John Lawson, Stephanie Inge, Skip McGrath and, of course, the writers of this article have leveraged their experience as eBay sellers to write books. As a fellow online seller, what about you?
You also have expertise to share with others. Should you commit to the hours of stress and interruption, and time away from your business and family to write a book—and does it pay off?
Before we get into it, let's be clear about the type of book we are talking about. Whether they are e-books, or traditional books, we'll be discussing nonfiction, business-to-business books. These describe how to do something, in this case, make more money selling online.
I thought to myself, 'I can write a better book than any of these.' I just opened a blank Word doc and started typing
Here we'll look at the reasons you may want to write a book and give you a glimpse into the process. In the second part of this series we'll discuss marketing and promoting your book.
Write to set the record straight
There are many reasons to write a book and making money—although challenging—is only one of them. Take eBay seller Skip McGrath, who wrote and self-published his first book, The eBay Power Seller's Manual in 2000, out of frustration.
"At that time, dozens of eBay sellers were selling e-books on CDs with the theme 'Get Rich on eBay,'" he recalls. "I bought a few of them, and they were all junk or pure scams. Several of them actually suggested dishonest ways to make money… So one night I was sitting at my computer after dinner with an extra glass of wine. I was perusing eBay and saw listings for a few of those books and just got angry.
"At that time I was already a PowerSeller and had 100 percent positive feedback, and I thought to myself, 'I can write a better book than any of these.' I just opened a blank Word doc and started typing," McGrath says.
He wrote a book to set the record straight, and began his career as an author. Along the way he's earned quite a handsome income stream.
Before we go any further, let's be clear about writing books for money. Don't let that be the only reason you write a book—at least not at first.
When people see that you are a published author, they change their opinion of who you are and what you do
Unless you have the means to market and promote the heck out of it, (you have a hugely popular blog, radio or TV show, you're a social media superstar, or celebrity) writing a book will cost you money. (Don't even bother trying to figure out how much you'll get paid per hour as an author—it's too depressing). Marketing and promoting the book will be largely up to you.
A book brings you instant cred
If earning real money as a first-time author is unlikely, why write a book? Like McGrath, you may want to set the record straight. Other new authors write books to gain instant credibility.
"My book (Kick Ass Social Commerce for E-preneurs: It’s Not About Likes—It’s About Sales) has only been out for a month," notes consultant and speaker Lawson, "but it has been a great tool—better than a business card—for getting in and talking to prospective clients and also doing more speaking engagements. As a consultant and speaker, it adds validity to everything I do. When people see that you are a published author, they change their opinion of who you are and what you do."
Something we had not thought of that Lawson pointed out is that there is also an "internal" benefit to writing a book.
"'Internally' the value was great," he says. "I could solidify all my thoughts. And from this writing I could have my messaging. I am able to take my book now and read through it, and apply those same principles to my business. Also, it has made it easier for me to train others on my staff on what I do."
Are you feeling it?
So money, credibility and setting the record straight are three common reasons to write a book. Another is being passionate about a topic and wanting to help others.
Stephanie Inge wrote her book The Meetup Organizer Step-by-Step Success Guide for just that reason.
Passion can keep you going when writing your book feels like eating an elephant—something you just have to do one step at a time.
"I have years of experience with Meetup Groups and have led two successful groups in the Dallas area, which is where I gained first-hand knowledge and experience," she says.
That passion can keep you going when writing your book feels like eating an elephant—something you just have to do one step at a time. (It goes a lot easier if you like elephant.)
E-book or traditional book?
The advent of e-books has made it possible for anyone to write a book. As far as e-books go, you need to consider a few things. First, e-books are much shorter than traditional books. An e-book may only be 40 pages or so. A traditional paperback is 224 pages or longer.
So, as McGrath says, the decision of format may come down to size.
"Once a book goes over 100 pages, I think it's too long for an e-book, and if it has a lot of screenshots or charts and graphs, it doesn't read well on a Kindle, " he explains. "I just finished The Complete Amazon Marketing System, which is two volumes—over 400 pages, so I decided to go printed, but I also have some download docs to go with it and a few instructional videos. But I also have seven other books that are e-books. All of them are between 75 and 100 pages. I don't offer Kindle versions as they have lots of screenshots, so I sell them as PDFs."
Write books people will read
Perhaps even more important than format is writing a book people will want to read, Lawson adds.
"If you can get a publisher, that's cool. Basically the publisher pays you upfront," he says. "Also, the book is in bookstores and spread wide, whereas with e-books (I've done those, too) you're not going to be paid up front. You will get paid on the backend."
Now Lawson has an advantage because he has such a fun and easy way of conveying valuable information. Inge is a recognized expert, as is McGrath. People want to read their books. How about yours? What could you bring to the table?
Good writing is rewriting
As the story goes, famous sportswriter Red Smith was asked if turning out a daily column wasn't quite a chore.
The research part makes the rest of the process go smoothly if it's done well. You don't want to just rehash what's already out there. You want to bring something new to the world
"Why, no," he said. "You simply sit down at the typewriter, open your veins and bleed."
We can tell you that Smith's view of writing is far from unique. Many writers find writing difficult. It helps to know there are basically three parts to the writing process: research, writing and editing.
The research part makes the rest of the process go smoothly if it's done well. You don't want to just rehash what's already out there. You want to bring something new to the world, new information or a new way of looking at existing information. The research part can easily take 50 percent or more of the whole process.
With research behind you, you're ready to start writing. But work from an outline based on that research. You'll need the roadmap! And when you write, just let the words flow instead of trying to make every sentence perfect right off away. Writing and editing are separate processes.
Once you have the words down, you have something to edit. That's your chance to get the words right. While I like editing, Deb doesn't and she's not alone.
"The biggest misconception I had as a new author was that writing was the most difficult part," Inge says. "Oh how wrong I was! The editing phase was grueling and there were so many times that I just wanted to say, 'Forget it,' and throw in the towel and was constantly second guessing myself and my writing ability."
We hope we haven't discouraged you too much from writing a book. There are few feelings that can compare to holding your finished book in your hands. In the next article we'll cover marketing and promotion because, as we said before, that's largely up to you these days!