Last Updated on January 10, 2022 by James McAllister

By: James McAllister

9 Comments

Note: The book referenced in this post has been revised, expanded upon, and turned into my blogging course.

I recently published my first eBook ever. Not only was it an incredible learning experience, but it has helped my blog in so many ways. In fact, the benefits that have come from publishing this book far outweigh the money the book has actually made.

The benefits have been so numerous that I have already written another book for another blog of mine, and plan on publishing several more in 2015. If you haven’t yet published your own eBook, this article may just change your mind. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of publishing an eBook for your blog.

1. Can You Say Authority?

Nothing says authority like releasing your own product. In today’s competitive market, if you want to be noticed you have to go above and beyond what most people are doing. You have to do something to separate yourself out from all of the other bloggers out there. You want to be a leader.

Writing an eBook is a great way to do just that.

Now let me say, I don’t try and pretend I’m one of the top bloggers out there. I’m no Adrienne Smith, Donna Merrill, Ryan Biddulph or Darren Rowse just because I wrote and published a book. Not even close. But what publishing an eBook did was separate myself out from all of the other bloggers that were in my league and push me a little bit higher. And when there’s a ton of bloggers out there like me, that says something.

Plus (and maybe it’s just me) there’s a nice ring to “I’m a published author.” People seem to take you seriously when you say something like that.

2. Lead Me To Your Opt-In Box

“The money is in the list. The money is in the list.” It’s almost as if it’s a mantra circling around my head 24/7. So let me tell you, I did not hesitate to get people on to my email list when they were reading my book. In fact, it was the primary call to action at the end. Because the truth is, the leads I have gotten from the book have made far more than the book itself. Far more.

Let’s think about the nature of the book for a second. The people that purchase this book have no prior experience blogging. None. They are relying on my book to teach them everything they know. What does that mean for me? It means I put them on a special mailing list unique to those who have purchased the book, and market the stuff they need to succeed right to their face. And let me tell you, by the time they’re done reading my book, they already trust me enough to hop on my list with no questions asked. And that’s where the real money is made.

Blogging For Profit: A Beginner's Guide To Starting Your Very Own Web Business!
Click To View On Amazon

The book sells for $2.99. I see about $2.05 out of that. However…

A HostGator affiliate sale is $100.

A Genesis affiliate sale is another $50.

A GetResponse affiliate sale is another $6 a month.

Plus anything else I decide to market to them later.

As you can see, this gives a lot of potential for additional monetization on top of the book sale itself. Which is great, because the book isn’t selling well at all. But it’s still making more than many Kindle books because of the nature of the audience.

3. Another Passive Income Stream

Every blogger knows that blogging is anything but passive. Yes, you’ll continue to make money off of old articles but the website itself requires a lot of upkeep. Kindle books aren’t this way.

Amazon has hundreds of thousands of shoppers each day ready to purchase with credit cards in hand. Amazon search does a good job at displaying the products available to the consumer. This means your book has the opportunity to be seen and purchased without any marketing whatsoever on your part.

Now, that’s not to say you shouldn’t spend extra time marketing your books (you absolutely should!) but Kindle publishing comes far closer to ‘passive’ than blogging ever would. The books you publish will pay you royalties for the rest of your life. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty cool.

Plus, all of this extra money (and free time) you’re getting can be invested back into your blog.

4. Publishing A Book Makes You A Better Writer

I covered this point when I published, “What Writing A Book Taught Me About Blogging” here a while back. I recommend giving it a read when you have the time because there’s a lot of great info packed in there.

The truth is, writing a book is a heck of a lot different than writing a blog post. They’re not even comparable. Book writing forces you to stay organized, stay focused, and write clearer. On top of that, writing a book makes you better at editing because editing a book is so darn challenging. Ever since I published my first book, the quality of my blog posts have improved. I’m able to explain things more easily and my writing suffers from far less spelling and grammar mistakes.

Let Me Hear Your Excuses

I wrote and published my second eBook in less than a month. This surprised a lot of my friends and family, which confused me. Why was this so surprising? What did this mean to them? Why weren’t they willing to do the same if they knew it was possible?

I quickly learned that a lot of people like to make excuses as to why they can’t make an eBook. I suppose it makes sense – it’s easier to be lazy, but being lazy does not drive results. No exceptions.

The truth is, making an eBook isn’t difficult. Not at all. If you can write a blog post, you can write an eBook. It may take longer, but the process is almost exactly the same. Come up with a topic, come up with some sub-topics, write in detail, format, edit, and publish. Rinse and repeat.

So if you haven’t published an eBook yet, why? Seriously, now’s the time to confess. Post a comment letting us know why you haven’t created an eBook yet, and let’s see if we can fix that. Heck, you’re even welcome to email me and I’ll work you personally to get you on the right track. It’s my job to help you succeed, so I want to make that happen.

Don’t wait until tomorrow, start today.

About the author 

James McAllister

James is the owner of JamesMcAllisterOnline.com. He started his first blog at the age of 11, and has since gone on to start several successful businesses. In total, these businesses have sold hundreds of thousands of units and have touched millions of lives. Here on JamesMcAllisterOnline.com, he shares his knowledge that brought him to where he is today. If you want to connect with James, follow him on your favorite social networks!

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  1. Hey James great post I’d like a little more info on the actual process of writing and publishing my own e-book to submit to amazon. Thanks and again great post with lots of value.

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    1. Hi Henrico!

      What part exactly do you want more info on? The publishing process is pretty straightforward once you have the book written.

      Feel free to email me at any time at james[at]helpstartmysite.com and I’d love to help you out.

      Thanks!

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  2. Hi James
    Great post and very encouraging for me as I’m not far from publishing my first Internet Marketing eBook. Should be later this week.
    All I need is an extra few hours in the day, because I do my blogging part-time alongside an offline business, and that’s what pays the bills so can’t be neglected. I spend as much time as I can on my online business.
    However, moves are afoot to lessen my load offline in the spring of 2015, so I will be able to spend more time on blogging.
    Your post has been an encouragement to keep me motivated for the next one.
    Have a great week, Joy

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    1. Hey Joy, it’s great to see you again!

      I was so excited for you when I heard about the release of your first book. The truth is, there’s nothing in the world that compares to bringing your very own product into existence. I was incredibly excited (and also quite nervous) when I released my first book, but looking back it was one of the best things I could’ve done.

      I can relate to your busy schedule, I’m a full-time college student and finding time to write and market my stuff can be difficult at times. I could imagine for most people, coming home from work to do more work would be a nightmare, but you really seem like the type of person who enjoy’s their work so I am confident you’ll achieve the goals you’re setting for yourself.

      You have a good week too Joy and let me know how the product release goes!

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  3. Hey James,
    I think it’s my first time here. I read your comment on Jackson’s blog and thought it cool to step over to your blog.

    This is surely the kind of content I like to spend time on 😉

    I’m in the process of writing my first eBook too. I have written several reports before. Some have sold on fiverr and others on my blog. I have created plugins and platforms for bloggers but I think it’s just time to come up with an eBook.

    It will be quite interesting to learn from your experience so I’ll be hanging around your blog for pretty long.

    There are better days ahead so let’s keep giving 😉

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    1. Hi Enstine! It’s so great to meet you.

      I’m so glad to hear you’re a fan of WorthBlogger. The stuff Jackson writes is top-notch and I always enjoy the time I spend on his site.

      It sounds like you got the mindset of a real businessman, and that is something to be proud of. The truth is, there’s nothing quite like creating your own product, and it sounds like you’ve got some experience already! I have full faith your eBook is going to be awesome because I know that you’ve got what it takes.

      I really love eBooks because they really do last forever. They don’t require the constant updating that programs or plugins require – you publish and that’s it. Sure, you may have to re-edit some sections to keep it up to date but that doesn’t take long at all. It’s really nice to know that even when we’re retired, out eBooks will still be making us money. Gotta love that!

      Hope to see you again soon Enstine, and if you ever have any questions about eBook creation or anything else, feel free to send me an email.

      – James

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  4. I’m agreed regarding benefits have been so numerous that I have already written another book for another blog of mine, and plan on publishing several more in 2015. If you haven’t yet published your own eBook, this article may just change your mind. And I had a look at some of the benefits of publishing an eBook for your blog.

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  5. All excellent points James. Bloggers can add some serious authority by writing and self-publishing eBooks because these sweet reads boost blogging credibility. If you have enough knowledge to write 5000 to 10,000 words or more and package the content into an eBook you will gain reader trust.

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