You’ll be happy to know that completing the steps from previous articles can make writing your e-book significantly easier. You’ve prepared and planned, so now you can enjoy the process of putting things together and producing a high-quality information product.
Keep your list of keywords handy as a custom thesaurus. Be sure to give a copy to your writer if you hire one. The list of keywords can help you avoid repeating one key word over and over, which becomes stiff and monotonous.
Substituting a word is more than just an issue of keeping things interesting. Each time you introduce a new keyword, you have an opportunity to address a different aspect of your topic. And, you make it possible for Internet users searching on that key word to find you. For example, an e-book about writing e-books will include keywords like e-books, outline, keywords, information marketing, and online publishing.
What Your e-Book Should Give Your Reader
There has to be more in it for the reader than the comfort of knowing that she paid for your Friday night pizza and beer.
There are three things you should do in every e-book you create, publish, and sell:
1. Answer their questions.
The only reason it’s possible to market information products is that people want to know more about a topic. You don’t have to have all the answers, and you don’t have to put all of your answers into one information product. What you must do is provide the information your marketing materials promise you will deliver.
That information can be more than just answers to questions. Your e-book can give readers motivation to take action. Whether it is for goal setting, weight loss, or business start up, your e-book can answer the relevant questions while motivating your readers to achieve their desires.
2. Use your e-book to boost your reputation
Writing an e-book can help establish your status as an expert on your topic. Show readers things they didn’t know before and you will be acknowledged as an expert.
Remember that being an expert on your topic is not a requirement for writing an e-book. Writing on a topic you want to learn is an excellent source for an e-book.
You can find an expert on your topic and ask him to be the editor for your e-book. Aside from getting him to comment on the content and use his material for reference, the big advantage is being able to borrow his credentials to add credibility and authority to your e-book. You can also have a known expert coauthor, write, editor, write a preface, or endorse your book, thus borrowing their credibility.
3. Write clearly and simply
While you are writing, avoid using a lot of jargon or really big words. You want your work to be friendly and easy to read so work at writing the same way you speak.
It’s called conversational writing, and it allows you a great amount of freedom in building your sentences. You can’t quite throw grammar out the window, but you can be a little more relaxed about it.
Mostly, it means avoiding big words and jargon.
Introduce bits of jargon, and use big words, when they are necessary. Then go back to using more familiar words and put the jargon in brackets when it comes up again. This allows you to remind readers of the useful term, and allows readers to glide over the useful term rather than stumble.
When you have a topic that uses a lot of jargon or acronyms (computers are a great example), you should include a glossary as one of your appendices. Your readers will appreciate it, the glossary adds authority to your e-book, and it is a great selling feature to add to your sales page.
You can find a good e-book on conversational writing, written by Scott McDougal, titled How to Write Better and Faster at www.writebetterandfaster.com. This can help you improve your writing skills.