Writing an E-Book: Getting Started

This blog itself was born out of an e-book that I wrote. While that is not typically the route that is taken - many people are bloggers who then transform that blog into an e-book - I took the opposite approach. Whichever position you may find yourself in, I've got a few tips on how to write your own e-book. (You can pick up a copy of my e-book from Amazon here: A Life in Art: Building Side-Hustles to Empower Your Life as an Artist)

As with a lot of writing, the hardest part is getting started. By the end of this post, I don't think that will be a problem.

BE A TEACHER

Before you dive into writing your book, you have to consider why it is that you want to write it. The most successful e-books are short works of non-fiction that offer the reader some form of knowledge that they didn't have before. That isn't to say other forms won't work great, but in terms of a side-hustle and monetization, this is the type of book we're looking at.

That isn't to say that you want to approach your book with the mindset of making the most money off of it that you can, as that will lead to a less than stellar book. You want to approach from the position of a teacher. A Life in Art was born of conversations with one of my friends in the grad student office as we both finished our MFA's. He told me that I had a lot of knowledge about finding side-hustles, and I should find a way to share that knowledge. So I wrote a book. And now I have a blog to expound on these topics (and other offerings in the making - more on that soon!)

So what are you really good at? What can you teach others about?

WHAT PROBLEMS DID YOU HAVE?

Once you've got a topic, you need to think back on when you just started down that road. What were the biggest problems that you had as you began to gather the knowledge you now possess? It's important to remember that you don't need to be an absolute expert on a topic to write a book about it. You just need to be further along the path than your target audience.

As you jot down all of the problems that you had as you got started down your own path towards knowledge, then you are already starting to brainstorm the outline for your book. Ask yourself the questions that you wish you had been able to ask when you were getting started. As you write, you'll strive to provide clear and concise answers to all of those questions.

BRAINSTORM EVERYTHING YOU KNOW

After you've gone through the problems you had when you got started in your topic, now you want to continue that brainstorm. Think through all of the things you know about the topic. They may not all make sense to include in the book, but it can give you a more complete view of what you can contribute to the topic.

As you brainstorm what you know, you may also uncover new areas that you want to dive further into for your own learning. You'll also uncover other potential topics for later books or other informational products that you can create, including web classes and blogs.

WRITE, EDIT, WRITE AGAIN

Once you've brainstormed all of your topics, you may or may not want to organize them into a cohesive outline. If you choose to do so, then when you start writing, you simply write each chapter as you need to. Otherwise, you may find it useful to simply answer all of the questions you've asked yourself, elaborate on all the points, and then work to find the most cohesive way to put it all together.

Whichever way you choose to go, make sure that you edit the book. I would recommend hiring an editor to help you get it into the best shape it possibly can get, but I also understand the cost of that scares a lot of people. Ultimately it is going to be worth it, especially if you've never written before to seek outside guidance on the writing process. Don't get so caught up in your own knowledge that you are blinded to areas where you aren't sharing it as clearly as you might hope.

BETA READERS

Along with finding someone to help edit the book, recruit a group of beta readers. These are people that are examples of your target market, and having them give the book a read will help you understand if you are actually answering the questions you wanted to in a way that makes sense for all of them. Their feedback is going to be invaluable, but remember, while they may be prescriptive in what they say needs fixing, that doesn't always mean they are right. But they are pointing out an issue, and it will then be up to you to determine what the real issue is and how you can go about getting that issue fixed.

CONCLUSION

Writing an e-book can be a highly rewarding way to share your knowledge with the rest of the world. The chance to help others who are interested in some of the same things you are is a great way to give back to the world, as well as monetize your knowledge in a way that can help support your creative life.