eBooks may just be one of the most valuable assets in your knowledge sharing toolkit. As one of the most flexible and versatile digital content formats, eBooks are rapidly becoming one of the most effective ways to communicate procedures, policies, and standards organization-wide. As a result, businesses everywhere are adapting to bring the creation of these assets in-house in order to control overall production efficiency and cost.
But as businesses continue to create new processes and policies that keep their internal teams onboard and engaged, it becomes more important than ever to ensure that the right strategies and tools are in place from the onset of eBook content creation.
Four Essential Strategies for Publishing Your Own eBooks
One of the best things about creating eBooks for any type of learning is that their digital format instantly allows for the kind of interactivity that’s expected by today’s learner, user or employee.
But creating custom eBooks in-house takes more than just a talented design team and a brain-dump of information and content. In order to keep the return on investment high across the board, leadership and teams alike must commit to establishing and sticking to processes and procedures that take full advantage of the toolkit they have at their disposal.
The following strategies are a must-have for any businesses looking to invest in creating custom eBooks in-house:
1. Plan, Plan, Plan
All good content starts with a plan, and creating eBooks is no different. While this might seem like an obvious first step, taking the time to initially map your content and define your structure will save you a lot of clean up work down the line.
You'll find a lot of great advice from fellow content writers online, much of which can be boiled down to:
- Draw the reader in with a powerful hook, quote, story that highlights the topic
- Illustrate the topic with real-world examples where possible
- Provide an exercise at the end for the reader to practice applying the concepts on their own
2. Communicate & Commit to a Clear Version Control Strategy
Another must-have in any type of content creation is the use of clear, consistent naming conventions and version control strategies. Take some time to create a common nomenclature for your team, and be clear as to how you plan to keep content up-to-date with the latest documentation in their hands.
If possible, look into adopting a collaborative authoring tool, which will help you call out changes, updates and questions in one digital environment, and then publish those changes everywhere.
3. Make a Moodboard, and Take the Time to Vet It
Now it’s time to decide what your eBook will look like. Before you get too into the weeds, take some extra time to create a moodboard for your eBook that communicates the overall style and tone of the book itself.
Once created, these moodboards are then a great way to get key stakeholders onboard and involved in the design process. They also help teams make high-level decisions about the final look and feel before getting too far along in the overall design process.
Take some time to identify different fonts, colors, page headers, image treatments, and interactive elements so that you can share them amongst your team and gather their feedback before you start building the layout.
4. Always Put Your Reader First
The fourth, final, and most important strategy to consider when designing a custom eBook is the overall experience for your end user. For starters, take the time to ensure that your digital content meets the standards required for digital accessibility and user experience design.
When it comes to potentially dry subject matter that is still necessary to impart on your end user - compliance training for employees comes to mind, as an example - leverage interactive components such as videos and gifs to keep them as engaged as possible in material.
To learn more about MyEcontentFactory and how it can help you develop your own eBooks in-house, contact a member of our team today!
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