How to Write an eBook Series - The Steps at a Glance

Posted by kohuether in Tuesday, July 29th 2008   
Topics: Business, Internet Marketing, Writing, eBook
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For the next few posts I am going to take some time to teach you all how to write ebooks. I’ve written a lot of ebooks in my time on various subjects. I have yet to write one for myself but I’ve written countless ebooks for my clients on anything from vegetarian cooking, iphones, dolls, how to build an opt-in list, etc. All I need to do is follow

No matter what the subject is or how much I know about it, the basic process is always the same

  • Choose the subject for your eBook
  • Write the table of contents (This is my outline).
  • Do some preliminary research.
  • Write the rough draft - detailed research as needed.
  • Make the final draft. (If there’s a word count, I’ll add and subtract content as needed)
  • Format the ebook.
  • Create a detailed table of contents (I may have changed the original around as I wrote the eBook).

I’ve written ebooks at superhuman speed before. Granted, my wrists hurt at the end of the day, I went to bed late, and in general I don’t reccommend doing that. But if you want to go on a blitz like that, it has its rewards. One piece of advice: do the research before you start.

In the posts that follow, we’ll conquer these steps one at a time. :)

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10 users responded to this post

Michele said in July 29th, 2008 at 8:01 pm    

I’m really excited about this series, Katherine! As someone who’s filled to the brim and overflowing with ideas for ebooks, but have never really tackled writing one, I’m elated to be able to follow this series, glean from your knowledge, and just absorb all I can before I complete and publish my own ebooks. Hey, maybe you can write an ebook on how to write ebooks! Incorporate these posts in the ebook series and add even more of your knowledge, tips and tricks. How awesome would that be? Thanks so much for sharing your ebook experiences with us! I doubt I write one in a day’s time like you did, but I think your series is definitely going to help me accomplish my ebook goals a lot quicker than I had planned. And, I’m so excited about that! (I’m sure you couldn’t tell, eh?) hehehehe :grin:

*smiles*
Michele

Hope Wilbanks said in July 29th, 2008 at 8:06 pm    

Great post! You’ve definitely got all the steps down right. (I can tell you’ve done it a time or two.) :wink: I look forward to this series. :)

Oliver said in July 29th, 2008 at 9:05 pm    

Interesting post!

Wow, a 11000 on a single day, that’s amazing. Guess that’s the level of a pro writer. :)

Also, how did you get Hostgator to sponsor you and, if you can tell, how much do they pay? :)

Anyway, great blog.

sue Jeffels said in July 30th, 2008 at 12:18 am    

This looks great Katherine - I mean to get my table of contents sorted tomorrow and will be following this series. Thanks so much

Rebecca Laffar-Smith said in July 30th, 2008 at 1:01 am    

I’m really looking forward to your series, Katherine! As with some of the others following along I’ve often intended to get onto an putting together an eBook but kept putting it off. It seems really daunting. Hopefully you’ll unmystify the process. :-)

Nicki B. said in July 30th, 2008 at 7:04 am    

My question is this - how profitable can an e-book realistically be? Is it worth the time/effort spent in the end?

Mark Shaw said in July 30th, 2008 at 10:06 am    

You clearly are a master at writing eBooks.. However that is only part of it… What about the marketing, promoting, and selling…Having a well written eBook is one thing… But you must have a strategy behind why you are doing it…What are you hoping to achieve by having an eBook….

Best

Mark

kohuether said in August 1st, 2008 at 1:05 pm    

Wow! This series is getting a great response. I’m happy. :) I am about to respond to your comments and write the first post in the series. I couldn’t post yesterday because… I had to write an ebook! Yesterday, I was stuck with 9000 words.

@Michele - that is a great idea about writing an ebook about writing ebooks… I would use these posts plus add more detailed information, throw in some free gifts…

@Hope - I do have the steps all down pat - to the point where once the day of the deadline comes and I need to write 9000-11000 words in one day, all the other stuff is taken care of so I can just focus on the writing.

@Thanks Oliver! Are you referring to the hostgator ad I have? I just joined their affiliate program. The button to sign up is on their site somewhere - I remember I had to dig a little to find it.

@Sue I’m glad you’re jumping on board and find this series helpful! The table of contents is essential because it becomes the outline.

@Rebecca - I hope I help a lot of people. I remember the first ebook I wrote - it was really stressful because I didn’t really know what I was doing. It ended up working out, but it took longer than it should have!

@NickyB - It can be very profitable. My strength right now is to write it, not promote it. But what I think I am going to do is write one for myself (finally) and learn how to promote it, then I can write about that…

@MarkShaw I know in theory how to promote, but have not actually done it yet. I’m sure it’s like anything - I’ll try a few things in the beginning to promote it and eventually find my grove. :)

Thanks everyone for stopping in!

Diane said in August 2nd, 2008 at 7:39 pm    

I look forward to this series because writing an ebook is something I have thought of doing.

Pharm63 said in August 7th, 2008 at 3:36 am    

Very nice site!

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