How to write and publish an eBook that sells like Hot Cakes!
Generally, we all want to make more money. That, for better or worse, is behind so much of what we do today and thanks to this changing world we live in, there are more ways to make money than ever. One is the world of writing and publishing books which has opened up for all of us.
Do you believe you have what it takes to become an author but never could push yourself enough to write a book? Well, now’s your chance to become a published author without having to go through the hassles of negotiating a publishing deal. Yes! Now you can write an eBook and publish it online instantly for the entire world to read. 
But here’s the brutal truth – far too many wannabe authors think that writing about what their audience wants to read is enough to make their eBook a success. If it were that easy, everyone could publish their work and become rich overnight. To write an eBook that people would read, you need to be careful about what you create and how you create it.
You surely don’t build a bridge and then look for a river that flows underneath, do you? Similarly, you cannot just slap up a few pages of content and expect the audience to buy whatever you’re selling. If you’re reading this, we’d say that you got lucky and landed in the right place.
Why? Because this guide will teach you what you need to know about writing, publishing, and marketing an eBook that will make you loads of moolah! Well. kind of, maybe! But if you’re serious about writing, be sure you read till the end. So, let’s begin, shall we?
What made eBooks so popular?
Before we move on to the actual portion of this guide, let’s take a look at how the concept of eBooks became widely popular. In 2007, Amazon introduced the world to digital reading devices that turned the table on the publishing industry. Amazon Kindle was the device that made eBooks popular owing to its portability and ability to store digital books.
The company even reported that the sales of eBooks actually surpassed paperback books last year and the trend is only expected to increase. As the Amazon Kindle book reader continues to sell like hotcakes, it is now your chance to capitalize on the eBook sales.
This format offers many benefits in comparison to traditional paperbacks. Not only are the publishing costs significantly reduced, but you also get the benefit of minimal revenue splitting and low, basically zero, shipping costs. And, promoting your book on the Internet is not nearly as expensive as promoting via real-life methods.
You can give away free promotional copies, get shout-outs from other eBook authors and learn how to market the book yourself to make it reach out to a wider audience. All these benefits make it easier to showcase your talent in a simple and economical way. It also gives you greater control over every step of the process.
Guide to writing an eBook that sells
1. Begin with research; not writing
A harsh truth that you’re going to have to accept is that passion and money don’t always float on the same boat. To publish an eBook that sells, you can’t just write anything you’re passionate about and expect people to buy it. To actually make money, you’re going to have to write for a market that exists.
Imagine someone wanting to sell the new generation The Lord of the Rings trilogy in a market where people are searching for ways how to deal with inflation. They’re not going to sell many books are they? Of course, the market is much more diversified than that, but you need to have enough people that may be interested in what you want to write about.
It’s the old pieces of advice that still stand up today, “know who you are writing for, know your audience, know what they may find interesting and of value to them”. You will also get the best kind of results if you write for a niche that has a void which your book will fill. If you’re passionate about the topic – then great!
If you’re not, time to search for another niche where you can combine the existing demand with, if not your passion, your knowledge. Don’t try to create a market, especially if you’re just starting out as a writer.
2. Choose a topic that you know in and out
This is, of course, a piece of advice that doesn’t require much explaining. Choosing a topic that you’re knowledgeable and passionate about is a huge advantage when creating a profitable eBook. If you’re interested in writing fantasy, you surely wouldn’t be as good as writing about the best practices for dentists, would you?
Decide what your targeted niche is, identify what people are looking for, and base your topic on those facets. But before you get to the writing part, make sure you know enough about the topic to make an impact on people. Nobody likes to read a bunch of generic garble that they probably read somewhere else.
Be unique; make a solid effort to stand out from the crowd.
3. Mind the length and title of your eBook
While there exist no hard and fast rules in regards to length of an eBook, trends indicate that most people prefer to read material that isn’t too thin or too extensive. What we are saying is that you shouldn’t equate the value of your product to the number of pages it consists. If your eBook requires 200 pages to cover a topic, then take 200 pages.
If your eBook requires 10 pages to cover a topic, then take 10; it is fine! Don’t be constrained by the preset word limits, but make sure that the book contains unique and creative ideas. The primary goal is to give the readers what they want; not essentially what you want.
Coming to the title, you must recognize that the eBook industry is highly competitive. So, in order to stand out, your book must have a title that piques the curiosity of your audience enough for them to at least want to read the first page. Your title must have the WOW factor to hook people’s attention.
This is one area that you must pay very close attention to, as it has the power to make or break the eBook’s success. If you think you can’t come up with an engaging title, don’t be afraid to ask your friends and family to chime in. No matter what you do, make sure your publishing has a catchy and intriguing title.
Like I mentioned before, the number of pages in your eBook would have very little to do with its success if you get everything right.
4. Provide only accurate content in the right formatting
In the highly competitive market, you’ve got to know how to pack your digital product to get success. If you’re working on an instructional book, don’t start without researching the competition.
Your aim should not only be to provide more information but also present it in an “easy to consume” manner. Try and get into the minds of your readers and personally appeal to their senses. Write in simple English and incorporate first person narratives whenever it’s possible. The best books tend to be those where the readers are able to relate to the author.
Also, make sure to include a table of contents, an acknowledgment section, an “about the author” section. Save your work in PDF format, and format the pages in standard 8/2 x 11 inches in dimensions to make it easier for reading and printing. Seriously, that’s all there is to it.
5. Edit – Edit – Edit
Look, no matter how much of an accurate writer you may believe yourself to be, your work is bound to have some grammatical errors here and there. No matter how good of an eBook you write, the presence of grammatical errors will doom it to failure.
And this is why you must proofread it time and again to make sure the content is devoid of mistakes.
It’s best that you hire a professional editor and proofreader for this job even if it means spending some extra money. Remember, a good product that took time and effort to publish is more than likely to be a success, whereas a bad product that was released in a hurry will suck forever. Please leave no stone unturned when it comes to editing.
6. Get a Kickass cover design
Once your eBook is complete and ready to be published, you’ll need an attractive cover design to appeal to your target market. Believe it or not, no matter how much people say it’s not right to judge a book by its cover, the reality is quite different. Many readers do judge a book by the cover and not having an attractive one might make your content invisible.
Now, this is one area we would strictly advise you to leave it to the professionals. Unless you’re a master in graphics design, do not attempt to create a cover by yourself. And why would you even try when there are so many affordable options present out there?
Head over to freelancing sites like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer.com, etc. to have your cover made by a professional. Let your designer know everything you have in mind about the cover picture and ask for a few concept arts to improve upon. Be sure that the final product is nothing less than perfect!
And you’re done! Writing an eBook doesn’t have to be tougher than this. It certainly doesn’t have to be a full-length novel to be successful. Now that your book is finished let’s get to the marketing and selling part.
Guide to marketing the eBook to sell it for profit
If you know anything about marketing, then you probably understand that writing an eBook is only half the struggle. Without proper marketing, your content will probably lie on the digital bookshelves on Amazon with probably one or two sales coming your way.
To avoid this disastrous fate, there are a few marketing tips you can implement from day one. 
This section of the guide will give you some basic marketing advice to get sales off the ground and start bringing in some sweet income.
1. Find the best place to sell
While it’s possible to sell the eBook directly from your website, selling it at an online marketplace is more likely to bring you far greater traffic and sales. Although, there are many platforms available, the best is undoubtedly the Amazon Kindle Store. The process is simple and makes you eligible to receive 70% of royalties from sales.
Kindle Direct Publishing has changed the way how people publish and buy books. The orders will be delivered instantly, and eBook can be viewed on all Kindle apps and Kindle devices.
2. Spread the news on social media
Once you’ve put up your book on sale, don’t forget to let your friends and family know on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. Creating an author page and/or book page will also help you to get the word out and gain more followers. The more people you can drive to your Amazon sales page, the more you have chances of making sales.
Social media is a powerful tool that you must utilize in this era. And the best part is that social media promotions need not cost a dime!
3. Optimizations for search engines
If you want to get into the finer details of online marketing, having good knowledge of SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a must. You want to make your eBook website as search engine friendly as possible to get a higher ranking. Breaking into the first page is the main aim, and by doing this, you’ll be getting natural traffic without spending on advertising.
However, this section of marketing is not easy and would probably require you to hire an SEO professional to give you solid results. Hey, who in the world has become a millionaire without making a bit of investment?
4. Ask other authors to read and review your book
Nothing perhaps works better than getting shout-outs from other authors, recommending everyone to read your book. If you have done a good job in publishing stellar content, then getting reviews should not be too tough. And once you get good reviews, a portion of the reviewing author’s audience will also be tempted to try out reading your eBook.
Seriously, networking is one of the keys to successful marketing, and you must get to it as early as possible to see results.
Other Resources
Of course, you can also get someone to write your eBook for you – don’t laugh, it’s more common than you think, and a whole lot less work. There are many fine writers out there that are content to do just that – write. They don’t want to bother with the publishing end of it or the marketing. Again there are various sites mentioned already that uses freelancers such as iWriter.com, upwork.com, and fiverr.com.
I strongly recommend that you hire a writer whose native tongue is the language you want to write in, so if you want a book written in English, you should hire a writer from a country where English is the primary language.
Start now!
The road to success lies in taking consistent action. If you’ve been putting off your idea of writing an eBook for “tomorrow,” just remind yourself that none of us are guaranteed a future. Who knows, the tomorrow you’re looking for might not even come. So stop procrastinating, put on your thinking cap, and start writing.
You don’t have to be the next Ian Rankin, Haruki Murakami, or Stephen King; just put your thoughts into words, and you’ll find ways into polishing them to be enjoyable. Sure, you might encounter writer’s block, but then again which author hasn’t? That aim here is to progress one step at a time.