Back in July, all bright-eyed and enthused about a project we had in the works, we blogged on the upcoming August release of our amazing ebook for beginning freelance writers.
You may have noticed the ebook hasn’t hit the stands yet.
Well, we’re not too proud to admit our mistakes, and we’ve learned a few valuable lessons about producing ebooks and selling them.
One, they’re a damned lot of work to write, edit, and edit again. Two, they’re even more work to put on sale than we imagined.
That surprised us. Why? Because we write ebooks all the time for clients. We know how much work and effort goes into creation. We’re used to that. We know how to make an ebook read well and pack a whallop of flowing information into the pages. We thought selling our own ebook would be a cinch. Stick it in a .pdf and post a link, right? Wrong.
If you’re thinking about writing an ebook, here’s a few of our suggestions:
- Before doing anything, schedule everything. Then stick to that schedule.
- Decide on a release date, and add at least two weeks for unforeseen delays.
- Delegate tasks for faster production. Outsource. Work with partners.
- Make sure your ebook is worth the money. Never try to gyp readers.
- Remember the focus of your content and don’t stray off topic – ever.
- Gather a list of emails to send out free copies of your ebook.
- Get reviews and testimonials of your ebook before you release it for sale.
The best advice I could give is to take a good hard look at your ebook. Read it a few times. Then ask yourself these questions:
- Does it deliver on promises?
- Is it really worth selling?
- Do you keep thinking of fast money?
- Are you proud of it?
- Would your mother be proud of what you did?
If you said no to any of those questions, go back to the drawing board. Start over or rehash all your content. Follow our suggestions for writing an ebook that sells. Put out an ebook that is helpful, informative, and that doesn’t cheat readers. There’s enough crap on the Internet. Don’t add to it.
