One of the first things you need to decide before you write your eBook is to decide how large to make it. After all, much of what you need to do depends heavily on how large your eBook is.
Of course, how long your eBook needs to be will vary from that demanded by the market. You also need to decide how long your subject needs. After all, your customers are paying for content, not fluff. However, you still need to be in that range in order to be treated seriously.
Unfortunately, the eBook market is currently in flux. Even more unfortunately, that also applies to the number of pages your eBook should have.
One thing that hasn't changed is that the number of pages your eBook should have depends greatly on the purpose you will use it for.
eBooks offered for sale, have been traditionally much shorter than a traditional book. Fifty to one hundred pages was quite common for eBooks. In theory, this was because the eBook was much harder to read and use.
However, with the entry of traditional books into the eBook market there has been pressure to reduce the price of eBooks and also to increase the size to the same size as traditional books. Traditionally, executive books have run from one hundred to two hundred pages. However, like most traditionally published books they are under pressure to increase in size. While the market has been slow to react it is likely that 200 pages will be the new target for eBooks within a few years.
On the other hand, there is, has been and likely always will be a market for the very short eBook of less than 40 pages. These eBooks are used to answer or solve a single question. For example, you might have a report discussing the effect on the market for white papers and reports of changes in the eBook market. These eBooks have been the traditional justification for reduced pages in the eBook market. However, they really are a different but related market. The biggest change that can be expected is the removal of the eBook description and the return to the terms report or white paper. This will allow these mini-eBooks to be sold as a separate market unaffected by the dropping price of eBooks.
Free eBooks are traditionally shorter than a for-sale eBook but longer than the white paper. After all, you don't really want to spend a great deal of effort on something you are going to give away. Traditionally they ran below 50 pages. In fact, many free eBooks were really only reports or white papers. However, even free eBooks will likely be affected by the increased expectations. It is likely that free eBooks will segment into 50 plus page eBooks and shorter free white papers.
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