Top Tips on How to Start an eBook

If you’re thinking on how to start an ebook, we can help. First, get to the basics of online writing to help you get the attention of the reader. Sure, the content of the ebook will matter but there are other things too.

For instance, the ebook description. Here are a few tips for writing a description that sells and these tips work for online writing as well.

1. Include hooks: Hooks are the cliff-hangers of e-book descriptions. Use it to attract a reader’s curiosity, leave them hanging by the time they reach the end. Make them fell “I need to read this!” If they are intrigued enough, they will buy your book to find out what actually happens.
2. Compare with other books in your genre: Each genre has a set of rules. Read the back cover of other successful books of your genre. Make a list of the ones that attract you most. Find out what is the back cover description in books that boast of the greatest success in your genre. Apply their writing style while typing your description.
3. Use keywords: This is important. Dig into online sites such as Amazon and make a list of the most used search words for books in your genre. Try to include them in your description. That way, when people search with specific words, your book is more likely to come up in the results. It will also make it easier for you to reach your target audience.

Which Software Should You Use?

E-book publishing platforms are places where you can self-publish books in digital form, without the hassles of traditional publishing. Self-publishing online saves printing cost, and also helps you target a more global audience. Moreover, you can put up your book for sale within hours unlike traditional publishing, which can take months or years.

To self-publish, you need to set up an account, set your prices, verify your rights and simply click publish. Amazon, Kobo Writing Life, Smashwords, Lulu, iBook Authors, Nook press are popular places to self-publish. If you publish with Amazon, your books are available in Amazon bookstores only. Royalty rates can be up to 70%.

You can create an account for self-publishing with Amazon. Likewise, iBook Authors sells books through Apple’s bookstores only.

Kobo has its own reading devices, bookstores, and you can hold promotional events in Bookstores associated with Kobo. Sign up with Kobo and get additional information here: To promote your books, you can aim for an affiliate marketing program.

An affiliate marketing program is a program where you take the help of other people to help sell your books. In this program, you can help sell others’ books and receive a commission, and additionally, you can provide a commission to someone else who sells your books on your behalf.

Popular places with affiliate programs include Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The affiliates directory is useful for checking out new affiliate listings.

How to Format the eBook?

So you have completed your book and are ready to self-publish. Congratulations! But before you publish, does your book have the right formatting? Are those paragraphs, and sentences just the way you want them to be? And more importantly, do they look good together?

Before formatting, make sure your manuscript is ready to be converted to standard e-book file formats. Once you convert your books to various digital formats, the reader will choose the font size.

Use simple fonts like Courier or Times New Roman. For e-books, single line spacing and black text color is ideal.

Once your manuscript is properly formatted, format your book for online use. The most common e-book formats are PDF, electronic publication (EPUB), and raw HTML file format. EPUB is commonly used by Kobo, Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, while the preferred book format for Amazon Kindle is MOBI.

There are many e-publishing places which automatically convert a word document into the required format. But formatting on your own is much safer, since converted files may look unprofessional or be unreadable. To get help in formatting, use tools like Calibre, Scrivener, PressBooks.

If you are looking to self-publish with Amazon Kindle, check out this useful video on formatting: If you want to format your book for Smashwords:

Don’t just rush to self publish your book. Instead, take the time to ensure everything is okay. Proper formatting will ensure that your e-book looks professional. This, in turn, will attract more readers, and will help your audience grow.

About the Author:

Rohan Bhat studies online ways to produce content and sometimes uses WritingCheap to help with contextual descriptions, summaries and editing services.  Whether it is a research paper or a business plan you can find help with online writing services.