Folks, there’s hope. If you can write a descriptive blog post or tell a decent story, you can write an ebook. You can even make money from it! I’ll show you how. Here are 3 super simple steps to create and sell your ebook.

1. You’ve got to write the thing.

Sure, this is easier said than done. But you’re a writer! This is your bread and butter. If you’re not sure how to get started, use these tips.

• What do people ask you to write about? What of your work does your audience like the most? What do people want to see from you? Whatever that is, it’s a great topic!

• What do you really want to write about? What’s been preying on your mind? What are you fascinated by or passionate about? There’s another great topic!

• How long do you want it to be? It’s common for ebooks to be 1,000 words (even less), particularly for business and marketing information. It’s also common for ebooks to be 75,000 words of the next great American novel! Choose a length to shoot for, and use that as a compass for how to approach your topic.

• Draft it. Have someone else proof it and give you their thoughts. (Freelancer is a great place to find inexpensive editors.) With their feedback, edit your ebook. Twice.

Once you’ve written your content, you’ve got to turn it into an actual ebook.

2. Package your ebook to sell.

Here you need to do two things. Ensure your ebook’s formatting, and come up with a cover design. Both are relatively simple.

Formatting

The simple way is to turn your ebook into a PDF. A lot of people (myself included) will edit and format everything in Google Docs, and then save the file as a PDF (File > Download as > PDF Document).

If Docs isn’t for you, nearly any text editor (like Microsoft Word) will work fine. You can format your ebook however you want, but here are a few things to consider:

• Do you want a cover page?

• What about an outline or index?

• Any graphics or images you’d like to include?

• How do you feel about headers, footers, and/or page count?

After all the editing and formatting is finalized, you’re good to export your ebook as a PDF! Now you need to create a book cover.

Cover Design

When creating an ebook cover design, there are basically two options. You can design it yourself, or you can pay someone a small fee to professionally design a cover for you.

If you want to design it yourself (assuming you’re not a graphic design expert), Powerpoint is probably the way to go.

Here’s a great video for those of you without a budget or who prefer to do it yourself: Create Ebook Cover in Powerpoint. You can then upload your cover to Adazing to create a 3D image.

The other option (and what I’d recommend if you’re serious about publishing) is to have a professional create one for you. 99 Designs is a great place for this. Dozens of designers will pitch you completed covers, and you only have to pay for the one you choose.

You’ve got everything you need now, and you just need to put it somewhere for people to purchase.

3. Sell it like hot cakes.

A quick Google search for “places to sell ebooks” will give you plenty of results. But the top 3 are usually Amazon, Nook (Barnes & Noble), and your own website.

Amazon and Nook are simple enough. Just upload your file and fill out the descriptions. It’s recommended that you also promote and advertise these links, but how much you can do will depend on your budget.

Your website might be a bit different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all option. Every website platform functions (at least) slightly different than the next.

You might need to link your cover image with your PDF file, so that when someone clicks on the image, your ebook will download. Or, what’s recommended (and probably more common) is to have some form of ecommerce setup on your website with a checkout and the whole nine.

Wordpress has several ecommerce plugins and templates. Squarespace comes with an ecommerce option. Spaces and Wix come with options. And then there are dozens of other ecommerce options to choose from if none of these apply to you.

Once your ecommerce is set, simply add your new product (ebook), set your price, and off you go!

As you get into it, you’ll realize how super simple these steps to create and sell your ebook are. Then you can them repeat at will.

Just 3 simple steps stand between you and publishing your book! (Not to mention the passive income.) What are you waiting for? Go ahead and self-publish your ebook!