This thread will outline my experience with writing and selling my first ebook. This is only the first of a handful of updates. I have much more to write, but will publish the rest in a series of updates to this thread throughout the day. I hope you enjoy it, and that it provides direction, guidance and tremendous value to you; and gives you some idea of how you can leverage your writing to make money online, the way I have.

Enjoy!

And may you be blessed in your endeavors!

~ Ra

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I've always had a passion for writing, but until summer 2013, I'd never done anything to pursue it. Not since I was a teenager, anyway. That summer is one I'll never forget, because it's the summer I wrote and sold my first ebook. It was an exciting time, because for YEARS I've allowed myself to believe that I could never (and would never) produce anything with my writing that people would want to buy.

So I never wrote anything or put forth any effort.

But that summer, everything changed, and I've been writing, selling and self-publishing ebooks ever since.

I bring this up because I've had a few people on this site email me with questions about writing ebooks, selling them, effective marketing strategies and what platforms to sell them on. So instead of answering emails one by one, I thought I'd publish a new thread outlining my steps with writing and selling my first ebook. So here we go!

When I first started out, though I already had 11+ years of entrepreneur experience under my belt, I had ZERO experience as a writer. Which made things a little easier for me because I was already familiar with the concepts of marketing and selling online. Just not when it came to selling written content.

As for my writing goes, I didn’t have any resources when I started. I didn’t have any influential friends who could pass my work on to their huge list of followers and readers. I didn't have much money to spend on marketing, covert art or editing. (At the time I was struggling to save a dying business that was sucking up all of my money.) I didn't even have much of an audience of my own. All I had was 79 people who followed my blog, which was the same thing as someone liking a Facebook business page. Just because they click the 'Like' or 'Follow' buttons, doesn't mean they read all (or any) of your work. So in short, I didn't have much of a real audience to market to.

Never the less, I decided to try my had at writing and see what would come of it.

Now I do understand that it is possible (and simple) to make something people want, even if you don’t feel like you are an expert on the subject. However, producing something people will BUY is totally different. Or at least it was for me.

When you search online for methods to writing and selling ebooks, there is no shortage of articles by people who swear that making a living by writing ebooks is easy and anyone can do it. While that's partly true (yes, anyone can write an ebook. If you can type it, you can write it.) but earning a living from selling ebooks is not as simple.

In this thread I will share with you...

How I built the courage to start writing
The process I used to validate my book
The process I used to write my book
The process I used to market my book
The process I used to sell my book.

I'll provide as much detail as possible to help you get started writing and selling your work.

Let's go!

What The Book Is About

My first ebook was a book about the Law of Attraction. It sounds silly, but it was something very easy to write, and it was something I'd already written a number of blog posts on. If you aren't familiar with the Law of Attraction, it basically states that it is the attractive, magnetic power of the Universe that draws similar energies together. It manifests through the power of creation, everywhere and in many ways. This "law" attracts thoughts, ideas, people, situations and circumstances.

There's more to it than that, but that's the basic version of it's definition.

I chose this topic because in the beginning, I struggled a lot with coming up with a topic to write about. I wanted to write about investing (something else I LOVE to do) but I felt that it was too technical, and I would spend more time researching content than actually writing a book.

My next choice was to go with starting a blog or online business, but again, felt it would take too much time to write. So I went with the Law of Attraction.

I should also note that part of my problem was that I struggled with confidence issues. I didn't think I was a good enough writer to write anything worth selling. Part of that was because I allowed myself to belief the assumptions of other people that only great writers and successful authors could sell their writing. Which is not true.

ANYONE can sell their work. It's not about being a good or great writer. That's only part of it. You have to be able to write something people WANT. If you can do that, it won't matter if you're a greater writer or not. Don't believe me? Try reading some of the self-published books on Amazon. Many of them are not well written, but they offer great stories and valuable information.

It took a while for me to develop my confidence as a write, but it started with when I began writing my first book. That book changed everything for me.

So I shared an update on my blog that I was writing an ebook. It wasn't to get attention for my book. (Not yet anyway) but only that it would create an opportunity for someone to bring up or mention the fact that I'd failed to write and publish my book, if I didn't succeed. And if I refused to answer, it would hurt my credibility on my blog. At least, that was my thinking. And as flawed as it was, it worked. (In a way). And after that post, I began writing the book and submitting regular updates to my blog to track my progress.

At the time, I had been blogging consistently for about a year prior to writing my book, but I mostly write about past experiences as an entrepreneur and spirituality. Most of my articles were not particularly well written, but again, this blog was about my personal experiences and I didn't think putting a great deal of effort into was a big deal.

But the more I wrote, the better I got, and the more articles I wrote, and with it, my confidence increased. It also helped that some of my readers became regular commenters on the blog, offering advice and constructive criticism for my work. Positive feedback is a tremendous confidence booster.

I'm sure you were expecting some great reveal for my secret to overcoming confidence as a writer but truthfully, there isn't one. You just have to start writing. Slowly if you have to, but you MUST WRITE! Otherwise, you'll always feel incapable of producing anything, and because of that, you never will.

Looking back, blogging was a necessary step (for me) because it allowed me to build my confidence. Little did I know, it would also be the thing that would allow me to leverage my writing to sell and publish more later down the road.

Truthfully, I don't think I would have ever managed to get that book written had it not been for my blog. Had I not published that article about my decision to write and publish an ebook, I don't think I would have ever been able to achieve any of the success that I have over the past to years because I believe I would have never written a single ebook. I believe that I would have continued to think/believe that I could never write a book, and thus, would have never written one.

I would have remained in my bubble of self doubt even today. This thread wouldn't be possible, had it not been for me taking the initiative of that first step to make something happen. And it all began from blogging.

Truthfully, the best parts of the book came from questions posed by my blog readers, and doing the research to answer those questions. The blog also allowed me to lay a foundation for a growing community, which helped me launch things even further later on.

(Part II of original post)

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to write about something I was passionate about, but I didn't want to spend too much time doing research and gathering data. Prior to starting this book, I'd already spent 7 months without any success in blogging (I wasn't trying really). My first break didn't occur until I published a post that I was going to write and sell an ebook, and I wanted my regular readers to hold me accountable.

Initially, the post made few waves. There were a few likes and a comment that consisted of only a smiling emoticon. But that was about it. Then one day, I received a comment from a user who went by the name of "MadAngel", who told me that he would help keep me focused and hold me accountable for not writing the ebook by commenting frequently on my posts to inform other readers that I had failed. At first I was reluctant to agree because I was worried that by him doing so would kill my reputation and credibility on my blog. But then I thought about it. This would only happen if I FAILED to write and sell the ebook. So all I would have to do was write and sell the ebook and I would have nothing to worry about.

MadAngel was my motivator, and fueled my determination to get the book published.

As time went on, I blogged more about my progress with the book, at which point I began to notice an increase in page views, then likes, then follows, and finally more comments. My blog was picking up steam, and the only thing I did was candidly share my experiences with writing this ebook. But I wondered if people were following me because they too wanted to write an ebook, or because they were enjoying my updates.

To test this theory, I started writing more about my past entrepreneurial endeavors, but instead of only focusing on the past, I began blogging about the things I was currently doing, why they worked (or didn't work) and where I was planning to take my life within the next several years.

I started to write more posts about the emotional toll and benefits of entrepreneurship, my plans for businesses in various countries, and offered a few articles about how people could improve their lives by adopting a more entrepreneurial mindset. People responded favorably to all of my updates but the posts about ebook publishing, entrepreneurship and the law of attraction, generated the most feedback.

A few weeks later the rough draft of my ebook was complete, and I was ready to put the finishing touches on it to prepare for publication and sales.

This post caught fire, and people began commenting on it and requesting links to the rough draft. People even shared links to the post, which brought even more interest. The blog, post nor my ebook ever went viral, but the increased interest was a very exciting moment for me. Here I was, thinking I didn't have enough talent to be a writer, and yet, people were responding to my work so positively, it all but destroyed all of my self-doubt.

The best part of it all was when people started to comment to tell me how much my updates have helped them. Either by inspiring them to pursue more of what they want in life, or by giving them some idea or direction of how to go about writing their own ebooks.

As the weeks went on, I continued to write more about my book as I drew closer to announcing the final revision had been complete. But right before I completed the final chapter, I was completely immobilized by fear. I started wondering, "What if no one likes it?" "What if they think I'm a fraud and my credibility suffers?" "What authority do I have to write about the Law of Attraction?"

I was so afraid, that I stopped writing. I told my readers I was having trouble coming up with the final few chapters (which they believed) but the reality was that I was afraid to publish it because I was worried it would be a failure. Within two weeks, I'd completely talked myself out of finishing the book, and kept my readers in the dark by telling them that the last leg of the race was the most difficult. Which they still believed some how. Many authors and other writers shared in my "struggle" and offered advice on how to push through. Advice I didn't take because I was lying about finishing the book.

I felt horrible. Terrible. I felt like shit to be honest. Both because I was letting the fear of failure get the best of me, and because I was lying to the people who believed in me.

A month later I finally confessed. Everything. And to my surprise, rather than express anger or post negative comments, my readers offered more support and encouragement. Apparently, many writers "fake it" when it comes to dealing with their fear of deadlines and their skill. They pretend everything is alright, when in reality, the house is burning down. I was realized, and again, found my confidence to finish the book.

I made an announcement soon after that I would be officially publishing the book on the following Friday, June 21, 2013. And when that day arrived, the book was published for sale on my blog.

I managed to get a few sales, almost $70 worth. (The book was priced at $0.99) Not bad for a first attempt.

Sales died down over the following weeks, but I didn't care. I was already on my way to working on my second book. This one would be about building confidence.

Looking back, I had no idea whether any of what I was doing would work. I believed no one would read it, let alone buy it, but to my surprise, almost 80 people bought copies and downloaded my ebook. I felt more than successful in that moment. I felt blessed. Which is an amazing feeling!

I often wonder whether I would be able to sell more ebooks on the Law of attraction. Maybe so. I will just wait and see what the future holds.

Stay tuned for the next update to come later today.

(Part III of original post)

How did I know my ebook on the Law of Attraction would sell? I didn't. Not at first.

I knew that it COULD sell, because people are always interested in learning about the law of attraction and matters of spirituality in relation to self improvement.

But to be certain that it would sell, I needed to validate my idea.

The first step in validating my idea was to verify that people who were already on my email list were at least interested enough about the topic to ask some questions.

My list had fewer than 40 people on it at the time. After sending a quick broadcast, 3 people replied with questions about the ebook, asking specifically how it would help them improve their lives professionally. This was the kind of confirmation I was looking for. I knew then that I was on to something.

I have learned through articles and programs that one definitive way to find out if an idea is already validated is to check if anyone is selling it already. This saves time from having to do extensive market research and analysis.

Since I was going to write a book about the law of attraction, the best place would be to check Amazon for any books on it. I wasn't looking to see whether the law of attraction was a popular topic, because I knew that it was. I wanted to know which topics were most popular within the law of attraction niche. What I found was that most of the books in this section were about manifesting wealth and material riches. Little of it was on self reflection and improvement.

So I decided to write about the law of attraction and how it influences our personal selves, as well as how it could be leveraged to elevate ourselves to a higher sense of fulfillment. It sounded good, but writing the book was anything but easy.

Since much of the law of attraction literature is about using it to have more material success, it made it difficult to find sources to research about using it for self improvement.

It became more of a challenge to confirm that this was indeed worth writing about afterwards. I searched for other tutorials, forums and I even checked the official twitter account to see if anyone was interested.

In doing extensive Google searches I came across hundreds of comments to blogs and articles from people asking these same questions as outlined in my book. Again, this was yet more confirmation that people were interested to find out about my ebook's topic, even though not much had been written about it.

Furthermore, I received an average of 30 or so daily visitors to my articles on the law of attraction for self improvement. It was also because of this, that I reasoned most of the people on my email list likely signed up to know more about this ebook, and would later purchase copies for themselves.

After going through the above steps, I felt quite confident that there was a keen interest in the topic even though no money had exchanged hands.

One more thing. I mentioned I had the thought of writing a law of attraction book for quite some time. That thought kept coming back to me. It became stronger over time and it got to a point where I knew I had to write this book. I would have written it even if only 3 people in the world read it.

But at this stage, I was quite confident that I could reach more than 3 people because I believed my idea was too good to ignore. And since I was going to write the book regardless, I decided to continue moving forward to find out what information people were looking for about the law of attraction.

(Part IV of original post)

How I Found Out What To Write About

Since the target audience of my blog was spiritually-minded entrepreneurs and "new age" thinkers, I knew they would have an interest in learning more about the law of attraction. They were the type of people who either overcame emotional and spiritual struggles in their businesses and lives, or were currently going through something and were in search of solid advice.

It was likely that the questions my readers were asking could be readily found in a handful of places online, and my blog was quickly becoming one of them. So I started to gather questions from readers independently of what was asked in the comments section of my blog. I also began asking the readers of other blogs and the bloggers themselves, for questions they had about the law of attraction in relation to personal fulfillment and self improvement. Once I got the questions down, it was time to start work on the book.

What I Wrote My Book With

Most ebooks are sold in PDF format, and many of the popular word processors available today, have the ability to create PDF documents and files. Two other popular forms for ebooks are .epub and .mobi. And for those, you may need an alternate solution for writing your ebook and converting it to the right file type.

I wanted to distribute in all 3 digital formats so people can read the book on their favorite devices.

I wasn’t able to find any program that fit the bill at that time even though there are many good writing tools out there. Thinking back, it might have been because I was too picky about finding a solution where the ease of formating was a simple, straight-forward process.

I found the following tools to be quite useful:

Ulysses III
Scrivener
Penflip
Gitbook

These are good tools that at least have the capability to export either to ePub or Mobi formats. Once you have one of these formats, you can create other formats with Calibre.

Note that you can also convert Microsoft Word or Pages files into all 3 formats as well. That may be slightly trickier though.

You might have noticed that you can use any tool you want to. I would recommended you to write with something that you are already comfortable with.