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Step 1
Decide whether you want to use the e-book as a promotion tool or for profit. If you have your own company or sell a product, an e-book can be used to introduce potential clients to your product and become an easy-to-distribute promotion tool. Deciding on a purpose beforehand will also help you choose the length and organization of the work.
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Step 2
Decide the format. Most ebooks are now available in PDF format, but some people may prefer Windows executable file (EXE file) or a raw HTML format. Once you have chosen a format, you will need to download a program to convert your Word document into the appropriate type of e-book. To create a PDF, you will need Adobe or you can use a free program such as PDF995, available online. If you choose a HTML format, you will need to create the code yourself in a program such as Dreamweaver. For EXE files, you will need to buy an e-book compiler, many of which are available online at sites such as Virtual-ebooks.
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Step 3
Publish the actual e-book through a self-publishing company such as Lulu, if you don’t want to deal with formatting. To do that, you will need to upload the file directly to the Web site and then chose a cover and look. The process itself is free, and while most of these companies do take a percentage of the final sale price, they also take over the selling and delivery process, so you don’t have to manually deal with each order (see Resources below).
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Step 4
Set up a payment processing system to handle orders. If you are selling the e-book directly through your Web site or blog, you will need to install some type of shopping cart software to process orders. You can also automat the process by using PayPal or Clickbank, both of which allow you to accept credit card payments (see Resources below).
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Step 5
Set up a Web site or blog where you can promote the e-book. If you can’t afford to pay for your own domain, you can always set up a free blog with a company such as Blogger, where you’re allowed to use advertising and to add products for sale without having to share the profits or pay for extra bandwith. If you’re selling the book yourself, rather than through a self-publishing company, you can also use the site to set up a sales page (see Resources below).
Comments
sgtmajor said
on 2/25/2009 Excellent...just what I needed! 5* Recommend
knoelle12 said
on 11/3/2008 Thanks for thr info! Been looking for more on ebooks for a while now!