Turn Your Skill Into An eBook In 2020

Have you have ever thought about what the process would be to turn your idea, your skill into a profitable eBook to give you a passive income?

Fancy turning your passion into profit?

In this guide, I’m exploring just how you work through the process with steps and key focus points to think about while in the planning stage.

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Mind Map Research For Your eBook 

Focusing your topic visually on a mind map gives fantastic clarity as you can plan your entire eBook and follow it chronologically.

No matter if it is fiction or non-fiction you can clearly see the plot, chapters, characters, and outlines by creating a mind map.

Don’t underestimate this step as it is so powerful. By placing your eBook title in the middle of the mind map you can add the framework, which can be altered as you write.

The planning and research stage is essential as it will give you the chapters, subchapters, main problems to solve, characters, or plotlines.

These can be elaborated as you progress but having the framework will help your daily productivity writing rather than having no structure. It’s much easier to write for an hour with specific parameters e.g. Chapter 1 – How to Cure Beef In 3 Steps, Subcategory 1. Basics, 2. Ingredients You Need 3. The Process. 

You can break each subcategory down even further, by doing this you will be much more productive in your writing and find it easier to reach your goals. 

Writing Your eBook 

When it comes to writing your eBook, for a consistent daily word count, say 1000 words per day, it’s best to have a good structure to your day.

I find the best time to write is in the morning, pick a time that you will feel pin focused, and motivated to write a consistent block of work.

Maybe it’s in the morning, or perhaps it’s the afternoon or evening. No matter what time of day block off that time and get writing.

Turn off any distraction you have.

That means social media, family (put a ‘do not disturb unless…’ sign on your office door!) pets or even your writing assistant tool such as Grammarly.

Having absolutely no distractions will help you to focus in a time slot to suit you (set your timer) and you will be much more productive.

Not having the distraction of self-editing (or using Grammarly) as you write is liberating. Moving on with writing the eBook is your goal, you can edit at the end and be as ruthless as you need.

But while you have your allotted time to write, do just that – write. When you have this routine of writing focused sections with no distractions you will be amazed at the amount you will accomplish each day.  

The Word Count Of Your eBook 

Your eBook doesn’t have to be word heavy. If you have the expertise to share, you can collate all the information and keep it concise.

Allowing as little as 4000 words or 20-25 pages. Depending on the subject, a short, snappy, concise eBook that addresses pertinent solutions to a problem is much more likely to hold a reader’s attention. 

In contrast, if you have a complex eBook topic you may have no option but to allow for a word count of 10,000 or more to be thorough and cover each problem.

You may, for example, be writing about How to Maintain a Healthy Garden, with many chapters and a high word count due to the vast amount of details to add. 

However, a shorter eBook with a lower word count could be How to Maintain A Lush Green Lawn, and this may be more attractive to your readers as it deals with one solution to a niche problem. 

How To Publish Your eBook?  

Outsourcing a publisher (and an agent) can be costly. With the growing trend for self-publishing, you can save time and money by doing this yourself.

The term ‘Indie Publishing’ was coined to represent an author who takes on all roles traditionally outsourced.

By doing so you, the author, retain all the profits and royalties. It needn’t be laborious and stressful as there are so many resources to help you self-publish.   

Earning Royalties 

Publishing your eBook on Kindle you can sell globally and earn royalties of up to 70% of your eBook sales.

Considering you become a self-publisher your overall costs are lower so any royalties earned via Amazon Kindle will be yours alone.

Building a variety of eBooks on Amazon KPD will increase your ability to earn royalties each month and continue to do so for as long as you want to. 

Selling an eBook as opposed to a physical one is cheaper; this means you can sell it for a lower price which will reach more readers and sell more copies.  

Having a Passive Income 

Once you have published your first eBook (on Amazon or another platform) you can replicate this and build your bookshelf for a passive income stream.

Earning royalties regularly through an eBook that you can create in as little as a week.

Once you have written one eBook it will give you the confidence to add to your library with additional topics or stick to the same topic or theme and find other solutions to common problems.

Creating a dramatic page-turner with a cliffhanger will give you the opportunity to continue and write the sequel.

Once you have a sequence of books in your niche you could bundle them (Amazon makes this easy to do) and sell at a discounted price to encourage your readers to purchase. 

Imposter Syndrome 

If the idea of writing an eBook has always enticed you, but the fear of feeling like an imposter within your ability has repelled you. Think again.

You don’t need to be a seasoned writer to succeed. Write from the heart and your authentic voice will shine through. 

By writing to the best of your ability and setting writing goals for yourself, you will finish your eBook in no time.

Your work is good enough.

You just need to back yourself and keep focused.

Even if you still feel like an imposter, keep writing. The more you write, the more comfortable you will become writing about your skill.

Keep the momentum and create a routine of writing daily and you will find your imposter syndrome dwindling by the day. 

Remember, if you are struggling with something, chances are there are people worldwide with the same problems who are searching for a solution! Write about it. 

What you need a simple tweak in the way you set your goals. Give yourself the time to create a plan and you will be on your way to setting those goals and becoming an author in 2020.

Conclusion

Don’t underestimate what you have accomplished. You have done the hard work, be proud of yourself.

It’s time to congratulate yourself and plan the next eBook! A sequel? Another skill you could write about? Or, branch out into fiction.

The truth about writing an eBook is, while research is essential, whatever genre you have in mind there will be countless others searching for information about that very thing. The possibilities are endless.

Looking for more on writing eBooks and starting a passive income? Head over to How to write an ebook in 2020 for a passive income, and Why write an eBook? (7 top benefits) for more inspiration.