E-Book Writing Formats: How to Make the Words Flow

Nervous about writing your first e-book? Never fear. E-books are written in a conversational, informative style that's easy for the reader to understand, and easy for you to imitate as you write them. Whether it's ten pages about Smart finances, 50 pages on How to Care for Your Cat or 250 pages covering Secrets of the World's Best yoga Masters, there are several e-book formats you can write to that are thought-provoking enough to get your words flowing, and flexible enough to make them as long or short as you like. Each of these formats is extremely appealing to the readers for its breezy, informative style.

Format 1: Q & A. Question and Answer sections win major popularity points with e-book readers for their direct, no-nonsense approach. Pose a question, offer an answer. This format is extremely simple to create because right from the get-go, the copywriter is forced to jump into the mind of the consumer, isolate his concerns, and then offer solutions. Switching perspectives is also a great mental exercise that lets you to see both sides of a situation. Why would you want to do this? If you can empathise with the reader, you'll be able to answer in a way that keeps his best interests in mind... and that makes him happy. If he's happy, he'll keep reading. If he keeps reading, he may ask for more information like this. And presto, you just landed yourself more writing work!

The style in which you write your questions will of course depend on the subjectmatter. If your topic is a dry one, write your questions and answers in a formal tone. If the theme is light and casual, try a conversational tone, like this:

Q: How do I figure out what questions to ask? A: That's easy; do some web research! There are forums for just about any topic on the internet. Visit one or two, and find out what the most commonly asked questions are. Let's say your e-book is going to be about quilting. Locate some handicraft or quilting websites, sleuth around the boards for a while, and you might find someone asking this popular question: How do I silkscreen family photos to my quilt? There you go! Real concerns, from real people. Put them in your e-book!

Another good way to find questions is to scroll the annals of your mind for real-life situations. Maybe you're writing a book about senior citizen retirement Homes. Your grandma was in one, wasn't she? What were her concerns? How about, "What do I do with all my stuff before I move in?" "What if I don't get along with my roommate?" "How can I ensure that my dietary needs are taken care of?" Train yourself to think like the interested consumer. Once you do this, you won't believe how quickly the ideas come.

Format 2: Numbered Lists. If you haven't noticed already, this article is written as a Numbered List. Even though it's not part of an e-book, it could easily be incorporated into one. The numbered list will suit your e-book quite nicely.

People are drawn to lists for several reasons:

1) The eye naturally wants to scan anything in list format from top to bottom.

2) Lists provide incentive, followed by accomplishment. If you're reading along and you come to number eight in a list of 11 items, you know you're 3/4 of the way Home! That's surely a reason to keep on trucking.

3) Lists offer brief resting points that allow the brain to absorb what it just read before moving on.

Lists are just as easy to write as they are to read. Let's say you're writing an e-book, How to Enhance Your Children's Lives. In the e-book is a sub-section, Fun Activities for a Rainy Day. The time comes to write it, but you're drawing a total blank. Then you remember the numbered list format! It's worth a shot. In one burst, you scribble:

1. Bake cookies
2. Paint with watercolors
3. Teach them a new card game
4. Writ