How to Write an eBook in No Time at All
If you spend any amount of time on the internet then you are no doubt familiar with the concept of an eBook. eBooks are typically longer-form content that covers a specific subject or topic with more depth than a traditional blog post. While the best eBooks include citations and research to back up assertions and theories, those things are not always necessary. eBooks simply need to be interesting on their own. It has never been more important to add an eBook to your online presence. Thankfully, figuring out how to write an eBook has never been easier.
Why Your Business Should Have an eBook
From a distribution standpoint, eBooks are often used as lead magnets. A site visitor might trade their email address for an email containing the eBook or a direct download. Most eBooks are available through a “gate” such as giving up an email address or answering a few demographic questions. The potential value of a longer, more detailed, and more specific piece of content is to be exchanged with something of utility to the publisher. In other words, “we wrote this piece of content you’d like to read, and for that to happen we want a little something from you, too.”
Alternatively, eBooks make for great collateral to send to leads and prospects. The eBook can demonstrate your expertise on a particular topic and help salespeople avoid the dreaded “check-in” while building rapport or angling for a deal.
An eBook can help share your expertise with readers while also generating leads or moving you closer to a sale.
Writing an eBook with Ease
The primary reason we come across why businesses are not leveraging eBooks is that they are not sure how to write them. It is easy to understand that if writing an 800 or 1,000-word blog post is a chore that producing a 2000 or 2,500 word eBook feels even more daunting. Between resource constraints and not being sure what to focus on, eBooks often feel significantly more challenging to produce than a blog post or two.
The good news is that a quality eBook is actually not that hard to create. In fact, if you have been blogging with any regularity, you have likely already done 80% (or more) of the work. Your blog posts can be repurposed as an eBook quite easily. How? By linking together the related and relevant content into a single, extended-length piece.
The easiest way to find complementary posts to put together is to look at your tags or categories. Posts within a certain category or tagged with a specific descriptor are often part of a single overarching thread. From there, you can often simply remove the introduction and conclusion paragraphs, paste the content in an orderly fashion and use headers to transition from one meaty point to the next. These headers and transitions are key. Just because the posts all pertain to the same subject or theme does not mean they will naturally go together without a little bit of polish.
Your Objections are not Valid
The most obvious objection to this method of creating an eBook is that readers may have already read the blog posts. Perhaps you worry they might feel “cheated” by downloading or receiving an eBook of content that is already available at no cost on the blog. Nothing could be further from the truth.
First, eBooks and blogs are likely to appeal to different audiences in different situations and with different perspectives. Second, because you are removing introductions and concussions and linking the content with well-thought-out headers, transitions, and intent, the content will not be nearly as similar to the original post. Finally, it is highly unlikely that anyone reading your eBook has also read all of the blog posts that went into creating it. The vast minority of those that read the eBook will identify anything as being a rehash of your blog. And that tiny possibility should not be sufficient reason to avoid creating an asset that can help your business grow.
What if You Do Not Have Any Blog Posts?
If you do not have an active blog or do not have three or four posts that can be linked together, not all is lost. Now is as good a time as any to start blogging for your business. When planning for your next few posts, use the lure of an eventual eBook as a guide for topics and content strategy.
Choosing topics – or even themes – to focus on for your blog can be a great way to avoid writer’s block. Additionally, once you’ve explored a topic in-depth, you can view the resulting eBook as a reward for your hard work.
One Answer for How to Write an eBook
There are a number of ways to write an eBook. Some of the best eBooks out there have little in common with the company’s blog content. Others are compilations of old posts with a little updating. James Altucher’s best-selling book “Choose Yourself” is nothing but a bunch of his blog posts bound into a book. There are a number of ways to write an eBook and a compilation of blog posts is one. Effective and simple to execute, this strategy can have your eBook ready in short order.