Review: The Sticky Ebook Formula

Regardless of what kind of online business model you have, at some point, you will want to consider writing an ebook. They can be a great way to increase your profitability and your ability to get your goodness out there in the world.

What keeps many people from writing an ebook, though, is that they’re not sure how to go about putting one together. What do you include? How do you get it done? How do you know when it’s enough? These are questions I’ve helped my clients work through over and over again – and there are some common themes that emerge.

I didn’t write about these common themes before Kelly Kingman did in her ebook The Sticky Ebook Formula. Rather than recreate the wheel, I’d rather just recommend that you pick up her ebook if you’ve been thinking about writing an ebook but get stuck around the process.

The Sticky Ebook Formula Is About Writing Your Ebook

Here’s what Kelly says the Sticky Ebook Formula covers:

The Sticky eBook Formula contains my simple process for conceptualizing, writing and producing an eBook that will build your brand, boost your authority and that people will pay for.

You should know going into that Kelly doesn’t spend a lot of time talking about marketing and launching your ebook. She rightly points to Dave and Naomi’s How to Launch The **** Out of Your Ebook, which, to my mind, is still the definitive guide on how to market and launch your ebook.

Instead, she hones in on what I’ve always thought was one of the weaker points of How to Launch – how to work through the actual conceptual flow and design of the ebook. By design, I don’t mean the graphic design, but instead the methodology of the ebook, what ideas are presented, and how they’re presented. Her decision to fill in this void is both incredibly savvy and helpful.

The main point of the Sticky Ebook Formula is to get you to design your ebook using proven communication techniques and paradigms that work. Instead of thinking solely about what you want to write, Kelly urges you to think about and write in the ways in which will help your readers read and understand your material. When you write in a way that works for your readers, your ebook has impact.

The Sticky Ebook Formula doesn’t stop with insights on design and methodology, for it also contains some great techniques for getting the ebook written. It doesn’t matter how good your content and design is if you don’t get it out there in the world. I was excited to see a few of the techniques I’ve personally used and recommended in there, too. Great minds think alike – or pirate from the same sources.

What To Look For In The Sticky Ebook Formula

This ebook was a pretty quick read for me because it covers a topic that I’ve been immersed in for a while. While you might think that’s a bad thing, I don’t – in fact, it being a quick and sticky read makes it all the more valuable. I appreciated that it’s a great example of what it’s teaching since it’s not as easy to pull off as you’d think.

Here are some key topics that I thought were especially valuable:

• A little innovation on the Made To Stick formula that makes a huge difference
• Why you should write your ebook in a format that reflects how it will look as a finished product.
• How to come up with great titles for your ebook
• The payoff and promise of ebooks – and why both are critical
• 7 ways to differentiate yourself and your ebook
• How to find sticky gems in all the ideas you’ve captured
• How long your ebook needs to be – and when it’s too long.

There were many more, but these are the topics I’ve bookmarked to return to as a checklist when I’m rounding the bend on my projects. If you’re new to ebook design, there’ll be a lot more for you.

What Could Use Some Work

As with any great work, there were a few elements that could use some improvement.

First, I would have liked to see some transition between the steps. Given that this ebook is documenting a process, it would have been helpful to be led through the process a bit more. There were a few times when I got lost in the bullets and short paragraphs and had to flip back to see the landscape all over again.

Second, some kind of mindmap or one-page summary would have been a great addition. The content lends itself well to this type of review and a little more design on how readers will use this as a reference would’ve made this all the stronger.

My last comment isn’t quite a critique as much as it as a disclaimer. The ideal audience for the Sticky Ebook Formula seems to be someone who’s either just getting started in ebooks or who has written in other mediums and would like to make a transition. You won’t want to pick this up if you’re looking for really high-level instructional or information design, since the ebook doesn’t go there. This is a virtue of the book for its intended audience since they’d likely be overwhelmed by that, but if that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll be left wanting more.

Is The Sticky Ebook Formula Worth It?

If you’re serious about writing ebooks and are looking for a comprehensive resource to get started with, then The Sticky Ebook Formula is absolutely worth its $27 sticker price.

This ebook can help you by…

• Getting you to get the damn thing written already. An unfinished ebook gets you $0 and/or zero impact.
• Helping you find a good title so that you don’t end up with some awkward, non-resonant title. The title of your ebook is a huge factor in its success and spreadability, and coaches and consultants get paid handsomely on just that one element of the process.
• Giving you some different ways to differentiate your ebook from all the others out there.
• Suggesting ways in which you can comb through the ideas you already have for topics that may be sticky and expandable.

Productive Flourishing Exclusive: Kelly created a special excerpt for PF readers so that you can get a good idea of what the Sticky Ebook Formula is like. If you’d like to check it out, do so by picking up the  The Sticky Ebook Formula Excerpt .

The Bottom-line on The Sticky Ebook Formula

The Sticky Ebook Formula is affordably-priced, sticks to its scope, and delivers what it promises. If you’re thinking about writing an ebook but are stuck on what to write and how to write it, it will pay for itself very quickly. Click here if you’d like to pick it up.

As an aside, this is Kelly’s first showing and she’s clearly done her homework. I’m proud to support her and this product, and I’m excited to see what she does next.

The links to The Sticky Ebook Formula and How to Launch The **** Out of Your Ebook in this post are affiliate links and this review falls under my review guidelines. Please purchase it by using my link if it helps you make an informed purchase. Thanks!