The biggest ebook marketing mistake that new ebook writers make is made before the writer even writes the first word of the book. The first thing that most people do when they decide to write an ebook is to start writing about something they’re interested in. It seems like the most obvious thing to do.

However, it’s important to remember that the main reason for writing an ebook is to make money. When you write an ebook, you are beginning a business. And just like when you are starting a brick and mortar business, the very first thing you do is to research your market. Is there a demand for your product?

If you were opening a store that sold candied figs, you wouldn’t want to spend thousands of dollars opening a store only to find out that everyone hates candied figs. The same idea applies to writing an ebook. You wouldn’t want to spend time writing an ebook on caring for pandas, only to find out that no one is interested in buying books about caring for pandas. It wouldn’t matter if you had done a ton of research and written a brilliant book, you wouldn’t make any money from it.

It makes sense to write an ebook that people already want to buy. It’s like having people line up at the door to your store before it’s even open. There are several ways to find out if people want to pay money for information on the topic you want to write your ebook about.

The first is to use the Google Keywords tool or a similar keywords tool. Go to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal. Type in the topic of your ebook in the keywords box. Then type in the security word. In the Global Monthly Search Volume, it will show how many people searched for your keywords during the past month. If the number is very low, you may want to find a different topic to write your ebook about. Other keywords tools are http://www.Freekeywords.wordtracker.com and http://www.TrafficTravis.com. These have the advantage of letting you view other search engine results in addition to Google. They also offer articles and other information on using keywords.

The next step is to find out whether people are willing to pay money to get the information you’re offering. Just because a lot of people are searching for information on the internet, it doesn’t mean they’re willing to pay money for an ebook. Sometimes there’s just too much free information. So you’re going to search for other ebooks on your topic. The logic behind this step is something like this: “If there’s already an ebook on your subject and people are willing to pay money for it, then people will be willing to pay money for your ebook, too.”

Go to Google and search for your keywords. On the top of the page and in the sidebar to the right, you will see paid advertisements that fit your keywords. If you look at the bottom of the right column, you will see text that says, “More Sponsored Links”. When you click on this, it will show you all the Google Adwords ads for those keywords. Not all of them will be advertisements for ebooks. Click on them until you have found at least a couple that are advertising ebooks. This will let you know that people are willing to pay money to buy ebooks on your topic.

If you take the time to follow these simple steps before you start to write, you'll be able to write a successful ebook that will provide you with a long-term passive income.