Writing and selling your first ebook or guide, without padding it

An ebook or guide is written instruction, usually saved as a PDF, that teaches someone how to do one thing. It's one of the cheapest products to make. All it takes is what you know and the time to write it down clearly.

By the end of this lesson, you'll know how to outline a guide, get a first draft done, edit it into shape, and format it so it's easy to read. You'll also know how to keep it useful instead of stuffing it with filler to make it look bigger.

If you haven't picked a topic yet, start with Digital products 101 and validating your idea. This lesson assumes you already know what problem your guide solves.

The short version

• Write down the one promise your guide makes, then outline only the steps that keep that promise.
• Draft fast and ugly, then edit slow, cutting anything that doesn't help the reader do the thing.
• Format for skimming with clear headings, short paragraphs and checklists, and save it as a PDF.

Start with one promise

Before you write a word of the guide, write one sentence. It goes like this: "After reading this, you'll be able to ___." Fill in the blank with something specific a reader can actually do.

"Understand gardening" is not a promise. "Plant and keep alive a small herb garden on an apartment balcony" is. The second one tells you what goes in the guide and, just as important, what stays out.

Tape that sentence somewhere you'll see it. Every time you're not sure if a section belongs, check it against the promise.

Build the outline

An outline is a list of the main parts of your guide, in order, before you write them. It's the skeleton. Writing without one is how people end up with forty pages that wander.

Step 1: List the steps

Write down every step a beginner would need to go from where they are now to the result in your promise. Don't polish anything. Just get the steps out of your head and onto a page.

Step 2: Put them in order

Arrange the steps in the order someone would actually do them. If a step depends on another step, the other one comes first. This sounds obvious, but it's the part people get wrong most.

Step 3: Cut the extras

Look at each step and ask if the reader truly needs it to get the result. Background history, your opinion on the industry, and three alternate methods can usually go. If it's interesting but not needed, save it for an email or a blog post.

Draft it fast

The first draft has one job, which is to exist. It doesn't need to be good. Good comes later, in editing.

Pick a small daily goal you can actually hit, like one section per sitting. Write each section as if you're explaining it to a friend at the kitchen table. Use "you," keep sentences short, and don't stop to fix typos.

If you get stuck, talk it out instead. Record yourself explaining the step out loud on your phone, then type up what you said. Spoken explanations are often clearer than written ones, because you naturally skip the fancy words.

Edit it into something useful

Editing means going back over your draft to make it clearer, shorter and correct. Plan for this to take as long as the drafting did, sometimes longer.

Pass 1: Cut

Read the whole thing and remove anything that doesn't help the reader keep the promise. Repeated points, long warm-up paragraphs and "as I mentioned earlier" sentences are the usual suspects. A short guide that solves the problem beats a long one the reader gives up on.

Pass 2: Check the steps

Follow your own guide like a beginner would, or better yet, have a friend who doesn't know the topic try it. Wherever they get confused, something is missing. Add the missing piece in plain words.

Pass 3: Clean up

Now fix spelling, grammar and clunky sentences. Reading it out loud helps you catch the places that trip you up. The spelling and grammar checks built into tools like Google Docs or Microsoft Word will catch a lot.

Padding, and how to spot it

Padding is filler added to make a product look bigger than it is. Beginners pad because they worry a short guide won't feel worth paying for. Buyers notice, and it makes them trust you less.

Here's what padding usually looks like. If you spot these in your draft, cut them:

• Long introductions about why the topic matters before getting to the steps
• The same point made three times in slightly different words
• Blank "notes" pages that exist only to raise the page count
• Generic motivational quotes and stock photos on every other page

The fix is simple. Make it as long as it needs to be and no longer. If you want to add more value, add things people can use, like a checklist, a worked example, or a fill-in worksheet.

Format it for reading

Formatting is how the guide looks on the page. Good formatting makes a guide feel easier, even when the content is the same.

1. Write it in a tool you know. Google Docs, Word or Canva all work fine for a short guide.
2. Use clear headings. Each step gets its own heading so readers can find their place again.
3. Keep paragraphs short. Big walls of text on a phone screen are where readers quit.
4. Pick one or two fonts. One for headings, one for body text, and a size that's easy to read.
5. Add a table of contents. For anything more than a few pages, a list of sections at the front helps a lot.
6. Save as a PDF. A PDF looks the same on almost any device, which saves you a pile of support emails.

Before you sell it, open the PDF on a phone and on a computer. Check that the links work, the pages are in order, and nothing got cut off.

Selling it honestly

Once it's done, how you describe it matters. Say plainly what's inside, how many pages it is, and who it's for. Don't promise results the guide can't guarantee, like "lose the weight" or "land the job."

For setting a price, see pricing your first product. For getting the file to buyers, see delivering a digital product. And expect the first one to earn little or nothing while you learn how the pieces fit together.

Do this next

• Write your one-sentence promise: "After reading this, you'll be able to ___."
• List every step a beginner needs, then put them in order.
• Cut any step that isn't needed to keep the promise.
• Set a small daily writing goal and draft one section at a time.
• Have one person who doesn't know the topic follow the guide and tell you where they got stuck.
• Format it with clear headings, save it as a PDF, and test it on a phone.

Say what you came to say, then stop. Readers will thank you by actually finishing it.