I’m here! Finally, Nanny M emerges from the mist and madness of lockdown.

Where have I been, you may ask?

Well, I have buried my head most days in my laptop, creating my first ever e-book.

It’s been daunting! But I feel like it’s time. I have given so much into the blog, and now I feel like writing books is the right step in my journey.

I still remember the fear in me when I first published my first blog post.

No longer was I the only person who could read my articles and formulate an opinion on them, and that’s scary too!

Now, I am about to publish my first e-book, cover and all, which means I am a mixture of sweat and excitement for finally taking the next step.

Maybe you are like me and want to publish your first e-book too?

Where to start?

Will it make me money?

This article will answer lots of those questions so that your journey to self-publishing can be smoother.

Grow spider legs

Think of your book like the body of a spider. Its legs are paths to lead potential customers to the purchase. This is secret back work to selling, and you want to make sure you are in as many areas of the web (pun intended) that you can be.

Potential customers need to see your e-book a lot. You know what social media is like, we scroll and scroll, and then something perks up our attention which looks pretty cool, and just before we check it out the baby wakes up, or someone rings the front door.

By the time we are back, we completely forget what we saw before and continue scrolling.

This is why many writers feel like their books aren’t selling. They thought that all it takes is to put your e-book out there and wait for the cash.

This is where surveys and ads come in.

Surveys and ads

The easiest thing to do if you are struggling to pick what to write or who to write it for is to use surveys. Join social media groups that are related to what you are writing about. Say I was thinking about writing a book about helping a baby to sleep better. Then I would join baby sleeping groups. Be a reasonably active member by helping out people by answering their questions.

People are much more likely to do something for you because you helped them in some way.

After a little time being in the group, and checking if this is okay with the admin, post a survey asking all sorts of relevant questions to get to know your audience. You can find out what you should ask people in your survey, here.

Then what you find out in your surveys will help to tailor your ads to the right people that want to buy your e-book!

Make sure you enjoy what you are writing

It sounds super simple, I know! Like all good things, writing an e-book takes time, and the top reason why most writers give up halfway through is that they are not entirely passionate about what they are writing.

You could do a quick google search and find out that topics like Weight loss, Romance and Religion sells very well. But just because they sell well, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you should be writing about them.

Write about something which you know you’ll want to write about. Something that won’t bore you after the 100th time of reading it through.

Even if it isn’t popular, who’s to say you won’t make it be?!

Passion can leap off the page, and it pulls you through after months of writing.

Your book is much more likely to sell if its captivating and exciting and doesn’t sound like you have just gone and done your homework.

Get comfortable with change

Say you write your entire book, start to finish. Wam bam thank you, mam.
You think to yourself, oh man that was easy, maybe it’s time to write another, I’m on a roll!
Pencil down, and put the breaks on. The first version of your manuscript will change, a lot.
There is no way the first version of your e-book is perfect, and if you want your e-book to sell, then you have to make sure it is.

If every single sentence isn’t as perfect as it could be, then it could put someone off, and maybe they will recognise you when you publish your second book and scroll on past.
It takes time, it can be frustrating, yet the harder you work on it, the more it will sell.

If you are asking for help, be fair

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a smaller account or business message a more established business and asking for help without anything in return.
It can take years for a business to grow and you need to put in the hard work just as they did to get to that stage.
People won’t give you something which took a long time for them to learn, for you to learn in a matter of minutes.
When you ask for help, make sure it is fair on both accounts. This is the best thing to do, and it will increase your reputation as a writer.

Put your heart and soul into your e-book!

Make your book personal no matter what the topic is and have your readers get to know who you are.
You can set yourself apart from the crowd by making your writing factual and intimate. Always make sure that everything you are saying sounds like you and the book oozes your personality.

Most of all, have fun with it, tell and story and share your thoughts with the world.