How to Create an E-Book Without Writing
By Steve Gillman
Can you really create an e-book without writing? Yes, and
even without paying a cent for a writer. You might have to write
a paragraph or two for the introduction, but the rest of the
book will be written for you without any charge. In fact, even
the marketing can be done for you for free. Let's look at the
basic idea...
I just received an email from a man producing an ebook on
self improvement. He starts it; "I see you have articles
online..." and then he explains that he is putting together
an ebook with articles on meditation, improving brainpower, and
so on. I am invited to contribute an article of 300 to 500 words
(shorter than this page), and in exchange I will be allowed 50
words about myself and a link to a website of my choice - I have
site about brainpower, meditation, problem solving, etc.
Now, given that I already distribute free articles in article
directories as a way to promote my sites (and he knows this -
that's how he found me), this is not such a tough sell. This
particular marketer really wants things easy, so he notes that
I should be careful and send exactly what I want published, because
there will be no editing. He also is not being selective, but
will take the first eighty articles that come to him. If you
are paying attention, you probably realize that he is simply
copying and pasting eighty articles together, adding at most
a simple introduction, and converting this into an e-book of
30,000 to 40,000 words. I know from experience that once the
articles were in hand this is a project of a few hours.
So that's how you create an e-book without writing, but what
about marketing it? There are a number of ways, and below you'll
find other pages that address marketing of ebooks in more detail.
But in this case the creator is offering the finished product
to every contributor to give away or sell as he or she pleases.
My Brainpower Newsletter has about 35,000 subscribers, and I
could give it to them as a gift, for example, or offer it as
a bonus with one of the books I sell.
Consider the numbers here. If there are eighty authors, many
of whom have mailing lists and websites where they can promote
the book or give it away, it is possible that 500,000 people
will get the book. Notice too that in this case the creator does
not have to even write a sale's page or deal with selling.
How does he make money doing this? There are a number of ways
to do that, many of which are also covered on other pages of
this site (see the resources section and "other pages"
list below). But a simple example of how to monetize the e-book
is to find ten good relevant affiliate products to promote, and
link to one after every article in the book. For example, I promote
meditation CDs that net me $42 for each sale I refer - a natural
after the chapters on meditation. Other ways to make money include
inviting people to his own site (which might be monetized with
advertising), selling his own products in the book, or promoting
a newsletter.
How Much Can You Make?
This is not a predictable venture, and I suspect that most
people trying it will make very little on their first try. On
the other hand, if you already have a computer and an internet
connection, you can do this without investing a single dollar.
The potential? using the affiliate link model described above,
let's suppose 500,000 people get the book and 1-in-500 buy something
after clicking on those links. That's a thousand sales. if we
further assume an average commission of $12, the creator would
make $12,000. This is a project that can be done in eight weeks
or less, so there is some real profit potential for the time
invested.
Ways to Make More | Related Opportunities
| Tips
If you work on the quality with some minor editing and only
accepting really good articles, you might create an e-book that
can be sold for $17 or so. Do this through ClickBank ($50 to
set up an account), and you can offer a 50% commission to all
the contributors who want to promote the book to their lists.
After fees and commission you would still make about $7 per sale,
and with the contributors recommending the book to their followers
a few thousand sales is a possibility.
Qualifications / Requirements
If you are reasonable well-organized and have a bit of experience
online you can do this.
First Steps
Choose a topic. Go to EzineArticles.com or other article directories
and start finding writers you like. Click through to their websites
and look for contact information. Once you have a list of email
addresses, prepare a basic letter to send out and get started.
Plan on inviting a couple hundred contributors to get 50 or more
to participate.
Resources
http://www.cutepdf.com
- Go get a free PDF converter here. This one is easier to use
than any of the expensive products you might buy.
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