How to Write an eBook and Make Money (A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners)

Writing your own eBook is one of the best ways to make money and earn passive income.

With that said, the idea of writing your own eBook might seem daunting and extremely intimidating.

After all, there are different ways you can go about writing an eBook, editing, publishing it, and selling it.

Do these questions sound familiar?

• How do I write an eBook?
• How can I make money by writing an eBook?
• What programs do I use to write an eBook?
• What are the steps to write and eBook?
• How do I promote it?
• What platforms can I sell it from?

I mean, the list goes on and on.

Lucky for you, you don’t have to wonder any longer.

I will be walking you step-by-step on how to write an eBook and make money.

Here is an outline:

1. Why learn to write an eBook
2. How to find a good eBook idea
3. How to validate your eBook idea
4. Writing your eBook
5. Creating your eBook cover
6. How much to price your eBook
7. Where to sell you eBook
8. Promoting your eBook
9. Getting ready to launch your eBook
10. Launching your eBook
11. What happens next
12. Additional Resources

I will also be sharing with you some of the behind the scenes of Blogcabulary Plus (my recent eBook), so that you can avoid my mistakes and recreate my successes.

In addition, I will be also including amazing tools and resources that made my eBook writing and selling process easier and more successful.

Blogcabulary Plus turned out to be massive. Coming in at almost 40,000 words, 200+ pictures, and 219 pages, believe me there was a lot learn.

But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

First, let’s cover the fundamentals of writing an eBook.

Note: Before we commence you might want to bookmark this post or save it on Pinterest. That way,  you can follow along all of the steps we will cover today as you work on your eBook.

*This post contains affiliate links. Meaning that if you purchase their product by using my direct link, I receive a small compensation at no extra cost to you . HOWEVER, I recommend tools and resources I absolutely love and/or currently use myself. Thank you so much for your support.

Why learn how to write an eBook

There are many reasons as to why you would write your own eBook.

Make Money

One of the main reasons for writing an eBook is to make money.

Not just any money, but passive income.

There is no better income than the one that trickles into your bank account without you having to lift a finger.

For instance, in order to receive an income from your job requires that you provide a service on a daily basis in turn for compensation.

If you were to write an eBook however, you would do all of the work upfront, and set it on autopilot.

You would invest a certain amount of time creating your eBook and setting strategies in place so that once you launch it, there isn’t much to do on your part.

However, I want it to be clear that the eBook writing and selling process isn’t a “get rich quick” gig.

It requires time, patience, and implementing the right tools and strategies to help it succeed.

Creates a reputation within your niche

Writing an eBook enables you to be seen as an expert in your field.

After all, writing an eBook requires knowledge about your eBook topic.

If you are a blogger/entrepreneur who is trying to spread the word about who you are and what you do, creating an eBook is definitely a great idea.

Help Others

One of the most rewarding aspects of writing an eBook is your ability to help a lot people in the process.

If successful, your eBook will have the potential to reach hundreds if not thousands of people.

However, even if your words are only able to help impact just ONE life, then I think you’ve succeeded.

Leave a Legacy

The written word is one of the most precious gifts that we have been granted.

After all, all we know as humankind was in some way learned from others who left their knowledge written on paper and passed along from generation to generation.

Writing an eBook or a book in general, would mean that your knowledge, thoughts, and ideas, will live on as your legacy.

That’s on its own, it’s priceless!

HOW TO WRITE AN EBOOK AND MAKE MONEY: STEP BY STEP

How to find a good eBook idea

I find a lot of people struggle with this basic step.

They know they want to write an eBook but they don’t have the slightest idea as to how to find an eBook topic or tittle.

Consider these strategies to help you find a good eBook topic:

• Find something you are good at (if you are a blogger, then great! That means that you already write about something in particular you know a lot about)
• Solve a common problem for your audience
• Answers common questions within your niche
• Help simplify a process by walking them step-by-step
• If you are a blogger, make list of your top posts and see what they have in common, then elaborate on that subject (in other words, expand on something you’ve already written)
• Look into what’s trending (Google trends it’s a great resource to check out)
• Find ideas at Answer the Public

If you aren’t and a blogger and would like to know how to start a blog, you can do so by signing up for this FREE 7-day email course on “How to Start a Making Money Blog”.

How to validate your eBook idea

Validating your eBook idea is one of the most important steps in the eBook writing process.

Let’s face it, just because we think our eBook idea will be a New York Times best seller, doesn’t necessarily mean it will be.

We can increase our chances at making it an eBook that people will be interested in, but how do we do that?

Validating your eBook idea simply means making sure that your eBook topic will resonate well with your audience by doing further research.

Consider these tips and strategies to validate your eBook topic idea:

• Ask the subscribers in your email list
• Find ideas in Facebook Groups on your niche (if you aren’t a bloggers, this is a great way to be amongst your ideal audience and see what questions and struggles they are facing)
• Check what’s popular on Amazon Books on your topic
• Create a survey and ask your ideal audience (Facebook Groups in your topic of interest are great place to do this)
• Ask family and friends

Write the eBook

Now that you have a found and validated your eBook topic is time to put it all on paper.

First, consider writing an outline of your eBook.

Start by creating a table of contents. This will enable you to and organize your ideas for an easier workflow and productivity.

Writing an eBook takes time.

The most important thing is that you are consistent. Set aside time each day to write, or set a goal of a certain amount of words per day/week and try to reach it.

EBook writing software

Many people who are looking to learn how to make an eBook believe that there is a fancy eBook writing software you must use.

Truth is, you can use any writing software and make a successful eBook.

To write Blogcabulary Plus I used good old Microsoft Word. Then, once completed (and edited it) I saved it in PDF format.  More on book formatting later.

Other tools you can use to create your eBook include:

• Google docs
• Adobe InDesign
• iBooks Author (for making books to sell exclusively on Apple iBooks)

Here is a great list of 13 useful software’s to help you to create your own eBook.

eBook editing

Book editing is a really important step in the eBook writing process.

Whether you are the Spelling Bee Champion of the country or need a little help in the grammar department, you need proof readers.

There are a few ways you can edit/proofread your book:

1. Give the manuscript to friends and family
2. Offer the free manuscript to a selected group in your audience for them to proofread it
3. Have it professionally edited

As you can tell, there are different ways you can go about your eBook editing/proofreading process.

Ideally, you would use all there of the aforementioned option.

Remember, your book will be sold to the public and will represent you and your business.

Selling an eBook full of grammatical and syntax errors is a BAD idea.

From personal experience, I didn’t have the time, patience or expertise to edit a 40,000 page eBook.

I wanted my eBook to be the best version of itself, so I reached out to one of the best ladies in the business.

After many recommendations leading to her, I contacted Liz Thompson from House Style Editing.
Honestly, I couldn’t have done it without her.

How to Design your eBook Cover

EBook cover design in another step in the eBook writing process that people find challenging.

You can choose to create it yourself or hire someone to do it. Fiverr is great place to look for graphic designers.

To create a simple and convenient eBook cover you can also use Canva.

Canva is a free graphic design tool which allows you to create beautiful graphics.

Canva has hundreds of templates for different graphic design projects such as social media graphics, check lists, logos, business cards and MUCH more.

To create an eBook cover using Canva, simply create a free new account and sign in.

Once there:

1. click the Create a Design button (on the left hand side of the menu)
2. scroll down and click on the Blogging & Books Section
3. Click on the Book Cover option
4. Pick a template on the left column
5. Change the colors and the design to fit your topic

It is important to note that if you use a picture that you didn’t take yourself or your eBook cover, that you look into the licensing rights for that picture.

If you use a free image from places like Unsplash and Pixabay ensure that you check their terms of service for the right of use.

I designed the Blogbabulary Plus eBook cover myself by using:

• Adobe Photoshop
• PSDCovers
• Creative Market

Adobe Photoshop allows you to create beautiful design including 3D cover designs. Photoshop comes with a bit of a learning curve but there are plenty of YouTube tutorials to walk you through it.

Photoshop also integrates with PSDCovers which enable you to create gorgeous eBook mockups.

Finally, Creative Market has beautiful, unique, and inexpensive images you can use to make your cover. Remember to look for specification on the image licensing.

By creating a free account you will receive six free digital goodies every week straight to your inbox (stock images, fonts, templates, etc.).

If you are a blogger, Creative Market will be your new addiction, lol.

How much to price your eBook

Pricing your eBook will depend on different factors.

Here are a few things to consider:

• How long is your eBook?
• What kind of eBook is it? Educational, instructional, fiction, entertainment…
• Will your eBook be making or saving people money?
• How much are similar eBooks in your topic going for?
• Will you be selling the eBook on your website or on a publishing platform(more on this later)?
• Will you be using tiered pricing?

Woahhhh…. I know that was rapid fire, but I don’t want you to get caught up in the specifics.

Rule of thumb is pricing your book depending on the platform you will be using to sell your eBook (e.g. blog, Amazon, etc.), and the price that other books in your niche are selling for.

For instance, if you sell your eBook on your blog/website you can price it at $26 because that’s what similar eBooks on your niche/topic are selling for.

If you opt to sell it on Amazon, you might have to sell at $1.99 in order to compete will similar eBooks on your niche/topic.

If you are a blogger and would be selling you eBook from your blog you can also offer tiered pricing to make it more enticing.

Consider the following strategy I used when selling Blogcabulary Plus:

The original price of the eBook is $34.

A few weeks before launch I created a sales page where I included tiered pricing.

• Waiting list pricing was $23 (I emailed those subscribers a special promo code effective launch day and 72 hours thereafter)
• First week launch price was $29
• Regular price is $34

Many people are more inclined to purchase when there is some sort of deal. That makes tiered pricing a great strategy.

What I would have done differently however, is shortened the launch promo period to only three 3-4 days versus a whole week.

Where to sell your eBook

There are different places where you can sell your eBook.

• Through your blog/website
• Through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform
• Through other publishers

Selling your eBook through your blog

If you are a blogger, then you my friend are in luck. Because that means that you will be able to use your blog as your selling platform.

What does that mean?

Well, a lot of advantages. Some include:

• you will be able to set you own price
• collect all profits from your eBook sales
• You can create an affiliate program for your eBook
• Collect email addresses for future eBook promotions and future products
• A simple PDF version of your eBook will do

By creating an affiliate marketing strategy for your eBook you will pay others a commission to your affiliates when they sell your eBook by using their unique affiliate link.

Sounds more complicated that what it is, but trust me isn’t.

We will go into the specifics of selling your eBook through your blog in a minute (landing page, shopping cart, affiliate program, etc.).

Choosing a publishing platform

If you aren’t a blogger or just simply decide to sell your eBook thought other means consider the following.

Depending on where you are looking to sell your eBook, you would have to have your eBook formatted accordingly.

According to BookBaby,com, “eBook formatting is a standard design process that turns your eBook’s text and images into an attractive layout for readers to enjoy. It’s similar to printed book interior design and formatting, but focuses solely on your book in the digital space.”

Examples of formats are; .doc, .pdf, .epud, .mobi, etc.

One of the most popular places to publish an eBook is though the Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform.

KDP allows you to publish your eBook to the Kindle Marketplace for free.

Anyone who owns a Kindle can purchase your book from the marketplace and read a copy on their Kindle.

With this arrangement, you keep 70% of the price of every copy you sell of your book, provided you set that price between $2.99 and $9.99.

Good news is that you will reach a larger audience than you probably would otherwise.

Downsides to selling through Amazon KDP:

• Publishes your eBook only to Kindle readers, limiting your audience
• Must format your eBook file specifically Kindle readers (EPUB and MOBI)
• You must set the price range from $0.99-$9.99 to receive 70% profit (however, books that are priced between $0.99-$5.00 tend to do the best)
• You don’t control the process (promoting, selling, or collecting profit)
• You don’t get to collect emails
• You can’t create an affiliate program
• You can’t offer tier pricing incentives

You can try to tackle the eBook formatting yourself by using available software.

Or can also pay a professional to have your eBook successfully converted to .epub and .mobi files by paying a fee.

I recently converted my eBook to .epub and .mobi files for a special project I am working on.

I tried to do the formatting change myself and it was a total disaster, haha.

Thankfully, Melinda came to the rescue and took care of everything for me.

Promoting your eBook

Promoting your eBook is not something you do one time.

Promoting you eBook is an ongoing process that must take place before, during, and after your eBook launch.

Once again, if you are a blogger you can greatly benefit from your blogging platform to promote your eBook.

Here are a few ideas:

Before launch

• Use your email list to let them know what you are working on
• Ask for feedback in Facebook Groups about your eBook options as you design it
• If using tiered pricing, promote the landing page for waiting list special pricing
• Create Pinterest Pins to circulate with Tailwind before launch (if you have a waiting list)

During launch

• Create an email sequence to send to your list during launch week
• Post on social media
• Reach out to some of your blogging friends within your niche to help you spread the word
• Put your Pinterest Pins in circulation using Tailwind

After launch                            

• Continue promoting to your list occasionally
• Continue promoting on social media
• Write blog posts that reference your book
• Guest posts on other blogs about your eBook topic
• Offer special discounts on holidays
• Create an affiliate program
• Continue to circulate your Pinterest Pins

If you aren’t a bloggers and will be selling your eBook on a publishing platform then social media will be your best bet at promoting your eBook.

Getting ready to launch your eBook

Before your eBook publishes there are certain things you should do in order to ensure a successful launch.

In addition to the aforementioned ways to promote your eBook before launching, there are necessary steps to take before launch.

If you will be selling you eBook through your blog, these include creating a sales page and setting up a shopping cart.

Create a sales page

Your eBook sales page will be the very first impression a potential customer will have of your eBook.

Your eBook might have awesome content, but is your sales page isn’t visually appealing; many people might not buy it.

Unfortunately, when it comes to sales pages and landing pages, potential customers will literally “judge the book by its cover”.

Again, there are many professionals who will be more than willing to help you create a sales page for your eBook for a fee. Fiverr is a great place to find someone to do it for you.

You can also create a sales page by assigning a simple page on your blog to be your sales page.

Many child themes come with a “sales page/landing page” template that enable some landing page features.

The sales page for Blogcabulary Plus was a total hit!

I created myself using Thrive Architect.

Thrive Architect is page and layout builder plugin for WordPress.

The ease and drag-and-drop features of this amazing tool made it incredibly easy to create a beautiful page.

Thrive Architect has plenty of templates to choose from so you don’t have to worry about having to create anything from scratch.

My favorite part is that you purchase the program with a one-time fee and that’s it.

Thrive Architect is yours for the life of your blog and you can create as many beautiful pages and posts that don’t require code.

Thrive Architect integrates beautifully with WordPress. So, whenever you would like to create a page or post simply click on the big, green button titled “Launch Thrive Architect” on your page/post editor and voila!

In addition, they a fabulous video tutorial database for their customers, so trust me, “user-friendly” is their goal.

Set up Shopping Cart

Once the landing page is done, the next step is to add a payment gateway to collect the funds.

Because you will be selling a digital product it is important that have a system that collects payment and delivers your customer their digital copy simultaneously.

The digital product platform of my choice and that of many other blogger is SendOwl.

I can’t tell you how easy and convenient this platform is.

For as little as $9/month you can have SendOwl deliver your eBook (up to 10 products) and collect payment.

For just a little bit more ($15/month-which is my current plan), SendOwl allows you to also run and manage your own affiliate program.

SendOwl integrates beautifuly with most email marketing companies, such as ConvertKit.

You can automate it so that once someone purchases a copy of your eBook though SendOwl, the customer is tagged for future targeted email marketing.

What’s more you can create a ConvertKit email sequence to be sent out to your eBook customers with the time line of your choice.

Here is the Blogcabulary Plus SendOwl-ConvertKit process so that you can see it in action:

Customers

1. Someone purchase my eBook through my landing page (Created as a WordPress Page and edited with Thrive Architect)
2. Customer will be tagged as “Blogcabulaly Customers” for targeted email campaign
3. SendOwl sends the customer a purchase confirmation order on my behalf and links to their downloadable eBook file (in this case PDF).
4. Automatically, ConvertKit will also send them a Personalized “Thank You” email (created by me) where they will be given the link to opt-in to the affiliate program
5. A week later, another automated email from ConvertKit will be sent out to that customer checking in on their eBook progress and other specifications

Affiliates

Once you create the affiliate program through SendOwl they will provide you with a special link where others can sign-up for your affiliate program.

Once they do, they will be given a unique link which will track all future sales.

1. Someone signs up for Blogcabulary Plus affiliate program
2. Affiliates will be tagged as “Blogcabulaly Affiliates” for targeted email campaign
3. They will then receive an automated “welcome email” with detailed information about the program

Blogcabulary Plus affiliates receive a 40% commission for ever eBook they sell through their link.

You can also create a free PayPal Business Account. Once integrated with SendOwl, you will automatically receive all profits from your eBook to your PayPal account.

In addition, you will be able to pay your affiliates from PayPal hassle free by choose the “Mass Pay” option.

PayPal Mass Pay enables you to upload an affiliate payout .csv file provided by SendOwl every month, and PayPal sends out the mass payment on your behalf.

You ca also choose to pay everyone individually.

If you update your eBook, SendOwl conveniently gives you the option of uploading the new copy and distributing to all of you current customers automatically on your behalf.

Launching your eBook

Yay! You did it!

You made your first eBook and today is the day. Launch day!

What a great feeling… If you have ever launched a product you know exactly what I mean. If you haven’t, get ready to experience the thrill.

It is such a humbling experience to see how an idea to had, became a full-blown product, and an infinite source of passive income.

On launch day you want to make sure that your payment buttons and you sales page are working. You will be surprised how many things could go wrong in the digital world last-minute.

You should have had an email sequence prepared to be sent out to your list during launch week.

Promote your launch on social media by:

• Posting in Facebook “Promo Days”
• Circulating Pinterest Pins using Tailwind
• Tweeting about it
• Posting on Instagram and creating Instagram stories

Don’t forget to recruit some good blogger friends who can help you spread the word. That is why networking in the blogging world is so important.

You can find more information on networking in “How to use Facebook Groups to Grow your Blog”.

Alright, no doubt that was a lot of hard work.

But, here comes the best part…

Now you have a product that will provide you passive income for years to come.

There isn’t  much to do from here except  from creating, implementing, and repeating marketing strategies that you learn along the way.

Many of these strategies we covered in the previous section, so just wash, rinse, and repeat.

Another great thing is that once you have gone through the process of making an eBook from beginning to end, you can now make many more eBooks without the beginner roadblocks.

Additional Resources

BOOKBOSS

An incredible lifesaver resource was BookBoss by Abby Lawson.

This was the course that’s set everything in motion for me.

BookBoss is a robust course taking you from “not sure what to write about” to launching your eBook in 90 days.

This super detailed course includes:

• 9 power packed video modules (they will guide you through each step of the eBook writing and launching process)
• Multiple tech trainings (setting up email sequences, landing pages, tools and systems to laugh and sell your ebook)
• A 40+ page workbook to help you organize all of your thoughts and ideas

 Bonuses:

• A detailed sample launch calendar (to help you figure out when to execute each element of your launch)
• A landing page blueprint (help you design your page and write your sales copy quickly, easily, and effectively)
• A collection of example emails for each step of your launch process (so you always know what to say to your readers and how to say it)

Head over to BookBoss sales page to read the full curriculum, testimonials, frequently asked questions, and more.

WRITE. PUBLISH. SELL

When you know little to nothing about writing and selling an eBook/book, being part of a community that can help you along the way is priceless!

Write.Publish.Sell is a gold mine Facebook community for any aspiring author.

Created and administered by Alexa Haddock Bigwarfe from Write Publish Sell, Alexa’s Facebook Group is a great place to acquire knowledge about writing, selling, and publishing a book.

Her knowledge and support was instrumental in making sure my eBook writing and launching process was successful.

Alexa also offers book coaching services if you need additional help.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it my friend, the entire guide on how to make an eBook and make money step-by-step.

As always, I hope this was helpful to you.

If you have any comments or questions please share them below, and share it if this was helpful to you.

Oh and one more thing… If you audience could benefit from this information, feel free to link this article to related post in your blog. Remember Google loves relevant and trusted external links.

Alright, off I go.

Happy and profitable eBook creation.

I know this is a lot of info. So don’t forget to Pin for later.