As you may or may not know, I have been spitting out eBooks for the past month. I got 4 on Amazon and already have had 5 sales. And I have 1 on Barnes and Noble’s Nook site and had a sale within 3 days.
One of the books that I put on Amazon was actually an article that I wrote several months ago and I never did anything with it. So, I decided to convert it into a short eBook and have it on Amazon’s Free lending program and priced at $.99. No sales on it yet, but it was loaned out once.
Here are a few tips about converting your articles into an eBook:
1. Your article should be a minimum of 700 words or 2-3 pages long in MS Word or similar program.
2. Add headings to different parts of your article to make it more like a book.
3. Add some free bonuses to increase your word count.
4. Make sure you are using your OWN articles. Do NOT Copy anyone else’ s work, as that is considered stealing.
5. If you have articles published elsewhere on the same topic, consider combining them into an eBook, but make sure you edit them to make the book flow nicely. You might need to take out some of the content or move it around so it makes sense.
6. If you are using PLR content, you MUST rewrite it. Amazon does not allow PLR in any shape or form, so you need to completely re-write with a new title and new content. Just use the PLR as an idea for your eBook.
7. Make a nice cover for your book – the article I converted into an eBook is shown below. I simply made a quick cover at http://www.myecovermaker.com/
The bonuses for this eBook were just some healthy recipes to help add to my word count.
Do you have any other tips or ideas on converting articles to an eBook? Please leave your replies below – I love to hear from you!
Linda
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Twitter: Dawn_Kay
Hey Linda
Congratulations on all of your sales and what a good year your having now your concentrating on your goals…
Just shows that if you knuckle down and keep focussed then you can
achieve anything you want so well done you.
Putting a collection of articles together to make an ebook is a fab idea for anyone to get their own product online.
And I would also add some related images aswell so that the ebook looks real nice.
Take care
Dawn
Dawn Kay recently posted..Keith Purkiss Interview – Giveaway Event Contributor Tips
Thanks, Dawn!
Yes – I now have the time to concentrate on my goals and it is amazing what you can accomplish when you not only have the time but get rid of those distractions
Oh yeah, images are a great idea, especially if they are “How To” books
Thanks for the tip!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Linda
Hey Dawn and Linda! I have a question: transforming a collection of articles into an ebook, and the product is put on a website like… scribd.com by one the readers, doesn’t transform it into duplicate content?
Jack recently posted..Organizing Your Closets
Hi Jack,
When you take your own content and transform it into an eBook and put it on Scribed, that is fine – I did that with my Twitter book last year when I wrote it.
As far as using the lending area within Amazon’s Kindle – your content cannot be published anywhere else on the Internet, including article sites, scribed, etc. If you don’t use that lending program, then it doesn’t matter if it is published elsewhere.
I am not sure if that answers your question or not?
Linda
Hey! I’m so sorry I answer so late. Thanks for your explanation. It really helps.
Jack recently posted..Benefits Of A Washer and Dryer Combo Unit
No problem Jack!
Hope all is going well for you!
Linda
Twitter: PaulineBennett2
Hi Linda
congratulations on your sales, keep it going!
I have a few articles and one of my goals for 2012 is to create my own ebook so thanks for the tips, I like images so I would add some too, plus a couple of links back to my blog or lother sites.
Have a great Sunday
Regards
Pauline
Pauline recently posted..Help My Websites Have Been Hacked!!!
Good luck with your goals for writing your first eBook. Images are a great addition and links are a must
Thanks for your comment, Pauline.
Hope you have a GREAT week!
Linda
Twitter: jeremyruggles
Hi Linda,
I never thought of turning articles into e-books. I’ve often thought of writing an e-book, but cringe at the thought of sitting down and writing an entire book only to find out that it really isn’t any good. I have hundreds of articles and a lot of free information available to me… I think that my next project will be to create an e-book or two and and see how they do…
Thanks for the e-book cover creator tip too. I hate trying to create a decent looking cover in photoshop. It doesn’t really work too well for me… lol
Congrats on your e-book success!
Talk soon,
~Jeremy
Jeremy recently posted..How to Avoid Internet Marketing Failure
You know, Jeremy – I cringed the first time I wrote my first eBook too and then my 2nd as it was so long in between I felt like I forgot how. My suggestion to you is to just start writing. And then add your title and headings and a cover and just go for it. I actually have an eBook out on Amazon that has received really good reviews my friends who were stuck on how to write one. That book was written on a whim because I had so many people asking about how to make one. If you want to take a look, you can find it on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/How-Create-Ebook-Follow-ebook/dp/B006VYHPVQ
I know what you mean about trying to create your own cover – I tried it too on one of my other books and my creativity didn’t shine through, so I ended up replacing the one I made myself by using a guy at Fiverr.com. Sometimes things just don’t come together for you, even with that free online cover creator – so that is when you need to hire someone
Good luck with your eBook writing! Once you get the hang of it, I think you will enjoy writing more.
Talk to you soon!
Linda
Hi Linda,
thanks for this share. the truth is that i am currently writing one eBook, and these were very useful tips for how to make it even better. thanks especially for the source for where to make the cover
EleonoraEOF recently posted..Now Eat This! Diet Review by Rocco DiSpirito
Hi Eleonora,
Glad you found these tips to be of use.
Hope you are able to make a nice cover for your book using the free online tool – if you have images of your own, you can easily use them within this tool.
Good luck with your eBook!
Linda
Twitter: adriennesmith40
Hey Linda,
Well, you’re sharing a topic with us that we never thought of. Heck, I haven’t even attempted to turn a current report into something to sell on Amazon but an article is a good idea too.
Just goes to show you how much you can accomplish when you set your mind to it Linda. So glad to hear you’re cranking them out. You’re going to be the “go to” girl for all things Amazon from now on.
Awesome tips Linda and thanks.
~Adrienne
Adrienne recently posted..Advice To Me 10 Years Ago
Hi Adrienne,
It just dawned on me one day about taking articles and turning them into eBooks. But, when you think about it, it makes it so much easier, if you have them already written. So why not?
Yeah, I have learned a bit more since writing this blog post – I always thought that links weren’t clickable within these e-readers, but turns out it is only on the Kindles, so if people have iPads or phones or whatnot they can indeed click on those links
I am enjoying my free time these days to learn and to DO!! It’s really a great feeling to have your eBooks published in such popular places. I hope you do the same at some point, it’s really not as hard as you think
Talk to you soon!
Linda
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
Hey Linda,
I’m honestly SO happy that you’re doing this and I have a quick question for you since you’re becoming an expert already.
What’s the percentage you get from Amazon say, if you have your book at $0.99?
Also, are you able to put the price you want or does Amazon puts you a limit on that?
Thanks in advance!
Sergio.
Sergio Felix recently posted..Achieving Blog Commenting Stardom
Hi Sergio,
I am not sure I am an expert, but glad you think so..lol.
If you price your book between $.99 and $2.98 – you get 35% commission. If you price it $2.99 and above you get 70% commission. Of course you want to price your book at least $2.99, but there are times when in my situation where it was a really short book, that $.99 would work. There is also that lending program – where you can price it however much you want, but you cannot have it anywhere else on the Internet in digital format. With that program – if people have the Prime membership, they can borrow the book for free. Also, within that lending program Amazon will put your book up for 5 days during a 90 month period for free to anyone. Which can benefit you if you have links within your book and hopefully you can also get some feedback on your book, which in turn ranks your book higher within your specified categories.
Also, if you are an Amazon affiliate, you can make money on your own books when you advertise them through your affiliate link…helping you get close to that full sale amount.
Oh and you can price your book however you want. The problem I struggle with is how do I really put a price on it? I’ve been pricing mine low in hopes to get sales, but not sure that is the correct way to go. I need to find some info on this subject.
Linda
Twitter: ITSergioFelix
Whoa Linda,
This was an AMAZING reply and I have my head literally exploding with ideas…
The only thing I still must consider is that I haven’t received a penny from Amazon Affiliates yet.
Something I still need to look into but apart from that, this really opens a lot of possibilities.
Thank you for the great reply and I believe that you can price your stuff by looking at similar books perhaps.
No need to reinvent the wheel, I’d be happy enough to drive traffic even if I’m not getting any money from direct sales in Amazon.
I think I’m going to do some testings around this, I believe this can be a HUGE advantage to getting some new eyeballs on our sites.
So… back to the lab, I guess!
Sergio
Sergio Felix recently posted..Achieving Blog Commenting Stardom
I know first hand it is not easy earning commission from Amazon, it seems to take a lot of skill and the right audience. Just putting up a page or a few links really won’t rake in the commissions. I have been an affiliate for a really long time and I haven’t received anything for awhile now, but it is also something that I do not push.
Yeah, you can price your stuff by looking at similar products, but you can’t really see how long their books are, so you just make an educated guess, which is what I have been doing – just doesn’t seem right, but I guess that is the way to go for now
I would love to see or hear what you have up your sleeve if you wouldn’t mind sharing with me personally. You know how to reach me
Linda
Twitter: pumbles
HI Linda,
Congratulations on breaking into the ebook/kindle market, and let’s hope it goes from strength to strength, and using something you have created makes it even better
I have had ideas for ebooks, but never had the confidence to do anything about it, I mean, says my inner voice, who wants to read any books I may write?
I really should do more, but…
Barry
Barry Ranns recently posted..So What’s All The Hype About Giveaways? Part 1
Hi Barry,
You should definitely give it a go with writing eBooks. Write about something you know – I am sure people will read it
Even if you just write something to use in Giveaways – that is a start. Then go from there.
I hope the Kindle market continues – no new sales yet, but I need to stop checking my stats and focus on my next projects
Thanks for stopping by.
Hope you have a GREAT weekend!
Linda
Hey Linda…
Books in any form are so so valuable to people looking for solution to a problem…and as you know books provide the answers in abundance thats why books and eBooks WILL NEVER be outdated by any other format including video!
A great post Linda and resource in Amazon….Ed.
Welcome to my blog, Ed!
You are so right, Ed. And with videos leading the way right now, it is just as important to make them as to write eBooks which are highly sought after on so many platforms.
Thanks for stopping by and giving your input.
Hope you have a GREAT week ahead!
Linda
Well, this is a great tips. I’ve bookmarked it, since I’m sure I will need this as I’m going to need this. There’s a paper I need to make it into an eBook, per my lecturer’s request thou. Thanks a lot!
Andrew Walker recently posted..Optimum Nutrition Promotion Codes
Hey Andrew,
How you been? Good luck with your paper. I would be more than happy to help you with creating an eBook – I actually have one listed on Amazon that you will see on my sidebar here on my blog. Many people have found it helpful.
Good luck and talk to you soon
Linda
Twitter: IanIebablog
Hi Linda
It looks as though this year has really taken off for you with your eBook creations and getting on Amazon. Four eBooks launched on Amazon in month is excellent Linda ~ well done you
I have had a few ideas myself about turning my PLR Article Series into eBooks and incorporating the video links as well. When I get round to actually doing it I know where to come now for some advice!
Good advice regarding the use of PLR Linda as well, it’s a must that you make the PLR content your own and in this instance as you say completely revamp it. Oh! And thanks for the tip regarding the eBook Cover Creator I’ll be looking into that.
Thanks so much for sharing these tips and advice Linda I am sure they are going to be of benefit to a lot people.
Take care, catch up again real soon
Ian
Ian Ieba recently posted..Video Challenge! You Are Invited – You Dont Want To Miss This One!
Hi Ian,
Yeah, book selling on Amazon and B&N are going better than expected. There is a whole other part of the world that many haven’t ventured into yet. It’s only just beginning
You are welcome about the eBook Cover creator – if you have some images already made up, you can simply add them into that creator along with one of their backgrounds or your own. They have all sorts of images and icons already built in. Not too bad considering it is free
Thanks for stopping by and I would love to assist you when you are ready to get your eBooks out there.
Have a great remainder of the week!
Linda
Wow I love this idea. I Have just recently started my blog and have been toying around with the idea of writing an ebook to entice people to join my mailing list. I really started to dread sitting down to write it though. You have given me great insight to just look at it like an article with slightly more detail. Im going to put this into my action plan and start working on it right away. Thanks for all of the ideas! I cant wait to get started.
Welcome to my blog, Chris!
Writing an eBook is really like writing an article, if you can write an article there is no reason why you can’t write an ebook. You just need to make sure you have a lenghty article and if not, use those headings and bonuses to fill in the gaps. And if you are using it on your blog just to get your list started/or built up than it doesn’t have to be long at all. Just to the point and that’s basically it.
If you need any help, you know where to find me
Best of luck with your blog and your ebook, Chris.
Hope to see you back here again.
Linda