You have an ebook idea and want to write and finish it within a reasonable time frame, say a week or two, you don't have any time for hassles and endless rewrites. So where do you begin and what do you do? Here's a secret:
Work on your ebook's table of contents first. There are two good reasons for this. One, you know exactly what you're going to include in the way of information and when, and two, you discover early on whether you have enough material to make the project feasible or not. Now you may be asking, how can I work on my ebook's table of contents right now when I don't know what I'm going to include at this point?
The answer is that you don't need to, just yet. You do know, for example, that you will be focusing on a specific problem and its solution. For now, you have enough material to map out the table of contents.
Here are steps to take:
1. See yourself as an expert on providing a solution to a problem in your selected topic/niche.
2. Your first chapter will be focused on the problem. How can your readers help their children with homework or get the cat to use its litterbox or deal with annoying workplace issues? Identify a specific problem and why it's causing so much misery are two possible subpoints for that chapter. Remember to mention your personal experience in dealing with it and perhaps a few solutions that are commonly suggested but are ineffective.
3. In chapters 2 through 4 (or 5 or 6, whatever), present the steps for solving the problem. If you only have three steps, for example, devote a chapter to each step. Another way to approach writing the remaining chapters is to decide on 5-7 of the most important things that your readers to know in order to solve the problem and its solution. Then brainstorm those 5-7 points and jot them down as they occur to you.
4. Edit the 5-7 items in your list and arrange them in logical order.
5. "Flesh" out each item by listing about 3 to 5 related subpoints beneath it. In other words, in the first step in your solution should include details such as an explanation of tools and where to obtain them, hints for finding and buying or making those tools, etc. Then outline what tools to use and when. Mention potential hazards as necessary.
A quick word of caution: If you find that you don't have enough material for each chapter, you can still shorten the number of chapters and write a shorter ebook. If that doesn't work, you can use your information in a report that you can either sell or offer for free. Using one of these alternatives, you will have still completed an information product in a timely manner and avoid useless fluff in your ebook's chapters.
6. Include a final chapter which summarizes key points and contains a list of suggested resources.
Congratulations! You now have a fully-developed outline of your ebook and more important, its table of contents! All you have to do is write those chapters!
Dorothy Zjawin is the author of a number of Instructor articles that inspired her published book, Teaching Ideas for the Come-Alive Classroom (Parker/Prentice-Hall). For more ideas, visit her website at http://www.profitable-pen.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorothy_Zjawin
By Dorothy Zjawin
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