The value of an eBook is equal to your level of ignorance on the subject matter plus the time saved in researching the same.

An eBook isn’t any different from any other book, except that it is published in electronic rather than printed form. While many eBooks are self-published, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are not valuable. Since they don’t have what some would consider to be the benefit of an editor or publishing house giving the book some measure of approval, many eBooks get published that probably shouldn’t have been. However, that’s not a reason to dismiss all eBooks out of hand. You just have to be a little more careful.

• Look for eBooks with a Money-Back Guarantee. You want to be sure that, if you aren’t satisfied with the eBook you purchase, you can get your money back. So look for a guarantee and read the terms carefully before you make a purchase. If you don’t see a guarantee, you might want to skip it.
• Pay with a Credit Card or PayPal. Just in case the author gives you any trouble with the money-back guarantee, your credit card company or PayPal will give you additional protection. Best Bet: Pay with a Credit Card through PayPal for double-protection!

Some people just don’t like the idea of paying for eBooks. They think the information is all available for free on the Internet. And, it may be. But, usually, it’s not going to be all in one place. You may spend a lot of time searching for the information you need. And, once you find it, can you find it again? A site could go down, change ownership, change content, etc. A good eBook that puts everything in one convenient file can save you a lot of time searching online.

Before you buy an eBook, search for the information you’re looking for. Check different search engines–Google isn’t the only one, you know! Ask your friends. Ask on your blog. And, if you still come up short with the answers you need, then you might want to consider buying an eBook on the topic.

• Avoid eBooks That are Not in a Common Format. Most eBooks these days are published as PDFs. Some people may still distribute them as Word documents. While PDFs are definitely preferable, both of these formats are usually trouble-free for most people. The eBooks you want to avoid are those that are an application rather than a file or use some unusual format that requires you to download special viewing software. Be careful with these. In general, they are best avoided.
• Be Careful with “Make Money” eBooks! They are not necessarily bad, but people often fall into a trap with these. Too often, people are looking for an easy way to make money, so they fall into a habit of buying eBook after eBook after eBook, each time hoping that the eBook will offer an easier way of making money than the previous one. The thing is that there is no easy way to make money online. It does require some work and effort. Many people will buy an eBook, discover that there is work involved in doing so, and then buy another eBook, hoping that that one will finally reveal the secret. Don’t fall into that trap! Let me state this clearly: There is no Internet cash machine hidden on the Internet where you can enter a super secret password and money automatically starts flowing into your bank account. What sometimes appears to be “luck” or “overnight success” was most likely a product of hard work and thoughtful planning.

Instead of being a reader, perhaps you’re considering being the author of your own eBook. Here is a free report on that: eBook Publishing the Fastest Way to Make Money Online [PDF]. While eBook publishing may be the fastest way to make money on the Internet, remember that the eBook doesn’t just write itself! That’s where the hard work and some of the planning will come in.

If you want to publish your own eBook, here are three ways you can get the book written.

• Write It Yourself. That’s pretty self-explanatory, isn’t it? Someone has to write your eBook! This will be easiest for you if you (a) are well-informed on the subject you wish to cover, (b) are passionate about your topic and willing to do the research, or (c) are a writer who is comfortable and skilled in research and writing. If you do it yourself, you’ll also save money, as opposed to our next option which is to…
• Hire a Freelance Writer to Write Your eBook. If you don’t have the time, desire or skills necessary to write your eBook, you can hire a ghostwriter instead. You can find a freelance writer on the various freelance sites. You can check my comments and blogroll for a couple writers. Or, you can try something like Craigslist or a local college.
• Republish a Public Domain Book. This is a relatively popular one as well. Find an out-of-print book that is in the public domain and republish it. You can update it with new information, add new material or chapters, etc. The more obscure it is, the better off you’ll be. But, even if someone else is already re-publishing it, you can always make yours better. Be careful–while the original text is in the public domain, changes that someone else may have made could be protected by copyright. So, when copying a public domain book, make sure you do it from the original source material and not someone else’s copy or derivative work. It’s best if you can buy an original copy of the book (showing the original copyright date and other information to prove that it’s copyright has expired). If you want to read an eBook on a method of making money with public domain materials, consider The Public Domain Income Plan.

I hope this helps take some of the stigma out of eBooks, and discourages you from being afraid to purchase an eBook. Plus, I also hope it discourages you from buying a continual string of “make money” eBooks in the hopes of finding some secret Internet ATM!

Like anything else, there are good eBooks and there are bad eBooks, and mixed opinions about which are which! Your friend may find an eBook that was extremely helpful for him; you might think it wasn’t worth the electrons that comprised it! Check for a guarantee, ask around, and don’t be afraid to take a chance on an eBook that may help you!

NOTE: This was originally going to be a Success Saturday post. This is the one that I didn’t finish this past Saturday. So, rather than waiting a week, and since I already have another Success Saturday in the works, this became a new Mindful Monday! In fact, Mindful Monday is even more appropriate for this topic.