Every time I’ve written an eBook, the subject was already chosen for me because a client paid. It’s a crucial step that I’ve taken for granted. But what if you want to write an eBook but you’re doing it for yourself? In that case, it’s up to you to come up with the topic.

How to Choose a Subject

Sometimes, an ebook idea just pops out at you. For example, I will likely take all of my posts from this “How to Write an eBook” series and create a comprehensive guide on not only how to write an eBook, but how to turn eBook writing into a complete business. (I’ll be testing a few things in the weeks to come - eBook won’t be released or probably even written until then).

But sometimes, ideas don’t pop, just the simple desire to write. Well, there are a few things you can do. I have a ton of eBook ideas sitting on the back burner and I’ve learned that a lot of it has to do with indentifying a need. Think about your target audience and the things they would like to read. Is there a gap in the information that is available? If so, an eBook on the subject would be an asset.

I’d poke around on the internet for a while. Visit Google Trends, spend some time in forums and reading other people’s blogs. There’s a wealth of ideas out there. All that’s needed is a sincere desire to create good content and two eyes that are open and responding to the world around you.

Write the Table of Contents

After you come up with the idea, your next step is to write your table of contents. This usually represents the logical way the content should be organized. This will vary depending on the topic, your writing style, and which pieces of information you would like to highlight.

After you break the content up into chapters, the next step is to write a short description of what kind of infortion will go into the chapters. I like to use bullet points for this because it will make researching and writing the ebook a lot easier.

In the next installment, we’ll talk about doing the actual research.