Content and Context of Relationships
When I got to the final edit of my eBook, I found something that surprised me. What I saw was that the Introduction makes a nice piece with 20 or so pages on blogs and blogging culture, focused on listening to the conversation with about 4-6 pages of how to say “hello.”
What I have could be an ebook on writing a successful blog with a power-packed introduction, or I could break out the introduction into a smaller book for people who are beginning to learn the Internet culture.
My brain is filtering three options. Should I
- Make two separate titles. One of 24 pages and one of 40-48 pages?
The Upside: The little book could make a nice sales piece for folks who are looking to leave something with a potential social media customer. Or the little book, could lead folks to read the bigger book right after. Two books always appear to be worth more value than one.
The Downside: Used that way, the two books wouldn’t necessarily serve the same readers. Some readers might see only one as useful. - Offer the introduction as a free report to sell the longer version?
The Upside: a free report can do a lot to promote the entire book.
The Downside: The intro would have to change a bit to feature what else the book offers for folks to make an informed buying decision.
All else being equal, the publishing business decision would definitely be the first one. Offering two books is offering two opportunities to buy. However, publishing decision like this one need the input of people who know more than I do. I asked many folks for their opinions . . .
I’ve named the responses by the experience and clientele of the responders. Each response below represents more than one person’s insight and opinion.
The Social Media Guru Responses : This guy works works on high power social media change initiatives. His response was that the real meat is in the writing — the back end of the entire document. He suggested answer 2 — the intro as a free report.
The Social Media and Tech Scholar / Trainer Responses: She works mostly with organizations who are ready, but just starting to build a social web presence. She said she saw the need for something like it. She said 40+ more pages on how to write would overwhelm her audience. Her answer was option 1.
The Offline Communications Business CEO Responses: She and her staff plan strategies with clients who still think in terms of print. Most don’t have a blog. Her response to the idea of the document was that she could use it because her clients need small steps to get here. She voted for option 1 before she even read them.
To summarize: The guru thinks the intro is lightweight. The Scholar / Trainer thinks the people she works are overwhelmed by too much information. The Offline Business Communications CEO wants a separate document that moves in small steps. It seems the clientele we’re looking at changes the response.
Which option would you choose or do you see another one?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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