I published a(n) (e)book
When was the last time you did something for the first time?
I often think to myself “wouldn’t it be interesting to do ….?” and I usually don’t take the steps to make the “….” happen.
Yesterday, I published an ebook which is now globally available on Kindle Cloud Reader.
Linking you here if you want to check it out: Amazon US & Amazon UK
I’ve submitted different cover art, which is still pending approval with Amazon, but once approved, it will look like this:
Why did I publish an ebook?
This whole journey started about two months ago when I clicked on a few Instagram posts from those “make money online” influencers talking about how they quit their 9-5 and make $10K a month working 2-3 hours a day.
I didn’t put a lot of stock into those stories, but it did spark some curiosity around online business streams with digital products. One thing led to another and I ended up registering for a webinar discussing Kindle Direct Publishing.
The webinar lady shared that she researches kindle searches to understand what non-fiction topics are in high demand but do not have many books published on the topic. She then spends around $1000 to have someone ghost write the book and a few more to get a book cover through a freelancer on Fiverr and voila - she has a book. With enough of these in circulation, you can apparently earn thousands per month charging low amounts and pushing high volume. And of course, at the end of the webinar you are invited to join her course to learn the details, avoid the mistakes that she made (!) for a mere $8000, wait… for those on the webinar today only… $2000!
I thought the self-publish business model itself was interesting. I did not think buying this course was interesting, nor even paying for the tools that help with the search topic volumes, much less hire a ghostwriter.
I have had a pretty good current of creativity running through my veins for the entirety of this year and felt like this would be something new to explore.
Instead of using a strategy and/or commercial approach - I wanted to approach it from a creation perspective; starting from scratch and bringing something into the world.
What did I write about?
Taking a page from webinar lady’s book (metaphorical of course, not from her #1 Best Selling Dog Training Book in Italy) I decided to stick to non-fiction.
I also chose to stick to a digital format only. This book was going to be relatively short, though wildly informative, but not something I wanted anyone printing and shipping.
The next challenge was to determine in determining the topic was to understand:
What topic I know about
What a relatively large population of people might want to read
I landed on the topic of Job Searching for three reasons:
A ton of people have been laid off recently, so I thought it could actually be helpful
For better or worse, have a decent amount of experience in getting new jobs
I work as a volunteer for a non-profit in London who supports young women in resume/CV feedback to support them in their job search, so I feel like I have a good perspective on what challenges people may face there AND what a huge gap there is in the search process if you’re ONLY worrying about your resume/CV
How did I create the ebook?
The “how” was actually the most delightful part of the process and where I feel like I stretched myself and learned new skills.
I used: Google Docs, Canva, Kindle Previewer and Kindle Create to create the ebook.
Drafted the outline and fist draft in Google Docs which was a great starting point to architect my ideas and get some early narrative down around each of the topics.
Created the book itself in Canva. I had never used Canva before (late to the game, I know!) but I am now obsessed. I purchased the Premium license and the access to design elements, templates, and graphics make it SO easy to create a polished product.
Previewed the PDF I created in Canva in Kindle Preview only to get gut-punched and realize that the graphic-heavy (cute little graphics) format would not actually translate onto a Kindle device. I was sad and felt that I’d hit a wall and didn’t touch the project for about 2 weeks.
Figuring I would have to strip the formatting down to be purely text based, I downloaded the Kindle Create app, Amazon’s own creation tool and realized there that I COULD retain my current format, but that it would only be compatible on Kindle Cloud Reader vs Kindle devices - a tradeoff that I was more than happy to make!
How do I feel about the outcome?
Who me? I feel proud! It was excited to do somethings for the first time, to learn Canva, and to write something that wasn’t an email. O__o
Will it be a commercial success? If all 136,000 people who have been laid off in 2023 buy it for the purchase price of $4.99… then maybe?
Will it help a few people who are in the job search process implement a structure and strategy to more effectively move through the job application process using LinkedIn and AI tool? I really hope so!
