You Should Write an eBook

Sometimes you meet people that really have something interesting to say. You find that you are captivated by that person because most of the time he/she passes on not just good advice but also wisdom. You find that what the person has to say intrigues you or even excites you. You might even feel a sort of frisson you have not felt for a while. When said and done though, you want that information in a book. So why does that person intrigue you? Why do you want to know more? Why do you find yourself thirsty for knowledge? You may find that this individual has answered a long-standing question or in some cases, a problem you may have been trying to solve. 

You decide to act as you find the individual agreeable by suggesting this person writes a book. It surprises you that the individual themselves never considered what was said worthy of a book or something to write about. You find yourself disagreeing with that person by saying that there is a need for the information to be out there. There is, however, one question not considered by you – what if the person is not interested in writing or simply too lazy to write?

Let us assume for a moment that the individual is too lazy to be bothered and says so, what would you do next? You think for a moment and then it hits you. How about writing an eBook, you say. The person ponders this for a moment or two and then says this might be too much work. I mean I have to write many pages to get across the message. You interject almost immediately saying there will only be a need for about ten pages or maybe twelve. There is a brief pause, a smile appears and the person says I will do it.

A smile appears on your face with thorough satisfaction that finally the eBook will be a template for some of your thoughts.

There is, however, one more thing. How does this individual go about writing this eBook? Let us not ponder what to do to get started. We will simply borrow from Seth Godin’s suggestion from the lens “How to make an eBook”. Here they are: 

1. Write something worth reading! 
2. Put it into Word or a similar word processor.
3. Change your page layout to wide
4. Even better, change your page size to eight inches wide and six inches high.
5. Use a legible font for the body copy. Times New Roman is fine, but boring. Do not use something fancy.
6. Use a headline font with bravado!
7. Now, if you have a Mac, just choose, "print to PDF".
8. If you don't have a Mac, go buy one and repeat the previous step, or, if you must, figure out how to do that step with a PC or a Commodore 64 or whatever it is you're using. [Easy tip: visit http://www.openoffice.org/ it is free and has print to PDF built in].
9. Your eBook is now basic, but done. 
10. If you open it in Adobe Acrobat (not the Reader, but the for sale version) you can add hyperlinks. Recommended.

As for the issue of copyright and distribution, concerns then use a creative commons license. For those living in the EU or the US, copyright will automatically cover your work on publishing. Distribution could be by blog or email (make sure file is small), whatever takes your fancy; you should also let people know that they may re-distribute by any means as long as it gets to those who will read it. 

Now that you know what to do, what are you waiting for? Come on now, get writing and share your thoughts.

Why eBooks are better than Whitepapers

eBooks and whitepapers are two formats for sharing longer written documents on the web. While both of these terms are often used interchangeably, they are actually two different types of documents. 

eBooks tend to be shorter and more interactive than whitepapers. eBooks often include links to additional multimedia information and focus on the how-to aspect of a subject. Whitepapers are more static and less interactive than eBooks and focus more on thought-leadership content.

What Makes eBooks So Good?

• They’re simple to create and inexpensive to produce – You don’t need a publisher or a printer! You just need some basic software and the time to write about your idea or innovative technique.

• They’re engaging – Because they aren’t just PDFs or Word docs, you can actually get your reader to interact and take some type of action. Encourage them to click on links, fill out a survey, subscribe to your blog, watch a video or even buy something from you online.

• They’re easy to distribute and spread like wildfire – Make the ebook free (don’t collect money, don’t collect email addresses) and add a Creative Commons license to the content so people can share the e-book easily. Create a landing page, add a call-to-action on your website, blog about it, put a link your email signature, email it to your friends/partners/vendors, post a video on YouTube, tell your fans and followers. 

• They’re easy to read and more eco-friendly – Although whitepapers can be read online, the vertical formatting makes them difficult to read. eBooks are easily to read digitally on-demand while whitepapers often need to be printed to be read easily.

What Makes Whitepapers So Bad?

• They’re boring - Wikipedia defines a whitepaper as “an authoritative report or guide that often addresses issues and how to solve them. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions.” Even the definition puts me to sleep.

• They’re old school - They date back to the early 1900s. You might remember The Churchill White Paper of 1922 from your high school history class, you might not. Either way, we haven’t really changed the way we use them since then. They’re still a form of semi self-promotion and propaganda. It’s just that now they are found on the web and are used by businesses as a marketing or sales tool rather than promoting government policy.

• They’re forced upon us – Most people don’t want to read whitepapers, they just feel like they have to read them because they’re “authoritative” and written by “industry leaders”. Or because their boss said so.

• They’re not good link bait – Because you typically have to register (give your email address) to download the whitepaper, most people don’t promote or share whitepapers because they don’t want to force their fans and followers and friends to give their email address away and get hounded by sales reps.

I don’t hate whitepapers. I mean, whitepapers are still useful. But, eBooks are a better way to share on-depth content online. So start writing and sharing your eBook. You’ll be surprised at how fast your ideas will spread and your business will grow.

The most important concepts to remember, whether you choose to create an eBook or a whitepaper, are to have fun with it, write for your audience and be sure you’re actually providing valuable information and awesome ideas.

Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6145/Why-eBooks-Are-Better-Than-Whitepapers.aspx#ixzz0sBdC96WP

By Emily Haahr