Is making money online your goal?
If you want to be an online entrepreneur, it goes with the territory that you should write an eBook.
Or create a video… But my weekly newsletter is called "Make Money Writing" so we’ll go with eBook here.
If you’re a good entrepreneur, you worry about this step.
You want to give your customers value.
At the same time, you don’t want to bore them.
So how long or short should your eBook be?
Can it be either too long or too short?
Can an eBook be too long?
Definitely, yes. I’ll talk more about this later. But yes, an eBook can be too long, filled with fluff and filler, and be boring the reader out of their wits.
Can an eBook be too short?
You can go the other way and write too short.
Not enough content for the reader. Should you add more filler? More fluff?
No fluff, but maybe more filler added the right way.
What’s the minimum word count?
There is no minimum word count. I wish it was that easy.
If you knew that you had to write between 3,000 and 10,000 words and then you would have the perfect length for an eBook.
Would be nice, right?
I’ve seen great eBooks with only a few pages. And I’ve seen great eBooks 60-300 pages long.
How can I know how long my eBook should be?
Your eBook should cover your topic. If it doesn’t, then it’s too short. If it does, but it’s boring, then it’s too long.
These days, an eBook is best if it only covers one topic.
That alone, limits the length of it.
But you need to cover the topic thoroughly.
You need to have an introduction and segue into the next section.
And there you must cover that point. And then segue into the next.
Imagine that you’re reading your own book. Do you feel guided through the text like on a slippery slope? Fine.
Do you feel that there are jumps and holes that are skipped and that it’s a rough ride where you have to become a smarter version of Mario to survive?
Then you need to add more context.
Let me give you a quick example:
Introduction: "So you want to make money online. That’s a wonderful way to make a living today or simply to earn a little extra."
Chapter 1: "When you write eBooks, you should always add exactly enough words to guide your reader through the text and no more."
See?
There is something missing. What?
Put yourself in your reader’s place. Oh, wait… You were.
Were you confused?
Did you know where I was going with that introduction?
I bet you were confused and that you had no idea where I was headed. It could have been affiliate marketing, writing articles on Medium, selling ChatGPT prompts… It could have been anything.
So I would need to add more to my introduction.
Introduction: "So you want to make money online. That’s a wonderful way to make a living today or simply to earn a little extra."
"You can make money online in many ways. My preferred ways are writing eBooks and doing affiliate marketing through emails."
I would write some more, but I think you get the gist.
Your words should make sense. There should be nothing missing, but there shouldn’t be extra fluff either.
The end user should be able to follow your guideline from start to finish and do what your eBook promises he should learn.
Oh, and just in case… stories are never fluff. 😉