I’ve given myself 42 days to write, build, and publish my first e-book.
Something I’ve tried to do since I was 15, but I never had the tenacity to finish.
Today, we’ll discuss why now is the time for me to take this step, why books are an amazing business model, my marketing strategy, and the process I’ll use to write this book with plenty of time to spare.
I’ve been writing since I was 10. I’ve written fan fiction, short stories, YouTube scripts, been the lead writer at a gaming news organization, and ghostwritten everything from newsletters to long-form blog posts.
I have 4 half-finished novels on an old hard drive in this house.
Writing has given me some of the most fulfilling experiences in my life.
I didn’t have many friends when I was a kid. Writing fan fiction and short stories allowed me to create friends.
Writing for YouTube taught me how to connect and engage with an audience.
My time at ‘Gaming at a Glance’ took me to E3, the biggest video game trade show, where I met the creators of Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts is so important to me that I covered my leg in tattoos inspired by the game.
Ghostwriting brought in the most money I’d ever seen for writing.
Every stage of my writing journey has prepared me for this moment.
Many want to write books. I’d argue over 80% of the people would love to share their story. That’s not what my book is about. My book is the story of you and how to transform from an employee to building your own small-business.
If you’re considering writing a book, this article will give you a clear plan for writing, marketing, and generating passive income from it.
Why Write An E-Book?
Now’s the best time to become an author.
In the past, being a professional writer wasn’t a choice; it was a gift.
There were two options: write a book or become a journalist.
To be a journalist, you needed a college degree, years in a newspaper’s mailroom, and grueling hours writing assigned stories. Journalists don’t usually start with the privilege of choosing their own adventure. They spend at least a year grinding through the topics no one else wants to write.
To be an author, you need to write 10 manuscript versions, open hundreds of rejection letters, and pray to find a publisher willing to give you a chance.
If you caught that big break, you spent 2 years changing almost every sentence, waited another year for the marketing campaign, and another year for the magazine reviews before seeing a dollar from your book.
Even when dollars started coming in, after paying your editor, marketing team, and giving the publication their royalties, you were left with 30 cents.
In 2025, anyone can be an author in a week.
E-books have an upfront cost, but the only recurring cost is the yearly web-hosting bill.
If you sell physical books, you have to pay for printing and shipping, which eat up 30 – 50% of your revenue.
You can write an e-book, use Typeset to design it, and publish it on your website with a few clicks.
The best part? No one gets a cut.
If you want to write a book as a passion project, do it. If you want to write a book for passive income, do it. I don’t believe they’re mutually exclusive; I believe that books are one of the best business models. However, you can’t write something great unless it means something to you.
Books Are An Amazing Business Model
I’ve seen writers with small followings making $5,000 a month writing e-books.
It takes work, but with the right approach, almost anyone can do it.
If done well, fiction stories can make money. Booktokers are a perfect example. But for non-fiction writers, the real money doesn’t come from writing the book.
I see my book as both a passion project and a business.
I’m turning a $10 e-book into my business foundation. Writing has always been a part of my life and I’ve wanted to write a book since I was a teenager, so I’m killing two birds with one stone.
I’m not relying on the book as my primary income source; that would take an unbelievable amount of luck.
The goal is to use the book as an introduction to “my content ecosystem.”
Solving a problem starts a business, but other factors matter.
Can you show your credentials?
Can you show people why you’re the person to solve their problem?
If not, a book is one of the best ways to compile your expertise and value into one package.
Here’s the funnel.
Find your target audience through YouTube, short-form videos, or written platforms like Twitter or LinkedIn. This is a borrowed audience. The platform owns that data, not you.
Once you’ve built trust with the audience by giving them valuable content, move them to your landing page to convert them into an owned audience. Then, continue giving them free value through a newsletter.
If done right, use calls to action at the end of every email to inform your audience about your product. There’s an 80% chance they won’t buy the first time, but you’ve planted the seed.
After months of planting seeds with free content, a reader clicks your product page link. This is where your sales funnel generates sales.
I offer a coaching program that includes 4 90-minute sessions to help someone turn their idea into a brand story, a targeted content ecosystem, and a compelling offer that attracts customers.
A customer may not want to buy my expensive package first, but an easier sell is a $10 e-book.
Once they extract maximum value from the e-book, they’ll have another seed planted. They’ll keep reading my free content, and eventually, those who believe in my mission will come back to purchase my coaching.
That’s the funnel. It sounds simple, but there’s one crucial step: writing a book with so much value that customers feel the $10 they spent is worth $100.
My Strategy for Writing A Book In 42 Days
My strategy for writing the book is simple.
- Use the next 7 days to research and outline.
- Spend 21 days writing 1,000 words daily. Use mornings for writing and evenings for planning.
- Take 6 days to edit. The outline and edit are the most important parts of the writing process.
- Spend two days designing the book.
- Spend a day optimizing my landing page to make buying the book a one-click process.
If I follow this plan, the book will be released in 37 days. I love being ahead of schedule.
I have one question to answer: how will I provide value?
If you aren’t providing value, you won’t win over an audience.
How do you create value? Solve a problem.
How do you find a problem to solve? Look within.
I’m writing the book I wish I had 10 years ago, when I was a dumb 21-year-old entering the world of full-time entrepreneurship.
There are four steps to creating content that converts new readers into an audience.
- Identify your target audience by knowing the exact problem you want to solve.
- Write compelling hooks that make the reader say “Ok, keep talking.” A good hook validates the problem, promises a solution, and explains why they need to solve it.
- Creating an engaging story to give maximum value is key. The key is making the reader the hero.
- End the story with the promised payoff.
If you’re new to writing content, this takes practice. Here’s the concept of my book as an example.
Problem: People don’t know how to start and scale a business.
Solution: Shifting to the mindset needed for entrepreneurship and using content as the primary marketing tool.
Benefit: I’ve been writing non-fiction content for 10 years and developed a formula for creating impactful content fast.
Here’s my creative process.
Ideation:
I have a process for finding ideas.
- Read daily. This includes books, articles, tweets, and LinkedIn posts.
- Capture every good idea I find in Kortex.
- Identify the key problem that the idea solves.
- Write my personal story of how I solved that problem.
Outline:
Write the title. You could have the best content, but if your titles aren’t optimized for clicks, no one will see it. Good titles create curiosity, which leads to action: stop scrolling and compel someone to click.
Plan the hook. I spend 80% of my outlining process on it. Once someone clicks on your video or article, the hook signals they need to watch or read to the end. We’ve discussed what makes a good hook, follow those principles in every content. Be clear, let them know your content isn’t clickbait, then give them value.
Your audience wants your perspective. Your personal story creates empathy. It shows you’ve been in their shoes, solved their problem, and have the tools they need.
Create bullet points for everything you want to cover.
- Being organized is key; winging it leads to confusion.
- Confusion leads to disinterest.
- Disinterest leads to losing the attention you worked hard to earn.
Once you have a strong outline, the content creates itself.
Writing:
I block out two hours for writing each day: one in the morning and one at night.
I enter each block with a clear goal.
My goal for my e-book is a minimum of 40 pages. So, I plan to write 1,000 words per day until I reach the end.
But, I still need to write my newsletter, make my weekly YouTube video, create short-form content, and social media content. Where will I find time for 1,000 words?
The answer is clear.
Wake up early.
Put my phone on focus mode.
Open my outline.
Write until my mental energy is spent.
With a strong outline, I can write about 2,000 words per hour. So, according to the math, I only need 30 minutes a day.
If you want to write your own book, give up that extra Netflix episode and make writing the focus of your calendar.
There’s one more piece of the puzzle: getting eyes on the book.
How To Find An Audience
The hardest part of building a business is growing an audience.
My marketing plan for the book is simple but challenging.
Turn my book into bite-sized content. This creates a consistent message and lets people know what they’re getting if they buy.
To grow a warm audience, I’ll use proven social media growth tactics. This means commenting on 25 posts daily on X, Threads, and LinkedIn. When I do this, my audience grows. Why? Because when you’re a small creator, your comments get more views than your posts.
Optimizing my profile. When someone resonates with your comment, they visit your profile. If it’s optimized, they become a follower. When they follow you, they’re more likely to interact with your post. When they interact, it tells the algorithm that your content is valuable and pushes it to new audiences. The cycle repeats.
Running a Marathon
Writing a book is a marathon, not a sprint.
But, my plan is simple, achievable, and the foundation for my business.
I’m ready to move on from ghostwriting and take matters into my own hands.
The difference between aspiring and published authors isn’t talent; it’s action.
I’ll document the journey here in my newsletter every week.
When it’s done, I’ll share everything I learned so you can do the same.