5 Ways to Create an Ebook without Writing

Ebooks are some of the most popular types of content you find online. Everywhere you look people are reading ebooks on their phones, tablets, computers or e-readers.

That’s because ebooks are convenient, lightweight and you can pack thousands of books into a single device. Or, if you have a data or WIFI connection, you can just read online.

Here’s a quick history from Google that I found interesting. The first ebook was invented over 70 years ago!

• 1949 - Spanish school teacher Angela Ruiz Robles invented an automated ebook prototype, but she never produced or sold it.
• 1985 - Voyager Company published "expanded books" on CD-ROM, including Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.
• 1993 - Digital Book, Inc. offered the first 50 digital books on floppy disk.
• 2006 - Sony released the Sony Reader, a book-sized device with an E Ink screen that introduced the mass market to a paper-like reading experience.
• 2007 - Amazon released the Kindle, the first successful ebook reader on the market.

I think it’s a safe bet that ebooks aren’t going away anytime soon! So, how do you get in on the continuing ebook craze if you aren’t a writer or don’t have time to write?

Here are five ways to create an ebook without writing.

     #1:  Interview Someone

Taking the stance of a journalist, you can interview someone of interest to your audience (or a couple of people) and use that content to create your ebook. There are two ways to interview someone so that you do not have to actually write the book.

Let them do the writing - You can send your initial questions and any follow-up questions in a Google Doc that you share or in an email. That way, your text is already written by the person or people you are interviewing.

However, if your interview subjects don’t want to communicate in writing, you can also interview them using video chat such as Zoom, Meet, etc. (and record those sessions).

Once the recording has been saved, you will need to have it transcribed. These three options are good alternatives that you can check into.

• Zoom – They offer a built-in transcription service that is free, however, some reviews indicate that it’s not very accurate.
• Amazon Transcribe – Through Amazon Web Services, you get 60 minutes/month free for the first 12 months. Then you are charged the minimal cost of $ .024/minute. So, for example, a 60-minute interview would cost you $1.44.
• Rev.com – Their Notetaker records, transcribes and summarizes in real time. Free accounts get 300 AI transcription minutes per month; 30 minutes per conversation. Then it goes up to $9.99/month for 1,200 AI transcription minutes per month; 90 minutes per conversation.

Regardless of which transcription service you use, you will want to read through the transcript and edit as necessary. No transcription service is perfect. 

      #2: Use Existing Content 

This is my favorite way because it is so very easy. I gather:

• Blog posts I’ve already written
• Emails I’ve sent to my list
• Conversations I’ve had with others via email
• Video transcripts
• Audio recordings (podcasts)
• Other content

Simply copy the links to your published blog posts and paste them into a program called Designrr. Pick your cover and matching interior (from hundreds premade choices in lots of different niches).

Then click one button and your blog post(s) are uploaded into the ebook and formatted. Of course, you can go through and edit every element of the ebook before you download it.

Watch a demo here.

You can publish it as a PDF or flipbook.

Don’t have blog posts? No problem. You can also upload links to web pages or Word documents and Google Docs.

Designrr is an online platform with a lifetime access license of $27. No monthly fees.

     #3: Use AI to Write Your Book

Another option is to use one of the artificial intelligence programs to write your book, or parts of your book, for you.

If you already have a good idea of what topics you would like to cover and an outline, you can use AI to create the content.

Don’t know what to write about? You can use prompts such as “What types of topics in the [niche] space are popular right now?” Working your way through, you can continue to ask questions depending on the information the AI bot gives you until you are comfortable asking the app to write the book content.

Planning to sell your ebooks? You may want to check on the AI requirements set forth on the site. Currently, Amazon allows you to upload and sell a limited number of books that have been created using AI, but you must disclose that fact.

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If you don’t know how to use AI prompts to go through the writing process, Designrr also includes WordGenie. This is its built-in AI engine that walks you through the writing process in 5 steps.

• Enter your general topic or niche.
• Choose sub-niches.
• Enter your audience.
• Choose a title from the list that WordGenie generates.
• Watch your ebook be written right before your eyes.

Then you can choose your cover & interior design set, make any edits you want and output your ebook as a PDF or flipbook.

As mentioned above, Designrr is an online platform with a lifetime access license of $27. No monthly fees.

     #4: Speak Your Ebook

You can also use a recording/transcript to speak your book instead of writing it yourself. With many people, it is more comfortable to say something than to write it.

Simply talk out your chapters or sessions. Keep in mind that, if you make a mistake or if you don’t like the way, something turned out, you can re-record or you can remove it from the transcript during your editing process.

After you have reviewed and edited your transcript, downloaded it the format you can use in a Word document, Google Doc or whichever ebook creator you choose.

Both of those programs offer some simple templates you can use for your ebook interior. You can also find some ebook covers in the free version of Canva that you can edit and use if you are planning to give the book away (lead-gen freebie, etc.).

If you want to be able to sell your ebook, you’ll need a paid Canva Pro account.

     #5: Hire a Writer

There is always the option of hiring a professional to write your ebooks for you. Fiver, Upwork and other sites are marketplaces for writers to list their services.

I strongly suggest that you request to see multiple samples of the writer’s work and check their references as well before hiring anyone.

Ask if they are agreeable to writing the first chapter/section of your book before completing the rest. In this type of arrangement, if they cannot get the first chapter to your liking, the project will be canceled, and you will receive a refund.

You may need to hire multiple vendors. Writers do not always offer design and publishing services. It may require creating a small team of freelancers to:

• Research and write the book
• Design the cover and interior
• Format it into whichever file type(s) you need

Prices vary greatly. Upwork writers tends to charge by the hour which can get rather expensive. Fiverr writers offer set rates with packages.

PRO TIP:  You might want to consider doing the outline yourself, then hiring a writer to create a series of blog posts with each post later becoming a “chapter” or your ebook. Why? Because blog post writers charge significantly less than ebook writers.

Hopefully, one of these five ways to create an ebook without writing will work for you. Taking the pressure off of the writing process will allow you to be more creative and get more ebooks out into the world.

Have questions about creating ebooks without writing? Talk to me below!

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