Another e-book generating idea that is actually as old as graduate school, but the internet makes it practical. It’s called “research.” The word “research” brings back memories of confusion and frustration for me. Have they found the sadist that came up with the Dewey decimal system and strung him up yet? I never did understand it. Google, on the other hand, I understand. Without having to resort to card files or surly librarians, I can type in the subject of my prospective e-book and hit “enter.” This will return pages and pages of links to information on my topic. For example, lately I’ve been working on Meditate for Success. It’s an e-book about how you can use a combination of modern technology and ancient mind control methods as your secret weapon to get ahead of your competition. As a happy coincidence, I produce audio products that use modern technology and ancient mind control methods. You can find out all about them at http://www.milagroresearchinstitute.com/mmm01.htm and http://www.instantchange.com. That one sentence was about all I could think of to say about it, which would have made for a short and disappointing e-book. So I zipped over to Google and typed in “benefits of meditation.” Wow. Over eight thousand web sites just brimming with information, case studies, galvanic skin response test results, brain wave scans, and magazine articles appeared out of hyperspace. I grabbed the most interesting and compelling benefits and pasted them into my e-book. Under each benefit, I wrote a short paragraph describing the benefit and how it was achieved. Then I erased the stuff I had pasted, leaving my original work- a completed chapter on the benefits of meditation. Using this technique, I believe I could write a believable e-book on almost any subject, and so could you. Use Lists to Write Your E-book
Another popular e-book format is the “list.” If you can think of 10, 21, 101 things that go together, you’ve got an e-book. For example, my friend, Nerissa Oden, wrote an e-book called “101 Fun Things You Can Do with Your New Digital Camera.” List books are easy to write. Here are a few ideas I came up with over a cup of coffee: 25 tricks for saving money on gasoline 101 e-book ideas 10 steps to the perfect cup of coffee 17 things you must know about wine 99 great sandwich ideas 19 things to look for when you’re looking for a computer 111 dating tips for the shy man 1001 ways to make money with your laptop computer 12 secrets of automobile maintenance 25 things your banker will NOT tell you What ________ Can Teach Us About ___________.
This chapter started as an article called “What Tom Sawyer taught me about writing e-books.” My friend, Bill Hibbler, wrote a popular series of articles called “What American Idol Can Teach Us About Marketing” that you can read at http://www.ecommerceconfidential.com/articles.html The more arresting your source is, the more interest there will be in your book. Look for interesting juxtapositions and surprising contrasts. Here are a few ideas: What sex workers can teach us about politics What Thomas Jefferson can teach us about love What Captain Kangaroo taught me about physics What Jesse James can teach us about banking William Shakespeare on Marketing Gertrude Stein’s secrets of communication What Madonna can show us about marketing Get the idea? Now What?Easy, isn’t it? How many e-books have you written so far? Keep at it. Use every new e-book as an opportunity to promote your previous e-books.
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Pat
O'Bryan is the CEO of Practical
Metaphysics, Inc This article may be reprinted in its entirety, including contact information, freely.
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