Writing an eBook is not so radically different from writing in the traditional style. It starts with an idea, hopefully one that is both compelling and complete. From there, certain standards of format should be observed if you want your readers to process and absorb your work effectively and efficiently. You need to start with a sound basis of knowledge when it comes to different styles of writing (from fictional favorites like prose and poetry to non-fiction offerings that inform or analyze), employ an excellent editor to catch technical problems and clean up text that is either too cluttered or requires the filling of gaps, and for god’s sake, use a font that is interesting, but still readable (learn the difference between serif and sans serif)! However, aside from the obvious challenges of writing a book, there are a few steps you’ll need to take to make an eBook and sell it online.
- Choose the right software. Sure you can write it in Microsoft Word. In fact, that may be a great place to start. But once you get into layout and you want to add photos, graphics, and hyperlinks, you’ll find the basic document program is not terribly conducive to meeting your needs. So download a free trial of a page-layout software like Quark or even Adobe Acrobat Pro, and mess around with it before you commit to buying. Most programs will output in a number of formats, PDF included, for optimum viewing.
- Secure copyrights. While the majority of eBooks have no official copyright, as there is an assumed unregistered copyright associated with such writing (and most of them are open source), the fact that you plan to sell your eBook is sufficient reason to register the work. After all, if it’s worth selling, someone is going to do it, and you don’t want to find yourself with no recourse or recompense while others profit from your hard work. To that end, you can register your text with the United States Copyright Office, an arm the Library of Congress.
- Give credit where credit is due. If you plan to sell a work of non-fiction that borrows information from other sources, you must cite those sources and in some cases, get the permission of the author in order to use it. Of course, this is not generally a problem for eBook authors, but if you’re going to profit from the work of others, you need to cover your bases to avoid lawsuits down the road.
- Know your options for distribution. There are plenty of ways to distribute your eBook on your own and the easiest is probably to sell it as a downloadable file on your personal (or professional) website. Of course, this might not be the best way to hike up your sales. So see if you can sell it by affiliation on related blogs (many blog owners jump at the chance to affiliate since they get a portion of any sale made on their site just by posting a link) or consider contacting an eBook retailer such as Amazon.
- Contact a publisher. People who do business online often wear many hats, but writing, editing, and publishing your own eBook is a lot of work. So give yourself a break. Stick to the creative aspects of producing eBooks and let an experienced publisher handle the distribution. It will save you a lot of wasted time and effort while simultaneously delivering a boost in resultant sales.
Sarah Neilson is a writer for Medical Coding where you can browse medical coding schools and jobs
