How to Write an Ebook

Writing an ebook comes down to nine steps: pick a topic and a reader, write the promise, outline, draft, edit, design the pages, format the files, make a cover and publish. Most people get stuck because they start at step four. If you do the first three well, the drafting gets much easier.

This guide covers each step with the decisions you'll actually face. New to the format? Start with what an ebook is.

1. Pick a topic and a specific reader

A good ebook topic sits where three things overlap: something you know well, something a specific group of people struggles with, and something they would happily spend an evening reading about.

Start with the reader, not the topic. "Small business owners" is too broad. "Freelance designers who want to raise their rates" is someone you can picture. Once you can picture them, you can answer the questions that shape the book:

• What do they already know?
• What have they tried that didn't work?
• What would "solved" look like for them?
• Will they read on a phone, a Kindle or a laptop?

If you're unsure whether a topic has readers, look for evidence. Search Amazon for books on it and read the three-star reviews, which tend to say what's missing. Check forums and comment threads for questions people ask again and again. If you coach or consult, look at what your clients ask you every week.

2. Write the promise in one sentence

The promise is what the reader will be able to do, know or decide when they finish. Write it before anything else:

After reading this, a freelance designer will be able to set new rates, explain them to existing clients and handle pushback without losing work.

This sentence does a lot of work later. It tells you what belongs in the book and what doesn't. It becomes the backbone of your description and your subtitle. When a chapter starts drifting, you hold it up against the promise.

3. Choose a length and a shape

Your promise sets the length. A narrow promise ("raise your rates") fits a short guide of 10,000 to 20,000 words. A broad one ("run a freelance design business") needs a full book. Our guide on how long an ebook should be has typical word counts by type.

Also decide the shape:

• Step-by-step guide. Chapters follow the order the reader does things.
• Problem and solution. Each chapter takes one common problem and fixes it.
• Workbook. Short teaching sections followed by exercises.
• Collection. Recipes, templates, scripts or case studies around one theme.

4. Outline before you write

An outline is a list of chapters, each with a one-line purpose and three to six points it covers. It doesn't need to be pretty. It needs to be complete.

A simple way to build one:

1. List every question your reader needs answered to reach the promise.
2. Group related questions. Each group becomes a chapter.
3. Put the chapters in the order the reader needs them.
4. Write one sentence per chapter: "By the end of this chapter, the reader can..."
5. Add an opening chapter that sets up the problem and a closing chapter that tells the reader what to do next.

Then check it. Does every chapter move the reader toward the promise? Is anything repeated? Is a step missing? Fixing an outline takes minutes. Fixing a finished draft takes days.

5. Draft the chapters

Now write. Some habits that help:

• Set a daily target. 500 to 1,000 words a day finishes a 15,000-word guide in three to five weeks.
• Write in order, but don't polish. Get each chapter down, then move on. Editing while drafting slows you to a crawl.
• Lead with the useful part. Open each chapter with the point, then explain it. Readers skim.
• Use specific examples. "Raise your rate by 15% for new clients first" teaches more than "consider adjusting your pricing."
• Write like you talk to one person. Short sentences. "You" more than "one." Plain words.
• Leave notes for later. If you need to check a fact, highlight it and keep going.

If you use AI to draft

AI tools can turn an outline into a first draft fast, and Koobe is built for exactly that: you describe the book, it plans the chapters, and you edit the outline before it writes anything. Each chapter is written knowing what earlier chapters covered, so examples don't repeat.

A fast draft is still a draft. Treat it like one:

• Read every chapter. Cut what's generic. Add your own stories, numbers and opinions, which are what readers can't get anywhere else.
• Check every fact, name, date, statistic and quote against a reliable source. AI writing can sound confident and still be wrong.
• Disclose where stores require it. Amazon KDP asks you to disclose AI-generated text, images or translations when you publish, even if you edited them heavily afterward. Apple Books has its own labeling rule for material AI-generated content. Check each store's current policy before you upload.

6. Edit in three passes

Trying to fix everything at once is how editing stalls. Do it in passes.

Pass 1: Structure

Read the whole book quickly. Ask: does it keep the promise? Are chapters in the right order? Is anything missing or repeated? Move, merge and cut whole sections now.

Pass 2: Clarity

Go chapter by chapter. Shorten long sentences. Replace vague words with specific ones. Make sure each chapter opens with its point and ends with a clear next step. Read tricky passages out loud. If you stumble, your reader will too.

Pass 3: Proofread

Typos, consistent spelling, consistent capitalization of headings, numbers written the same way throughout. Do this last, and ideally after a day away from the text. A second reader catches things you can't.

If you can, get one or two people from your target audience to read it before you publish. Ask them where they got confused or bored, not whether they liked it.

7. Design the interior

Good interior design is mostly invisible. It makes the book easy to read. The decisions:

• Fonts. A readable body font and a clear heading font. Two typefaces are plenty.
• Headings. Consistent levels so readers can scan.
• Callouts. Key takeaways, tips or exercises set apart from the body text.
• Trim size. If you'll have a print-style PDF or paperback, pick a page size. 6 × 9 inches is common for nonfiction. 5.5 × 8.5 and 5 × 8 suit shorter or more personal books. US Letter or A5 work for workbooks.
• Front and back matter. Title page, copyright page, table of contents, and an "about the author" page. A closing page with your website or next book helps too.

In Koobe you pick a type pairing (such as Editorial, Literary, Modern or Technical), a page layout (Classic, Modern, Workbook or Magazine) and a trim size, and you can switch them and preview the result before export.

8. Format the files

You'll usually need two kinds of file:

• EPUB for ebook stores. It reflows to fit any screen and lets readers change the font size. Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play Books all take EPUB, and KDP accepts it for Kindle.
• PDF for selling or giving away directly, where a fixed page layout looks the same everywhere.

If you plan a paperback, you also need a print interior PDF with the right margins and page order. Not sure which you need? Read PDF vs EPUB.

Before you publish, open your EPUB on a phone and an e-reader (or in the store's previewer) and click through the table of contents. Broken links and odd spacing show up fast.

9. Make a cover

Shoppers see your cover as a small thumbnail next to dozens of others. It needs to work at that size:

• The title must be readable small. Big, simple lettering. Short titles help.
• One clear image or idea. Busy covers turn to mush in a thumbnail.
• Fit the genre. Look at the top sellers in your category. You want to look like you belong there, while still standing out.
• Use the right size. Each store has its own pixel requirements and file types.

The tool below lists cover sizes for each store and checks your image against them.

Koobe designs four covers per run with your title, subtitle and author name lettered in, and checks the spelling on every cover before you see it. Whatever you use, view your cover at thumbnail size before you decide.

10. Publish

Where you publish depends on your goal:

• Selling to readers who browse stores: Amazon KDP, Apple Books, Kobo and Google Play Books. Our step-by-step guide on publishing an ebook on Amazon KDP walks through every screen, and our guide to self-publishing an ebook compares all the stores.
• Selling to an audience you already have: a PDF sold through your own site or a platform like Gumroad. You keep more control over price and customer emails.
• Growing an email list: a free PDF given in exchange for an email address. See how to create a lead magnet ebook.

Then write a clear description built on your promise, pick accurate categories and keywords, and set a price that matches what similar books charge.

A realistic timeline

For a 15,000-word guide written alongside other work:

With an AI draft, the drafting step gets much shorter, but the editing step should grow. Plan to spend real time reading, checking and adding what only you know. That part is what makes the book worth buying.