Friday, February 5, 2010

A Big Step: I've Written My First E-Book

When I started this blog in July of 2008, I had no idea where it would take me.  My main goal was to share my family history knowledge and hope that someone would read it.  I never expected to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, learn so much, and have so much fun.  I want to thank all of you for the support, your honest comments, and the love that you've shown me that has enabled me to grow as a genealogist, a blogger, and a person.


All of that love and support is what gave me the courage to dream big and reach for the stars.  With the success of my Organizing the Paper Mountain series (Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3), I realized that this was a topic I wanted to talk more about.  So I dreamed big: an e-book on the topic of organization.  I decided right then and there that I would have to sit down and focus only on writing to avoid the doubting side of me from talking me out of it.  So I did just that.  I immediately sat down and wrote.  Whenever I felt my doubting side taking over, I meditated and pictured the book doing well.


The journey took a total of three days to complete.  I knew that if I stopped working that I would second-guess myself.  At the end of the three days I did nothing but editing and formating.  Then I popped it up on the internet in hopes that someone would like it (sounds kind of like how I started my blog...).


In the end, I have created an e-book that I am very proud of on a topic that I am very passionate about.


The e-book is in two parts: Part one is about organizing your paper files and is similar in style to the Organizing The Paper Mountain series that I did on this blog but more in-depth.  Part two is about organizing and protecting your paper pictures.


Here's all the information you need about the book:


Title: Conquering The Paper Monster Once And For All
Format: Adobe Acrobat Document (.pdf)
Price: 3.99 plus 40% off when the coupon code is entered during check out.  The discount is good until February 12th.
Coupon Code2Y6933W2
Refund Policy:  I will not refund any money unless you did not receive the book.  The reason for this is to keep things simple and easy on my end so that I can focus on creating more interesting articles on this blog and videos on my Youtube channel.


Note: I don't want to pressure anyone into buying anything.  This blog will always remain free.  However, if you do decide the purchase the e-book just know that I am forever grateful for your support.


If you would like to purchase the e-book, please click the "Buy Now" button below to be taken to check out.  Remember to enter the coupon code to get your savings.


Buy Now


If you have any comments, suggestions, critiques, or anything else to tell me about the e-book, please email me.


Update: There have been some problems with the coupon code.  To make everyone's life easier, I have applied the 40% discount to the purchase price so instead of the price being $3.99, it is now $2.39.  There is no longer the need for the coupon code.  Once again, I just want to thank everyone for their continued support and patience as I try to make things as smooth as possible.


Update (Again): Is anyone having trouble buying the book?  Everyone getting the download link?  Any problems whatsoever?  I want to make sure everyone is getting what they paid for in a timely manner.  Please let me know if there are any troubles.

11 comments:

Katrina said...

Hey Elyse,

Looks great but I am not sure where to enter the coupon code?

Elyse said...

@Katrina - Thank you so much for letting me know! I have fixed the problem (you can read about it in the updated version of the blog post. I changed the price)

Katrina said...

Thanks for fixing it Elyse; I'm reading the guide right now and will let you know my thoughts when finished. ^_^

Amanda E. Perrine said...

Congrats Elyse! I'll be buying your eBook when I get home tonight. I can't wait to see what you accomplish in the future, cause it sure to be fantastic!

Renee Zamora said...

I love reading any thing on the subject of organizing. Of course, I had to purchase your ebook. I thought at first it could of been bigger. Then I realized as I read it, that you are helping people to think of the answers themselves. They don't have to organize like so and so says so. That's how they will remember how to find things. Will this same concept work for digital files?

Elyse said...

@Amanda - Thank you so much for the support! I can't tell you enough of how much it means to me that members of the genealogy community support this.

@ Renee - I initially tried to make it longer. But what I've always disliked about organization books is that they tell you that it must be done this way. I think that goes against the entire idea of organization. So I would rather people take time to really consider what makes sense to them. Since organization is a process, it isn't something that can be done at one quick time - if you don't like the system then you won't use it. Simple as that.

The idea with the digital files is very similar. With digital files you have some more flexibility and some minor differences, but the big picture is the same.
I really appreciate you buying the book.

Lisa A. Alzo said...

Elyse,

I just bought the book. I will read it when I get a chance, but it looks great! Congratulations!

Lisa

Cousin Russ said...

Elyse,

Just downloaded and read Part One of your eBook. Great job.

I had read Renee's response before I read Part One, and I really liked that you got me (hopefully others) to really Think about how to get organized. Seems to me there what a series of Blogs that floated around last year on this topic.

What I have started to do, when sorting out "my stuff" (junk) is to look to see what I had Digitally and toss the paper version of what I had in files on my computer. So, taking the time, while stuff is on the table, to toss.

Most of my "stuff" gets puts into Folders. But, in my collection of non-electronic papers are excerpt from books. I keep them in notebooks by Location (usually a State). I did this because my Book collection I have sorted by State.

I really appreciate your comment about "Collateral Ancestors".

I have found that the electronic filing of "stuff" is some what similar. Hopefully, that will be in a future book.

Great Job.

Thank you,

Russ

Carole Riley said...

Well done Elyse!

I've bought the e-book and been inspired to write some of my own. It is short enough to be really useful and makes you think about what will work for you.

Looking forward to the next e-book!

Becky Higgins said...

I just downloaded your e-book. I had no problems with the download at all and am looking forward to reading the book.

Unknown said...

Great job, Elyse. So many people are asking about organization. It is so nice to have a place to refer people to for sane information. See you on line,
Warmest Regards. Ruth