Writing and Selling Ebooks Online: Diary of My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part IV

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June 24, 2011

The first thing I want to say is I’m changing the name of this series. Something about seeing the word “failure” in so many posts just bugs me. Sure, I stumbled a bit, but I’m picking myself up and getting on with it, so I don’t think failure is the right word anymore.

And again, it just bugs the hell out of me seeing it in print so often!  So, the new name is the title of this post.

Note: See all posts to date in this ebook writing series. In spite of the name change, this is Part IV.

My Ebook Writing Progress This Week

In a previous post, I told you how I formulated a schedule for writing ebooks that would help me to reach my goal by year’s end. That plan is to write and upload one title a week to Amazon until the end of the year.

How Long It Takes to Write an Ebook

Well this depends on a lot of factors, of course (eg, subject matter, research involved, your writing personality, etc.). I have a system down pat, so it takes me anywhere between 15 and 25 hours usually. I wrote one ebook (the backpage one) in about 8 hours. It started off as an article, but got so long that I just spent that whole day writing and managed to finish it.

This Week Got a Little Sidetracked, But Am Still on Track

write-and-sell-ebooks-on-amazonThis has been a harrowing week. I had a couple of client projects due, which cut into my writing time on my projects. But, I’m still on track to publish another ebook by Sunday.

While I didn’t start on Monday like I wanted, I am about 75% done with this latest title. I’ll finish it this weekend and upload it on Sunday. By Wednesday, I knew it was going to be a long weekend. One thing I did last week though was to look through my list of titles and select an easy one to put together. Some ebooks take much longer to write than others.

I still get physically ill when I think about the one on niche minisites I had 90% finished which is on my old laptop that died. The data couldn’t be recovered, so I have to write that one again. I’d started that one last summer and had almost finished it last month when my laptop caught that virus and went kaput.

I’m back burnering that title cuz I just can’t bear to think about doing all that research again.

What’s This Latest Ebook About?

It’s a book of SEO writing examples. Quite a few people have asked me for this since I wrote the ebook on how to start an SEO article writing career. Although I give an actual sample in that ebook, some want more.

I read recently that 60% of us are visual learners, so this makes sense. Hence, this ebook includes 10 examples of SEO articles, as well as some explanatory info on the foundational concepts of this type of writing.

If you know SEO, you don’t need this ebook. But if you’re new to the field and/or are still a little fuzzy about what an actual SEO article looks like, where keywords should go, what keyword density is, etc., this ebook will help.

How to Price EBooks to Sell on Amazon: I’m Playing Around with My Pricing

I’m finding pricing to be a bit tricky on Amazon. I’ve figured out a formula that seems to work well for my site, but I think I should be selling more on Amazon, so I’m playing around with pricing to see what happens.

Every successful ebook self-publisher I read says to do this.  A pricing strategy that seems to work is to go low to build a base, then pump out more titles and make your money on volume.

So this ebook will be $2.99.

The How to Write an Ebook in 3 Days ebook seems to be doing well at the $19.95 price point on Amazon (it’s one of my most popular titles there), but I’m intrigued by this $2.99 pricing strategy, so am gonna give it a go.

I’ll keep you updated on how it goes, of course.

To Make Money Selling Ebooks Online, Ya Gotta Produce

FYI, my latest ebook on Amazon finally went live (it can take 2-3 days for them to review and approve it). This makes 9 to date (gettin’ there!). So I’m adding, adding, adding to my virtual shelf. Week after next (travelling next week), I’m going to start uploading my existing titles; If I did this, I’d have close to 30 ebooks on Amazon already.

How’s your ebook writing coming along? Did you make any progress this week? Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t, and share in the comments section below your ups, downs and in-between struggles. Lord knows this journal is helping to keep my feet to the fire. What’s keeping you motivated?

P.S.: Will you do me a favor? If you download and read the Living the Freelance Life!, will you come back and give some feedback in the comments section below? Or, just email me [info*at*InkwellEditorial*dot*com]. Tell me what you liked about it, disliked about it, wish I would have discussed more of/less of, etc. In short, anything. I may even revise based on your feedback and will definitely carry the lessons forward into the next ebooks. Thanks a bunch!

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P.P.S.: Quickly Become a Published Author: Learn how to FINALLY get that ebook out of your head and onto a page. Just think, you could be done and making sales this time next week!

P.P.P.S.: Want to start a successful career where you have the mobility to live and work where you please? Visit our freelance writing bookstore for a ton of opportunities (freelance writing and internet marketing) to get you started.


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Writing and Selling Ebooks Online: Diary of My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part VIII
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5 Responses to “Writing and Selling Ebooks Online: Diary of My Quest to Publish 50 Ebooks on Amazon in One Year, Part IV”

  1. kiki says:
    June 25, 2011 at 2:21 am

    Thank you..really informative!!

  2. Wendy Stewart says:
    July 1, 2011 at 2:12 am

    Hey, Yuwanda!

    I have 3 of your ebooks, including the one on transitioning to being a full-time publisher. Thanks for being so candid with your readers.

    You have inspired me to set a goal for a certain number of e-books for the rest of this year. I counted and there are 26 weeks remaining once this week is over. I believe that I can also do one ebook per week! So I will have 26 additional titles on Amazon.com at the end of the year! Yea!

    Take care and keep writing!

    Wendy Stewart
    Catholic Teen Life Coach | Stylist | Self Esteem Expert

    http://teenfaithandbeauty.com

  3. Yuwanda says:
    July 1, 2011 at 12:07 pm

    @Wendy:

    That’s amazing Wendy! Good for you for setting this goal and working towards it. It’s gonna be a lot of work, so don’t even kid yourself there, but at least you know what you’re up against.

    Good luck, and pop back in from time to time to update me on your progress please.

    Have a great holiday!

  4. Wendy Stewart says:
    July 1, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    Yup, it’s totally going to be hard work, but I think this is just the challenge I need to really get my business in gear!

    Wendy Stewart
    Catholic Teen Life Coach | Stylist | Self Esteem Expert
    http://teenfaithandbeauty.com

  5. Yuwanda says:
    July 1, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    Wendy,

    Drastic changes usually equal drastic results, so again, good for you!

    Can’t wait to her of your progress.

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