Resources Mentioned During Today’s Video
- Freemind for mindmapping
- istockphoto.com and stockxpert.com for images
- Bullzip pdf creation software
- How to FTP files to your server video
- ClickBank for selling your ebook
Right click here to download today’s video to your computer
{ 92 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Gideon,
Great video again! Thanks! I am already starting to get some neat ideas for an ebook.
I have two questions:
1.) If you do interviews for your ebook, don’t you need to give a share to your interview subject? I mean he or she provides you with valuable content that you’re going to sell for a profit. How do you go about this?
2.) If you upload your ebook to Clickbank affiliate marketers will find it and promote it for you, don’t they? Can they do the lion share of promotional work for you?
A last, unannounced question: do you think my English is good enough for this kind of job (e.g. writing an ebook)…with some proofreading of cource before publishing?
Thanks man!
Zsolt
Hey Zsolt
Great questions!
Here are some answers:
1. You don’t need to give anything to the people you interview, other than a copy of the interview – they can then decide whether they would like to market and sell that on their own. This is pretty standard. Remember that by them getting interviewed, and you marketing your product with them inside it, they automatically get some “free” exposure. That’s why I hardly ever say no to an interview
(shhh don’t tell anyone!)
2. Yes, that is possible. However, you first need to make some good sales before affiliates will find you inside the ClickBank marketplace. Basically, the more you sell in the shorter time frame, the easier you will get picked up by other affiliates. But I would certainly not rely on this as a fool proof strategy. You are much better off going searching for your own affiliate partners.
3. Your English is fantastic! In fact, if you didn’t tell me, I never would have known that English was your second language. Don’t tell anyone, but English is my second language too – although I’ve been speaking and writing it for quite some time now. I actually think people who learn English as a second language are often better authors than people who have English as their mother tongue.
Talk soon!
Gideon Shalwick
Thanks so much for the great answers Gideon! Looks like you toucjed upon a sizzling hot topic here.
All the best,
Zsolt
“I actually think people who learn English as a second language are often better authors than people who have English as their mother tongue.”
Motivates me to write an ebook, even though English is my 3rd language (Ssh..
)
Hey Gideon,
This video comes in the right time! I was sketching a short eBook for my website before official launch (BrisbaneStudentGuide.com) and this video definitely helps a lot! Thank you very much.
English is not my mother tongue too ^^;
Thanks again, Gideon!
[..YouTube..] Good info Gideon, might just try to write one.
Maggie
Thanks, Gideon. It’s not as detailed as your other videos(you’ve really spoiled us!) but useful all the same.
Thank you. Any suggestions for ideal length for a first ebook? Minimum/maximum word count? And how is the creation process different for a free report or free ebook?
Thanks so much — I’m getting ready to write my first ebook about Feng Shui and this is really helpful
Gideon —
As always, terrific content. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with the rest of the world. It really is valuable.
Thanks,
Lou
Hey Gideon,
Just an idea for the title to your blog. How bout you experiment and put a logo of a cereal box and maybe a cartoon like image of a boy eating cereal or something like that to go with the title….to give it a bit of humor.
just a moment of inspiration i had. It probably make it more memorable as well.
Gideon,
I enjoyed this Ebook video.
Thanks for this update.
Prakash
I think it was very helpful. I’m beginning in the blogosphere but want to make some info products. This is a simple kick-ass guide! Actually i’m in one of Yaro’s program and have read all your blueprints. Great stuff you guys have. I hope that soon enough i will be following your steps.
Thanks again for the insight.
Great video Gideon.
I have been wanting to learn more about creating ebooks and this helps alot.
One question I do have is: What is the legal side of creating an ebook? The disclaimers that need to be included and such? Is it a long process to copywrite your material or do you simply use a short disclaimer at the beginning/end of the book and the author resource information?
Thanks again for a great video.
Have a great day,
Renee
Hi Gideon,
Thank You for the great video! I spent quiet some time now researching how to create e-book and I wish I knew that you were going to make this video
I even bought some software to convert MS Word document to PDF but it didn’t work out well (truth to be told it was very cheap so I kind should have known that it wouldn’t work well) and than I learned about OpenOffice.org, which I like very much not only because it is free but it also allows you to save document directly as pdf.
And finally it is good to know that people who learn English as a second language are often better authors than the people who have English as their mother tongue.:-) Now I am wondering if it also applies for the people who learn English as their third or as in my case fourth language…or maybe we rather shouldn’t overdo it!
Thank You.
Hi Gideon,
Thanks for a great video.
I used the freemind and speed writing combination from your roadmap report to complete the soccer coaching ebook I’ve just published.
I don’t want to be spammy and post a link here but I can email it to you if you’d like to take a look (I think you’ll love the design)?
Cheers mate!
Pavl
Gideon,
Great video and it was perfect timing. My wife Terrah and I have been discussing creating an e-book maybe to use as a free report like you do to increase subscribership. Will definitely come back to this video when we get working on it. Do you have any ideas on a report you think would be beneficial coming from a site like ours?
Keep up the great work. I also wanted to let you know we just wrote a post about your and Yaro’s products.. (http://www.inspirationtheride.com/2009/11/03/make-money-doing-what-you-love-recommendation-of-yaro-starak%E2%80%99s-gideon-shalwicks-products/) let me know your thoughts…
have a good one.
Gideon,
10 minutes full of great tips.
Good confession because I want to interview you on my blog
3 questions to ask you 
Check out my blog for detail.
Thanks, Gideon. I’m in the process of putting together an ebook, so this information is exactly what I needed. Thanks again, and wish me luck!
Been up and running since the end of August. Been writing articles like crazy. Overwhelmed with all the free info avail. Some of it is just hype and filler, but there is actually a lot out there that is good.
I came to the conclusion that you just have to pick your people and put blinders on to the rest, you can only absorb so much! – I chose Yaro as my key follower, hope to join your groups but have to generate some revenue first.
Your video is absolutely great and inspires to me get going. I love to write and so it’s right up my alley! Packed full of info — no filler there!
Keep up the terrific work! You guys are fabulous!
Sincerely,
GK Eckert
yourmusicyourway.com
Thanks Gideon,
Totally enjoyed the lesson on creating an ebook. Except for the time involved in writing one, I’m having a terrible time coming up with a good idea for one. Finding people with problems is everywhere, finding a good topic is another story.
Yours,
Mark C.
Mark – I hear ya! I’m sure there are good niches out there, but it does seem rather difficult to find one that I think I could fill.
A
Hey Gideon.
Timely information as always! I’m currently writing an ebook and am already incorporating some of the ideas you mention here, but I definitely learned some new things that I will use.
As a BaB graduate, I also recommend to those writing an ebook that it’s a great idea to have as much quality content on your blog as possible. This way you have a credibility factor built in, and it may make selling your ebook easier. This is why while I’m writing the ebook, I’m not neglecting my blog; it still needs constant attention.
As always, a yeoman’s job on the information you provide, Gideon. We’ll be in touch!
Hi Gideon
I like the idea of creating an e-book and I have put much thought into its content and creation. The book would be on old 45rpm record and albums. I am concerned about copyright infringement from using band or solo artist photo’s and name. Also it is of Primary importance that I be able to photograph/scan my own records and record sleeves/jacket for book print to explain details of each record and its corresponding label. That is what the book is about and I need the graphic representation of each record. I am not sure what I can do without copyright impingement.
This document would be in e-book, dvd/cd and print form.
What is your advice?
Duane
Awesome stuff there. Yet again.
Thanks for this video
What about the specific content creation part, as I always see the same “just begin writing”… I would be interested to know more about the writing process, on how to build an eBook, one paragraph after the other.
Thanks.
Chad
Great stuff… Thanks will keep it all in mind…
One question I got is writing the e-book
can you put hyper-links in the book for affilate products
or other products related that I sell?
Keep up the good work!
Reg B.
Gideon (& Yaro);
Your content is excellent, as always. I have written 2 very special e-books (”GENIUS NOW: The Mastermind Blueprint” & “Lifetime Success in 6 Simple Steps”) and I have created a family of WP websites (thanks to the instructional videos you and Yaro made a long while ago!). You can see by visiting TheDudeBrands that I am flirting with some advanced features of WP. I am blogging, writing / submitting articles, working on videos, but I have no e-list, and no really useful contacts as yet. I am making use of Twitter & Facebook as well, and I desperately want to locate JV opportunities. MY QUESTION: Can you help me with tips for finding mutually rewarding JV agreements? I know that my first 2 e-books are strong quality and only need the marketing funnel, which I do not have as yet.
Thank you for the great video. It was very informative. I have written an ebook but am concerned about people stealing the content. I would like to protect my hard work. I am aware of copyright etc but wanted to know if you could recommend any other ways of protecting the ebook from people who will copy it and sell it as their own.
Charlie
Gideon,
Sorry for 2 comments. I am well aware that many marketers sell coaching packages that I might benefit from, but I have no immediate funds to invest. I will surely invest in my business once I have some initial revenue. I seek the highly unusual (and unlikely): a mentor that has nothing to gain by assisting me, other than the satisfaction of helping a very good writer, and the promise of funds from me at a later date, as well as sharing a huge percentage of my sales revenues in a JV. KT (TheDudeBrands.com)
I’ve only recently started a blog at grammastable.com and smallerbites.com although neither of them is quite ready for full promotion. However, I’ve been a freelance writer for over 20 years and have had several ideas for ebooks but didn’t know the nuts and bolts of getting them online. Thank you for yet another quick, SOLID lesson! Now I can actually do something with the books I already have in progress!
Thank you Gideon for sharing a simple step by step approach to creating an ebook for sale!
Can you tell us how you made the nice flow chart and pyramid for your ebook? Is that something that can be created with the Pages software for the Mac?
Thanks again,
Lori
Gideon always comes through with the goods. Thanks mate. Top Stuff!
Marty
Great Stuff Gideon, thanks for the fantastic information. Very helpful.
Marty
Thanks Gideon for such a wonderful video.
I love it dearly.
Thanks Gideon, great timing I am in the middle of writing an ebook, how many mega bytes in size is to big when it comes to a customer downloading an ebook, is 5MB ok. I am planning for about 100 pages with photos scattered through it, can’t have too many photos or it will create a file that is too big to download. Would it be ok to offer a zipped option for those who have slow internet.
Hi, Gideon
This video is a very usefull tool for me right now, I´m in the middle of a project and it helps me a lot, helps to build like a roadmap to develop an ebook.
Thank you very much.
Hi Gideon,
Thanks for concise accurate information. When I see something you have produced I know it is worth the investment of my time. Your outline for creating an ebook is a great framework for a longer series.
Best regards,
Susan
Country Shade Bookshop & Emporium
Hi Gideon
Very timely video for me as I’ve almost finished an e-book following some research that I’ve already undertaken. So far its around 75 pages and am putting together some case studies to include in it as well. Thanks very much, very useful as I’d not thought of uploading it onto Clickbank or running a U-Tube video either!
I want to create a bit of a feeding frenzy for my material before it’s launched – have you any suggestions to raise awareness first as I don’t have a large list so I don’t want it to be like a paper aeroplane and for it not actually to go anywhere after I’ve launched it. I already have a fan page for a book I published earlier in the year so will obviously promote it there though.
Thanks for your help
Wendy
Hey Gideon,
Awesome thanks great work!
Question
You mention the ‘pitch page’ ‘download page’ and ‘thank you page’.
I presume these are hosted on your own site.. and therefore
what are your suggestions for creating these.. WordPress or 3 Basic HTML pages?
Thanks for the awesome content – I wrote 7 cards worth of notes..
Michael
In reference to step number five, could you point me in the direction of someone you might recommend for tutorials on link building, how to use an html editor and get a squeeze page up and running and other technical goodies? I will figure all the details out by myself, but if you already have a source then it would be a time-saver. With no regular job in site, I could never afford to outsource anything until I started making money from my website, which is fine, as the desperation drives me to learn! I love it! Thanks for yours and Yaro’s tutorials. They are wonderful, but sometimes it is difficult to fill in the blanks, which is why your membership would be so great. Some of us have to rough it!
Hi Gideon,
I just love your stuff. What you should really do is like “Become a blogger” video’s, you should bring out another product on “Create your own info product as an online business model” There are lots of ways to automate and outsource the whole process.
I know the process in theory, but I love you to be my mentor.
Thanks Gideon,
As always, fantastic content. Short and snappy. I’ve been thinking about producing my ebook for some time so this video clip is timed perfectly to get me to get on with it!
Thank you so much.
Hi Gideon,
Your videos are always so generous with information, and your products are top of the line in terms of quality and useful, direct information. I’ve loved Become a Blogger, and now am possibly looking forward to yet another Shalwick stellar creation?
I’ve seen many comments about information products as selling tools, or as simple creations on their own. But I’d love to see you address what types of books would do well as eBooks. I’m interested specifically in creative ventures. EBooks as collections of Art, Children’s stories, Photography, etc. Or how about a novelist writing a free chapter to sell her downloadable eBook novel? What do you think about this? Is it viable subject matter for this market, or do you recommend the straight info eBook approach?
Thanks for BaB, and everything else!
Great stuff, but as we’ve come to expect!
Hi Gideon,
I recently tried to submit my ebook to Clickbank but the tester said she couldn’t see my wording and couldn’t use my links. She was using Firefox. I took that as that she wasn’t going to approve it so I cancelled my Clickbank account. Can you suggest any way to make my Wordpress site viewable on Firefox.
Thanks
Hi Yaro you talked about freemind map software.
What was the software the process and or pyramid, to design the pages and have the sections in order like you showed.
Helen
Oops… wrong name
Gideon here…
Sorry Gideon, I realized after I pressed sent.
Can you anwser my question please.
What was the software the process and or pyramid, to designing the e-book pages and have the chapters in order like you showed?
Hi Yaro, for users that aren’t sure how to go about creating a Clickbank pitch page. You might want to checkout my free ebook salesletter theme for wordpress. It’s creates complete minisites really quickly and you don’t have to know any html or css coding. You can download a free copy here http://www.infoproductstheme.com
Cheers
Ads
Uhm…
You got my name wrong
Gideon
Sorry Gideon, how embarrassing, I’m used to following yourself and Yaro starek.
Think I came through to your site from Yaro’s site had his name on my mind.
Note to self: more coffee when early morning replying.
Great video Gideon. That part about shutting off your screen while you write is a really good tip. I agree, JV partners can be really profitable.
Thanks Gideon. I’m the author of a number of physical books (published over the past 25 years) so am well used to the writing process and marketing. However, I’m now in the process of writing an e-book on Creative Writing: A Road Map. Your video is very helpful to me – less, as I said, on the research, writing and making it pretty side – but I think I may well be back to you with questions with the publishing and promoting bit. Thanks a lot!
The step six is the part where i cant participate because of the territorial limit.
Gideon,
Thanks for your good explanation of how to create an e-book. This is something I have never tried on either of my 3 blogs, but it’s on the horizon. Would it be best to create for example a 10 page free e-book as a test for yourself, and give it away on one of your blogs before you step into the big pond?
Maybe it’s the ‘fear factor’ that’s holding me back, but an e-book is definitely on the horizon.
Jim
Hi Gideon,
I loved the video, I really like it when the information is short and to the point. I have been trying to get an eBook finished and your video has given me some structure that I needed.
Thanks again
Hi Gideon
How would you rate ejunkie.com instead of using Clickbank? $40 to set up plus their cut for each sale makes Clickbank quite a pricey proposition.
Carole
Great info again, Gideon. Do you copyright your ebooks? What microphone and camera do you use to do your videos?
Thank you,
LarryH50
Enjoy the Journey
I have just started designing my website. I have finish my ebook to include on the website and have started writing an ecourse. I would like to know about the copyright process concerning the internet and how to protect my ebooks once they are done.
Thanks for making that short and to the point. I was glad to be able to work watching it into my evening.
Thanks for the wonderful video. Just my thought, a picture should serve a purpose in the eBook than making it pretty. As a picture speaks for thousand words, an appropriate and illustrative picture will enhance your message and leave even a more memorable impression than words.
Thanks Gideon! I like the 7 step approach. It’s very structured. Hopefully, it will be successful. Thanks for sharing that with us.
Good concise description of what to do in order to sell an e-book on the internet in whatever niche market you choose. I found Kevin Riley’s courses helpful since he tells you exactly how to accomplish this goal without leaving out any vital details.
Superb video Gideon. Very impressive and so easy to follow. Why do so many people try to complicate simple things? Like your ‘Become a Blogger’ videos, it is clear, to the point and very informative. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for video! It was right on time. Do you use any particular software or template within Word or Pages to insert pictures/graphics/footers/headers etc so the formatting is easy and the final product is set up like a real book?
Great video, Gideon. I’ve come back to this video multiple times for a refresher and now that I am putting my first ebook together, this really demystified everything. Thank you for putting this together.
- Charley
Hey Charley
I’m so glad you’ve found this video helpful!
All the best!
Gideon
[..YouTube..] Thanks for this video, it was very insightful.
Gideon, thanks for sharing your knowledge about ebooks. You provide a wealth of information, and I appreciate it all.
[..YouTube..] Excellent information.
[..YouTube..] Easy steps to follow Gideon. Thanks for laying it out so professionally.
Cheers,
~Bert
bertmcclure*com
[..YouTube..] Great breakdown and just what I needed!!
Thank you sir…..
RR
[..YouTube..] how many pages should a good ebook be?
[..YouTube..] I reckon somewhere between 60 and 100 is perfect – probably closer to 70 pages is ideal.
[..YouTube..] how much can you sell ebooks for about 70 pages? or would you recomend
[..YouTube..] It really depends on your market and how much they are willing to pay for the information.
You could have a look on ClickBank for similar books to get an idea for a price for ebooks in your niche.
But normally, for an ebook of that size, $27 to $47 seems reasonable.
And of course it also depends on how valuable the information is that you have inside your ebook.
Gideon
[..YouTube..] cheers
[..YouTube..] These are good suggestions. For the super fast content creation tip I would recommend using a program called Dark room or something like it. A very simple word processor that is black and it is full screen so it covers up those distracting icons.
[..YouTube..] I am 15 years old and I am not a pro
These are just the basic things.
Hi GIDEON. Just seen your how to on ebooks video. Good insight thanks. My question is that I have written a children’s story and had it animated not illustrated although I have the storyboard stills. How could I turn it into an ebook as it has original songs as well that I’ve had arranged?
Do I need a DVD distributer instead? I’m also trying to pitch it to tv stations.
Should I EBOOK IT? ePISODE 1 IS COMPLETED
Jody
Hey Jody
In general, the more different kinds of media you can use for a product, the more money you can make from it.
Ebooks normally have the lowest perceived value, followed by audio products, then video and at the top of value perception, software products… for digital products at least
So yeah, if I were you, I would try and get the one product into as many different mediums as possible, and sell them all at a different selling point.
All the best!
Gideon
I Gideon…
A quick question for you… I want to sell E-Books that I’m putting on DVDs or Cd’s. But I want to add music Royal Free type music so that the reader has a little background when they are viewing the product. To me that is a little extra value that I think be a great selling point. But not sure how to go about it? Do you know where I could learn or someone that could help me? Please let me know either way… Thank you…
Have a wonderful and enriching day…
Your follower
Reg B.
Hey Reg
Personally, I would not worry about integrating the music with the ebook – in fact I’m not even sure if it’s possible to do with a normal pdf document.
However, what you could do, is add the mp3 versions of the audio as separate files that people can download as part of your “package”.
Gideon
[..YouTube..] hey I finished writing my book all the chapters are MS word seperate documents. you said make the ebook look pretty, but how do i turn the microsoft documents into a book. its like i dont know what to do with all the documented chapters (HELP)
[..YouTube..] @iluv70smusic If you do a search for bullzip on google, the first result will take you to a page where you can download a pdf writer that will work with MS Word.
So, once you’ve edited everything inside your one MS Word file, just print to pdf using the Bullzip software that you’ve installed.
Gideon Shalwick
[..YouTube..] How many pages an eBook can have ? Minimum and maximum pages. Im on FB. Schiller Marcelin.
[..YouTube..] @smartsaylee Hey Schiller. You can have as many as you want really. But I find anything from 50 to 100 works fine…
Gideon Shalwick
[..YouTube..] Thamks
[..YouTube..] How to find joint venture partners
[..YouTube..] Hi Gideon. This is a very interesting video. I have created a pdf magazine for a local ornithology group and wondered if it would be suitable for Clickbank? I created the mag using Adobe Indesign. I can’t do an epub version, but will the pdf version of the mag be acceptable? Is pdf as good as epub format?
[..YouTube..] @zozzaby If you’re only selling it on ClickBank, then pdf is just fine! It’s only when you want to distribute your ebook on platforms like iBooks or Kindle where the epub format is better. But even then, both of those accept pdf’s as well.
If your book solves some specific problems for people, then I can’t see why ClickBank won’t accept it
[..YouTube..] @bigtymemarketing22 That’s always a little tricky… but the best way I’ve found so far is to simply interview people to make the first contact. Then later on, as you build the relationship and add value to their lives, you can approach them for a jv.
Gideon Shalwick
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