Conduct market research
Before you write a single word, you need to do some research about the ebooks writing business. Who are your competitors? What is their reputation like? Are they larger companies with more resources or smaller entrepreneurs who wrote one book?
You can search for them (and me) using online tools. Then talk to as many other authors as possible to get a sense of the market.
What kind of questions should you ask?
How did you start writing?
Who has helped you the most?
Where do you find your ideas?
How much money do you make per hour?
These conversations will help you figure out what type of career you want to have. People are always looking for writers and editors, so if you know how to write yourself, then you can use social media groups and communities to promote your skills.
It’s also helpful to know why people hire writers and editors. You should think about these questions before you begin:
Why does my company need an ebook writer?
Are there any standards for grammar and syntax in the books that I edit?
Do we offer competitive pay rates, or is editing just part of my day job?
Write your ebook
Once you have an idea for an e-book about your topic, write it. You can either hire someone else to do this work or yourself.
By writing your own e-book, you will be able to include how you build trust with your readers and what other resources you have to offer. You’ll also have the ability to improve them through feedback and sharing your updates.
If you want to hire someone to help you, here are some of the things you should consider when hiring :
Create a website
Now that you have a clear picture of who you are, what you offer, and how you can help others, you need to create a website to promote your ebook writing business.
This should be one of your top priorities when you set out to build a web presence. Web designers are much more affordable now than they were five years ago, so there is no reason not to give yourself a custom-designed site.
You can then add extra features such as a newsletter system or even a live chat room where people can ask questions. These things will make your site more interactive and let people know you better.
Search engine optimization (SEO) becomes extremely important once you have a site built. Without good SEO, your site may be hidden among all the other pages on the internet.
Having a site designed by your best shot is also helpful. The shots here will show up at the top of the search results for your brand name and topic plus these will get some attention because they are professional looking.
Find your audience
Once you’ve got a book written, whether you publish it or not, you’ll need an audience to read it.
If you want to write books about personal experiences, this will be hard work. You can market yourself as a ‘story teller’ and get people interested in what you have to say, but little else.
There are lots of ways to reach an audience, but the most popular is probably through social media channels. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram all offer ways to connect with your target audience and encourage them to click over to your website so they can buy tickets or download your app.
Another way to find a audience is via networking groups that focus on specific interests or professions. For example, if you are a writer, join a writers group to network and help build relationships.
You may also me more comfortable approaching other members of your community for feedback on your writing. They might share stories with you or give you an advice on how to improve your style.
Finding and connecting to an audience is one part of the publishing process, but it’s still something many people fail to do. After all, everyone wants to hear a story told well.
Reach out to your audience
Once you have a book written, published and priced, you will want to reach out to your audience. You can do this through Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus or through one of many email marketing services.
The key is to find a way to connect with your fans. Talk about things that they love, things that interest them, and what you have coming up for your next book.
You can also give prizes away via social media platforms. For example, if you have a book giveaway, let everyone know who follows the contest so more people can join in.
This keeps your followers engaged and interested in what you are doing. They may even tell their friends about it too.
Giveaways are a great way to increase engagement as well as getting the word out about your work. But keep in mind that nobody likes receiving giveaways. If you try giving yourself away, then you understand how frustrating this can be.
Develop your brand
Your brand is everything you about me- personally, professionally, socially.
Who you are as a person will help shape who people view as author and what they publish.
Your personality, style, and attitude can help get yourself noticed by others and establish trust within the community of authors you work with.
You want other people to like you? Then be honest, kind, and helpful and make an effort to understand other people’s views.
People will start trusting their own eyes rather than looking up reviews to verify facts. You don’t need to be perfect since it is only digital media content, but you do need to be clear and consistent.
To sum up this section:
Become an expert in your genre. Have some stories that have stood the test of time and come from a place of love instead of marketing tricks.
Be passionate about what you write and have a passion for writing itself. It will go a long way towards making your readers fall in love with you and your book.
Create marketing materials
Once you have created content, produced videos or slideshows, set up social media pages, etc., you will need to create other resources to promote your business. Unless you have previous experience in this area, you may want to hire someone who is expert at creating promotional material.
You can also consider what’s called “passive promotion” when you hire people to help you with active promotion of your ebook. Passive promotion includes things like blog posts, tweets, pins, links, and most obviously Facebook posts and Reddit comments.
While these promotions should be out there for everyone to see, they will increase the likelihood that more people will hear about your book.
Do all you need to do to be successful
You will need to invest time, money, effort, and energy in your ebook business.
You must understand that being successful in this industry requires more than just writing books.
You will also need marketing skills (such as social media management), expertise in technology (such as computer programming), and leadership abilities.
To be successful in the publishing industry, you need to know how to put others down before them, ask questions, or motivate people.
Being an expert is not about knowing everything. It is about understanding other people’s points of view and sharing knowledge and resources with them.
The most important thing we learn in life is that everyone has a perspective, and no one can tell you what that is.
We are each so sure that we are right that we cannot see things from anyone else’s point of view.
Everyone has a viewpoint because of our perspectives. We have formed our opinions over years through experience. New experiences may change your opinion, but only if they make you stronger, not weaker.
Make your ebook unique
Now that you have a topic and set of books in mind, it is time to make your idea clear and specific. Most authors use their ideas about once a year or less. You want to be able contact with yourself about this thing? Then you’re going to need some clarity around what you are trying to create.
It also helps if you have a plan. I know, we all don’t have one, but if you do, then you should. A good planner will help you organize things like deadlines, prices, customers, etc. It also helps you see other avenues of success for the book.
You can start with the basic tasks such as pricing your book, finding fans, and promoting your book. With more time, you can think up other ways to promote it too, such as using social media.
If you already have a plan, just add something else to it – starting with a question like “ how would people market my e-book?” or “ What format does my e-book take?”. You’ll come up with a better plan.
