Ebooks: Learn By Writing Ebooks for Others

Having written more than 30 non-fiction books for print and more articles than I could even begin to count, I am loving the new challenge of writing ebooks others.

So far I haven’t written any ebooks for myself, but rather ebooks for clients who are not particularly good writers themselves. This means I don’t stand to earn an ongoing income from what I have written. But I see this as an opportunity to earn money training on the job. It’s a kind of apprenticeship that is enabling me to cut my teeth on what is a new medium for me. Then I can do what I really want to do, and that is to sell ebooks that I have written.

To date, I have written six ebooks for clients and edited another three. All have been non-fiction, which is where my talents lie.

What I have found is that ebook writing combines skills that I have used for years, writing the text for printed books as well as writing articles. Ebooks need to be well structured, just like any good non-fiction book, but the content is a lot shorter. This means that it is essential to be able to be concise and to share descriptions or explanations in bite-sized portions.

I’m just about ready to start writing ebooks for myself. How about you?

Angela’s comment

I love Penny’s attitude here. I’ve always recommended to my students that they take the time to learn a process. This pays off. Big time.

There’s a huge demand for writers to write ebooks for others, just check the outsourcing sites. Yes, the pay you’ll get there is minimal, but that should not be your primary concern. Get wise. When you write ebooks for others, you’re being paid to learn.

Again, check the outsourcing sites. (You should do this even if you’re happily selling your own ebooks.) You’ll discover which topics sell, and what’s currently in hot demand. Buyers of ebook writing services are not dilettante fools. Most have done their research. They know what will sell. You can take advantage of their hard work.

You can make a wonderful income online by selling information products. That won’t change anytime soon. In fact, the demand will heat up, as more people rely on their mobile devices as education and learning tools.