How to Write a Successful eBook: A Step-by-Step Guide

An eBook is an opportunity to provide more in-depth information than you could cover in an email or blog post. With extra room to share important details and helpful illustrations, an eBook can make the perfect lead magnet or digital product. Follow this step-by-step guide to make your idea a reality. Throughout this article, we’ve also included a case study to demonstrate what these steps might look like for a business owner – check it out as you go, or read the whole case study at the end!

Step 1: Establish the Purpose 

Figuring out the “why” behind your eBook sets the stage for your success – so don’t be tempted to skip it! The purpose of your eBook affects every element – the angle you take in your writing, the call to action, the audience you choose, and how you track success. 

Will you use the eBook as a lead magnet, or sell it as a digital product? Are you primarily trying to build brand authority, trigger an email drip campaign, or make passive income? Valuable content can serve many purposes, but it’s important to establish the main reason you want to create your eBook – and keep that purpose in mind throughout the whole writing process.

Step 2: Identify Your Readers 

The next step is narrowing in on the specific audience you intend to reach. Go beyond demographics (age, gender, location, etc.) and think about why this particular audience is interacting with your brand. What are their values? What are their struggles? What do they want to know? 

Identifying your readers will shape the tone of your book and guide your topic and thesis choice. If you have an existing client base or email list, consider sending surveys or quizzes to learn more about your target audience and what they care about.

Step 3: Choose the Winning Topic 

If you’re considering writing an eBook, you likely already have a topic in mind. Just make sure you allow the topic to go through a variety of iterations until you land on a subject that will

• Accomplish the intended purpose
• Resonate with your audience
• Align with your expertise
• Fill an industry gap

You want to make sure that the topic you’re passionate about is well-suited to an eBook (as opposed to another type of content), that it will matter to your audience, that it will draw from your experience, and that it will provide information that seems to be missing in your industry.

Conduct keyword and competitor research to see what is already out there on your topic, and if you get stuck in the brainstorming phase, try AI tools like ChatGPT. AI can be incredibly useful for brainstorming eBook topics, creating outlines, organizing ideas, and other time-consuming tasks. But remember that AI is best used as a jumping-off point – not as a ghostwriter. After all, your eBook should bring something new to the table. It should showcase your unique experiences, insights, and tone.

Step 4: Develop a Thesis

At the risk of sounding like your high school English teacher, you need a strong thesis statement! Your thesis conveys your angle – it explains what you’re actually saying about your topic! A clearly articulated thesis is necessary for your readers to understand what value they will get from reading your eBook. And developing your thesis ahead of time will keep you on track as you research, outline, and write.

Step 5: Research and Outline

One of the trickiest things about writing long-form content is that it’s easy to veer off-topic. Developing a well-researched outline before you start writing is one of the best ways to make sure your hard work pays off and your time is used efficiently.

And while the headings and subheadings you use may be tweaked as you write, create your outline with a table of contents in mind. A table of contents serves a critical purpose in an eBook because it gives your reader a roadmap for the eBook and the ability to skip between sections.

Step 6: Write the First Draft

This step is self-explanatory. But what do you do about writer’s block? Try getting your thoughts out with a text-to-speech app, use AI tools to brainstorm ideas, and don’t worry about getting it perfect the first time around. 

Whether you prefer to “thought-dump” or edit as you write, let your first draft be your first draft. There’s time for editing later. And as you fill in the content, feel free to use whichever writing software you prefer (Microsoft Word, Google Docs, etc.). The text can be copied into the right format later. Just make sure you keep track of any citations as you go.

Step 7: Edit, Edit, Edit 

Edit it yourself, give it to a friend, or get professional feedback. Whichever method makes the most sense for your content, timeline, and budget – the important thing is that your entire book is edited. If you self-edit, be sure to give yourself some time and distance from your draft before re-reading it. Otherwise, it’s almost impossible to be objective in your critique. Apart from proofreading for grammatical errors, here are some questions to ask as you edit each section of your draft:

• Is this point relevant to my thesis? 
• Am I striking the right tone for my audience? 
• Is this sentence/paragraph/section necessary? 
• Do I need to define this term? 
• Is this a logical progression of thought? 

If you’d like assistance from an experienced editor, consider posting your project on Fiverr or Upwork. This is a quick and easy way to get professional feedback on your eBook. 

When the editing process is over, your eBook should contain only the most helpful and relevant information on your topic, it should thoroughly back up your thesis, and it should be tailored to the interests and needs of your audience.

Step 8: Design the Layout and Graphics

Some subjects lend themselves more naturally to illustrations, while others need minimal graphics. However, it’s a good idea for any ebook to break up text with visual elements. Even bullet point lists and quote callouts can go a long way in making content more engaging and easier to read. 

If graphic design isn’t in your wheelhouse, you can quickly find professional designers on sites like Fiverr or Upwork. DIY tools also make it possible for writers without a design background to create a professional product. Check out free software like Canva or Adobe Express, which offer eBook cover designs and other templates that are easily edited.

Step 9: Publish Your Masterpiece!

eBooks are much simpler, faster, and cheaper to publish than physical books. There are a variety of options for self-publishing eBooks – the best choice for you will depend on your purpose in writing one. Authors should also note that while their eBook content is inherently copyrighted by virtue of being an original work, registering the eBook with copyright.gov can help protect against intellectual property infringement.

Sell on eBook Publishing Platforms 

An eBook publishing platform works like an online bookstore, making your eBook accessible to an existing audience of readers and giving authors a percentage of the profits on every sale. Three of the most popular self-publishing platforms are:

• Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
• Barnes and Noble Press
• Apple Books (iBooks)

Leverage Your Website 

The good news for a business owner who wants to sell or offer an eBook through their website is that the process is very simple with the right software. Drag-and-drop landing page builders make it easy to add downloadable content to your website – such as PDFs – while a form builder and checkout software allow you to place an eBook behind a sign-up form or paywall. There are many places on your website to offer an eBook:

• E-commerce product page 
• Dedicated landing page
• Header/footer 
• Checkout page 
• Pop-up

Step 10: Promote the eBook and Track Results 

Once your eBook is published for the world to see, it’s time to draw attention to your new digital asset and keep track of its success. Of course, your promotion methods and KPIs (key performance indicators) will depend on why you wrote this eBook. Consider how you can develop a content marketing strategy for your eBook that integrates naturally with your other marketing channels, such as social media or blog posts.

Whether you’re tracking eBook sales, clicks, or sign-up forms, make sure you have a clear process in place for measuring success – and a means of testing different variables to find what works. You might need to adjust the way that you promote your eBook, where you offer it, how much it costs, and a number of other factors to land on the most successful strategy.

How to Use an eBook to Grow Your Online Business 

Whether content creation is a regular part of your business or not, an eBook can be a remarkably valuable asset when integrated well with your other sales and marketing efforts. Here are just a few ways to incorporate an eBook into your online business: 

• Use it as a lead magnet to build your email list
• Offer it as a freebie to build trust with your audience 
• Make money by selling it as a standalone digital product 
• Promote it as an add-on or bonus feature of another purchase 
• Give it to existing customers or members as an exclusive perk  

Tools You Need to Publish & Sell Your eBbook

Every possible use for your eBook requires software – whether the eBook is a lead magnet, a standalone product, a freebie, or serves another valuable purpose for your business. To get the most value out of your eBook, you’ll need access to e-commerce software, email marketing software, website-building software, analytics software, and maybe even other programs such as membership software.

But instead of juggling multiple platforms and trying to reconcile the data, Kartra’s all in one software enables you to run your online business from one robust platform. With Kartra, content creators can update their website, sell digital and physical products, set up sales funnels, automate email sequences, track analytics across marketing channels, and more – without having to switch applications or pay for multiple subscriptions.