With the advent of the internet, everything has gradually transited on-line and are found digitally, this goes for the books as well. The introduction of e-books was done about a decade ago but this year they have taken a whole new turn as they have advanced into the world of marketing. You will find them attached to every product and website as a means of advertising, providing content, entertainment, etc. This is why many free trial for this ebook creator have sprung up to help people. Creating an ebook might feel like a tough job but we are here to simplify it for you. Luckily, we know all the ins and outs of not just making an ebook but making it appealing as well. And for your convenience, we have summarized them up in 10 steps.
Now let us begin creating an eBook which will rock your clients:
- UNDERSTANDING THE OBJECTIVES OF YOUR EBOOK
Before planning for any task it is necessary to consider its objective. Similarly for an eBook, you have to first think through the reason for creating it. You will have to understand the purpose behind it to begin anything else. This goal selection is what will pave the rest of the journey. For example, if your purpose is purely marketing than this will help you decide on a product-centric book. Or if you are in search of lead generation than this objective will lead you to create a gated eBook that will help you gather email addresses. No matter what the goal is, your whole e-book should revolve around it. So, be very clear about it!
- CHOOSING A TOPIC AND THAT APPEALS TO YOUR AUDIENCE
Your book may be very useful but if the topic is not appealing people won’t look back at it. Without a topic, you cannot even start writing. So deciding the subject should be your first priority. Obviously, there are countless possibilities to write about and you can easily settle on something you like. But, this won’t do as the thing that should matter the most is your audience. Maybe the topic that interests you won’t appeal to them. Thus, don’t choose an unrelatable topic for your targeted market. It will be like setting yourself up for failure from the start. Think thoroughly about your audience’s preferences and what they want to gain knowledge of. The e-book is for them and not you so forgot the ‘I’. The key is to identify their problems and embed possible solutions in your e-book to gain attention. Your e-book should hit their core so that they won’t be able to reject it. Another benefit you will gain from thinking about the audience is that topic selection becomes easy as potential topics are narrowed down. Last but not least, go for a topic that is close to home. It should attract the audience but you should be knowledgeable on the topic as well. If you just decide to take a blind dive into something of which you know nothing, your credibility will be thrown out of the window as you will be found lacking!
- SELECTING A SPECIFIC AND INTERESTING TITLE
Remember the first impression counts a lot. Even if your topic is very useful but the title is not appealing enough, the readers will just ignore the message. Your topic alone cannot pull off the magnetic magic. So after choosing an interesting topic, the next step is to decide a catch title that complements it. Your audience should feel a personal attachment to it. Here is how you can make an effective title:
- Be as specific as possible: The title should give a clear understanding of what the pages hold. It shouldn’t be vague or it will disappoint the readers.
- Be blunt and honest: Readers genuinely appreciate honesty. Be true to them from the beginning to catch their eye.
- Add catchy words: There should be no jargon. Rather your title should have words that please the general public instead of confusing them
- CREATING YOUR OUTLINE
The topic is ready and the title is all set. Now, the things that matter is what goes inside. You cannot just start writing immediately after deciding the topic or it will lead to a chaotic mess of words. Obviously, there has to be some brainstorming. If you do this thinking strategically it will produce the best results. Always try to write your thought process first in the form of an outline before doing the final writing. So, outlining is an essential part of an e-book. For informative content, you have to well-organized or you will lose readers halfway through. To keep the readers fixated until the end, make easy-to-read content for them by creating a clear and crisp outline. The outline also streamlines your writing process and also makes the final process of writing easy on you. Last but not least, the outline also ensures that you don’t leave anything out and everything is conveyed beautifully in an organized manner.
- BEGIN WRITING YOUR EBOOK
Now the time to finally write is here! With a detailed outline, your word attack will be fairly easy. Your ideas would be logically organized so now all you have to do is to expand your ideas and give them a lengthy form. It should be fun as you only have to add details thus let those creative juices flow. There is no one way of writing as everyone has a different method. Just choose the technique that works best for you. Don’t stall the writing process and carry it out ASAP before you lose motivation.
- COMPLETE APPROACH
For a complete approach, this is our preferred way of writing.
- Introduction: the intro should not only be appealing to consume the reader but it should also provide a complete overview of the big picture. So, write an introduction that summarizes all your ideas in a gist that appeals. Give your audience the view of the bigger picture and how reading on will help them.
- Chapters: This is the body and it should be the most informative. It should not only highlight their main points but also give them the solutions that they have been looking for. All the content needed to satisfy the reader’s curiosity should be placed here. The chapters should give them a sense of clarity. The pieces should all fit together and be consistent. Your transition from one chapter to another should be done beautifully. Just copy and pasting won’t do as you will lose both quality and flow. Last but not least, all chapters should contain equally important information. Do not fill just one chapter with everything. Keep an organized and easy to follow approach. If you want readers to be fully engrossed, break your content into chapters wisely. Moreover, to break the monotony and to keep your reader’s eyes glued to your e-book, communicate different ideas in each chapter.
- Ending: The ending should be smooth. It should be abrupt and clear where all the matter will connect giving a beautiful climax enabling the readers to shut the book with a sigh of satisfaction rather than frustration.
- ADDING POTENTIAL CALLS-TO-ACTION (CTA)
If eBook is a part of your inbound marketing strategy, then it’s incomplete without a calls-to-action. If you want to make your reader take further action instead of just reading and shutting the book forever, you will have to be smart. You cannot just bluntly ask them to support your goal. You have to place an appropriate calls-to-action within the content without offending your readers. You have to add CTA in an engaging manner so that readers are willing to do what you want them to do. The key is to be simple yet actionable!
- PROOFREADING YOUR E-BOOK
No book is free from errors. But, you can minimize these by giving your book at least two proofreadings. The preferred rounds of edits are 4 and that to from fresh pair of eyes as writers themselves can overlook errors. But if time is short, before finalizing your draft go through it twice as it allows catching of mistakes, gives additional insight and provides feedback for improvement as well. Proofreading polishes your e-book so don’t skimp in it.
- ADDING VISUALS TO YOUR EBOOK
Visuals add a lot of value to your writing as they appeal more than words. So, to break up large blocks of text, add images or infographics which relate to your content. They make the book less overwhelming and easier on readers’ eyes. Lastly, conveying ideas solely through words can be difficult whereas images can be a great way to illustrate them conveniently. All in all, visuals vastly improve your reader’s experience.
- DESIGNING YOUR EBOOK
You have already spent a lot of time writing. Now it is time to design it as appearances also matter. You don’t need an in-house graphic design team for it so just scan the content and create a digestible and enjoyable format by using appealing colors, clear font, lists, and paragraphs. Do not get too carried away, as your formatting should match your brand. Everything should be consistent with your brand’s palette for a fun yet professional look.
CONCLUSION
As of now 84% of consumers look forward to brands providing amazing content which informs, tells stories, entertains, and provides solutions at the same time. And we also know that e-book is the only type of content that can perform all these tasks. So, we hope with these steps you will master the art of creating an amazing e-book and become a game-changer in the world of e-books.