Ebook: Build a Bestselling Format

Want to write an ebook? Ebooks sell well online; you can even build an entire home business on a single ebook. Here’s how to ensure your ebook sells, when you build a bestselling format.

1. Focus — Your Ebook Must Have a Slant

The more tightly you can focus your ebook, the better it will sell. Let’s look at some examples.

“Beauty” is too wide a focus. If you’re not a celebrity, an ebook with such a broad focus is unlikely to sell. However, “Instant Acne Cure” is a sharp focus, and if you deliver on the promise, this ebook will sell.

Similarly, “fix your PC” is too wide a focus. “Optimize your PC: Windows XP Under the Hood” is tightly focused. This ebook should sell well for years to come.

It’s worth spending time to get your focus exactly right. If you want to get your ebook written and selling within a month, spend the first four weeks thinking about your focus. Yes, it’s that important.

Here’s another way to think about your focus: it’s a way of targeting exactly those readers who MUST buy your ebook, as soon as they learn of its existence. With a sharp focus, you know without a doubt that your ebook will sell.

2. Promise and Deliver

Now you’ve got your focus, realize that the focus implies a promises, or several promises to your reader. I read many ebooks which although competent, never fulfilled the promise. This is sad, because had the ebooks fulfilled the promises they made, they would sell many thousands of copies over many years.

Make a list of the promises your focus implies.

Now turn that list into ebook chapters. This is the simplest way of outlining your ebook. It shows you exactly what to include, and what to leave out.

I’ve seen way too many ebooks which include information which is totally irrelevant. A history of your topic is rarely relevant, yet many ebooks include a history.

Remember that ebooks are meant to be read on the screen. They’re short. If your ebook is over 100 pages, take a close look. Are you delivering on promises, or just waffling to increase the page count?

3. Evergreen Content Sells for Years: Ensure Your Content Is Timeless

Finally, bestselling formats are evergreen. The information is useful not just this year, but for years to come.

Let’s look at our two examples.

“Instant Acne Cure” — this will sell for decades. With an updated edition every couple of years, this ebook will bring you a steady income.

“Optimize your PC: Windows XP Under the Hood” will also sell for years. There are millions of PCs running Windows XP. Businesses and home users are wedded to this operating system; this kind of book will be a gold mine for you.

Writing and selling ebooks is just one of the topics we cover in Angela Booth’s Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON) — discover how to become an ebook expert and build a fantastic home business with a million dollar potential.

Want to develop a six-figure writing income?

The September 2007 issue of The Writer had a great story: “Secrets Of The Six-Figure Freelancers”. The story’s wonderful because it shows you the potential of a freelance writing career; with the development of the Web and its unlimited markets, if you can write, you can make a great income as a freelance writer.

I chuckled when I read the story because many writers think a “six figure income” is hype. Either that, or they think that a great income is reserved for copywriters, or genre novelists, or other specialist writers.

The fact is that YOU can develop a six-figure writing career: you just need to know that it’s possible to earn $250,000 a year and more as a freelance writer, and then make that your goal.

And of course, you need know-how. That’s what my writing ebook manuals give you. In 30 years as a freelance writer, I’ve learned the tricks of the writing trade, and I’d love to share those tricks with you, so many of my ebooks offer free coaching. Whatever your level of experience as a freelance writer, you can develop a fantastic career, when you know how.

Develop your writing skills today.

[tags]ebooks,sell ebooks,Ebooks,ebooks online,selling ebooks,writing,how to write[/tags]