This article discusses what tools you need to write a professional looking eBook yourself on the cheap or even completely free.
Electronic distribution of content is fast becoming one of the most profitable ways to add an income stream to your online business.
EBooks are quite profitable (and therefore an attractive option for monetization) because of the low cost barrier. The ability to create a product once, and sell multiple times means the more times you sell, the lower your cost becomes.
For a professional finish, it’s nice to get a professional writer and/or graphic designer to give your product a nice extra special touch. But if this doesn’t concern you, and you know your audience is looking for your great content, then this extra special touch isn’t so important.
A lot of people also do not have a large amount of money to invest in professional eBook creation services. Ebook publishing costs can sometimes run into the thousands of dollars. That’s where this article will help you.
At Code My Own Road I focus on the DIY technicalities of creating an online business. Part of my plan for monetizing this site is to create resources that would be valuable for people struggling with this.
These kinds of comprehensive resources are very conducive to the eBook format. But as I’m part of the DIY crowd myself, I’m creating my eBook content from my own technical expertise as a programmer, and I have the know how, I want to do it for free and I’m going to show you how to do it as well.
Writing Content
I draft all of my content (including blog posts) by using the free Google Docs tools from Google.
When writing I find it’s good to have a rich text editor which allows you to customize the look and feel of your content.
Google Docs is the hub of my eBook writing tools and the main tool I use to bring different aspects of the eBook together in order to export it into an appropriate format.
Using Google Docs, you to write your eBook exactly how you would publish a document in Microsoft Word (something that might be more familiar to most people). You can add images, headings and subheadings, screenshots, and generally make it more unique than just a big block of text.
Being able to login and work on the document at any location you have internet access can be fantastic for productivity. It’s great to be able to login at lunch, or while sitting in a cafe and do some work on my eBook ideas when inspiration strikes.
The most defining feature, and main reason I use Google Docs for publishing my eBooks is it’s super simple to export your document directly in PDF format.
A PDF document is the best format for eBooks for a number of reasons.
- Easily shared virally in emails and instant messaging conversations.
- Read consistently on many different operating systems with a variety of free PDF reading programs.
- Most web browsers have in-built support for reading PDF documents.
- Portable devices like iPhones are being enabled to read PDF format on the go.
- PDF has become a defacto standard for eBooks on the internet.
Stock Images
One thing that can spice up the look and readability of your eBook is relevant imagery.
I find that stock images and photographs allow you to reinforce messages that your text otherwise wouldn’t be able to convey 100% on it’s own.
Using imagery also breaks up the text for your reader, keeping their attention span for longer and allowing them to absorb more of the material.
Stock images are also good for helping you create your cover art. Provided the image doesn’t have any copyrights attached you should be able to use and distribute these artworks on your cover. Always check what the distribution rights are before you use an image, it could save you time and money in the long run.
The best free resource for images and photographs that I’ve found is a site called Stock Exchange. They have a handy search utility where you can search through all their free stock images for your use.
Most of their free images grant distribution right which means you can use them in your published works.
Along with their free collection, they also have a collection of relevant pay stock images for very reasonable prices.
Image Manipulation
As I just mentioned, having graphics throughout your eBook can help break up your content so it doesn’t just look like one big slab of text.
But what happens when you need to manipulate your screenshots, cover art, and other relevant images?
You will need a graphics suite such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw, or this great free alternative GIMP.
GIMP was originally developed for Linux and other Unix based operating systems as a free distribution mimicking the abilities of the popular Windows programs. Since it garnered widespread popularity, they now release a windows version as well.
While it does have a few bugs operating on Windows, it’s quite useful for manipulating images to crop images to size, add effects, create banners and much more.
This is perfect for altering your images for your eBook which may not always be in the right format, size or shape to what you need.
Do a Google search for more information about using GIMP, alternatively if there is enough demand, I might do a quick tutorial on screenshot manipulation in GIMP.
Audio Transcription
Audio is a fantastic alternative to offer people instead of the standard document format for your eBook. If you have an easily understood accent, you might like to consider creating an audio version of your eBook yourself.
Audacity is a great free program you can download and use for audio transcription and editing. It supports multiple operating systems as well so it doesn’t matter if you’re on a Mac, Windows, or Linux based computer.
My tip is to do a sample recording of yourself and ask someone you trust to give you an honest opinion on your pronunciation and legibility. This will give you a clue to whether you may need someone else with a clearer tone of voice to record your eBook for you.
There are multiple ways you can outsource the recording of your materials, but that is another topic altogether. If you’re stuck, I would suggest looking on Elance for suitable candidates willing lend you their voice for recording your work.
Conclusion
It’s a myth that you have to pay big bucks just to get an eBook into the wild. You can do it cheaply, or even free. While it is true that it may take you some time to figure out the specifics, you will eventually be able to produce a product that you’re happy with. I guarantee you that your hard work will pay off.
I hope this article has been useful to you in your quest to create your very own eBook on the cheap (or even free!). Feel free to share it amongst your friends or send it to people you know may be interested in these methods.
[...] I’m going to show you how to edit and tidy up screenshots you might like to paste into your E-Book or [...]