Purpose – Think about what
you want to write. You should be an expert. You should have an audience.
Your eBook should have a purpose. Is it to entertain? Teach? Help? Why
should your reader buy your book?
Write an Outline – Before you
begin, write an outline or table of contents. Planning is essential to a
great eBook.
Research – Library,
interviews, online. Find statistics, quotes, news, charts. Research
thoroughly, but don’t use this stage to procrastinate. Get what you need
and move on. If you don’t have enough, you can always go back for more.
Write – Every day. Write
until you’ve completed your first draft. Don’t stop. Don’t edit. Just get
it done.
Pictures – Whether you choose
to illustrate with charts, graphs, or full color photographs, just make
sure that you have either chosen graphics to which you own the copyright
or is in the public domain. This includes whatever you choose for your
cover.
Rewrite. Then Rewrite Again –
A first draft is not a publishable draft. Clip the extra words, insert
examples and explanations where information is unclear, and take out
irrelevant information. Your goal is tight, clear writing in which every
word is necessary, active, vital, alive.
Test it – No company would
just put a product on the market without doing a few tests first. Have a
couple of people read it, preferably not someone to whom you are blood
related or who owes you money. You want an honest opinion of what is clear
and what is not. On the other hand, weigh carefully the input you receive.
Some of it may be worthwhile but much of it won’t.