So you want to create an ebook, and you want to create it as quickly as possible so you can launch it out into the world, change a lot of lives and make a fantastic amount of income from it!
Wise choice my friend.. wise choice!
But hooooow though? Isn’t it meant to take months to create the perfect ebook?!?! Aren’t you meant to become the suffering writer carefully articulating every single detail so that it is a trillion percent perfect and nothing less?!?! And to that I say, WTF have I told you before about aiming for perfection!?! It’s a trap. Stop it!
I want you to take all your excuses, preconceived notions and wild expectations of how you think creating an ebook should go and throw them out the window. It only took me a few hours to write my first ebook and now it’s my most profitable product. We are about getting shit DONE, not perfect. And best of all, it is WAY easier than you think.
So let’s get started because you’re going to have a finished product within 24 hours! OMG!!!
1. Finding your idea = Documenting
And here we are at step one. If you already have an idea, AWESOME, move on to step two! If you don’t have an idea yet, keep reading..
For you to have a product, you need to have an idea that sells. Now don’t freak out and think you don’t have any good ideas, let alone any that sell, that’s total rubbish and you know that! Ignore your overcritical mind that tells you you’ve learnt nothing or your idea is stupid or it’s been done way too many times. You have, it’s not and yes it has but no ones heard it from you yet.
I’ve always loved what Elizabeth Gilbert says about ideas in her book Big Magic. She said, “Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest, and so they are gifted to you to make this happen. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner. It is only through a human’s efforts that an idea can be escorted out of the ether and into the realm of the actual.”
However if you don’t act on them or wait for too long the idea will move to someone else who will put them into action. Basically, ideas are whimsical little temptresses that will fill your life with fire and frustration and if you don’t cultivate them they’ll move on. How cool is that concept? Kind of makes you wanna get your ass into gear as well doesn’t it? You know.. in case someone else thinks of your idea too! 😛
Okay so how do you find your idea? It’s really simple. Document, don’t create. Gary Vaynerchuk says this alllll the time and it’s what I’ve always reverted back to when I’m stressing about what to say or what to write. Documenting is easier than creating. Why? Because you always have a point of reference. You’re a step ahead of where you were, and where you were is where someone else is, and documenting that is like painting the next piece of the puzzle for them.
You will always have content when you focus on documenting, because you’re writing about what you’ve already done. So take some time to document and list the lessons you’ve learned and skills you’ve acquired in building your business or on your journey to date. Then pick which idea you’re going to teach in your ebook! Each lesson you have is something you can deconstruct and format into a step-by-step process for an ebook.
And if you want more help in writing your ebook, Ebook Empire will help you nail this in the simplest and straight forward way.
2. Write (A.K.A Deconstruct)
So you’ve chosen your idea (woo!) and now it’s time to completely deconstruct the process of said idea. There are 3 parts to this:
First, choose your platform. For my ebook I used Apple Pages, but if you don’t have a mac you can use Microsoft Word and even Google Docs. You can also use Canva, but to be honest it’s a bit painful trying to create a big ebook here compared to the other platforms. I’d recommend just to stick with the first three options.
Next,outline each step like a contents page. What is the very first step your customer needs to do or know? List that as your first step. Now what’s the second? List that as your second step. What about the third? And so on and so forth. This is the skeletal structure of your ebook and will create sanity for you when you get mega lost in your content – which you will!
Next, you want to go through each point and get eeeeeverything out. Oh yes it’s word vomit time! You will more than likely be excited and anxious and ready to get all the shit in your head out and down on the page before you lose inspiration or forget something. Go for it sweetheart! 😉
You don’t have to go through each point in order either. Choose the point that excites you the most and write down every tidbit of information you can think of that relates to your experience. Document, document, document. And don’t worry about your spelling or whether it makes sense or if the information is in order, just get it out and on the page. We’ll tidy shit up later.
It might take a couple of hours to type out everything but once you’ve done this you’re going to take a break. It’s important to have a break away from your work/desk/office and relax so that you can refresh your creativity because when you come back to your content you want to be able to look at it with a fresh new perspective.
3. Revise with fresh eyes
Okay so a few hours have passed, you’ve had time to chill and recoup, maybe squeeze in a workout or a nap (which I highly recommend you to do because they restore your energy!) and now it’s time to revise your work.
The easiest way to go about this is to go through each point and look at the information you’ve already typed and then elaborate more on each part. Read it back to yourself and then ask what else there is to elaborate on. Make it so literal that a 5 year old could understand what to do. It will also force you to make things really simple and understandable.
4. Format it all together
Once you’ve finished revising, now is the time to format your work. Oh no! More than likely you will have already started to do this so it’s not going to be as difficult to do.
Spend time on each chapter/lesson/point cutting, cropping, copying and pasting the content into the right areas. You may also find that there’s some information that isn’t relevant or doesn’t make sense when you format it. Go ahead an edit while you format. It’s okay to revise as much as you want!
You can also add images relating to your content as well. Maybe you need screenshots to articulate your point or even links to a video or tutorial. Whatever your ebook is about, it’s a good idea to break up the content with visuals and colour.
5. Make your masterpiece sparkle
And now that you’ve got your finished and formatted masterpiece, it’s time to polish it off with your fancy design skills!
When I made my ebook I kept it super simple and just made a pretty cover image for it, and that’s all. It’s a crock of shit if you think products need to be perfectly polished with mega boss design work. Some of the most useful and helpful products I’ve ever bought were literally just straight text. No design, no colour, no nothing.
The best advice I could ever give you is not to overthink it. Just get it done. You can always come back to it again AFTER you’ve launched it. I’ve done that several times with my ebook when I wanted to change my cover image and also when I wanted to add a new chapter.
How do you create an ebook cover image? Head over to Canva and use their awesome templates to spark your creative juices which are quite possibly running on low now! Play around with the text, colours, fonts and graphics and see what you come up with. And above all please do not forget.. DONE over perfect! Okay!?!?!?
Now it’s your turn! What part of creating an ebook do you find most challenging? What part of the process do you need the most help with?
Elise xo
P.S – Want to dive deeper into creating and selling a profitable ebook? Ebook Empire is your next step. Click here to find out more and sign up!
