100 Questions to Help You Write, Publish, and Sell Your Ebook

Just a few years ago, if you wanted to be a published author you had to jump through a series of hoops involving literary agents and publishers. Then you faced a seemingly endless wait before your book finally hit the shelves.

Boy, how times have changed.

Now, if you have access to a computer you can write and publish an ebook and become a published author in a few short weeks.

However, a lot of people have set the goal of writing an ebook and yet they can’t seem to get started.

If you’re one of these people, it may very well be that all you need is to answer a series of important questions to help get your creative juices flowing. Doing this can also motivate you to take action.

Below you’ll find 100 questions that will help you write, publish, and sell your ebook. I suggest that you take the time to sit down and answer each one.

The 100 Questions

1. Why do you want to write an ebook?
2. What are some of the ways in which writing and publishing an ebook might help your business?
3. How will you judge the success of your eBook?
4. Will you write your ebook alone, or will you collaborate with someone else?
5. Have you tried to write an ebook in the past, but failed? If so, why do you think you failed? What lessons did you learn from that failure?
6. Have you chosen a topic that you’re passionate about?
7. What is your deadline for publishing your ebook?
8. How much time do you plan to devote to writing your eBook each day?
9. How will you make the time to write your ebook?
10. Do you have a strategy in place for dealing with procrastination?
11. How long will your ebook be?
12. Who are your ideal readers?
13. What are some of your ideal readers’ characteristics?
14. What is the specific problem that your ebook will solve for your ideal reader?
15. What are some of the obstacles and/or challenges that your ideal reader has been confronting in relation to the subject matter of your ebook?
16. Can you come up with ten questions your readers might be asking themselves about your topic (each question could correspond to a chapter in your ebook)?
17. In what ways will your readers benefit when they implement the ideas in your ebook?
18. Will you be offering any measurable results (such as lose five pounds in ten weeks, double your sales, or write an eBook in 30 days)?
19. Do you have any special expertise in the area that you’re writing about? Is there any reason why you’re particularly credible (for example, you’re a nutritionist and you’re writing an ebook on how to lose weight)?
20. What have you done to make sure that there’s a market for your ebook?
21. Are you sure that there are people out there who are willing to pay for the information that you’re planning to include in your ebook?
22. Are you giving people what they want, or what you think they want?
23. Have you researched how much competition there is out there on your topic?
24. Based on the law of supply and demand, is it worth the time and effort that it will take you to write the ebook?
25. Of all the possible topics that you could be writing an ebook about, are you sure that you’ve chosen the best one?
26. What keywords will you be targeting (for your ebook’s title, the domain name for your sales page, and your sales copy)? What are the keywords or keyword phrases that your target audience is likely to use when looking for information online on your topic?
27. What keyword phrases are your competitors targeting?
28. Have you broken down the process of writing an ebook into small chunks that you can knock down one at a time?
29. Have you set interim deadlines to help you make sure that you’re going to meet your final deadline?
30. Have you set a reward that you’re going to give yourself each time that you meet one of your interim deadlines?
31. How will you keep yourself motivated as you write your ebook?
32. Is there someone who can hold you accountable (someone who will make sure that you’re meeting all of your interim deadlines)?
33. How do you intend to get ideas on what to write for your ebook?
34. Have you already written ezine articles, blog posts, and so on that you can incorporate into the ebook?
35. How do you plan to take notes as you conduct research for your ebook?
36. Are you going to include anecdotes (examples from your own life or the life of others)?
37. Can you explain concepts in a catchy way that will make people remember them (so that they’re more likely to apply them)?
38. Will you include images and quotes?
39. What are some examples out there of the type of ebook that you would like to write?
40.  What are some of the ideas, strategies, tools, and tips that you intend to share in your eBook?
41.  What are the titles of the leading books in your field?
42. Have you read or at least skimmed the top five books in your field?
43. What are some of the things in the leading books in your field that you agree with?
44. What are some of the things in the leading books in your field that you disagree with?
45. Do the books available cover your subject matter well? Is there a gap in these books?
46. Do you have a Unique Selling Proposition that would make your ebook standout from the books that are already available on your topic?
47. Why would a book buyer prefer your ebook over what’s already out there?
48. How do you plan to organize your ebook? (For example, if you’re going to explain a series of steps, it makes sense if each step is explained in a separate chapter. As another example, you could answer the 100 most commonly asked questions in your field, and you could devote a page to each question and answer. As a last example, you could expose and debunk the top ten myths in your field, or offer ten tips to solve a particular problem. Again, each myth or tip could be a separate chapter.)
49. Does each chapter in your ebook open with a hook that grabs your readers’ attention?
50. Does each chapter in your ebook solve a particular problem related to your topic?
51. Does each chapter clearly convey the information that your readers need? Is the information incomplete? Do any ideas need to be fleshed out further? Would an example make the ideas in the chapter easier to understand?
52. Have you made sure that every chapter in your ebook serves a purpose and provides value?
53. Have you expressed your ideas clearly?
54. Are you making the reading experience enjoyable for your readers?
55. Are you giving others credit when you use their ideas?
56. Does each chapter have a title that’s clear, concise, and compelling?
57. Is your subject too broad? Do you need to narrow it down?
58. As you read each chapter, think of someone who has just had a meal. Are your readers still hungry; meaning that you didn’t answer their most important questions or you didn’t explain things clearly? Are your readers satisfied; meaning that you did a good job and your readers are happy with the amount of information that you provided? Are your readers uncomfortably full; meaning that the chapter is too long and complex?
59. Do you have a title and subtitle in mind for your ebook?
60. Have you put together a focus group to test your ebook’s title and subtitle?
61.  Are you going to conduct interviews (for example, interview a successful internet marketer on how to conduct keyword research)?
62. Are you going to conduct experiments (for example, teach your brother how to set up a blog and start making money in 60 days)?
63. How do you plan to format your eBook?
64. Are you going to include bonuses with your ebook?
65. Will you include audio or video?
66. Can you include spreadsheets or templates?
67. Can you include checklists?
68. Are you going to have exercises at the end of each chapter so that people apply what they learned in each chapter?
69. Can you include worksheets?
70. Have you put your first draft aside for a few days so that you can look at it again with fresh eyes?
71. Do you have someone who can help you proofread your ebook to make sure that it doesn’t have any spelling or grammatical mistakes?
72. How do you plan to compile your eBook (for example, .EXE or .PDF)?
73. What file-formats will your ebook be available in? Which devices will your readers be able to use to read your eBook
74. Are you going to create a cover yourself, or are you going to hire someone to do it for you?
75. Are you going to send an advance copy of your ebook to a few people in order to get testimonials?
76. Where will you sell your ebook?
77. Do you currently have a platform (such as a blog) from which you can sell your ebook?
78. Do you have a social media presence (such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook)? If so, how do you plan to use social media in order to promote your ebook?
79. Do you plan to build a Squidoo lens about your ebook?
80. Do you plan to write ezine articles to promote your ebook? If so, which ezines will you be sending articles to?
81. Will you be writing guest posts to promote your ebook (if so, what blogs will you be targeting)?
82. Do you plan to participate in forums and leave comments on popular blogs about your topic in order to promote your ebook?
83. Have you set any email alerts in order to track your topic?
84. Are you going to offer free chapters of your ebook in order to entice people to buy your ebook?
85. Are you going to offer a free mini-ecourse so that people are exposed to your message at least 7 times (marketers argue that people need to be exposed to your message 7 times before they’ll buy your product)?
86. Can you begin to grow interest in your ebook while you’re writing it (publish excerpts or write blog posts that are related to your topic)?
87. Will you be offering an affiliate program so that others sell your ebook for you?
88. Are you going to set up a separate website to sell your ebook?
89. Are you planning to buy the domain for your ebook’s title?
90. Do you have a template for your sales page?
91. Are you going to offer free coaching to those who buy your ebook (or free email support)?
92. Are you going to offer a time-limited offer (such as offering your ebook at half price for a few days as soon as you launch it)?
93. What’s your pricing strategy? Are you going to sell your ebook at the same price as your competition?
94. Have you conducted a survey in order to determine what people would be willing to pay for your ebook?
95. Are you going to have any back-end products?
96. How will you deliver the ebook to those who purchase it?
97. How will you be paid? What forms of payment will you accept?
98. Will you get an ISBN?
99. Are you going to offer a money-back guarantee?
100. Are you planning to publish a hard copy version of your ebook?

Now that you’ve answered these questions, you just might end up with the first draft of your ebook, along with a strategy detailing how you’re going to publish it — and then sell it.