How to create, launch and promote your first eBook (lead magnet)?

‘Dev, how to create an ebook online’ is the question I’ve been asked countless times. Just to put things in perspective, the volume of e-book users is expected to amount to 1,162.7m by 2025*. Massive, right? If you are still thinking whether to bring back that ebook you were working on, come on, now is the time to do it.

In this post, I share the exact steps I took to create my ebook ‘Unlimited Content Ideas Generator’. Trust me, even though I offered the ebook as a free download, I got reviews from users that they wouldn’t mind paying for the book. Ah, retrospect!

How to create an ebook online (for free)?

Before I spill the secrets (yeah, no fancy techniques here, just the exact steps I followed and what worked) on how to create an ebook online, let me dig into the space that matters the most: Mindset.

Does this sound familiar?

• Not everyone can write ebooks
• I don’t have any writing skills, Dev
• I don’t know how to fill up the pages
• I have no experience writing an ebook
• Where do I publish it?
• What do I write about?
• Who will read my ebook?
• I have no clue how to create an ebook online?
• Do I need a designer?
• I have the idea, but I don’t know how to flesh it all out
• I don’t have an audience, Dev

Don’t miss: 5 Insanely simple ways to create great content

Looks like your brain talking to you, right? Even with the immense spurt in the number of ebooks published as lead magnets, so many still wonder how to go about creating an ebook.

Don’tcha worry, I’ve been there and done that and I’m gonna tell you exactly what I did to conquer this monster and why I did that. Oh yes, if you’re wondering about the results, don’t worry, I’m gonna tell you everything (pinky promise, eh).

And oh, by the way, if you answered yes to any of the above, oh boy, you’re at the right place. Hang on with me here.

For the sake of clarity, let’s divide the entire journey into four steps.

How to create an ebook – the 4-step framework

Ideation: How to come up with an idea for the ebook (lead magnet)?

Don’t just write an ebook because you want to write it, write an ebook because they want to read it. Ah, what a fascinating statement, Dev, but what the heck does it mean? I got you. 

The first thing you need to know about lead magnets is that they should always fulfil an action towards your big goal.

Dev Matharia

So, if you want to create an ebook as your lead magnet, go back to your big goal. Think of the ebook lead magnet as a tool to inch closer to that goal. That’s the first part.

The second part is about them, your audience. How will your ebook serve them? What do they need to know now (double-stress here, not in the future, right now) that will help you accomplish your goal in the future? Here are a few things to consider while ideating ebook lead magnets:

Download this as a poster (print it, keep it where you can see it every day)

Coming up with en ebook idea: The 10 Commandments

1. Solve one pain point/aspiration per lead magnet ebook
2. Keep it short and simple
3. Write an ebook that’s meant to help your audience solve a problem or fulfill an aspiration
4. Make it visual, use lots of images, charts, diagrams (a big chunk of your audience will never read the whole book, trust me, or they wont read at all and I am leaning towards the second)
5. Basically, break down the complex information into bite-sized visual chunks
6. Make it flow from one section to the other (in other words, tell a story)
7. Have multiple sections for easy breakdown of the solution your ebook offers
8. Make it actionable (remember, don’t preach, aspire for action)
9. Let your readers act quickly, little wins will make your ebook successful
10. And finally, don’t reveal too much or too less, strive for balance

When I started working on the ‘Unlimited Content Ideas Generator’, I initially wanted it to be a cheat sheet. When I started outlining the idea, I realized it has the potential to turn into an ebook, primarily because I could see myself hitting the page count.

Here are the four things you need to consider when working on the lead magnet ebook ideas:

1. For your audience: What problem or pain point your ebook will solve?
2. For you: How the ebook will help you achieve your goals?
3. For your audience: What outcome can the readers expect once they finish the ebook?
4. For you: What action do you want them to take? (Sign-up; join group; follow; register; share; validate)

Creation: How to create an ebook online (for free)?

If you’ve honestly put in effort in the ideation stage, the next one should be darn easy. However, my ninja friend, if you just skimmed passed the steps or came up with will-do answers, remember, the response you’re gonna get from your ebook will be directly proportional to that.

Creating an ebook happens 80% in the ideation stage. The rest 20% that happens is just piecing the pages together.

Dev Matharia

Now that you’ve come up with a clear idea about your ebook, its time to start building it brick by brick. Here are the exact tools I used to build my ebook without spending a penny.

Come up with a creative ebook title

Yes, it works exactly like the sales page’s hero section headline, the blog title, the IG post catchy headline and so on. You need to make sure its sticky, has a promise, and stands out from the crowd i.e. unusual title.

Let’s breakdown the title of my ebook.

Here’s why it worked:

1. Unique title
2. No fluff, just a big badass promise (who promises unlimited ideas? I did, and it worked)
3. So simple its dumb: I made it a no-brainer to understand
4. Hit the pain point instantly

Outline the ebook content

I used Google Docs to outline the ebook. And that’s what I did exactly, outline. I didn’t start writing the book until I was 100% done with the outline. It was only when I could see the entire skeleton that I moved on to the next step. 

Here are a few tips:

1. Don’t create dummy outline
2. Be ultra, hyper, super (whatever makes you click) specific
3. Outline as if it’s the final draft

Look at you, oh boy, look how far you’ve come. You know what is the next step? Open a champagne and celebrate. Oh yes, doing an outline is a big battle won. Oh, you are so close. Don’t give up now, hustle ninja, hustle. 

Create the ebook content

Ok, its time to get your hands dirty. Time to let the devil out in the sun. Use your outline from the previous step and your ideation document to guide you at every step.

Again, I used Google Docs to write my entire ebook. Give it a good week or two (depends on the page count you are targeting to hit) to flesh out the entire ebook. If you have done your outline sincerely, with all your heart, the expansion shouldn’t take you much time. 

Here’re a few tips to follow:

1. First draft: Get everything out of your head (yes, every damn word until your head feels like an empty vessel)
2. Second draft: I’m sure you are giving away too much information (the irony of first drafts), hence, its time to trim.
3. Third draft: Time to refine. This is where you work on the language. I used Grammarly extensively. You can also use Hemingway Editor if you are a ninja of fine taste.
4. Fourth draft: It’s there, more or less. Read it aloud. Are there any missing pieces? Is is simple and clear?
5. Final draft: Ok, time for some mapping. Are you delivering what you promised? Does the book does justice to the promise of the title? 

Launch: How to launch an ebook (lead magnet)?

Hey there, you ebook author! Yeah, you deserve to call yourself an author now that you’re done with a finished draft of the book. But this is where the real battle begins. Damn Dev, does it ever end? Unfortunately, no! Content creation and distribution is a war that you can stretch but never conclude. Don’t hang up your boots, there is work to be done ninja.

We’ll keep this short because you might have other plans to launch your ebook. Here’s what I did:

1. Create a landing page. I use ConvertKit and Kajabi. You can also use Lead Pages or Mailer Lite.
2. From your outline, pick out the USPs of the ebook, yeah, those salesy-pitchy lines and fill up the landing page
3. Remember, you’re selling a book and people are buying the benefits aka what’s in it for me
4. Don’t forget to include a visual of the book or a couple of them, heck, yes
5. Have any beta readers? Grab a testimonial and plug that in (that reminds me I still need to add testimonials, duh)
6. Link to your website and oh boy, you’re ready to shine your blinding lights on the world. Bring it on

There are a couple of other ways to launch your ebook and it totally depends on your preferences. However, choose from the below:

1. Self-publish it on Amazon Kindle and sell
2. Host it on your website as gated content and sell
3. Host it in your private Facebook page and give access when you sell
4. Host a password protected PDF on your website and sell (not recommended highly)
5. Email every buyer a copy (I mean if you have all the time in the world)

Promotion: How to promote your ebook (lead magnet)?

Well, you’ve done the hard work and your book is ready to get some eyeballs. Before I tell you how to promote an ebook, remember, there is no one size fits all strategy. Promotions can vary widely depending on how far you’re willing to go.

Here’s how I did it:

10 ways to promote the ebook

1. Build that damn curiosity about the ebook: Humans are curious by nature, tease the ebook when you are ideating
2. Document the journey: Who is most likely to buy from you? Someone who’s seen you put in the work. 
3. Become the living embodiment of the ebook: Yeah, talk, act, behave as if the ebook is living through you
4. Self-promote blatantly: Whatever your choice of platform, go all out. Double down on promotions. If you won’t talk about it, no one’s gonna buy it (I promise)
5. Prepare pre-sell and post-sell promo posts/content
6. Write a blog on why someone should buy your book
7. Tell your email list about it (Don’t have one yet? I can help)
8. Facebook ads (I didn’t do it)
9. Pinterest ads (I didn’t do it)
10. LinkedIn ads (I didn’t do it)

There is so much more that you can do to promote your brand new ebook. Think about your idea reader/consumer and reach out where they hang out.

That’s all folks! What are you waiting for? Go ahead, get that gorgeous looking, fun read, out on paper. If you write one and publish after reading this post, don’t forget to tag me @dev.matharia on Instagram. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my readers succeed.

And oh yes, if you liked this post, support me by leaving a comment or sharing this with someone who needs to know this. It will mean the world to me.

PS: Want to get started right now, at this very moment? Drop the title of your ebook in the comments below. This very action of putting it out in public will lay the foundation for your ebook. When you write it, it begins to manifest. Go ahead, try this nifty hack. (Thank me later).