Writing ebooks: with copywriter Glenn Murray

When copywriter Glenn Murray began writing his first ebook he took an unconventional approach – he wrote about a topic he knew nothing about!

As a former technical writer who wrote manuals, Glenn had developed a habit of writing things down as he learned them.

So when he started his own freelance copywriting business in 2002 and realised he had to master the concept of search engine optimisation (SEO), it was natural for him to document the processes and information he learned along the way.

It was these detailed notes that eventually evolved into his ebook, SEO Secrets.

“When I started writing it I knew nothing about SEO and... everything I learned along the way was in that book,” says Glenn, from the New South Wales Central Coast.

“It was written for a small business owner... (because) that was exactly who I was.”

Ebooks now a popular means of self-publishing

When Glenn first began tapping out this ebook in 2003, the concept of practical manuals written solely as commercial, computer-based documents and not published in print was very new.

Seven years on and ‘everyone is doing it’, Glenn quips.

The ebooks referred to in this article are in the genre of non-fiction educational manuals and guides, not to be confused with the electronic versions of printed fiction books.

And, certainly, in this category there is a plethora of ebooks on just about any topic. (I even found one on taxidermy at home and another on building toy trains.)

Should you write your own ebook?

So this begs the question, in this era when too much information never seems to be enough, should - or could - you write an ebook? (It's a question I find an increasing number of freelance writers in my circle pondering.)

Glenn, who is now working on his fourth and fifth ebooks, says there is one pre-requisite for anyone considering writing an ebook; “You have to have knowledge that other people want.

“(That knowledge) doesn’t have to be in demand by a huge audience, but if not, it has to be in high demand in a niche audience.”

You also need to determine why you want to write one in the first place so that you can better identify your desired outcomes for the book. For example, is it something you plan to sell to make a profit, or are you writing it as a promotional tool to attract an audience or capture subscribers?

Writing an ebook is simple. Right?

A key element you need to consider before starting your ebook is whether or not you have the time and inclination to put in the effort that is needed to make it successful. Because, as Glenn believes, while ebooks have made publishing easier and more accessible to more people, they still require a lot of hard work and dedication.

“You have to have time to do it right because it is never just a case of banging out an ebook. You have to spend a lot of time refining it and marketing it,” he says.

"It is not a no-brainer. You have to do it right and you have to do it well to make money from it."

Glenn's top tips to writing a good ebook

There are five key elements that separate informative, good-quality ebooks from ‘the fluff’, says Glenn.

1. They have to be written with the reader in mind so that readers can understand the content easily and apply the information to their own situation; i.e. writing in a step-by-step, task-based format can be very helpful for the reader.

2. It has to be well structured and accommodate both the novices and the experienced within your targeted audience.

3. A good table of contents allows readers to more easily click through to relevant sections.

4. When you make claims ensure you credit your sources and provide links to any relevant material.

5. Edit the ebook thoroughly so that it is free of typos, errors, poor sentence structure and superfluous words.

Mastering the art of selling your ebook

Once you have the content it’s just a case of neatening it up and sending it out to buyers: right? Mmmm, kind of.

Here's what Glenn does.

He writes his content in a word document and then uses Adobe Acrobat to create a PDF of his ebook.

Although you can use free PDF creators, he's found that these often produce poor-quality files that are bigger (making them more cumbersome to download and store for buyers) than those created in Adobe. And often they are incompatible with some computers.

Once the file is ready for public consumption, Glenn advertises it on his website and uses the ecommerce support site, ejunkie, to help manage the sales process.

But, Glenn warns, this is not as simple as it sounds.

“You have to have a useful sales page and that has to integrate with your ejunkie account, which integrates with your paypal, and your paypal integrates with your bank account. All of that has to work nicely and if you have anything out of place everything falls over and it’s never clear why,” he says.

In other words, you have to be technically proficient if you are doing it all yourself.

It is within your reach

Glenn believes, though, that an ebook is firmly within the reach of anyone who is determined and has a product or service that others want.

“It is not out of reach for anyone, but if it does fall over you have to have time to resolve it,” he explains.

He adds that marketing an ebook is also very labour-intensive.

Successful marketing strategies for ebooks warrants another entire blog post, but in short it requires a few integral steps:

* utilising social media;
* developing sales techniques such as strategically-timed discounts and offers;
* good website set-up and maintenance;
* tapping into affiliate programs;
* fostering strong word-of-mouth recommendations.

So, with all that in mind, do you think you have an ebook in you?

Let us know your ebook writing, publishing and marketing experience. Also, if you want to learn more about the particulars of marketing an ebook, drop in a comment.

For more information about Pamela Wilson or WriteSmart, log on to http://www.writesmart.com.au/