There are many positives to writing e-books online. While many people think of marketing ebooks about various parts of Internet Marketing, the truth is that ebooks can cover a wide variety of topics. While there are many internet marketing ebooks, there are ebooks on every subject imaginable from poker to crockpot recipes to how to build a koi pond. The beauty about writing your own ebook is that it can be about anything. Ebooks are all about information marketing, which means that if you have any skills or hobbies of any kind, then you probably have knowledge that someone else wants, and is willing to pay for. That's what is meant by "information marketing." You take information and knowledge you have and sell it to those who don't have that information, but want it. Writing and selling your own ebooks can be very profitable, and a lot of fun.

There are several pros to writing e-books over self publishing. Some of these include:

• Easy to write and publish - you don't have to go through traditional publishers
• Much more profitable: you get good returns from ebooks as opposed to 8% royalties on a paperback
• Can print out to read, or zoom in on the computer
• Environmentally friendly (no paper used unless printed)
• You can write (and sell your writing) based on a very niche area

Cons of writing e-books

There are cons to writing e-books. While many ebook authors will swear that the pros of publishing ebooks and marketing ebooks far outweighs the cons, there are some cons to ebooks. One strike against electronic books is the lack of "fame." You can't hand a relative a copy of your book the way you can with even a self published novel. You can't get the satisfaction of holding actual printed pages the way you can with a regular book.

That's the most obvious drawbacks, but there are a few others:

• Eye strain. Not a lot of people want to spend long hours in front of a laptop or computer reading.
• Ebooks are more for non fiction instructional, not for fiction or creative works
• Need to know something about Internet Marketing and Internet Publishing to really cash in on your ebook's potential
• You don't get the "fame" you would get from a printed book

Those are some of the cons to writing e-books. It might not have the "glamour" of the actual published word, but there are a lot more writers who have become rich writing ebooks then there are writers making money off of fiction.

E-Books vs. Traditional Publishing

A lot of deciding whether or not writing an ebook is right for you is deciding what you are writing and why. If you're trying to write poetry, fiction, or creative non-fiction and can't get published (or don't want to) through normal publishers, then writing an ebook probably is not the best solution for you. On the other hand, if you have hundreds of hobbies and tons of knowledge that you know is valuable, but which doesn't make any money for you, then writing e-books could be the perfect solution.

If money is a major factor, then going the route of Internet marketing and publishing ebooks is definitely the way to go. Consider the difference between 8% royalties on a $10 paperback or 60-90% of a $25, $35, or even $50 e-book. Even if you self publish your book, you can't make the profits you could on an ebook, and with ebooks you never have to deal with actual storage space for made copies.

On the other hand, there is something to be said for having actual solid paper copies of your book to autograph and hand out on a whim.

In the end, you probably know best whether your work is best served as an e-book or as a print book. As a very rough rule of thumb, if you're talking about non fiction teaching, hobby, or wanting to earn money, then e-books are probably the way to go. If you're talking about memoirs, fiction, poetry, or anything creative, then look at self or print publishing.