Can an E-Book Become a #1 Amazon Best-seller?

Ever since Jim Edwards and I completed our now famous e-book, "How to Write and Publish Your Own E-Book... in as little as 7 Days," people have been cranking out their own e-books at, well, a weekly rate. Lately I've been getting a reoccurring question concerning all these e-books. Namely, "Can an E-book become a #1 Amazon best-seller?"

That question keeps coming to me because I made my latest book, "Spiritual Marketing," a #1 Amazon best-seller last June. I also helped several other authors make their books Amazon top sellers, from Kevin Hogan and Mark Joyner to Mike Litman and Randy Gilbert. Obviously there is a formula here that works.

But can it make an E-book an Amazon best-seller?
The answer, of course, is yes. In fact, anything you sell can be driven to a top selling spot at Amazon. That's right, anything. That includes music CD's, appliances, videos, audios, DVD's, and yes, even E-books.

Here's the secret:

You have to create what I fondly call an "ethical bribe." In other words, say you have an e-book on child rearing. What? Does that sound too easy to sell? Okay, let's pretend the e-book is a work of fiction. Better yet, let's make it an e-book with nothing but poetry in it. Now THAT would be tough to sell, let alone drive up the Amazon ladder to best-seller status, right?

Wrong. Again, the key to making this proven formula work for any e-book you may write is to offer enough incentive for people to go buy it *when* you want them to buy it. In short, you have to give people added value. You offer them freebies---usually other e-books---which they can have if they buy your main e-book at Amazon on a certain day.

Are you with me here?

Oh. Well, okay. Let me explain this formula in more detail.

Step One: You need an e-book. If you haven't written one yet, go to www.7dayebook.com right now. Get that book and you'll write your own book in less than a week. Guaranteed.

Step Two: Get your e-book listed at Amazon. That's easy. Amazon prides itself on listing everything. They'll list your e-book, too. Just ask by clicking on their Help button and sending them e-mail.

Step Three: Now create a series of bonuses that you can give to people who buy your e-book. Don't throw up your hands and say you don't have anything. Just as you wrote an e-book, you can write smaller Special Reports. Just think of what your key audience might want to read about. If you truly are selling a book of poems, maybe you can write something on how to write poetry. Get the idea?

Step Four: Here's a tip: You can also find public domain e-books which you can offer to people who buy your e-book. Search online for them. There are thousands of e-books available, for free. You can find something relevant to your own e-book, and add it as part of the package of freebies that you'll give people who buy your e-book at Amazon.

Step Five: Now find people who have email lists. This is a step where less imaginative people give up, saying, "I don't know anyone with any lists!" Wake up, people. There are nearly a million email lists online. Search for them. Again, if you're selling poetry, look for the email lists that cater to poets or maybe to writers. There are a staggering amount of those.

Step Six: After you find the email lists, write the list owners and ask for their help in promoting your event. Believe me, all you have to do is ask. They are usually glad to help because you are making a great offer to the people on their list and they will look like a hero when they help you sell your e-book. Again, just write and say something like, "I plan to make my e-book a #1 best-seller at Amazon. Will you help? Just tell your email list that if they buy one copy of my book at Amazon on (pick the day), I'll give them all of the following for free."

Step Seven: Finally, set up all your freebies so they are downloadable e-products. In other words, when someone buys your e-book, you want them to send their Amazon e-receipt to you by e-mail. When you receive it, you want to send them the download page for your bonuses. You could also just send the bonuses by email to each person who writes to you, but that would be time-consuming. Still, it's an option if, say, you don't have a website. That's right. You don't even need a website to make this process work for you.

There you have it.

Write your e-book in seven days and then drive it to best- seller status at Amazon using the above 7-step formula.

What are you waiting for?