What to Do With Old Blog Posts Tip#6 – Create an eBook!

(www.businessandblogging.com)  After a few months (or years) of blogging, you’ve probably thought to yourself “I feel like I’ve written a book …..”

Well, guess what? You just may have!

Writing an e-book is not as intimidating as it sounds.  If you plan to create a free ebook as a giveaway on your blog and to potential customers – it can be 7 to 10 pages, including the cover and the biographical information. (for many bloggers that equates to only 2 or 3 blog posts!)

If you are thinking of selling your ebook, it should be approximately 30 pages for $7 – $10 , and 50+ for $29.95 and up.  Of course, these are just guidelines, and the most important influencer of the price – is the content! The better written, and more desirable the information, the more you can charge.

The following are some basic steps in turning your old blog posts into an ebook:

1) Review your blog postings for a topic you have written a lot about and that has gotten a lot of response from your readers in the form of comments or questions.

2) Copy the blog posts over to a word processing file so that you have one big document

3) Sort the posts into a sequence that makes sense

4) Eliminate duplicate information and add transitional paragraphs to make the ebook flow

5) Remember – ebooks are similar to blog posts in that they are usually read online. This means, you need to make the writing easy to scan:

• more white space
• more bullets
• headings
• limit font changes to headings, bolding and occasional italics  for emphasis

6) Review. Edit. Review. Edit.  (you get the idea….)

7) Have a trusted friend or two (other bloggers? your readers?) review a draft and provide feedback

8) Finalize the document as a word processing document or powerpoint, adding illustrations, pictures and links

9) Be sure to include your biographical info and a link to your blog!!!!

10) When you’re sure you’re done……create a PDF document and publish!

While selling an ebook sounds like a simple way to earn some extra $$$, don’t overlook the advantages of creating a free ebook:

• It’s a great networking tool
• It showcases your expertise
• It builds credibility
• It promotes word of mouth and viral marketing

Let me know if you write an ebook based on your blog – I’d be happy to write about it here!

photo credit: carbonNYC