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Creative Writing – - Why Write an eBook? – 2
By Deb Gallardo
By Deb Gallardo
Writing an ebook isn’t such a stretch for fiction writers. Take this into account: non-fiction today often wears a very personal face, and by this I mean that articles or books are frequently presented as fiction-like stories with characters who, in this case, are real people, with compelling plots — their stories. There’s even a term to describe this style. It’s called creative non-fiction.
Such creative non-fiction should be a breeze to master for a fiction writer in search of some income while waiting to hear from a publisher. Magazines love articles with a real human interest slant. Fiction-style non-fiction is exactly that. This would make a good source of in-between-novels income.
Not your cup of tea? All right, how about this? Have you already written fiction that included: things you’re good at, hobbies, passions, sports teams you follow, etc.? Have you researched any subject in depth? If so, why not write an ebook exclusively about one of them? No need to weave in the information so that you don’t stop the action the way you must in a novel. An ebook is the perfect place to write everything you know on the subject.
Oh, so maybe you think you’re not especially good at anything, you think?
Unlikely.
What about things you do everyday without even having to think about them?
For example, do you use a computer everyday? If so, do you:
Whiz through fancy formatting in your word processing program?
Easily input data into spreadsheets?
Quickly create digital slide presentations?
Design, create and update databases?
Maintain your budget, bank accounts and / or investments with financial software?
Or is there something that you do practically with your eyes closed and one hand tied behind your back? Personally I’ve used my word processing program for so many years that I’ve learned some useful shortcuts (like removing those annoying paragraph marks at the end of every line from text-only documents and ending up with naturally wrapping sentences in less than 30 seconds). I use this one so frequently it’s second nature.
Everyone has something like this that they do so frequently they take it for granted. It could be something as simple as searching for and making airline reservations online. To you it’s a no-brainer. But do you represent the entire world’s population? Come on. What do you know that not everyone on earth knows?
Compile a list of what you know.
Do you square dance? Line dance? Ballroom dance?
Are you an expert at rose gardening? Cross-country skiing? Doll house furnishing?
Perhaps you invent recipes on the spur of the moment when you’re short of a key ingredient and you have to improvise. If you’re a decent cook, you must have a handful of these recipes that are uniquely your own. Collect half a dozen from several categories, or focus on one category alone, or specialize in one culture’s cuisine. You’ve got the makings of a cookbook.
Can you write about writing, compile tips based on what you’ve learned, mistakes you’ve made? Have you kept track of all your rejection letters?
What have you learned about writing that has made the greatest impact on your craft, your productivity, your drive, your creativity, your perseverance? Write about those.
Do you correspond with authors of some renown? Can you glean enough information from that correspondence to compile a list of questions to ask in an interview? You could hold a two-person teleconference with a free teleconferencing service (or invite other writers to listen in and even ask questions. This is especially useful if the author has a new book out. You’ll be providing free publicity.
Teleconferencing services generally provide an audio recording, which can be then be sold as a digital download, then transcribed into an ebook. With very little work, you’ve got two products.
If you don’t know a published author, what other contacts in the industry do you have? How about an agent, a publicist or an editor? Have you met anyone at a writer’s convention who’s a likely candidate? Perhaps someone who’s just published a first novel?
Do you know someone who knows someone in publishing? That old adage is still true. It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know.
Give some thought to what your expertise is. I recommend focusing on what you love to do that you prefer doing over all other things. (Keep it clean.) You may surprise yourself.
If you react to this self-examination as I did, you may find yourself already coming up with a tentative outline and perhaps even your opening paragraph. Such is the power of tapping into your passions.
In the next segment of this series, we’ll discuss determining your market.
Copyright © 2007 Deborah K. Gallardo All rights reserved
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February 27th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
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