Lessons from Writing an Unsuccessful eBook

From freebies to best-sellers, eBooks have the potential to grow both your audience and bank balance.

Of course there’s no guarantee that every eBook you churn out will be well received. But even the duds can teach you important lessons.

Don’t Be Deterred by a Small Audience

A small but engaged subscriber base can be lucrative—provided you follow the right process of creating, selling and advertising.

Tailor the media you use to the demographic you’re asking to part with their cash. Be imaginative! An eBook doesn’t always have to be a plain PDF. If you think your prospective audience would be more receptive to a series of web pages, go for it.

Use a number of relevant websites, social media and forums to promote your eBook. And while you’re at it, there are more effective marketing messages than “Buy this now. It’s good.” Craft your pitch so it’s more conversational than hard sell.

According to Smashwords’   Mark Coker  , the most popular way for eBook readers to find material is “Recommendations from fellow readers on online message forums, blogs and message boards.”

Freebies Can Draw a Crowd

When you’re building your blogging business, chances are it’ll be important to grow your subscriber base quickly and efficiently. Here’s how.

Create a short eBook to give away for free. Split it into seven or so chapters; each chapter equals an email.

Each chapter should provide very specific information, and details on how this information will help your readership in some way.

The beauty of a free eBook is that, provided it’s a decent read, your audience now has confidence in the quality of your products.

Learn from Your Failures

Of course it’s important that you try something new, but that doesn’t mean throwing away the rule book altogether—especially when it comes to correctly structuring your eBook.

Always use a table of contents. Make sure your chapters aren’t too dense. They should follow a rational order. Stay focused and organized in your writing. If your readership has to go digging for useful information, the majority will be unlikely to persevere.

That said, most successful online marketers recommend saving the serious editing until the end of the eBook writing process.

According to blogger Amy Lynn Andrews : “Skip a line between paragraphs perhaps, but other than that save formatting for the end.”