5 Benefits of Writing Long-Form Content
What I gained from writing an ebook about what I get paid to do
Many writers focus on short articles. They want to get a point across in a digestible format, to provide value to people on the go. But some ideas are just too big for an article, yet perhaps not big enough for a full-fledged book.
That’s where the ebook comes in. An ebook can be fairly short (~2,500 words), or it can be long (20,000 words or more). While both ebooks and articles contain written material, the difference is mainly in the presentation: an ebook is a downloadable document, while an article lives on the web.
I make my living writing ebooks for corporate marketing. This year, I tried something new: I wrote an ebook for myself. I thought to myself, “I spend my days researching topics to sound like an expert on behalf of companies, but I’m an expert on how to write ebooks. Other people could benefit from this knowledge.”
I’m sure there’s something that you do really well that other people would love to learn. You could write it for them in an ebook. To get you motivated, here are five things I gained from writing mine.
1. A way to help people.
People frequently tell me about the value of writing, often mentioning how hard writing can be for them. I’ve also had the experience of editing ebooks written by others, and found many commonalties among them, which included:
- Poor flow of content from one section to the next
- Unclear hierarchy of ideas due to inconsistent formatting and convoluted thinking
- Inconsistent and improper citation of research (and even plagiarism)
- Obtuse business-speak and unnecessary jargon that doesn’t sound like it’s addressing a real human being
- Inadequate consideration of reviewer’s feedback to achieve desired results.
I wanted to address these common issues and share my knowledge in an accessible way to help people write higher quality content. Clients trust me to deliver ebooks that require little editing, and by writing my ebook, I could help more writers could learn how to do the same — whether they are professional writers or business owners looking to write an ebook to help market their business.
Like me, there are probably many people who want to learn what you enjoy doing the most, and have problems that you can easily spot. We all learn from each other, and writing is a great way to convey valuable, even life-changing, information. I’ve learned many things from reading books — and could perhaps learn something from yours.
2. Increased self-knowledge
It was gratifying to be confronted with the scope of my knowledge. By writing everything down about my writing process, I learned about the details and nuances of it and thought about what I might add to it. I had the benefit of completing two paid projects during my personal ebook writing time, so I got to see if I practice what I preach. I do. In the end, it was like seeing a mental model of my brain in an ebook format.
By writing everything you know about what you do well, you too could come to know and appreciate yourself better.
3. A resource to point to
Writing is just something I do, not something I talk about. Now, when someone asks me to help them, I can say, “Thanks for asking, you can find everything you need to know in my ebook.” Then we can talk about something more fun, like art, hiking trails, or a new movie. A wide-ranging conversation might help me gain material for my next article or ebook.
Whether you offer your ebook for free or for sale, you will always have the document to point to anytime someone asks. If you receive frequent requests for information on similar topics, it might be time to write an ebook.
4. A learning experience
In my ebook project, I learned the power of my own voice through the experience of hiring a professional editor. My paid work is written in a corporate, impersonal voice, and I wanted this ebook to be in my own voice. Overall, his edits made the copy cleaner and more precise, but some of them stripped out my personality, which spoiled the mood of my ebook. I learned where to draw the line between style and grammatical precision. Next time, I’ll look for a stylistically sensitive editor.
Every time you sit down to do something that takes days, weeks, or even months, you learn something. Big projects have a lot to teach you — and what you learn will be unique to you.
5. A source of additional content
Next week I’m giving a webinar about my ebook. And it’s inspired me to write articles (like this one), social media posts, and develop a whole new website that brought all my interests together, as I wrote about it in the post Embrace Your Love of Variety.
The great thing about an ebook is that it’s big enough to break up into smaller parts for social media or convert into offerings in other formats, such as a webinar or a podcast. Because an ebook shares expertise, it naturally helps position the writer as an expert, which could lead to speaking engagements or other opportunities. What could writing an ebook help you achieve?
A new phase of life
Overall, I’m incredibly satisfied with the choice to write my ebook and the experience of writing it. The next learning experience will come from promoting it — and that’s completely new to me, since ebooks that I write for work reach thousands of readers with the support of corporate marketing departments. Having to market my ebook is helping me step out from behind the curtain of my work — and writing your ebook could do the same for you.
If you’d like guidance for writing your ebook, please check out The Art of the Ebook: A Guide to Writing Long-Form Content That Matters.
