What are Ebooks
and why would I want to use them?
If you've been out on the internet, you've no doubt run into
ebooks. You may have even downloaded a few. If not, check the
Library page and look at a few.
It's never been easier for you to create and see your own product.
Ebooks are popular, easy to download/deliver and inexpensive to
create. You can also use ebooks in a variety of ways to market
your business through the internet. Ebooks and internet marketing
go hand in hand. With ebooks, you just can't go wrong!
Once you create your book, or books, you can sell them for years
to come. You won't have any inventory or shipping to bother with.
Your customers receive instant gratification with the download
of their book.
Information is what the internet is all about and you can capitalize
on the technology advantage to create an income stream for your
business. So, how do you begin to write an ebook?
Choosing A Subject
You are passionate about your business, aren't you?
I'll be there is a lot of valuable information and business experience
you posses. Experience you could sell. Take a look at what might
help you market your business. If you need some help, download
my ebook The Magic of Publishing
for some tips on developing content.
How Can You Use An Ebook?
There are many ways to use an ebook. Here are a few:
- Marketing tool for your business
- "How To" Manual
- Electronic version of your book
- Instructional/Training Manual
- Catalog
- Ezine Archive
The most popular, and best selling books, are the "how to"
books. Think about your business and what it is that you do, you
could help others do for themselves? Don't worry, you can always
research and write about a topic that interests you personally,
as well. Just learn all you can, then write about it.
You could create a "Top Ten Tips List" each day for
ten days and you'll have one hundred tips to start working into
an ebook. You probably have archived newsletters that you could
glean information from for your book. You can always research
additional information on the internet. Now that you've got some
ideas, how about structure?
Your Ebook Structure
You'll want an:
- Introduction
You can create a graphic that matches the theme of your ebook.
You can use your company logo, or any other graphical element
in the design of your book. You'll want to explain what your
book is about, and maybe why you wrote it.
- Forward
This will include a the "legalities" like the warranties,
guarantees, trademarks, etc.
- Table of Contents
This will enable your readers to navigate easily through your
book. They can locate the material that's important to them,
quickly. Although, if you are writing a novel, you may want
to use chapters instead of a table of content page.
- About
If you are writing a "how to" book, you'll want to
create an about page so you can tell your readers of your experience,
your company, your web site and other pertinent information.
You'll want your contact information on this page too.
- Links
You may want links sprinkled through out your book so you can
direct your reader to information on your web site, or you may
want a resource page full of important links. The advantage
of an ebook is the ability to add links and navigation.
- Graphical Elements
Graphics can spice up your book a bit, but be careful because
they can slow the load time too. Don't use Flash or anything
that requires a plug-in. It may look nice, but not everyone
is capable, or comfortable viewing something like Flash. You
don't want them to become frustrated when they are trying to
load your book.
- Copyright
Make sure to protect your book by displaying your copyrights.
The may look like this "Copyright © 2005 by Magic
In Words. Al rights reserved worldwide. No part of this ebook
may be copied or sold." You can also designate whether
your book can be sold, or may only be given away free of charge.
- Delivery
The nice thing about ebooks is that they can be delivered as
a download over the internet, an attachment to an e-mail, on
a CD Rom, a diskette, or a flash drive. The one common element
here is that the book can be delivered instantly. No waiting
for shipping.
What Are You Waiting For?
Now all you need to do is decide if handling the layout and compiling
of your ebook is something you'd like to tackle, or contract out.
You might want to check the library
for ebooks that will give you more information on ebook creation.
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