User Comments

1. 

   3/23/08

   crkian

   Im doing one now, just takes time. As for the traffic I should think it will help if it becomes popular.

   [reply]
2. 

   3/23/08

   xtremer

   I've never created one, but I have heard that, if it tends to create a wave, an ebook will naturally get you loads of traffic......
   
   you can submit your ebooks to ebooksubmit.com . You can also promote it in various forums too..................

   [reply]
3. 

   9/12/08

   pbdjones

   I've been thinking about writing one myself. I don't have a sense for the average length that is expected, so I can't estimate how much time they will take.
   
   Any ideas?

   [reply]
4. 

   9/12/08

   jackpayne

   My book, Six Hours Past Thursday, is offered as an email download at $5.95. Think total sales have come to about 10. I do far better with the lap-sitting versions--paperback at $16.95, and hardback at $25.95.

   [reply]
5. 

   9/12/08

   Dukepro25

   The question is...
   
   Are you writing this book to drive traffic to your site, or to make money - or both?
   
   If it is specifically to drive traffic to your site, than I would suggest that you give your ebook away for free. It's what you would call Viral Marketing. The more people you give the book too, the more people that are going to show up at your site.
   
   If your only purpose is to sell the book, then I would work on promoting it through other venues. You’re going to have to spend part of your earnings on promotion. Just because you write a book, doesn't mean it will sell. You’ve got to get your book in front of the right market, or else, no one will buy it.
   
   If you are going to write a book to sell, be sure to cross promote yourself. You may just be writing this book to sell, but you also want it to promote your other projects and add links.
   
   An ebook is a good thing, because you can always be updating it. Where as, with print, you buy a whole bunch of books and you have to sell them. With an ebook, if you have to make an alteration or update some information, than you're not stuck with a bunch of outdated books.
   
   I've been wanting to do ebooks for a long time, I just haven't really decided to do it - Yet! lol

   [reply]
   1. 

      9/14/08

      DaneMorgan

      "Are you writing this book to drive traffic to your site, or to make money - or both?"
      
      Scratch the "or both" do one or the other and you'll have a better shot. Trying to do both most often leads to accomplishing neither.
   2. 

      9/16/08

      Dukepro25

      I disagree.
      
      If you're writing a book to make money, there's no sense in omitting web links.
      
      You can do both.
      
      Example: Multiple Streams of Internet Income by Robert Allen (One of my fav books of all time!)
      
      That book is chuck full of links and references.
      
      These references aren’t all his, but my point is, you can do both.
      
      It is possible.
6. 

   9/12/08

   lordlikely

   I am all for e-books, on account of the fact that it is nearly impossible to get a paper-cut from them.

   [reply]
7. 

   9/12/08

   MVT5150

   I would look into how to get them published for the Kindle or Sony's e-book reader. They are getting more and more popular.

   [reply]
8. 

   9/14/08

   pbdjones

   That's a good idea MVT5150, I think I remember reading about how easy amazon makes it to get your material on the kindle site.
   
   It couldn't hurt to have all the amazon traffic searching for key terms and finding your ebook...

   [reply]
9. 

   9/14/08

   wehireu

   jackpayne trying to sell an ebook is often a futile idea. The people who make sales with ebooks are the ones who link the ebook as a free promotional item so you will buy their other books. Cory Doctorow made his fortune by giving away a lot of his books. Adding in heavy advertisement combined with press releases boosts your presence online. The best way to do this seems to be to give away the first book in a long running series. It gets people to buy the whole series.
   
   Charles Stross did a similar thing with his science fiction books.
   Baen Books which sells science fiction has a huge backlist of free ebooks which drives sales of newer books. They have an excellent article on giving away ebooks. www.baen.com/library/defaultTitles.htm
   
   aldersgatecycle.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/tor-free-ebooks-boost-sales-from-a...

   [reply]
10. 

    9/14/08

    EDBeale

    I'm told that a good way to get people to buy your book is by having a contest on your blog. I have a ebook available myself and started a silly contest for a free copy give away. No one has participated with the contest, but an hour after I posted something about it elsewhere, a couple of people just bought it. *shrug*
    
    
    edbeale.info

    [reply]
11. 

    9/14/08

    Ranu

    I wrote a book "Breaking Barriers" on women police. I drew inspiration from my book to start my blog www.womenforce.net
    
    I think eBook is a wonderful idea.

    [reply]
12. 

    9/14/08

    tonymas

    I have had an ebook for a few years now. It was too small of a book to do the traditional way. I have been very pleased with it and have done well. I have two identical sites, one that uses paypal and the other uses clickbank only.
    
    It took more work to promote it then to actually put it together. I had a service do it for me very reasonably. I wanted it to stand out and not be just 'words' on a page.
    
    www.whispersbook.com/

    [reply]
13. 

    9/14/08

    sophielc

    I've been telling myself for a few months that I should write an ebook too but never got around to it; I think I need to succeed in doing something first, then write about it and use my experience as proof that my advice works.

    [reply]
14. 

    9/14/08

    bradhart

    Free ones can drive you a fair amount of traffic if you market it right, but in the end it all comes down to is it the traffic you want? Just like using entrecard you could end up with 99.9% bounce rate if you don't market the entire blog. As for making money on an ebook, forget it unless you are already a big name success.

    [reply]
15. 

    9/16/08

    annaswan

    My co-Author and I have written several as promotional material for our blogs. We give the download link away for free - and try our best to jam pack them with lots of information so it's worth the reader's time to download one.
    
    This year we've been trying something new. We take all of the content from a blog for 6 months - and eBook it. We simply title them "The Best Of (Blog) and offer them for free download as well. This enables readers who may be new to the blog to get 6 whole months worth of content in one easy download.
    
    The only "catch" to these free eBooks is that we do include paid advertising. That makes it worth our time to produce them.

    [reply]
16. 

    9/16/08

    LGramlich

    FYI, neither my husband nor I read ebooks (nor do many other people we know.) Call us old fashioned, but we'd rather read a book than a screen (& yes, we could print the out, but that's more of a hassle than it's worth & still isn't in "book" format.)

    [reply]
17. 

    9/16/08

    dosox

    write an ebook and then give it for free... Then i'll surely read it.
    
    i'm interested inwriting an e-book(free) too but i think i'll do it five to six years later.

    [reply]
18. 

    3/26/09

    jbsmith

    I've written 12 ebooks which sell in 4 different markets as well as several viral (free) reports and videos.
    
    Great to see so many of you interested in writing your own ebook - take it from someone who put off his decision for years - do it now!
    
    The key to writing a successful ebook (free or forsale) is to uncover an information-based topic that helps someone achieve a highly desired outcome. People don't want to JUST be informed, they gobble up non-fiction ebooks to solve problems, overcome challenges, achieve outcomes (lose weight, look better, feel better, become a better speaker, get a better job, overcome a health challenge, help raise successful kids, etc...)
    
    The other common mistake people make is that you have to be an "Expert" before you get started - not true. What you must do is understand what your market wants, then give it to them in an effectively organized way (HINT** step-by-step systems sell extremely well).
    
    Writing and marketing your own ebooks is not only a blast, can bring in some great profit, but it is terrific for branding you within your marketplace.
    
    Finally - don't believe that you must have 150 pages for your first ebook. There are many highly successful ebooks selling for $37 or more in the 50-page range - the difference is that they are highly targeted and organize the information in a very systematic way.
    
    There's a blog we maintain over at www.highertrustmarketing.com/blog/ all about ebook writing and marketing if that helps.
    
    Hopefully I'll see your ebooks on the market soon.

    [reply]