Are you an expert on health, fitness, and dieting? Do you have a large following on social media or an active blog with wide readership? If so, you might want to consider self-publishing an ebook.
While it’s true there is a plethora of health-focused books and ebooks on the market, interest in these matters never runs dry. Boomers are aging and are looking for ways to stay healthy later in life. Meanwhile, millennials are becoming more food and fitness conscious. There are hundreds of other factors driving the current relevancy of the genre.
So, are you interested in learning how to sell your own diet and health ebook? Here’s our brief guide to writing, editing, publishing and promoting your first health-conscious ebook.
Step 1: Research Your eBook
First things first, you are going to want to research your chosen topic. Even if you think you know a dozen leg and glute workouts off the top of your head, it helps to really dive into the subject matter.
Why are these squats the best for glute workouts? Why are these exercises the best for building muscle rather than burning fat?
You readers will expect a certain level of expertise. Make sure you have the knowledge to fulfill this perception.
Step 2: Determine Your Audience or Niche
Above, we mentioned two demographics interested in health, fitness, and dieting – millennials and boomers. But there are dozens of niche audiences you could target.
Perhaps you want to write a book about a vegan diet. How do you differentiate yourself from other ebooks on the market? Find an audience, of course.
Consider writing an ebook for aspiring vegans on a budget or vegan alternatives to meat that taste like the real thing.
By choosing an audience and a niche, you corner your section of the market and make it easier to push your ebook to readers.
Step 3: Write Your Diet & Health eBook
Once you’ve researched your topic and chosen your audience, it’s time to sit down at the keyboard and write. Depending upon your writing style, it sometimes helps to build an outline, plan your chapters or simply start typing your stream of consciousness. The key is to get into the flow.
Regardless of how you work, you’ll need to run through a number of drafts before you get things just right.
Even when you believe you have a finished product, ask other people to review your work. This will help you catch typos, fix factual mistakes and weed out clunky writing.
Doublecheck your formatting too. Nothing kills ebook sales like poor formatting. Choose a legible font, stick with uniform margins and select an engaging cover image for your ebook.
Step 4: Build Your Own E-commerce Website to Sell Your Book
So, you’ve got the polished product ready to go. How are you going to sell it? One of the easiest ways to sell ebooks online is through Shopify.
For those who don’t know, Shopify is an e-commerce platform provider that offers a simple interface, payment processing, and business tools— basically everything you need to sell an ebook online without a lot of hassle.
Alternatively, you could find a publisher. As with most things, there are a few advantages and disadvantages here. The first pro is a publisher provides a larger budget to promote and market your ebook. However, you will be at their whims, which can be costly and time-consuming.
Weigh your options before making any final decisions.
Step 5: Market Your eBook
If you already have a degree of popularity via social media or a blog, marketing will be easier for you. Pushing your new book over your existing channels will garner interest in your ebook.
But don’t stop there. You may also want to reach out to health-focused podcasters, bloggers and thought leaders to cross-promote. This may be easier than you think because these folks are always looking for new content.
Plus, it’s beneficial to attach their names to yours, thus helping you all benefit from publicity.
Step 6: Communicate with Your Audience
Finally, you’ll want to communicate with your audience. It’s likely that readers trying your recipes or diet plan will have questions.
Is it okay to substitute almond milk for soy milk? Is there a replacement for deadlifts if I have lower back problems?
These questions are bound to come up from time to time. Consistently answering these queries on social media, your website, or in your blog comments will keep readers engaged and talking – which does wonders for both sales and your personal brand.