Ali Luke
Admit it. You’ve thought about writing an e-book. In fact, you’ve already imagined the front cover. You can see the main title, and underneath, your name. And when you picture it, you feel a ripple of pride.
An e-book would be a big step up for you as a writer. Because while blog posts are a great way to express your ideas, you can’t help feeling they’re a little, well, fleeting. Lightweight even.
Whereas an e-book is more substantial. It’s taken more seriously. It has more gravitas. And having an e-book with your name on the front transforms you from a mere blogger into that more impressive beast, an author.
But how do you become an e-book author without falling victim to the same mistakes that sabotage the attempts of so many other bloggers?
Three Rock-Solid Reasons to Write Your First E-book
Before looking at our list of mistakes, let’s take a quick look at why writing an e-book is not just attractive to many bloggers, but also a smart move.
1) A Valuable E-book Is a Powerful Sign-Up Incentive for New Subscribers
Does your email list grow s-l-o-w-l-y, with perhaps one or two new subscribers each week, at best?
The truth is that readers are reluctant to hand over their email addresses, even if they love your content. So they may need a little extra nudge to sign up. You could even call it a bribe.
An e-book packed full of valuable content makes a great incentive. If you can offer free information your audience would gladly pay for, you’ll see dramatic improvements in your sign-up rates.
2) A Premium E-book Allows You to Make Some Real Money From Your Blog
When I started blogging, it took me 11 months of writing three to five posts per week to get my first AdSense check for $100. That’s because in the real world, you need a huge blog to make any real money from advertising.
The following year, I launched an e-book that paid for me to go to the SXSW conference, flights, ticket, hotel and all, and that e-book continues to sell for me today.
If you’re earning pennies from ads or you haven’t managed to monetize your blog yet, then an e-book could transform your blog from a fun hobby into a real money earner.
3) An Authoritative E-book Positions You as an Expert in Your Field
If you want to build a name for yourself in your field, an e-book is a great way to boost your credibility and authority.
By publishing on Amazon, you can appear literally alongside some of the biggest names in your industry. In fact, you may find you get more reviews and attention than much better-known authors who are simply less web-savvy.
Why Most E-books Are Embarrassingly Bad
On the surface, writing an e-book seems relatively easy. Lots of bloggers seem to be doing it, so how hard can it be?
But in reality, most e-books that see the light of day are horrible. Embarrassingly bad.
That’s because your average e-book author doesn’t have a clue about writing a book. And they don’t have any of the support that a traditional author would be given by their publisher.
Producing a quality e-book is almost as hard as publishing a traditional book. The basic tasks are the same. You just have to do them all yourself.
Which is why avoiding the mistakes that catch most first-time e-book authors is critically important.
Planning Mistakes: How to Doom Your E-book Before You Even Start Writing
Sadly, you can easily cripple your e-book before you’ve even written a word of it.
I had two spectacular e-book flops due to the second mistake on this list, and many of the others have cost me valuable time. So avoid the following dumb mistakes if you don’t want to fall at the first hurdle.