How to Write and Self-Publish an eBook

Today’s Money-Making Stay-at-Home Mom is Davonne Parks. She has authored, marketed, and sold 2 fantastic eBooks. She has sold thousands of them and it has helped with her family’s income and perhaps more importantly has been a great creative project for her. After reading her interview make sure to check out her eBooks (links below)…

Welcome Davonne…

Q. What inspired you to begin working?

A. I’ve wanted to be an author since about 1^st grade when a local author brought books that were in various stages of printing to my school library. We were taught about the book writing and printing process. I was fascinated!

As an adult, I let my own dreams fall to the wayside as I helped my husband start and grow his business, and as I taught my own children. After my husband received his college degree and won a huge business award the same week (2012’s Young Entrepreneur of North-East Kentucky!), I told him that I was so happy for him but at the same time I felt completely invisible. I felt like I spent so much time helping my family to succeed that I didn’t do anything that was just for me. He encouraged me to write the book I’d been dreaming about, so I did!

Q. How did you go about starting your business or arranging a work at home position?

A. I sat down at my laptop and started writing! I wrote every second I could find, which was mostly early mornings, late evenings, or sometimes at a local coffee shop.

Once my book was written, I sent it to a professional editor who helped me make it as perfect as possible.

Then my husband (a computer-business owner) helped me to format it and publish my book!

Q. What are some tips you would like to share with others who are interested in doing something similar to help out financially?

A. Only write a book if you’re committed to creating an amazing product. Otherwise it won’t sell well and you won’t be able to build a business as an author.

Don’t underestimate the importance of good editing. Hire a great editor. It will be worth the money. Once your book is edited, ask several kind and honest friends or family members to read your book before you release it. Carefully listen to their feedback and make minor changes where needed.

Also make sure to have an awesome book cover and a fabulous sales page – these are the things that will sell your book… or not. So make sure they’re great!

Read any articles you can find about writing and marketing eBooks. Read over the sales pages of successful books and pay attention to what the top-selling covers look like. Don’t copy other’s ideas but use them for inspiration.

If you don’t have a blogging platform, your book will not sell well at first. Don’t let that discourage you! This is a little backwards from most advice given, but you can actually use your first book to help build your platform.

Once your book is published, participate in book bundles! You won’t make a lot per book, but your book sales will jump significantly. If you do participate in bundles, make sure that you are going to get paid for every bundle sold, not just author sales or affiliate sales.

Q. How many hours do you work a week or how much of your time does this position require? Is it flexible? Is it consistent?

A. My work schedule can be very flexible but the more I put into my work, the more I get out of it! When I was writing my first book, my time varied greatly. Some weeks I’d spend 20 hours or more working. Other weeks I didn’t spend any time at all on my book. Having a consistent schedule is definitely beneficial, but the most important thing is just to do your best and to pick up where you left off – don’t allow yourself to feel “behind” or you’ll be discouraged.

Q. When/how do you find the time to work?

A. Currently, I work in the mornings before my kids are awake, during our afternoon quiet time in the afternoons, and a few evenings a week after the kids are in bed. About once a week I’ll also have a longer workday when the girls will need to occupy themselves during playtime. My current goal is to work a total of 15 hours per week.

Q. Are there certain tips/advice you’d want to share with others who wants to start working like you?

A. If I’d known exactly what was going to be involved with the editing, formatting, publishing, and marketing before I’d written my book, I probably would have given up before I’d started! In this situation, a little ignorance is bliss.

Write the book. Then find an editor. While your editor is working, then you can start looking for cover designers (but don’t hire one until you have your first draft back from the editor). Once that’s done you can research about formatting and publishing. After you’ve gone through the process once or twice, it’s not a huge deal but that first time is very daunting! Just push through and don’t look too far ahead – stay focused on the task at hand.

Also, if you want to sell a lot of books, you need to get the word out about it. Find frugal writers or bloggers within your niche and offer to do giveaways on their blog. Or run a sale (Black Friday was a great time for me) and let other bloggers know so they can tell their readers.

For some more basic tips, you can read my article on 7 Things I’ve Learned About Writing A Book.

Q. Was training/schooling required for the position? How/when did you complete it?

A. Training and schooling are not required for this job!

Q. What is the income percentage you bring in? or Does the income help a little, medium, or is the main source of your family’s income?

A. Currently, my income helps a little! I keep a portion of my money in my separate book account that I can use to grow my author business. The rest of the money I make goes towards paying off debt.

Q. How would someone who wants to do something similar get started?

A. Choose a topic to write a book about then start brainstorming ideas of things to put in your book. If you have no experience writing at all, begin by writing a few articles to make sure you enjoy it. Write often so you can gain experience.

If you are serious about writing and publishing an eBook be sure to check out Part 2 (with Davonne) on how to edit, self-publish, market, and sell your eBook!! Part 2 can be found here.

Thanks Davonne!!!

Davonne Parks is a married Christian homeschool mom who blogs about cultivating a heart for motherhood, as well as organization and simplicity, at DavonneParks.com. Davonne believes that some of life’s richest moments happen when we embrace the beauty of imperfection as we extend grace to ourselves and others. She’s written two eBooks, “101 Time-Saving Tips for Busy Moms” (free to her blog subscribers) and “28 Days to Timeliness: Tips and Confessions from a Semi-Reformed Late Person.”

Other Post in the Money-Making Stay-at-Home Mom Series

Introduction to Money-Making SAHM Series

Series 1: Medical Billing

Series 2: Starting an Online Business

Series 3: Housecleaning

Series 4: Cosmetology

Series 5: At-Home Airline Assistant

Series 6: Become an At-Home Employee

Series 7: Beachbody Coaching

Series 8: Freelance Writing

Series 9: Run an at-Home Daycare

Series 10: How to Write and Self-Publish an eBook Part 1 & Part 2