There are many writers who write for the pleasure of writing and who publish eBooks as a form of literature and art. There are also writers (and even those who do not write well – see our series on ghostwriters) who recognize the potential of digital publishing as an income stream. Publishing many eBooks on topics that have the potential to go viral can create multiple streams of income, especially if you sell them from your own website. Determining what eBook ideas to write about requires three things:
- Pay attention. Pay attention to what’s being discussed around you. What are your friends and family obsessed with on Facebook? What’s trending on Twitter? What information or entertainment do people always seem to want more of? Example: Hunger Games is a very successful book and movie franchise, and now, books and movies set in dystopian societies are all the rage (e.g., Divergent, The Giver, et al).
- Use Google’s Keyword Planner. Google’s Keyword Planner can give you insight into what people are searching for, both words and phrases. You can use their insights about what topics generate the most searches, to determine the topics of your eBooks.
- Analyze your most popular blog and social media posts. See what’s trending in social media and on your own site; don’t be afraid to take a peek at what’s going on with your competitors, too.