On Monday, I interviewed author Charlon Bobo on Indie Business Radio. Charlon, and member of IBN (she actually helped me start the organization back in 2000!), is the author of Write Your E-Book Using a Trusted System While Maintaining Your Busy Life, a step-by-step outline of what must happen from start to finish in order for you to write, publish and profit from your own e-book.
During the show, Charlon shared a boatload of tips to help you move toward becoming a published e-book author. In addition to increasing your sphere of influence online and offline, authoring a book helps you create additional streams of income so that you can expand a current business or help pave the way for a new one.
Charlon says you should follow six steps to make your e-book a reality.
- Articulate succinct goals and your motivation. Know what you want to achieve and why you are motivated in that direction.
- Complete a target market analysis. Know the audience for your book. You cannot write to please a particular market unless you first identify that market.
- Assess your skill set. Be fully aware of what skills you do and do not bring to the table. If you are not good at something having to do with e-book publishing, don't try to do it yourself. Hire someone so you can focus on the things you do well.
- Assess your support system. Rally your biggest cheerleaders to help you achieve your goal of writing and publishing your book. Make sure they know what you are trying to do and what your needs are so they can support your efforts.
- Get your head in the game. Make sure your head is ready for the challenge. Writing and publishing a book requires a significant investment of resources. You will probably sacrifice family time, you time, and other important times so you can finish your book.
Put your head in the game before you get started. Get mentally up for the challenge in advance so you can invest fully in your writing when the time comes.
- Create a schedule and a plan to get the job done. Once you're ready to begin, create a writing schedule and stick to it. Select days and times where your writing is at its peak and set them aside for your book. After you make your plan, execute it.
Listen to the Show
In her book, Charlon expands on this list, and holds your hand during the entire publishing process. Listen to the show as a great introduction, then follow through. As always, you can enjoy my show wherever it's convenient for you:
- You can download it on iTunes.
- You can stream or download it at my radio show website.
- You can stay where you are and simply click on the arrow at the bottom of this post to listen right now!
Coming Up Next Week!
Coming up on April 19 at 1:00pm EST on Indie Business Radio, my guest will be Hollis Thomases author of Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day
See you then!
Question: If you're an author, what tips can you add to the ones Charlon has shared? What questions do you have about the e-book writing and publishing process? When can we expect to see your e-book?
