Studying create an e book could be overwhelming. Not solely do you must write the content material, however you additionally must design and format it right into a professional-looking doc that folks will need to obtain and skim.

You may already be aware of fiction or non-fiction ebooks, however what precisely is an e book within the advertising business, and why do they ship such nice outcomes for entrepreneurs?

On this submit, you will study:

Let’s get began.

36 Free E book Templates – Obtain Now

Obtain HubSpot’s 36 free e book templates to create an e book on PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Adobe InDesign.

E book Advantages

In 2021, e book gross sales elevated 38% for writer HarperCollins, following a development of elevated income earnings for the corporate. Though this can be a snapshot of 1 writer’s success, it speaks to a extra important motion towards digital content material consumption amongst entrepreneurs.

Lead magnets are available in many kinds, however the e book nonetheless reigns supreme. They provide the reader:

• In-depth digital content material in an setting largely overrun with fast headlines and soundbites
• Visible knowledge that compliments the editorial content material
• On-demand entry to the e book content material

Your online business advantages from publishing an e book, too. Turning a revenue, buying new clients, producing buzz, and turning into an business thought chief are just some benefits of this sort of content material.

To illustrate, nonetheless, that you’ve a improbable weblog filled with long-form content material. Why on the planet would you need to provide your readers an e book? Is it even price your time?

Listed below are some benefits ebooks provide content material creators:

• Not like long-form printed publications bought in-store or shipped, an e book is straight away accessible everytime you’re able to learn.
• You possibly can put it behind an opt-in or “gate,” incentivizing your web site customer to grow to be a lead if they need the knowledge.
• In some methods, ebooks have design capabilities like in-depth charts, graphs, and full-page photographs, which you will not be capable to obtain in your weblog.
• After the preliminary creation of the e book, you’ll be able to distribute the file a large number of occasions with no further manufacturing value. In addition they haven’t any related transport charges.
• You possibly can embed hyperlinks to different media within the e book file, encouraging the reader to have interaction along with your content material additional.

Maybe extra importantly, ebooks provide a number of benefits in your viewers:

• Ebooks are extremely moveable and could be saved on many gadgets with none related bodily cupboard space.
• The reader will get the selection to print the e book out in the event that they need to eat the knowledge in a conventional bodily format. In any other case, the digital format is environmentally pleasant.
• Ebooks are extra accessible, giving readers the power to extend font sizes and/or learn aloud with text-to-speech.
• They’re additionally simply searchable if the reader is on the lookout for one thing particular.

Furthermore, with lead technology being the highest aim for content material advertising, ebooks are a necessary a part of a profitable inbound advertising program.

On this submit, we’ll stroll you thru the ins and outs of making an e book by, effectively, creating an e book. And for those who’re fearful about your missing design abilities, we’ve received you coated.

Acquired your free e book templates? Able to make an e book? Nice — let’s get to it.

What e book file format do you have to use?

Ebooks could be saved in one in every of a number of codecs. Relying in your end-user, although, you may discover a use for any of the next file sorts:

PDF

PDFs are probably essentially the most well-known file kind. The “PDF” extension stands for “Transportable Doc Format,” and is greatest for ebooks that should be learn on a pc (digital entrepreneurs, you will need to keep in mind this one). We’ll speak extra about save your e book as a PDF later on this article.

EPUB

This file kind stands for “Digital Publication,” and is a extra versatile e book format. By that, I imply EPUB ebooks can “reflow” their textual content to adapt to varied cellular gadgets and tablets, permitting the e book’s textual content to maneuver on and off completely different pages primarily based on the machine’s measurement on which a person is studying the e book. They’re significantly useful for viewing on smaller screens, akin to smartphones and the Nook from Barnes and Noble.

MOBI

The MOBI format originated from the Mobipocket Reader software program, which was bought by Amazon in 2005 however was later shut down in 2016. Nevertheless, the MOBI file extension stays a well-liked e book format suitable throughout the foremost e-readers (besides the Nook).

Whereas the format has some limitations, akin to not supporting audio or video, it helps DRM, which protects copyrighted materials from being copied for distribution or seen illegally.

Newer Kindle codecs are primarily based on the unique MOBI file sorts.

AZW

That is an e book file kind designed for the Kindle, an e-reader machine by Amazon. Nevertheless, customers can even open this file format on smartphones, tablets, and computer systems.

ODF

ODF stands for OpenDocument Format, a file kind meant primarily for OpenOffice, a sequence of open-source content material creation applications just like Microsoft Workplace.

IBA

IBA is the proprietary e book format for the Apple iBooks Writer app. This format does help video, sound, photographs, and interactive parts, however it is just used for books written in iBooks. It isn’t suitable with different e-readers.

Knowledge Visualization 101: Methods to Design Charts and Graphs [Free Download]

Ebooks can improve the visibility and credibility of your enterprise whereas positioning your model as a thought chief in your business. Nevertheless, these ebooks can generally be onerous to jot down, although they provide many advantages.

Listed below are some confirmed suggestions that can assist you write glorious ebooks.

1. Select a subject that matches your viewers’s wants.

Bear in mind: The aim of your e book is to generate leads in your gross sales workforce, so decide a subject that may make it straightforward for a prospect to go from downloading your e book to having a dialog along with your gross sales workforce.

This implies your e book should not deviate a lot from the matters you cowl in your different content material distribution channels.

Relatively, it is your alternative to do a deep dive right into a topic you’ve got solely calmly coated till now, however one thing your viewers needs to study extra about.

For instance, in listening to gross sales and buyer calls right here at HubSpot, I’ve discovered that creating ebooks is a large impediment for our viewers, who’re entrepreneurs themselves. So if I can present not solely this weblog submit however sources to make e book creation simpler, I am specializing in the proper matter that may naturally result in a gross sales dialog.

Listed below are some pattern e book titles to think about to get your artistic juices flowing.

• X Finest Practices for [Insert Industry/Topic]
• An Introduction to [Insert Industry/Topic]
• X Frequent Questions About [Insert Industry/Topic] Answered
• X [Insert Industry/Topic] Statistics For Higher Determination-Making
• Study From The Finest: X [Insert Industry/Topic] Specialists Share Insights

(Observe: Change “x” with an applicable quantity.) It’s also possible to use our free Weblog Matter Generator instrument to develop extra concepts. Most weblog matters could be complete sufficient to function longer-form e book matters.

For this weblog submit, I’ll use the PowerPoint model of template two from our assortment of 5 free e book templates. By means of every part of this submit, I am going to present a side-by-side of the template slide and the way I custom-made it.

Beneath, you will see my custom-made cowl with my sales-relevant e book matter. For assist with writing compelling titles in your ebooks, try the ideas on this weblog submit.

2. Define every chapter of your e book.

The introduction to your e book ought to set the stage for the e-book’s content material and draw the reader in.

What is going to you cowl in your e book? How will the reader profit from studying it? For tips about write an efficient introduction, try this submit.

Some e book creators say that an e book is solely a sequence of weblog posts stitched collectively. Whereas I agree it is best to deal with every chapter as a person weblog submit, the chapters of your e book also needs to circulate fluidly from one to the opposite.

The easiest way to stipulate your e book is by considering of it as a crash course on the sales-relevant matter you chose. In my instance of making an e book, I do know I must cowl :

• Write efficient copy
• Design an e book
• Optimize ebooks for lead technology and promotion

Whereas my instance has a number of chapters, take into account that your e book doesn’t must be prolonged.

Right here’s a golden rule to observe relating to e book size: Write what is required to teach your viewers about your chosen matter successfully.

In case your e book requires 5 pages, nice! If it requires 30 pages, so be it. Simply do not waste phrases considering you’ll want to write a prolonged e book.

Let’s now transfer on to the precise copy you are writing.

3. Break down every chapter as you write.

Get writing! Right here, you’ll be able to method every chapter the way in which you may write a protracted weblog submit — by compartmentalizing every chapter into smaller sections or bullet factors, as proven within the image beneath.

This helps you write merely and clearly, moderately than utilizing subtle language to convey every level. It is the best method to educate readers and assist them perceive the brand new materials you’re offering.

You should definitely preserve a constant construction throughout every chapter, as effectively. This helps you determine pure transitions between every chapter so there is a clear development from one chapter to the following (merely stitching weblog posts collectively can rob you of this high quality).

These practices ought to maintain true for all of your different advertising efforts, akin to e-mail advertising, call-to-action creation, and touchdown web page improvement. “Readability trumps persuasion,” as Dr. Flint McGlaughlin of MECLABS usually says.

Need to be sure to’re holding your e book thrilling for readers? Listed below are some key suggestions to remember:

• Use key phrases within the title that emphasize the worth of your provide. Examples embrace adjectives like “superb,” “superior,” or “final.”
• Preserve your format constant, so that you create a psychological mannequin for readers and improve their understanding of the fabric.
• When applicable, use formatting — like bulleted lists, daring textual content, italics, and font measurement modifications — to attract folks’s eyes to your most essential content material or emphasize particular factors you need readers to recollect.

4. Design your e book.

Our downloadable e book templates are supplied in each PowerPoint and InDesign. For this instance, we’ll present you do it in PowerPoint, since extra folks have entry to that software program. (If you happen to want a refresher, right here’s a beginner-friendly information on use PowerPoint.)

We solely have one “chapter web page” within the template (slide three). To create further chapter pages, or any pages actually, merely right-click the slide and select Duplicate Slide. This can make a replica of your slide and help you drag it to its correct place in your e book by way of the sidebar or Slide Sorter part of PowerPoint. You possibly can then customise it for any subsequent chapters.

5. Use the proper colours.

Ideally, our free e book templates would magically match your model colours. However they in all probability do not; that is the place you get to really personalize your work. Nevertheless, as a result of ebooks provide extra actual property for colour than your brand or web site, it is good to think about secondary colours inside your model’s colour palette. Ebooks are the place this colour scheme can actually shine.

To learn to add your model’s colours to PowerPoint, try this weblog submit. That approach, you’ll be able to customise the colour scheme in our e book templates to match your model!

6. Incorporate visuals.

Photos and graphics in ebooks are onerous to get proper. The important thing to creating them match effectively is to consider them as complementary to your writing. Whether or not you add them throughout or after you’ve completed writing your e book’s copy, your visuals ought to serve to spotlight an essential level you’re making or deconstruct the which means of an idea in an easy-to-understand, visible approach.

Photos shouldn’t simply be there to make the e book straightforward on the eyes. Relatively, they need to be used to reinforce the reader’s understanding of the fabric you’re protecting. If you happen to need assistance gathering visuals, we now have three units of free inventory pictures that may make it easier to alongside the way in which:

And for those who’re compiling a data-heavy e book, you may need to obtain our free knowledge visualization e book for tips on designing compelling charts and graphs in your content material.

7. Spotlight quotes or stats.

One other method to improve your e book is by highlighting quotes or stats inside your design. Simply make certain the quote or stat you are utilizing genuinely provides worth to the content material.

Whether or not you are emphasizing a quote or including a visible, hold all of your content material inside the identical margins. In case your copy is persistently one-inch indented in your web page from each the left and proper sides, hold your designed parts aligned utilizing that very same spacing.

8. Place applicable calls to motion inside your e book.

Now that your content material is written and designed, it is time to optimize it for lead technology, reconversion, and promotion.

Take into consideration how you bought right here — you clicked on a call-to-action (CTA) in an e-mail, on a social media submit, or elsewhere. A CTA is a hyperlink or visible object that entices the customer to click on and arrive at a touchdown web page that may get them additional engaged along with your firm.

Since your e book readers have in all probability transformed into results in get their arms in your e book, use the CTAs inside your e book to reconvert your readers and propel them additional down your advertising funnel.

As an illustration, a CTA can result in one other provide, your annual convention’s registration web page, or perhaps a product web page. Relying on what this subsequent motion is, CTAs could be an in-line rectangle or a full-page teasing the following provide (see each photographs beneath).

To hyperlink the CTA in your e book (or any picture or textual content in your e book) to your vacation spot URL, merely go to Insert >> Hyperlink in PowerPoint.

We have even designed 50 customizable calls-to-action in PowerPoint you’ll be able to obtain and use in your ebooks. You possibly can seize them right here.

Now, we do not have a devoted CTA template slide within the PowerPoint e book templates … but it surely’s nonetheless easy! You simply should duplicate the Header/Subheader slide and customise the copy or add photographs as wanted. It’s also possible to go to Insert >> New Slide and work from there.

9. Convert it right into a PDF.

As soon as you’ve got completed writing your e book — CTAs and all — it is time to convert it to the proper file kind, so it is transferable from you to your recipient.

To transform your e book to a PDF, click on File >> Save As within the e book template you’ve open. Then, beneath File Format, choose PDF and choose a vacation spot in your pc for this new file.

Why cannot you simply connect what you must a touchdown web page and be completed with it? Phrase paperwork, PowerPoints, and related templates are good for creating your e book however not for delivering it. As a result of these templates are editable, the contents of your e book are too simply corrupted, distorted, and even misplaced when shifting out of your pc to the arms of your future leads. That is the place PDFs are available in.

You’ve got seen these letters on the finish of recordsdata earlier than. Quick for Transportable Doc Format, the .PDF file kind basically freezes your e book so it may be displayed clearly on any machine. A preferred different to PDFs is the .EPUB file kind. See a comparability of EPUB to PDF right here.

10. Create a devoted touchdown web page in your e book.

Your e book needs to be out there for obtain by means of a touchdown web page in your website. A touchdown web page is an online web page that promotes/describes your provide and supplies a type that guests must fill out with their contact info to entry your e book. That is how one can convert your guests into enterprise leads that your gross sales workforce can in the end observe up with.

As an illustration, you went by means of this touchdown web page to entry this e book template.

If you happen to’re nonetheless undecided get began, obtain this free e book to study extra about optimizing your touchdown pages for conversion.

11. Promote your e book and observe its success.

As soon as your touchdown web page is all set, you need to use that vacation spot URL to advertise your e book throughout your advertising channels. Listed below are 5 methods you are able to do this:

• Promote your new e book in your web site. For instance, characteristic a CTA or hyperlink to your provide’s touchdown web page in your sources web page and even your homepage.
• Promote your e book by means of your weblog. As an illustration, contemplate publishing an excerpt of your e book as a weblog submit. Or write a separate weblog article on the identical matter as your e book, and hyperlink to it on the finish of your submit utilizing a call-to-action to encourage readers to continue to learn. (Observe: This very weblog submit is the right instance of promote an give you created with a weblog submit.)
• Ship a segmented e-mail to contacts who’ve indicated an curiosity in receiving provides out of your firm.
• Leverage paid promoting and co-marketing partnerships that may make it easier to promote your e book to a brand new viewers.
• Publish posts to social media with a hyperlink to your e book. It’s also possible to improve social shares by creating social media share buttons inside your e book, akin to those on the backside proper of this e book.

After your content material is launched and promoted throughout your advertising channels, you’ll additionally need advertising analytics to measure your stay product’s success.

As an illustration, it is best to have touchdown web page analytics that offers you perception into how many individuals downloaded your e book and transformed into leads and closed-loop analytics that present what number of of these folks in the end transformed into alternatives and clients for your enterprise.

And with that, we have constructed an e book, of us! You possibly can try the packaged model of the instance I constructed right here:

After your content material is launched and promoted throughout your advertising channels, you’ll must have advertising analytics to measure your ebooks’ success. As an illustration, have touchdown web page analytics that offers you perception into how many individuals downloaded your e book or present what number of of these downloaders transformed into alternatives and clients for your enterprise.

E book Concepts

So, what do you have to write about in your e book? I am going to reply that query with one other query: What would you like your readers to get out of this e book? To determine an e book concept that fits your viewers, contemplate the kind of e book you are making an attempt to create. Listed below are a number of concepts.

New Analysis

Conducting an experiment or enterprise survey? It is a nice method to develop proprietary information and grow to be a thought chief in your business. However how will you share your findings with the individuals who care about it? Create an e book that describes the experiment, what you meant to search out out, the outcomes of the experiment, and what these findings imply in your readers and the market at massive.

Case Examine

Folks love success tales, particularly if these persons are on the fence about buying one thing from you. You probably have a shopper whose enterprise you are significantly proud to have, why not inform their story in an e book?

E book case research present your consumers that different folks belief you and have benefited out of your services or products. In your e book, describe what your shopper’s problem was, the way you linked with them, and the way you have been in a position to assist your shopper resolve their problem and grow to be profitable.

Product Demo

The extra advanced your product is, the extra info your clients might want to use it accurately. In case your services or products has many use instances or it is onerous to arrange alone, dedicate a quick e book to exhibiting folks take advantage of out of it.

As an illustration, within the first part of your e book, you’ll be able to clarify launch your services or products. The second part can break down the person options and functions your product is greatest used for.

Interview

Are you curious about interviewing a widely known individual in your market? Maybe you’ve got already sat down with an influencer to select their mind concerning the business’s future. Bundle this interview into an e book, making it straightforward in your clients to learn and share your inside scoop.

Playbook

A “playbook” is a doc folks can use when taking over a brand new undertaking or idea that’s overseas to them. Consider it like a cheat sheet, filled with suggestions and tips that assist your clients get higher at what they do.

When completed proper, a playbook equips your clients with the knowledge they would want to excel when utilizing your product. For instance, a software program vendor for IT professionals may create a “virus safety playbook” that makes help groups higher at stopping viruses for his or her respective firms.

Weblog Publish Sequence

Typically, the most effective e book for your enterprise is already strewn throughout a sequence of weblog posts. If you happen to’ve spent the final month writing articles all on the identical topic for your enterprise, think about how these posts would look stitched collectively?

Every article can start a brand new chapter. Then, as soon as this e book is created, you’ll be able to advertise on a touchdown web page, hyperlink to this touchdown web page from every weblog submit, and generate leads from readers who need to obtain the whole weblog sequence in a single handy e book.

E book FAQs

Are ebooks worthwhile?

Sure, they are often.

Ebooks are high-volume, low-sales-price provides. This implies you’ll must promote a lot of them at a comparatively low value level to compete out there and switch a major revenue. Relying in your business, ebooks can vary from free to greater than $100.

Earlier than setting a value in your e book, perform a little research. Decide who your viewers is, what they’re keen to pay, and the way many individuals inside your goal market could be prepared to purchase it. Then, decide the platforms you’ll promote your e book by means of. Amazon? Apple Books? Your web site? You possibly can analysis how a lot ebooks often go for on these websites and incorporate this perception into your pricing technique.

How is an e book structured?

There is not any set rule for organizing your content material into an e book. It usually mimics the construction of a novel or textbook (relying on what it’s you are writing about). However, it is best to make sure you adhere to some facets of an e book.

Ebooks usually have a system of chapters and supporting photographs. Like a weblog submit, additionally they do effectively when additional segmenting their textual content with subheaders that break down the dialogue into particular sections. If you happen to’re writing about skilled sports activities, for instance, and one in every of your chapters is about Main League Baseball (MLB) within the U.S., you may need to set up subchapters concerning the numerous groups belonging to the MLB.

What can an e book be about?

Something. Effectively, inside motive.

Ebooks are merely a marketer’s approach of delivering a lot of crucial info in a type their potential clients are most keen to learn.

For instance, an environmental firm may write an e book about water conservation. They may additionally focus an e book totally on utilizing their water-saving product or the way it helped a buyer resolve an issue.

Analysis is a major a part of e book creation, irrespective of your e book’s matter. Opposite to short-form content material like articles and movies, the content material of an e book relies on belief and proof. A person who obtains (or requests entry to) your e book needs the complete story, not simply the bullet factors. That features all of the content material and testing you went by means of to supply the e book.

Are you able to edit an e book?

Nope.

An e book cannot be edited as soon as it has been saved in one of many main file codecs, so it is best to make sure you have an editable model saved in a program like Microsoft Phrase.

However why would you need your e book to be uneditable? Making ebooks uneditable ensures the content material stays unchanged — each the format and the knowledge — because it’s shared between a number of customers.

You possibly can edit ebooks in the event that they’re saved utilizing an editable PDF, a characteristic that’s particular to Adobe Acrobat — the founding program of the PDF file kind. Discover ways to edit PDFs on this weblog submit.

How do you learn an e book?

You possibly can learn an e book on many various gadgets: iPhone, Android smartphones, a Macbook, PC, and e-readers such because the Nook and Kindle. The latter two gadgets are usually used to learn novels in digital type. Nook and Kindle house owners can retailer 1000’s of books (actually) on a single Nook or Kindle.

Share Your Experience in an E book

Ebooks are one of many high changing lead magnets a enterprise can provide to its viewers. Creating an e book is all about delivering excessive worth at a low value level to generate a excessive gross sales quantity.

Ebooks work effectively for brand new companies on the lookout for model consciousness and established firms securing a spot as an business thought chief.

As long as you and your workforce have outlined what success seems like in your e book launch, you’ll reap the rewards of this stand-alone asset for months — and even years — to return. So get began in your e book utilizing the free template out there within the provide beneath.

Editor’s observe: This submit was initially printed in November 2018 and has been up to date for comprehensiveness.