Creating An e-Book for Passive Income

eBooks

Last December I had the pleasure of interviewing EJ Thornton, publisher and author of Secrets To Creating Passive Income.  As part of a segment I covered with her, How To Create Passive Income Strings, EJ shared with my listeners how to create an eBook.  I was surprised at how easy it really is, thinking that doing such a task could be monumental.  Not true!  Here is what EJ had to share:

EJ Thornton:

The way that the E-book business is going, Kindle, Amazon’s Kindle has just completely monopolized the marketplace.  Now, to start, you want to create several articles down a path.  It only takes 10 or 12 of those articles with a certain theme to create a small e-book.

Inger Johnson:

You were saying the Kindle is actually the number one best selling item.

EJ Thornton:

This past Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it was published that [the Kindle] was the number one [selling] item.  So, Christmas morning, everybody unwraped these Kindles and went out and looked for Kindle books to read.  This is the year [for e-books].  It’s really, really fun.

But, even just ten articles, you can collect and combine those into a small Kindle e-book.  Sell that for $2.99 on Kindle.  Kindle pays publishers a 70 percent royalty.  That’s 7-0, 70 percent royalty.

Inger Johnson:

That’s a lot.

EJ Thornton:

That’s huge.  So, for that $3 book, which is your 10 articles, you’ll make $2 dollars for every $3 dollars that Amazon sells.

Inger Johnson:

I can hear people saying, “Yeah, $2 dollars, big whoop.”  Okay.  So, you sell 100 a month.

EJ Thornton:

What would you have to do in your job to get an extra $200 dollars a month?

Inger Johnson:

Exactly.

EJ Thornton:

It’s very, very easy to do that way.  Once you’ve gotten a collection of 10 articles, do it, then, do it again, and then, do it again.  Usually, if somebody is well versed down a certain niche, or certainly, if you have a practice, a chiropractor could come up with a dozen articles quickly and do it again and do it again and do it again and he could end up with a series of E-books.  After a series of three or four E-books like that, just based on articles, or problems, or even case studies, you could throw that into a physical book.  It would probably be about 150-page book, at that point and just very easy to put together.

You don’t have to sit down and think, “I got to write my magnum opus right now.”

Have you written an e-book, how easy was it for you to put together?  How did you choose your subject?  What did you do to market your book?

Protecting Our Children From Cyber Predators

Protecting Our Children From Cyber Predators

It’s all over the news, children falling victim to cyber-bulling or experimenting with “sexting”.  To monitor all aspects of a child’s interaction on the web can prove exhausting and even then, you’ll most likely miss things that you didn’t know to look out for.

Fortunately, there are software and applications available to help parents monitor their child’s interaction on the Internet.  This Wednesday I will be discussing this topic of monitoring our children’s interaction with the Internet on my radio show Let’s Talk Dollars With Sense.  I will also introduce a software tool that parents can use to protect and manage their children’s privacy and reputation while at the same time “teach and reinforce healthy online and mobile phone habits”.

Be sure to tune in Wednesday, March 2nd!  Meanwhile, here is a video for you to view on this topic.

So, the Allowance Is No Longer Enough?

As kids get older, their needs change and they may feel that an allowance isn’t enough money and they would like to earn some additional money.  Also, one day, your child will need to earn a living.  Kids can get an edge on the work world by starting early and in doing so they will gain valuable experience working with different people, learning about managing money, have some money to spend once they get older, and/or save for college.

At this point, you child is ready for a job.  Sometimes this transition into the “job” phase of life runs smoothly.  However, often there are some bumps along the road.

I gained some insight into this life-stage in a recent radio interview I did with Doug Root, the owner of Jungle Quest.  Since 1988, first through the YMCA and later through Jungle Quest, Doug has processed thousands of teenage job applications and has hired many, many teenagers.  I’m going to share with you some of his words of wisdom.

Kids:  Why do you want to work?  The answer better not be, “because I need the money or because my parents want me to.”

Parents:  You are not responsible for getting your child a job.  Now, I know you want your kid to get a job.  But that doesn’t mean your kid is motivated to get a job.

So, parents.  How do you make sure your kid really wants a job?  Again, let me say, YOU are not responsible for getting your child a job.  I don’t care how much you want your child to want to get a job.  Unless, they are motivated, they won’t get one and, if they do, it won’t be for long.

The answer:  Dry up familial resources.

Here’s an example. if I’m a kid and I’m 16 years old and I’m getting a $20 a week allowance, what do I need a job for?  If I get a ride to the movies every time I want one, what do I need a job for?  If I get a clothes allowance, what do I need a job for?

So, we’re back in the trap of, well, just pretend to apply for jobs and then mom will yell at me and then, I’ll apply for a job and then, I’ll tell her that I probably got a job, and then, I’ll get another 10 days of not having to mess with it.

Parents… here is what you do.  You basically share their pain.  It’s a lesson out of tough love.  You dry up familial resources.  So, you could say, “starting in 30 days, when you want a ride to the mall, you’re going to have to pay for the gas.”  “In 60 days, we’re going to cut your allowance because now you’re 16 or 17.  Well, “How can I get any money?”  “Well, get a job.”

Another way to add motivation to your teenager is to  offer to give them the allowance back once they have a job.

Let’s say they get $10 bucks a week as an allowance.  Well, come a month from now, no more allowance.  But, if you get a job and your paychecks are $30 dollars, then, I’ll give you your $10 allowance.

So, dry up the allowance.  You can give it back once they get a job.

I’m going to highlight something here.  There are two very different things:

1)    Looking for a job

2)    Getting a job.

A teenager ought to be able to get a job in a month…at the most two months.

Now, its might not be a great job.  In fact it might be a lousy job.  But, that can create motivation too…

All in all, the stage in life when it is time for your teenager to get a job can be trying.  The quicker they get motivated to do it, once they are ready, will make your life and theirs so much more enjoyable.  To hear more insights, click here to listen to the archive of this show.

Have you had experience with this subject?  I’d love you to share it with me.