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Structuring Your Ebook
Copyright
(c) 2002 by Angela Booth
Got a great idea for an ebook but don't know how to start writing
it? Find the book's structure, and it will (almost) write itself.
I've got three partially-completed books on
my hard drives that I'll complete one day. Maybe.
All three books are viable, with great information
and great ideas. What they lack is a structure. They're books
with a body but no bones.
I started each book thinking that the structure
would come to me as I wrote. Many thousands of words later,
I'm still waiting.
With luck, I'll manage to work out a structure
for each book, and will turn them to profit. However they taught
me the importance of working out a book's structure BEFORE I
start writing.
Having the structure in place makes a book
easy to write. Writing a book without a structure is like trying
to build a house without a blueprint.
=> The structure starts with your working
title
How easy do you think the following ebooks
would be to write?
* 101 Ways To Secure A Retirement Income
* Ten Secrets Of A Successful Day Trader
* Every Writer's Quick-Action Guide To Writing
An Ebook
* Improve Your Golf In Thirty Days
* Seven Days To Your Own Successful Home Business
These titles make excellent working titles for an ebook, because
they provide a built-in structure for the book.
You may use your working title, or can change
it. You can also use your working title as a sub-title.
Tip: when you decide on a title, print it
out and stick it on the side of your monitor. While you're writing,
you can go off on tangents if you don't keep your book's premise
in mind at all times.
=> Create an outline
Come out from underneath that desk! Please
don't whine. I don't mean the kind of outline that your English
teacher harassed you into creating when you were 12.
You don't have to create a strict outline.
The kind of outline you need to create is one based on components.
Non-fiction is much easier to write than fiction
because these books contain similar components.
Let's have a look at some of them:
* A foreword. This is similar to an introduction,
but a foreword is usually written by someone other than the
author of the book. It helps if you can get someone famous to
contribute the foreword. (They'll expect payment.)
* An introduction. This is optional. If you
can't think of anything to put in an introduction, leave it
out. Think of including an introduction if you want to tell
your own story: how you came to get the information you're about
to share.
* A "How To Use This Ebook" chapter
or page. This can be short, or quite long. For example, if you're
writing a book on yoga, you could use this chapter to give four
or five exercise routines, compiled from the various poses that
you discuss in
the rest of the book.
* Chapters with problems and solutions. For
example, if you were writing a book on dieting, you could write
seven chapters all posing a typical problem, and then provide
solutions for each problem.
* The last chapter is the wrap-up. In this
chapter you'll want to give readers instructions on where they
go from here, and you'll also want to include an inspirational
message.
* A glossary is useful if it will be necessary
for readers new to the subject area. For example, if your ebook
contains a lot of industry jargon with which your reader is
unfamiliar, give explanations of terminology here.
* An index. I'm always disappointed when
an otherwise excellent book, that I'll be referring to again,
omits an index. I know creating an index is a hassle, but if
you think your readers will use it, then go the extra mile and
include it.
There you have it. The bones of your ebook.
With the skeleton in place, you'll find it easy to write.
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Writing a book? Author, journalist and copywriter Angela Booth
has written novels and non-fiction for major publishers, and
can help you write your book. Visit:
http://www.digital-e.biz/
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