The introduction of ebooks has taken the world by storm. The two cogent reasons are its affordability and accessibility. Research shows that ebook sales generated over 1.1 billion dollars in 2021. This fact underscores the significance of digital books in a fast-evolving world. Hence, this article delves into a step-by-step guide to writing your first ebook, which is explained below:
Ideate and Brainstorm: In every process, there is an idea. This step entails ideating topics and niches in specific areas, especially for non-fiction ebooks, and developing ideas that appeal to a particular audience.
However, as you brainstorm, think outside the box. Think generally about the entire aspects of your book, starting from content to structure to tone, etc, and pen them down. You will have to ask yourself some questions like what genre is selling? What is the conversation in the world right now? What evergreen niche should I delve into?
Conduct Holistic Research: This step includes conducting holistic research that confirms the viability and the general acceptance of your proposed book. It also includes researching who your competitors are as well as your target audience. You can also research more on what you have ideated.
Leveraging major research sites like Google and Research Gate would help. Cogent questions you might want to consider in this step include, who is my target audience? What genre are they buying? Where are they buying from? What other data constitutes am I looking for?
Note Down Key Nuggets: Upon successful research, kindly note down the pointers and major topics you would like to delve into in the course of drafting your book. You must ensure that the points flow accordingly in your ebook.
Create a Detailed Outline: This step includes drafting a detailed outline, more like creating a chart that matches your content and how you want the book to flow. This encapsulates the basic things about the book and cogent areas such as agenda, roadmap, and the synthesis of how the book will flow.
Start Writing: After going through the above steps, just write. Delve into writing and maintain a pace. Take cognisance of your tone, diction, style, and industry-appropriate standards.
Revise for Fine-Tuning: This step requires a critical review of your work. Give it a couple of weeks or even months before revising. In this stage, be sure to approach your work from an objective stance, rather than allowing your emotions to control.
Give a Professional Editor: After you are done with all of the steps mentioned above, you must hire a professional editor to proofread your work. A professional editor will improve your writing ensuring that it is clear, concise, free from grammatical and spelling errors, and easy to understand.
Open a Digital Account With a Virtual Publishing Company: After receiving your work from a professional editor, the next thing to do is open a digital account with a virtual publishing company. There are multiple virtual publishing accounts including Amazon KDP, Barnes & Noble Press, Apple, Blurb, Draft2Digital, Smashwords, BookBaby, BookShop, etc.
Before opening the account review the company’s policy and terms and conditions. For example, Amazon’s royalty on published books is 60%, while Apple’s and Barnes & Noble’s are 70% respectively
Format Your Book and Cover According to the Publishing Company’s Guidelines: This part includes formatting your book content in compliance with the publishing company’s guidelines and policy. If you don’t adhere to the publishing company’s guidelines it might affect the sales, review, and even the reading experience of the readers.
Get Your Book Published: This is the final step. Once you have carried out all the steps listed above then your book is set to be published. Do a quick review to ensure that everything is in place before going ahead to publish your ebook. Additionally, ensure you incorporate the integral aspects of a book, including, the table of contents, cover page, and a well-designed book cover.
In conclusion, writing your book can be somewhat stretchy, however, it doesn’t have to be. With the steps provided above, it can be done within a short time. Also, they will enable you to attain your writing goals efficiently. For more writing tips, click here.