This post resulted of my recently finishing of a short e-book. It’s been the first one (hopefully I will be writing more in the future), it’s not about IM, and it took me a long, long while to complete. It seemed as if I would never figure out how to complete an e-book!
I have always been a slow writer, therefore putting that much time in a rather short opus is not unsual. But looking back now, the main factor I see for this happening is that I was pretending to write too much of a book. Being the reason for my e-book the promotion of an affiliate product, I lost sight of the fact that I should be writing a short report and instead let the vendor be the one with the long words.
One’s first aim should always be to start something that can be finished (Hadn’t I read Luke 14, 30 before?). I should had not been afraid or weary of changing the initial scope, even the idea, as long as the change keept the product useful and informative!
I had (have) a plan with this e-book. But a plan is a tool to be used to reach an objective and one should be alert that it, the plan, does not sabotage the mission by becoming the objective itself. I mean, if one gets to the point where one cannot get to conclude a task (the e-book), then there is something wrong with the plan and it should be revised. Which in the long end, I did.
Still ahead is a squeeze page, a thank you/download page, an autoresponder series and whatever. Along with the e-book, all of them are equally important parts of a successful IM effort and I shall just keep going!
Hi I know what you mean about writing an ebook, I have just finished the draft of mine. You can easily get carried away writing it and it just gets longer and longer. Congratulations on finishing it – I shall look forward to reading it – what’s the title?
Take Care and good luck
Barbara
.-= Barbara Harvey´s last blog ..Book is finished! =-.
Hi Barbara!
And thank you for stopping by.
I tried for too long to cover the original list of subjects. Once I changed a subject and re-scoped the book, I got to finish it.
The e-book is in Spanish and the subject is related to playing lotto. I’ll be glad to send you a copy!
Regards,
Jose
Hi Jose,
Congratulations on finishing your ebook. I can hardly wait to read it. Va a ayudarme practicar el espanol.
I finished my ebook recently too and so it seems that we both have a similar work to do ahead of us.
My new ebook is on list building and it has a different twist to it from other list building ebooks that I’ve ever read. I just posted about it a couple of days ago.
I have a similar view of planning. It should free us instead of enslaving us. I often prefer being flexible and at times a plan can be restricting.
I have to learn to make flexible plans that I don’t feel bad about changing.
It would be much better than avoiding making any plans which I’m sometimes doing.
Talk soon,
Vance
.-= Vance@List Building Helps Any Business´s last blog ..Email List Building, Opt in List, Not Just for Internet Marketer =-.
Vance, thank you and congratulations to you also!
An ebook on list building, I’d be most interested in reading it. And since you say it’s got a different twist, even more.
Flexible planning is a must in order to get things done. The challenge is to balance flexibility with effectiveness.
Good you stopped by,
Jose
Balancing flexibility with effectiveness is indeed the challenge and at least for me it looms large.
Speaking some more about ebooks, I wonder if you are up to date on what Alex Jeffreys is doing.
He’s about to release his Gurus Nightmare report ebook.
I just wrote a post about what his report is going to be about and also something about his upcoming launch of Marketing With Alex 3.0.
I know more than most people about this due to my presence at last January Las Vegas Workshop and seeing Alex in person.
Whether you are in the know about what’s happening with that I’d appreciate reading my post and letting me know what you think about it.
Talk soon,
Vance
.-= Vance@Gurus Nightmare Report´s last blog ..Marketing With Alex 3.0 Preview, Gurus Nightmare Alex’s New Ebook =-.
Hi Vance,
Been to your blog and commented on your post about Alex’s new e-book. I liked your review, you did create the appetite for the report.
And now that I’ve had a little time, I’ve requested it. I still have to find a chance to read it.
Hi Jose
Congratulations on finishing your book. I know what you’re talking about. Like many AJ students I know how important is to get it done and offer my own product.
I’ve had similar thoughts as those you share in your post about planning. It’s a balance between the big picture – my target and all the small steps I’ve to take to reach the goal.
The plan must be simple and easy to follow without unnecessary. details. Otherwise, the risk to get lost in a details jungle can be too high.
I wish you a big success man
Estani
.-= Estanislao@ListBuilding´s last blog ..Use List Building Strategies to Achieve Great Results on Your Online Home-Based Business =-.
Hey Estani, good to see you again!
I had unnecessary details and also a scope that was too far reaching for a report to be used to promote an affiliate product. That’s what was making the ebook difficult to complete.
Cheers,
Jose
Ahhh…writing ebooks. The agony and hair pulling.
about 2.5 years ago, i started on some of my first ebooks. It “only” took about 1 year to get 2 or 3 done….and of course, edited to utter perfection.
What a waste of my time. But, boy did I learn. Now, I’m not saying ebooks were a waste of my time…I’m saying the time I put into them was. What do I mean by that?
Nowadays, I would simply write an outline, record using audacity or a small hand-held, and then have it transcribed. You can get these things transcribed all day long for less than $40 per audio hour. Then, once it comes back, have it “edited”, etc. But I still wouldn’t spend a lot of time on editing, instead, get it done, and focus on driving traffic to it.
Actually, a better process is video/webinar then strip audio, then have transcribed. Then you have 3 to 5 products all in one shot! and in only a little time.
Anyway, keep on keeping on making those products. Rock it!
Brandon
.-= Brandon Yeager´s last blog ..First IM Niche Product Nearing Completion =-.
Thank you for the great comment, Brandon!
And your suggestion about how to improve ebook completion time is eye-opening to me. There is always a more efficient way to have thing done and what you’ve outlined certainly is one of those.
And then there’s the multiple by-products you mention… double thank-you for stopping by!
Jose