
There are many different ways to write an ebook, but a great way to start is to create an intro and an outline. If a reader looked at these two pieces, would they be interested in reading more? If the answer is yes, then you have a great base to work from. If the answer is no, then refine it.
A good description is usually no more than 3 sentences long. Think of this as an elevator pitch. A great outline will typically have at least 5 sections to work from:
- an intro
- key point 1
- key point 2
- key point 3
- conclusion
How to publish your ebook
There are two ways to publish your ebook.
Incremental publishing
In this strategy, you derisk your efforts by publishing incrementally.
- Write an article for a central point you want to cover in your book
- If your readers are interested in your central point, they will likely be interested in the longer book.
- Add a survey question
- Ask the reader what else they would be interested in reading about next.
- If you're looking for detailed feedback, you can add a register wall before your survey to ask readers to register before commenting.
- Share your work on social platforms
- Share your partial work on social platforms or wherever you have an audience.
- Use the feedback to improve the next piece
- Use the feedback from surveys and article performance data to create the next piece.
With this process, you can iterate through your outline while incrementally building an audience. Instead of getting feedback after writing everything, you now get feedback as you write. Additionally, this gives you the ability to build an audience that's more invested in your work as they followed you through your process.
Holistic publishing
In this strategy, you publish the entire work to offer more to the reader at once.
- Create an initial article with a taste of what you offer
- If nonfiction, write an article that details why your guide is valuable. Include a preview of what's included.
- If fiction, write a synposis. Hook the reader.
- Create the rest of your articles for your book
- Write the rest of your articles and include paywalls.
- Offer some part of content free to let readers see what your content is like.
- Share your work
- Share your work with your audience.
How to sell your ebook
Here's a few different ways to sell your content:
- Sell as a holistic piece
- Complete your book and sell as a completed work.
- Sell new pieces incrementally
- Continue the incremental publishing method, but sell select pieces as paid until completed.
- Then sell the whole thing as a completed work again.
Running a promotion
You can also run promotions to drive sales. Here's a few ideas:
- Early supporters
- Offer early supporters a discount.
- Limited amount
- Offer a discount but with a limited supply. Run campaigns announcing the number remaining for your audience as it declines.
- Limited time
- Offer a discount but with a limited time. Run campaigns as time decreases.
Get started on Lumenful
Lumenful lets your book live online, rather than existing as a static PDF. On Lumenful, it can be easily accessed and provide a dynamic experience for readers. You can edit content, get feedback from your readers, and get paid in a few clicks.
Lumenful offers the following publishing capabilities for ebooks:
- create a branded space specifically for your work
- analytics on how readers interacted with each piece
- advanced access controls to help you get paid for your work
- super simple login, sign up, and checkout for your readers
