The Guide to eBooks on eBooks

I’m often asked how eBook Evolution differs from this or that other eBook-centric product. So here’s my attempt at a cheat sheet and hopefully it will help you find what works for you.

Disclaimer: I’ve included eBook Evolution in this roundup. Sure, I’m biased, also it’s not truly an eBook (there are lots of pieces to it). But before you dismiss this post as a sales pitch, know this: I don’t believe in convincing people they need things that they don’t.

There are no affiliate links in this post, either. Shamelessly promoting my own product is enough for one post, don’t you think?

 

Epic eBook Creation

By Jonathan Wondrusch, ByBloggers.net

Price: Free

Format: eBook, 90 pages, plus worksheets

I’m calling it: The Cool Kid Approach 

Breakdown:

• Pages 5-12: Finding a topic, choosing a title
• Pages 13-25: Writing and research
• Pages 26-62: Design, layout, production
• Pages 63-72: Launch and promotion
• Pages 73-86: Special sauce: delivering “wow” and breaking the rules

Pearl of Wisdom from Epic eBook Creation:

Break the rules. If you make an amazing product, people will take notice. Just following the rules isn’t usually enough to garner widespread attention.

Strengths: 

• Production value. Jonathan is a special breed — talented designer with a light, natural writing style.
• Design-focused. Comprehensive advice on design and production.
• Discusses free releases in addition to paid products.
• Inspiring. Interviews and case studies with people like Mars Dorian and Adam Baker inspire you to follow your own path and encourages you to write about what matters, not just about what will be profitable.

Weaknesses:

• Small launch section. Light on launch strategies, skims over affiliate programs, key to a great paid launch.
• Very little sales page creation advice.
• Crash course in design is a bit abstract. While some people will be able to absorb and implement this, it’s hard to turn someone into a designer in a few pages.

Conclusion: Jonathan gets it. A key point buried in this eBook is: “You are creating an experience. Make it a good one.” I couldn’t agree more. Jonathan is coming out with a premium eBook creation super kit soon, and he has lots more of great eBook advice on his blog, ByBloggers.net. Epic eBook Creation is a free bonus for signing up for his list.

 

The Blogger’s Guide to Irresistible eBooks

By Ali Luke, of Aliventures.com

Price: $29

Format: eBook, 107 pages, plus 2 MS Word Templates with user guide

I’m calling it: The Technical Approach

Breakdown:

• Pages 10-28: Finding a marketable idea and outlining.
• Pages 29-52: Writing and redrafting.
• Pages 53-74: Polishing the text, packaging including cover, bonuses.
• Pages 75-105: E-junkie, sales page writing, promotion strategies.
• 2 MS Word Templates

Pearl of Wisdom from The Blogger’s Guide to Irresistible eBooks:

…a ‘comprehensive’ ebook is a huge challenge. If you’re trying to create the definitive work in your field, you’re likely to get stuck after a chapter or two. Plus, it’s hard to make a clear sales pitch for an ebook that covers everything under the sun. 

Strengths:

• Experience. Ali’s written a dozen ebooks, some free and some paid, and coached others through writing theirs.
• Honest. Ali’s transparent, sharing her own experiences including mistakes.
• In-depth on research tactics to find your idea including how to run a survey.
• Writerly. Very in-depth to guide to writing, including thoughts on style and revising.
• Includes practical guidance on writing your sales page.

Weaknesses:

• Lacks attention to design and formatting which could improve readability.
• Length and level of detail can feel overwhelming.
• MS Word templates are lackluster, not professionally designed.
• Launch and promotion content is not as fleshed out as the writing advice.
• Could really use worksheets or other organizational tools to help with planning a launch.

Conclusion: Ali’s a very detail-oriented, conscientious writer — she nails thorough content and step-by-step instruction. Still, I felt some readers who are “quickstarts” like myself would benefit from a kind of roadmap or bigger picture. And while I wholeheartedly agree that you don’t need to wait until you can afford a professional designer to get your eBook out there, I think it’s becoming more essential every day to spend time getting the look right — not just as “packaging” to improve sales but to improve engagement. Grab it here.

 

How to Write an eBook That Doesn’t Suck

by Michael Martine, Remarkablogger.com

Price: $19.99

Format: eBook, 64 pages, video on covers, audio version

I’m calling it: The Chilled-Out Approach

Best bonus: Step-by-step cover design video

Breakdown:

• Pages 8-14: Why eBooks are still a good idea for bloggers.
• Pages 15-24: Topic, getting content, writing.
• Pages 25-36: Formatting and packaging.
• Pages 37-63: Promotion, reviews and sales pages.

Pearl of Wisdom from How to Write an eBook That Doesn’t Suck:

…you’ll find you don’t know half as much as you think about something until you try and teach it to someone else. And after you teach it, you’ll be truly twice the expert you once were.

Strengths:

• Brief, a good overview.
• Explores how selling an eBook will drive traffic for your blog.
• Easy to read, funny at times.
• Easy breezy sales copy instruction.

Weaknesses:

• It’s relatively brief and feels like many stones are left unturned.
• Blogger-specific. If you blog for business but aren’t “a blogger” you may feel a disconnect.
• It can feel a little like the whole thing is a lead up for the Un-sucky eBook Boot Camp pitch at the end.
• May leave more technically-minded readers with more questions.

Conclusion: Martine is a proponent of repurposing blog content, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, per se, some readers may feel like this eBook is a repeat of stuff they’ve read. Still, he’s a seasoned problogger who knows his niche, and it’s not so expensive that you don’t have to worry too much about making your investment back. Grab it here. 

How to Launch the **** Out of Your eBook

by Dave Navarro and Naomi Dunford

Price: $97

Format: eBook, ?? pages. Other?

I’m calling it: The Niche Marketing Approach

Breakdown:

• Pages 7-13: Analyzing the market
• Pages 15-23: Finding buyers, includes how to set up a blog.
• Pages 27-36: Setting up a mailing list and using auto-responders
• Pages 37-52: Writing the eBook, including outlining and productivity tips.
• Pages 54-94: Launching, including sales pages, affiliates and pre-launch buzz.
• Pages 97-113 Worksheets

Pearl of Wisdom from How to Launch the **** Out of Your eBook:

Remember, you’re more than an ebook – you’re a personality, a history, an angle. Get behind that angle (or Unique Selling Proposition, if you’re fancy) and capture your own slice of the market. There’s always room for one more.

Strengths:

• It’s thorough, almost to a fault, and the launch section is where Dave excels.
• Both authors have a history of successful launches.
• The worksheets are helpful in feeling organized and brainstorming.
• Jaunty writing style makes it easy to read.

Weaknesses:

• The first half covers basic information like how to start a blog and how to set up an auto-responder.
• Dave states a lot of things as “musts” and I found they tend to trigger perfectionism.
• It’s not the most visually appealing reading experience.

Conclusion: Even at 3 years old and despite recent controversy around it’s authors, this guide is still probably the most comprehensive launch breakdown you’ll get. While I cover tons of launch material in the 68-page guide I wrote for eBook Evolution, Dave is good at breaking things down into a step-by-step sequence that can be useful. Still, the approach can feel pretty old-school — 3 years is like a decade in Internet years — and social media has come to play an even bigger role. Grab it here.

 

eBook Evolution

by Kelly Kingman & Pamela Wilson

Price: $147

Format: 2 eBooks totaling 109 pages, 2 OpenOffice templates, 4 worksheets, 20 cover design recipes and 6 interior page design recipes, plus instructional screencasts.

I’m calling it: The Evolutionary Approach, or Sophisticated but Laid-back.

Breakdown:

eBook Evolution is not an eBook but a collection of information and tools.

• The Sticky eBook Formula: Coming up with idea, making it stickier, writing strategies, getting it done.
• The eBook Evolution Launch Guide: All about launching, affiliate programs, promotion and leveraging social media.
• Open Office templates with screencast: Creating as many eBooks as you want.
• Cover Recipes and Page Design Recipes: Detailed, step-by-step instructions on creating more customized looks for your cover and pages, without any design experience necessary.
• Worksheets and Planners: Organize your launch plan and stay on schedule.

Pearl of Wisdom from the eBook Evolution Launch Guide:

The more work you can do to make each step easy for people — your affiliates and buyers — the better your launch will go.

Strengths:

Oh c’mon — I could go on and on! But here are highlights.

• Takes guesswork out of DIY design.
• Templates use OpenOffice, a free program that’s easy to learn and compatible with Mac or PC
• You can create and update an unlimited number of eBooks yourself.
• Launch advice is based on relationships and not high pressure tactics, great for the more marketing-averse.

Weaknesses:

• There are a lot of components and information, despite the Quickstart Guide some may find it a bit overwhelming.
• The FAQ format of the launch guide doesn’t go chronologically through a launch.
• Despite our best efforts at making it easy, some people may not want to go through the learning process to do the layout themselves.

Conclusion: This is the hardest part to write, because Pamela and I really made deliberate choices about what went into this. If you’re interested in investing a little time in making your eBook look great, it can save you hundreds of dollars. Also, I really wrote the two eBooks — the Sticky eBook Formula and the eBook Evolution Launch Guide — for an audience that knows there are more benefits to launching than just the dollar amount. Great for coaches, consultants and bloggers who want gorgeous, well-written eBooks on a DIY budget and successful launches without the high-pressure marketing techniques. Grab it here.

In Closing

Whew! You made it to the end! Congratulations!

These products all fall on a spectrum, and maybe one or two of them will be more right for you than the others. I hope that my subjective appraisal will allow you to make a more informed choice, if you’re in the market for eBook advice and tools.

Can’t decide? You can pick them all up for a grand total of $292.99 and be done with it.