Whether you’re trying to create an ebook or learn how to design an ebook on your own, this article provides an easy-to-follow guide with expert tips and examples to get it done right.
To help get you started, here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit ebook templates you can edit, share and download with Visme.
8 Steps to Creating an Ebook
- Step #1: Write Your Ebook Content
- Step #2: Organize Your Content
- Step #3: Use A Style Guide
- Step #4: Choose Images and Create Visuals
- Step #5: Design Your Ebook
- Step #6: Publish and Share
- Step #7: Promote Your Ebook
- Step #8: Choose the Right Ebook Software
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick Read
- You can create an ebook in eight simple steps: write your content, organize your content, use a style guide or brand kit, choose images and visuals, design your ebook (with a template), publish, share and promote it.
- The best way to create an ebook is by choosing the right ebook software, so choose wisely based on your ebook goals.
- With Visme’s ebook maker, you can create ebooks from start to finish. Access a wide range of beautifully designed ebook templates and intuitive editing features all-in-one place.
Step #1: Write Your Ebook Content
An ebook wouldn’t exist without content.
There are two ways to create the content for your ebook. You can either repurpose published contentor write something completely new.
Whichever method you decide, keep in mind that it has to resonate with your clients or potential customers. After all, the most successful ebook offer readers value or a solution to their problems. Not to mention, the subscribers or followers on social media you gain along the way are also great, of course.
Once that’s established, you should use the following tips to get a good understanding of who your target audience is and how to present your information. This will make the ebook creation process much easier.
Here are some fundamental tips when you’re creating your own ebook content:
- Know your target audience: By having a clear understanding of who your ideal customer persona is, you’ll be able to navigate the reader with the right tone of voice and language they use on a regular basis so they can grasp the information quickly.
- Be concise and avoid full: Try to master the phrase “less is more.” You want to give your readers a good balance of content so you don’t feel under or overwhelmed with unnecessary information.
- Conduct thorough research: Be sure to fact-check your information statistics and any dated events to ensure that your book maintains a high level of credibility. If the data or information changes quickly or annually in your industry, then create a revised version of your ebook when it happens.
- Use storytelling to your advantage: Use visual or data storytelling to captivate your audience and keep them engaged with your content. This is significant if your ebook is focused on an academic topic.
- Create an attention-grabbing title: Your title is one of the first things people view, so try to give your ebook an informative and eye-catching title. Avoid using obscure metaphors or contrived wording. Readers must know what they can get from your ebook before they read, purchase or download it.
Customize this ebook template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Step #2: Organize Your Content
Before designing your ebook, it’s best to organize your content into sections. A great ebook will have a table of contents with descriptive titles for each section for an easy-to-follow ebook layout. These should use just a few words, the right amount for each topic to be clear.
Select parts of the text which can be turned into bullet points or charts. Find informative paragraphs which can be turned into infographic visuals.
Take notes on sections which could be well suited to use as captions or quotes. These can break up long blocks of text in a visual way, helping the reader skim the content before reading.
Edit and proofread all your text. Grammar mistakes and typos will make content seem unprofessional even if well written. Use online editors like Grammarly, Hemingway or Prowritingaid for help.
Make sure that you’ve really thought out your page layout before you hop into a designer, especially when considering the mobile devices your ebook will be read on, whether Android or Apple smartphones, ereaders, an iPad or something else.
Customize this ebook template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Step #3: Use a Style Guide
As you begin to develop ideas on how you’d like to design your ebook, you should have a style guide or brand kit on hand. Using a style guide applies to you whether you’re creating ebooks for yourself or for a client.
A style guide will help you settle on a specific design, style or color palette that should be applied throughout your entire ebook so your ebook can avoid looking incoherent and unprofessional.
If you don’t have the time to create a style guide, a brand kit is your next best bet. Use Visme’s AI-powered Brand Kit to instantly create one for you.
Visme’s Brand Kit automatically adds your branding elements to your editor dashboard so you can access them as you design your ebook or future projects.
It also suggests ebook templates for you that match your branding so you can avoid creating it from scratch or spending hours searching for the right one. Helping you to save time and maintain brand integrity in one go.
If you prefer to create a style guide rather than using a brand kit, use this style guide article, equipped with best practices and templates, to get it done. It’ll walk you through how to:
- Select a color scheme.
- Create a font pairing.
- Brainstorm a general idea of textures and shapes.
Have all the styling information on hand, along with the content. There’s no greater timesaver than good organization. You don’t have to be a graphic designer to create a stunning, on-brand ebook.
Customize this ebook template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Step #4: Choose Images and Create Visuals
The visuals you select for your ebook are just as important as their content. Not only do they make your content more visually appealing but memorable as well. Around 65% of the population are visual learners and remember 65% of what they see when compared to audio or text.
Customize this ebook template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Of course, when we talk about choosing images and creating visuals, we first have to focus on the cover of your ebook.
Paper Raven Books Publishing found that studies have shown that up to 80% of people are initially interested in a book solely because of its cover, and up to 60% will choose to buy a book (even after reading the back cover) based on the visual design of the cover itself.
So yes, people do judge a book by it’s cover, whether you like it or not. But that puts a lot of pressure on you.
How do you know if you’re selecting the right or best image possible for your cover?
You have a few options! First, you can check out Visme’s image library. It offers a wide library of royalty-free images or videos you can use for your cover or in your ebook.
Option two, If you’re not too excited about searching for the perfect image, use Visme’s AI Image Generator instead. The tool can help you create the image you want rather than settling on an image as a last resort.
With Visme’s AI Image Generator, you can bring your imagination into reality. Our advanced artificial intelligence technology lets you generate unique ebook graphics in seconds.
Simply describe the image you have in mind, and choose your image styles: photos, paintings, pencil drawings, 3D graphics, and more. Then watch as our algorithm produce your idea with multiple options. Bring your fictional characters to life or present the best example of what your ebook has to offer.
For images or visuals you’d like to place in your ebook instead, be sure to should consider the following first:
- What sections inside of your ebook would benefit the most from visuals?
- What type of visuals would help to fully illustrate your points, strategy or data?
- How many images should you include?
For example, let’s say that your ebook is on a study about how companies can generate sales, and you have a chapter on the sale of top companies over a ten-year time span. To help the reader visualize this information, add a line chart similar to the template below to demonstrate various company sales projections over the years.
Customize this template and make it your own!Edit and Download
As you go deeper into the context, you can add images or photos that demonstrate the elements or events that had an impact on each company based on the data you’re sharing.
In Vimse, you can also upload your own images, especially if they’re gathered from the research you needed to write your ebook.
When it comes to adding charts, graphs, or even maps, Visme offers thousands of data visualizationwidgets and tools. You can also easily import data from Google Sheets if needed to help streamline your design process.
Lastly, don’t overdo it with the visuals– try to find the right balance to grab and keep your reader’s attention.
Step #5: Design Your Ebook
It’s time to put it all together and design your ebook. Here’s a quick video tutorial to walk you through designing an ebook in Visme if you’re short on time:
Ebook Templates
Here’s a short selection of ebook templates you can use to create your own ebook. Each ebook template is professionally designed by an expert designer so all you need to do is customize them to your liking or brand.
Ebook Templates
Create an eye-catching ebook online quickly and easily by getting started with one of Visme’s professionally designed ebook templates. Share content with your audience visually. Find a free ebook template that you can easily customize for your own brand.
Graphic Design Ebook
Remote Team Management Ebook
Cancun Travel Guide Ebook
WordPress Ebook
The Future of Event Marketing Ebook
Investment Fundamentals Ebook
Alternatively, if you want more ebook design examples and templates to browse you can view our ebook template library. Or you can log into your Visme account, click the “Create New” button in your Visme dashboard, then click on the option “Projects” then “Documents” and choose the ebook icon to browse our free ebook templates. Select a template and enter the editor.
If you change your mind later about the template, it’s easy to change. All templates are available on the left-hand panel inside the editor.
Some people like to follow the template as is and insert their content into the allocated sections. Others prefer to use the templates as inspiration and then create from scratch.
The Visme editor will let you do it either way. With the help of pre-designed content blocks under the Basics tab, you can customize the template or blank page as you wish.
Start designing page by page, entering the text and visuals until you’ve customized it completely. Check all the pages to ensure you have a balance of text and visuals.
If you need to create more visuals, you can do so with the content blocks. There are charts, graphs, icons, illustrations, stock photos and more available in the left-hand panel as well.
Customize this ebook template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Follow your style guide to choose the fonts and change the colors. To change the colors on all the pages at once, click on Theme Colors in the left-hand panel. The pop-up will show you the default color palettes. Use one of these or create a new one.
To create a new palette, click on any color in the design. Find the right color in the color box and click “replace all” in the little box below. Use hex numbers if you have them. Change all the colors in the e-book to your color palette and save it for future reference.
Here are some quick tips for achieving balance:
- Use the same font, size and color for all subtitles.
- Use the same font, size and color for all the text body.
- Don’t place images behind the main text body. It’s always best to use a white or light background for easy reading.
- Break up long text with memorable quotes. Either inside the text or as a colored visual.
- Keep similar styles for all the paragraphs. Justified is usually the preferred style for e-books. Avoid short words like “and” at the end of lines.
- Leave spaces between text and visuals.
- Use a similar formatting style for all the visuals. Avoid unnatural drop shadows and excessive borders.
- Don’t forget the page numbers. Have them in the same position on all pages, except the title page. Use the same font, size and color for all of them.
- If your e-book is longer than 15 pages, include a table of contents on the page after the title. Make it easy to read by keeping page numbers aligned vertically.
- Add contact details and an author bio at the end of the e-book. Include a professional photo of yourself or the author.
- Proofread the entire thing. Even if your initial text was perfect, copying and pasting can lead to mistakes such as missing letters and double words.
Step #6: Publish and Share
Once your ebook is ready, it’s time to offer it to your audience. You’ll need to decide how you’ll distribute your ebook.
Will you be giving it away in exchange for email sign-ups, selling it on your website, or using ebook selling platforms like Amazon?
Visme provides a wide range of sharing and download options, so you can pick the option that work best for you.
If you’re using your ebook for lead generation, providing it in exchange for growing your email list for future marketing, then follow these steps:
- Create a sign-up page with the email marketing tool of your choice or use Visme’s Forms. If you’re already using Hubspot or MailChimp, you can integrate it with Visme for more intuitive interactions and to save you from jumping from tool to tool.
- Download your ebook as a PDF, a shareable link so it’s easily shared online with Visme or embed it on your confirmation landing page.
- Then share your sign-up form via the landing page or shareable link. Be sure to send a thank you note with each email confirmation.
If you plan to sell your ebook, research which platform you’d like to sell it on and learn about their publication requirements. If you’re using your website, you can keep it as a PDF or convert it to EPUB format for accessibility to Kindle readers. For more on this take a look at our guide on How to Make Money Selling Ebooks.
Hey marketers! Need to create scroll-stopping visual content fast?
- Transform your visual content with Visme’s easy-to-use content creation platform
- Produce beautiful, effective marketing content quickly even without an extensive design skillset
- Inspire your sales team to create their own content with branded templates for easy customization
Step #7: Promote Your Ebook
Once your book is done, it’s time to promote it. Apart from the signup or buy now button on your site, don’t forget to do plenty of social media marketing and email follow-ups.
Start by using the same style guide or brand kit you used to design your ebook to create newsletters, social media graphics and various online ads to get the word out. You can even use a mock-ups of your ebook to get your target audience’s attention and show them how your e-book will solve their problem.
Share them where your readers hang out. Get their attention, show them how your e-book will solve their problem. Send an email to your subscribers with a link to download the e-book. Ask them to share it with interested friends.
Customize this ebook template and make it your own!Edit and Download
Do Facebook Live videos and share Instagram Stories where you talk about your new ebook. Tell your followers a little about what’s in it and show them the table of contents. Create an animated video for extra attention.
Write an article on your blog about your ebook. Promote your ebook on your homepage. Ask some of your readers for testimonials about the book and include them in the article.
You can also create a landing page where you show the ebook cover, a little description and a sign-up form. An exit pop-up for your website might also be a good idea. Read this guide on how to make great exit pop-ups.
Just be sure to keep SEO in mind when optimizing your landing page to ensure that Google properly indexes and ranks your ebook