Successful ebook writers pull out all the stops when it comes to a riveting read. The last thing they want is for customers to abandon their ebook halfway through because of boredom or fatigue. Of course excellent writing skills are critical -- ebooks should either bulge with helpful facts, or sizzle with fictional prose. But is there anything else you can do to get your readers to the end of your ebook and even beyond?
Perhaps surprisingly, ebook formatting and design go a long way to sustaining attention.
If you are in the process of preparing an ebook for computer-reading, then try these useful formatting techniques to help your clients along:
- Make your ebook easy on the eye. This will reward you ten-thousand-fold. Tired people close down their ebooks and often they never come back. So make paragraphs short, and margins wide -- the white space is soothing and restful.
- Love your graphics. We all like looking at pictures, but when we read via a computer screen we positively need them to alleviate eyestrain. Break up your text with photos, bullets, graphs, tables, shapes, fact boxes, anything -- you'll be offering welcome relief.
- Announce your give-aways at the start of your ebook, and keep hinting at them as you go. Make your readers wait until the end of your ebook before you give them the details and links.
- Add colour -- it can feed the soul. But keep things tasteful, and remember that colours do affect the mood. For example, red represents anger and blue can seem cold.
- Good page design is vital. Text should be well laid out, and a subtle border-design will look professional. Also, a great idea is to vary the page design slightly for each new chapter page. This will subconsciously refresh the reader and spur them on.
- Always display a header and footer. The header should include the chapter title, and the footer should show the page number. This will anchor the reader, and support them if they need to take a break -- they'll always know where they are in the ebook when they focus again on the page.
- Recap, recap, recap... Provide a summary at the end of each chapter to offset "information overload" and encourage further reading.
- Note that if your ebook is too long, you risk alienating your readers before they start. Consider employing an editor to rework your ebook for a punchier, easier read. Your busy public will thank you for it!
Francis Bacon once said: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." No-one wants their work simply to be tasted. Ebook writers need their ebooks to be enjoyed to the finish, chewed over and completely digested. The good news is, if you can offer a well-written ebook on a sought-after topic with a professional layout design, your ebook could be a runaway hit.
Wendy L Toone runs Nom de Plume Ebook Services, based in the UK. The company are renowned for their ebook formatting and design skills, and specialise in turning basic manuscripts into professional ebook sensations. Visit http://www.ebookformatting.com/ to find out more.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_L_Toone
By Wendy L Toone
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