Angela Booth’s Life Stream

What's a "bestselling" ebook?

Let's start by talking about what a bestselling ebook is, in our terms. I define a bestseller as an ebook which sells consistently, over months and years. Your ebook may not be the market leader: you may or may not have an affiliate program, but your ebook puts cash in your bank account each and every week.

When you're looking for ebook topics, choose an evergreen one: a topic which has longevity. For example, any ebook on weight loss has longevity. People will always want to lose weight. An ebook on how to get a mortgage however, isn't evergreen: economic factors change. 

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Writers spend hours researching, online and offline.

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Want success? You can achieve anything you want when you set goals and stay motivated.

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In next week's ezine, our theme is the best money-making writing tips.

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

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Read The Most Amazing Craigslist Ad Up In Here! (PICTURE) -- funniest thing I've read all week.

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Ars Technica has an excellent article comparing the "instant blogging" tools, Tumblr and Posterous:

Posterous is the second such quick blogging service to pop up in the last year or so. Like Tumblr, it has a clean—if plain by comparison—design, is easy to set up, and easy to use. In fact, all that's needed to get started on Posterous is an e-mail—just send one to post@posterous.com, and the service will automatically generate a Posterous blog for you. However, Posterous' reliance on e-mail as a posting tool is both an asset and a liability.

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In tomorrow's issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our theme is starting your own ebook business.

Why would you want to do that?

Well...

Here's an excerpt from the Editorial:

In a word, MONEY.

Think about it; you don't need to sell many copies of an ebook to make money. Let's say you're selling an ebook for $27. This is at the lower end of ebook prices. Say you sell 1,000 copies. That's $27,000. Selling 1,000 copies is easy, but you need to advertise. So let's say that advertising costs you $1000, you've still made $26,000 in profit… and your ebook can go on selling for years.

Of course, you shouldn't stop at ONE ebook. Once you finished the first, and are promoting it, start on the second. In one year, if you put your mind to it, you could write and sell ten ebooks, and you'd have made $270,000.

Please don't think I'm whistling in the wind here. Selling 1,000 copies of an ebook is easy. If you promote an ebook diligently, you'll be able to sell many thousands.

It's not just the money…

By the way, if you're ready to start your information product empire, Info Product Maestro gives you everything you need.

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I've been whining about the woeful state of Twitter search for months, and while Twitter's own Search may be fine for most users, it's horrible for people who want to research, namely writers.

Thank heavens there's now an application (Mac) which is focused solely on Twitter search.

Incoming! New Twitter App for Mac That Only Lets You Search reports:

At no point during any of this do you log into your Twitter account or post any tweets of your own. Some users will no doubt find this bothersome, and question the app’s usefulness, but if you use Twitter for research as much as I do, the arm’s length passivity of Incoming! is just what the doctor ordered. It might also appeal to people who don’t yet want to take the Twitter plunge themselves by signing up for an account, but want access to all the content that’s available via the service, in a much more manageable package than Twitter.com’s own search page.

Of course, the first search I did was for "freelance writing", and I'm ultra-pleased with the no-frills, workable results.

So if you're a tweeting writer, and you own a Mac, check out Incoming! It's sure to save you time and frustration.

New to Twitter? Follow me for daily writing tips.

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Although it's very easy to make money writing online, for best results you need to challenge yourself. This is because you're working alone, you don't have anyone to push you. The more you write the more you earn, so get into the habit of challenging yourself.

Let's look at this simple method for doing this.

1. Set One Writing Goal

I like to challenge myself by creating goals, and achieving them. Tip: every goal you achieve gives you an instant boost of confidence.

Start by setting a simple goal. Perhaps you want to get more clients to buy your articles. So create that as a goal.

Write it down: "I will get five more clients this week".

2. Create a Plan to Achieve That Goal

The more simple you make your plan, the more likely it is that you will achieve it. Your plan can include various items, and you need to chunk that plan down into a list of daily tasks.

For example, your plan could include items like: bidding on writing jobs on the outsourcing sites, advertising, and staying in touch with clients by sending out regular mailings.

3. Create a List of Daily Tasks You Know You Can Achieve

From the list of items which will help you to achieve your goal, create a list of daily tasks. I like to keep all my tasks short, so that each takes no longer than half an hour. I find I'm more productive this way. There's no time to dither on a task when you know you have just 30 minutes to complete it.

How it works: if one of your items included advertising for example, then one of your tasks could be to create a couple of ads which you will post on one of the free classifieds sites. (The posting of the ads deserves its own task.)

4. Put on Blinkers: Be Single-Minded and Complete Your Tasks

Make a commitment to yourself to a complete every task on your daily task list, every day.

Making a commitment is freeing -- you know what you'll do, and you do it.

Tip: your commitments must mean something. Make a list of benefits to you in completing your daily task list. The benefits could include: being your own boss, tripling your income this year, and going on that European vacation you've planned.

You can make money writing, and your success is in your hands. Just reach out and grab it.

Image: Blackadder -- his best quote "I have a cunning plan..."

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