If you’re an indie author ready to take advantage of the shift to digital and the growth in ebook sales, this indie author resource guide is for you. If you are a small publishing house or new publisher, this guide can benefit your business as well. Be sure to read part 1, on marketing your ebook. In this next part, we will discuss writing your ebook and provide resources to help you write your ebook more effectively.
Getting Started
While non-fiction ebooks is challenging, the topic is normally clear. You’re an expert in the topic; it Do you want to write an ebook but don’t even know where to start? Do you feel like you have stories inside you, but you don’t quite know where to begin? Writing prompts are great tools to help motivate and inspire your writing. SelfPublishing.com has 250+ writing prompts to get you started.
Outlining Your eBook
Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, a good place to start is with an outline. Think of it like any other business – you have to have a plan in order to succeed. Since most indie authors would love nothing more than to make enough money to quit their day jobs and write full time, treating your writing like a business – having a plan, being disciplined enough to spend time working on it every day, learning and honing your craft – are all important ways to achieve better success.
Creating Authentic Characters
If you are writing fiction, flat, 2-dimensional characters will slow down any story. Take time to develop and get to know your characters. Write up character sheets that explore where each character – you should know everything about the character. ThinkWritten has a great 160-question development worksheet you can use to more fully flesh out the characters in your stories.
Don’t Let Writer’s Block Prevent You from Making Progress
If you have a tough day writing, it’s ok to step back from it and give your brain a break from story development. Instead, focus on marketing, or start envisioning your cover, or go for a walk and clear your head. Be willing to take a break when the writing gets tough – but then come back and get to work. If you can’t find a way through what you’re working on in a scene or chapter, move to a different part of the outline and begin to flesh that out.
A Word About Motivation
There is one thing that separates the published ebook author from the unpublished: motivation. In this high-tech era where you can literally set up your own website, ebook sales page, payment processing, and DRM, the biggest impediment to your success can often be your own motivation. Whether it is because you lack confidence in your writing skill (that’s what editors are for!), have to keep your day job (spend an hour a day on your ebook and you’ll see progress), or hit a block, don’t lose your motivation. People are starving for ebooks.
Finally, to really publish your ebook, you need to follow through. It’s not just getting the book written but continuing to market, working with great editors and cover designers.
Part One – Marketing Your eBook
