It's not true that everything that has been said hasalready been written. Since that unfortunate axiomcame into use, the whole universe has changed.Technology has changed, ideas have changed, and themindsets of entire nations have changed.
The fact is that this is the perfect time to write anebook. What the publishing industry needs are peoplewho can tap into the world as it is today - innovativethinkers who can make the leap into the new millenniumand figure out how to solve old problems in a new way.Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for originalthinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate informationto the millions of people who are struggling to figureout how to do a plethora of different things.
Let's say you already have a brilliant idea, and theknowledge to back it up that will enable you to writean exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at yourcomputer staring at a blank screen wondering, "Why?Why should I go through all the trouble of writing myebook when it's so impossible to get anythingpublished these days?
Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook isentirely different than publishing a book in print.Let's look at the specifics of how the print and cyberpublishing industry differ, and the many reasons whyyou should take the plunge and get your fingerstapping across those keyboards!
Submitting a print book to conventional publishinghouses or to agents is similar to wearing a hair shirt24/7. No matter how good your book actually is, or howmany critique services and mentor writers have toldyou that "you've got what it takes," your submittedmanuscript keeps coming back to you as if it is aboomerang instead of a valuable mine of information.
Perhaps, in desperation, you've checked outself-publishing and found out just how expensive aventure it can be. Most "vanity presses" requireminimal print runs of at least 500 copies, and eventhat amount will cost you thousands of dollars. Somepresses' minimal run starts at 1,000 to 2,000 copies.And that's just for the printing and binding. Add indistribution, shipping, and promotional costs and -well, you do the math. Even if you wanted to go thisroute, you may not have that kind of money to risk.
Let's say you already have an Internet business with aquality website and a quality product. An ebook is oneof the most powerful ways to promote your businesswhile educating people with the knowledge you alreadypossess as a business owner of a specific product orservice.
For example, let's say that you've spent the lasttwenty-five years growing and training bonsai trees,and now you're ready to share your knowledge andexperience. An ebook is the perfect way to reach thelargest audience of bonsai enthusiasts.
Ebooks will not only promote your business - they willhelp you make a name for yourself and your company,and establish you as an expert in your field. You mayeven find that you have enough to say to warrant aseries of ebooks. Specific businesses are complicatedand often require the different aspects to be dividedin order for the reader to get the full story.
Perhaps your goals are more finely tuned in terms ofthe ebook scene. You may want to build a wholebusiness around writing and publishing ebooks.Essentially, you want to start an e-business. You arethinking of setting up a website to promote and marketyour ebooks. Maybe you're even thinking of producingan ezine.
One of the most prevalent reasons people read ebooksis to find information about how to turn theirInternet businesses into a profit-making machine. Andthese people are looking to the writers of ebooks toprovide them with new ideas and strategies becausewriters of ebooks are usually people who understandthe new cyberspace world we now live in. Ebook writersare experts in Internet marketing campaigns and thestrategies of promoting and distributing ebooks. Thecyberspace community needs its ebooks to be successfulso that more and more ebooks will be written.
You may want to create affiliate programs that willalso market your ebook. Affiliates can be people orbusinesses worldwide that will all be working to sellyour ebooks. Think about this? Do you see a formulafor success here?
Figure out what your subject matter is, and thennarrow it down. Your goal is to aim for specificity.Research what's out there already, and try to find avoid that your ebook might fill.
What about an ebook about a wedding cake business? Oran ebook about caring for elderly pets? How about thefine points of collecting ancient pottery?
You don't have to have three masters degrees to writeabout your subject. People need advice that is easy toread and easily understood. Parents need advice fordealing with their teenagers. College students need tolearn good study skills - quickly. The possibilitiesare endless.
After you've writtten your ebook.
Getting your ebook out is going to be your focus onceyou've finished writing it, just as it is with printbooks. People will hesitate to buy any book from anauthor they've never heard of. Wouldn't you?
The answer is simple: give it away! You will seeprofits in the form of promoting your own business andgetting your name out. You will find affiliates whowill ask you to place their links within your ebook,and these affiliates will in turn go out and make yourname known. Almost every single famous ebook authorhas started out this way.
Another powerful tool to attract people to your ebookis to make it interactive. Invent something for themto do within the book rather than just producing pagesthat contain static text. Let your readers fill outquestionnaires, forms, even crossword puzzles gearedto testing their knowledge on a particular subject.Have your readers hit a link that will allow them torecommend your book to their friends and associates.Or include an actual order form so at the end of theirreading journey, they can eagerly buy your product.
When people interact with books, they become a part ofthe world of that book. The fact is just as true forbooks in print as it is for ebooks. That's why ebooks are so essential. Not only do theyprovide a forum for people to learn and make sense oftheir own thoughts, but they can also serve to promoteyour business at the same time.
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I wish I had started a cable TV network in 1980.
I also wish I had built a search engine in 1995.
Too late.
Blogs, on the other hand, are changing the consumption of information far far faster than either of those two outlets ever did. Yes, it's different, it's not a winner take all world, but no, that doesn't make the opportunity any less interesting.
If KnockKnock the ebook I published in June, is about how to make websites do their job better, then it's only natural to turn our attention to blogs.
Download whos_there.pdf
Who's There is not an ebook about how to write better or how to follow the traditional conventions about formatting and building a blog. It's not designed to sell you one service instead of another, either.
Instead, I divide the blog world into three groups and turn my attention to one. And in particular, I try to sell you hard on how building a blog asset can have a spectacular impact on you, your career, your organization and your ideas.
I promise this ebook is incomplete. I hope, though, that it encourages you to pay attention to some of the underlying forces at work online and off. And it's small enough to email to your colleagues or to post on your own site. Hey, it's free and it comes with its own carrying case.
As always, thanks for reading. And I promise no more ebooks for at least two weeks.
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