You know you want to write great, hot, profitable products. What’s the easiest way to do that and still be a huge benefit to your audience? There are information books out there that try to be everything and do everything. Many of them are fantastically comprehensive and do really well. But they also took a really long time to create.
It might surprise you, but more general books don’t always sell as well, especially for new authors. In today’s day and age, people want quick, effective, unique solutions to the exact problems or desires they have. When you focus on just one problem a group of people has, you have built in sales. They might take or leave the more general book but will buy the book that solves their problem on a whim. They’re browsing Amazon and they see exactly the book they need. Bam! They buy it.
You might have been trained to believe that longer equals better, but today’s readers know that’s not always the case. They want the information, they want it for a great price, and they want it to solve their problem or show them something new very quickly.
These books are easier and faster to write and can earn you more. That’s not to say there’s never room for larger, more general books. My goal is to help you earn money as an author as quickly as possible. I want you to feel that sense of pride and joy you’ll feel when people write to tell you how your book has helped change their life for the better. That’s what can happen when you write ebooks that solve one problem for the reader.
How to Find a Topic to Write About
It may be the case that you already know what you want to create a product or write a book about. Maybe it’s been playing in your mind for a while and you’re finally ready to get it down in print. Maybe you have a great business method you want to share with people. Maybe you’re a great writer and you want to share a faster or better way of doing things. Maybe you are an expert at container gardening in small spaces and you want to share what you know with people.
Or, maybe you don’t know what you want to write about at all. You’re completely lost as to which niche (or topic) is a good idea for you to focus on. That’s okay too.
There are tons of ways to find a niche. Your goal from the start should be to find a niche that has an active buying crowd. Just because you’re interested in it doesn’t mean everyone else will be. You don’t want to waste time writing a book, even a short one, that no one is going to buy.
Then again, just because “everyone” isn’t interested in something doesn’t mean that it isn’t a good topic or niche. With billions of people online, it only takes a very small percentage of interest and you might have a winner of an ebook idea. 1% of a billion people is 10 million, and 1% of 1% is still 10,000, and if you can reach 10,000 people and convert 10% of them to readers, that’s 1000 sales, a great number. Of course you could do much better.
Start thinking of what you’re really good at. How do you make your money? Has anyone ever told you that you do something better and faster than anyone else? What do you spend your own money to learn or do? What’s hot in the news right now? What’s selling well on the virtual shelves of Amazon?
You don’t have to make a decision right now. Give yourself the freedom to explore and jot down any idea that comes to mind at the moment. Don’t censor yourself or the best ideas won’t come to you.
Remember that, at this moment, you don’t have to choose a specific “1-problem” topic. You can be more general right now since you’re just trying to get the main idea.
Making Your Final Choice
Please don’t spend forever stewing over niche possibilities. This is truly not a decision that should make or break you. It should take you around a week or so to write one of these small ebooks, from top to bottom. You won’t knock it out of the park every time, but you can always “get them next time”.
With that in mind, I’m not telling you to just dive right in without making sure it’s a good niche first. A little elbow grease up front will save you a lot of tears later on. But it doesn’t have to take forever to make a decision on a niche.
That’s actually one of the reasons people fail to ever actually release a book. They get really excited but are then paralyzed by the seemingly endless choices of niches. Do your research to see what’s selling in non-fiction and then go with your gut.
If you’re having trouble making a decision, it’s time to force yourself to make one. Give yourself just 30 seconds to make your final choice after you’ve gathered the data. If it’s down to two choices, close your eyes, wave your finger, and pick one.
Now here’s some advice I always give to people, and it sounds a little depressing to some people. It’s OK to fail. Your first book might not sell well. Don’t give up. Don’t go in thinking that it will fail, of course, or you won’t have the passion to do a good job at it, but if it does strike out, try again. From every failure that I’ve had, I’ve learned great things that help me in the future, and that will be the case for you also.
Plus, the more books you have out there, the more visibility you’ll have. A catalog of 40 books will absolutely sell more than a catalog of 1 book—even the most successful authors in the world are constantly releasing new books. Look at the catalogs of Nora Roberts or Stephen King.
Besides, the way you’re going to learn to create a book in this report won’t take you long at all, so it’s not like it will be months of wasted effort if it does fail to be a hit.
So the thing is, get going. Get going on your first book, get it out there, and then start planning your next one.
How to Choose a Specific Topic Now That You Have A Niche
I mentioned there are huge, more general books you can create. These tend to be very long and very involved. They can do well for you, especially if they are marketed as premium books. But they aren’t the only way to do business. It’s definitely not what I recommend before you get your footing.
That’s why I want you to zero in on a very narrow topic within your niche. My general niche is self-help and personal business success. The narrow niche of this tutorial is how to easily and quickly create hot selling, to the point, non-fiction ebooks.
What’s your narrow topic going to be? I suggest you do some digging within your niche. Visit forums, websites, and blogs in the niche. Pay attention to popular blog posts, forum posts, comments, and social media posts. Browse Amazon’s Kindle categories.
What do people ask questions about? What problems do they have in common? Write down everything that comes to mind and everything you find in your research.
I’ve noticed that people were coming to me time and time again wishing they could release ebooks of their own but not knowing how to get started. I am also in a position where I buy and review many of the info books out there. I saw a definite need in this narrow niche. I saw a problem so I set out to solve it in my own way by creating the tutorial that this episode was excerpted from.
Examine your list of problems and questions people tend to have in your niche. Are you drawn to any in particular? Star that item. Go through your list and scratch out the ideas you aren’t interested in or instinctively feel won’t be marketable. Remember that even if you don’t have the exact answer or solution for the market right now, your research and digging will reveal answers you can put in your book.
Choose one problem to focus on. Your book will be dedicated to unique, creative, and well-researched ways to solve that problem. Focusing on just one thing will help you create a marketable book, fast.
Ask Yourself Some Questions
Now that you’ve sort of narrowed down your topic, let’s take it a bit further. I want you to ask yourself some questions, and come up with the answers:
1. What is the problem your audience has? It’s important to focus on your audience at this point in time.
2. Why is this a problem?
3. What does it feel like to have this problem? Tap into the feelings of someone who has this problem (if you’ve had it in the past, or still, this will help you tremendously).
4. What do people who have this problem complain about? You can do some research on niche forums to find out the answer to this question.
5. What keeps the people with this problem up at night? Start to identify with the people who have this problem. Start to feel passion for helping them solve it.
6. What else could go wrong if they continue to have this problem?
7. Who else (or what other book) is already solving this problem, and how?
8. What other problems do people with this specific problem also typically have?
9. For those who have already solved the problem, what did they do to solve it?
10. What are the top 5-10 things to do which will solve the problem?
11. Can you find other sales letters of books that attempt to solve this problem? If so pick out the top benefits that they show for their book.
Creating the Outline
What’s the best format for an outline now that you have your topic? Honestly, it doesn’t matter all that much. Don’t stew over formatting— this is for your personal use, so you have to do what makes the most sense for you.
You might do best with a mind map. Or maybe you’ll want to follow one of the Microsoft Word outlining templates.
If you’re totally stuck, just use this format:
Book Title/Main Topic
Introduction
- Subpoint 1
- Subpoint 2
- Subpoint 3
- Subpoint 4
- Subpoint 5
Chapter/Topic 1
- Subpoint 1
- Subpoint 2
- Subpoint 3
- Subpoint 4
- Subpoint 5
Chapter/Topic 2
- Subpoint 1
- Subpoint 2
- Subpoint 3
- Subpoint 4
- Subpoint 5
Chapter/Topic 3
- Subpoint 1
- Subpoint 2
- Subpoint 3
- Subpoint 4
- Subpoint 5
(Continue for however many chapters or topics you need to— make sure you cover enough to solve your readers’ problem)
Conclusion
- Summarize important points
- Give a call to action
- Inspire the reader
Writing a Section at a Time
You’re likely pressed for time. You may also still be pretty unsure of your next steps. Can you really write and sell your own information book? Are you really going to take the plunge this time? You absolutely are. But you aren’t going to tackle it all at once. You’re going to break it down to make it easy.
I mentioned earlier, the human mind can only handle so much. Writing a book seems way too intimidating for the average person. But writing 500 or 1,000 words isn’t so bad— that can be done in an hour or less. You’ve already planned your content and done all your research. There’s nothing left to do but write. Bonus— you don’t even have to think while you write because you’ve already done that!
Don’t think about “writing a book.” Think about writing a single section. Take it one section at a time. Today, you can write the introduction. Let’s say you’re writing a 5,000-word book. You have the introduction, four chapters, and a conclusion to write. Set aside 500 words for the introduction. Go ahead— write it. Be friendly and helpful and get people excited about what’s to come.
See how easy that was? Now that the introduction has been written, the rest will be easy. It’s the blank screen that stops so many would-be info-book creators before they really get started. You don’t have that problem anymore.
Do you have more time to write today? Go ahead and get the next chapter finished. Maybe devote 1,000 words to that chapter. Give yourself a general idea of word count for each chapter and it will be much easier to meet your goals.
Can you dedicate an hour a day for the next five days? I guarantee you’ll have a full info-book written in less than a week, if you do.
Editing and Polishing
You’ve done it! You’ve written your book in much less time than you ever though it would take you. Pat yourself on the back.
Now comes the part many people dread— editing. You have to make sure your book is readable. It should be as free from grammatical and spelling errors as possible. No one is perfect (you can find errors in the work of popular authors who have professional editing teams behind them), but it sure doesn’t hurt to polish your work.
I never suggest you edit as you type, which means leaving it until after your book is written. That can be as daunting as writing the book in the first place. In fact, I’d bet some reading this have half-finished or even fully finished books sitting on their hard drive that they’re too afraid to edit.
Take it one step at a time. Edit the introduction. Edit chapter 1. Go through little by little until you’re comfortable with the results.
Many book creators take several passes through their work. They’ll proofread for grammar and spelling. Then they’ll edit for structure and readability.
It can be helpful to have others read through your work before you release it. It doesn’t matter how thorough you are, you’ll never catch all of your own mistakes.
Get it out of your mind that your book will be perfect after it’s been edited. You can edit it for the rest of your life and still find things to change. You’re doing your eventual readers a disservice by demanding perfection for yourself. Do a good job of editing for now. The most important thing is that it’s easy to read, helpful, and informative. If your book accomplishes that, it’s golden.
Publish or release your product and I think you’ll find that you delight your readers because you’re solving one specific, important problem they have.
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