Happy 4th to the American writers out there. This is a guest post by Angela England, author of 30 Days to Make and Sell a Fabulous Ebook.

There are many benefits to making an ebook, especially as a freelance writer or professional blogger. Making an ebook is relatively easy. Making a good one is another matter entirely.

1. Decide on a Fabulous Topic

The best topic for an ebook is one that is narrow enough for people to find it, but not so narrow that the topic would be too obscure. I use the example of knitting - "Knitting" alone might be too broad for an ebook, but "How to Knit Purple Hamsters" would be far too narrow.

2. Create a Table of Contents or Outline

Once you have your topic, brainstorm the table of contents or outline of all the information you plan to cover in your ebook. Once you have a plan in place, it will be much easier to finish your project because you'll know where you're heading. It's also motivating to work through the list!

3. Format the Ebook

I like to include an index if the length of the book and topic lends itself to the need for one. Think about things like readability, appropriate images, bullets and lists, white space where appropriate, color and interest, etc. A Table of Contents and page numbers are a must!

4. Quality Cover

While you may not judge a book by its cover, a potential customer or client might. You wouldn't want someone to turn their nose up at your amazing book because the cover isn't legible. I have my ebook covers made by a graphic designer now because I'm so bad at making them myself! I would rather focus on crafting the words.

5. Write Your Rough Draft Without Editing

Sometimes, this is called sprinting, or brain dump, or even "morning papers" if you're an Artist's Way fan - but the principle is the same regardless of technique name. Get your rough draft out of your head and into written form where you can begin to shape it into something useful.

6. Edit or Have the Ebook Edited

I always have someone else look at my ebooks before I release them because I'm so attached to the work that it's easy to overlook simple typos and errors. Whether this is hiring a professional editor or trading with a friend you can trust is up to you. I will say this - sometimes it's much easier to hire someone for a job than to rely on a friend for a favor.

7. Zip the Ebook to PDF

There are plenty of free ways to create a PDF. Microsoft Word keeps links and formatting intact and is very easy to convert. Open Office is completely free. Check carefully that the program you use allows links, nice formatting and has all the features you want.

8. Choose a Method of Delivery

The simplest and cheapest method of delivering your ebook is to mail the ebook in an email attachment, using a PayPal "Buy it Now" button to handle the sales. You can also choose to use a plugin (this is what I do) or a third party site like E-Junkie or Commission Junction.

9. Set up Affiliate Programs

As I mentioned in Step 8, I switched to a plugin that allows an affiliate program. This way, your readers, friends and others can actually market and sell the ebook on your behalf. Your reach will be greatly extended!

10. Promote Your Book!

Your book isn't finished when the book is finished. As any author can attest, promoting the book after the creation is as important as writing the book. Here is a sample promotional website I created after the launch of my latest ebook, 30 Days to Make and Sell a Fabulous Ebook. You'll notice I have testimonials, information about the product and a way for readers to engage socially.

Angela England is a problogger, freelance writer and author of 30 Days to Make and Sell a Fabulous Ebook. Find her on Twitter and at her blog, angengland.com.

Hi all. I've pointed you to what About.com calls "User Answers" several times. This is how freelance writers can pool our experience and information. This helps new writers and experienced writers, too. It's just another way that we can communicate and share info. Some of those "User Answer" areas are linked below.

However, I just want to take the opportunity to note that User Answer areas aren't a good spot for you to ask questions about freelance writing. If you have a specific question, feel free to ask in blog comments, in the forums, or via my email.

Some Freelance Writing Q & As:

• What was the best writing gift you've ever got?
• Have you ever fallen for a freelance writing scam?
• How do you organize your writing portfolio?

So, I told you yesterday that I started a short term teaching position, leading composition & literature classes for 10th, 11th and 12th graders at my University. (Good kids by the way) Well, before the class started I talked to a good friend of mine who has been teaching this same population (school, age) for 17 years. One piece of advice he gave stuck with me: Be yourself, be real. Don't try to pretend you're hard if you're not, don't try to hide the fact that you're a literature geek. Kids pick up on fake like no one else.

I think I have an inability to be anyone but who I am (a goofy, bona fide literature geek who likes students and likes to talk about lit & comp concepts) and so today went well. But when I got here to do my second job, writing, I started thinking about keeping it real in writing. How do you keep it real in writing? I'm not a math geek, but I think the equation goes something like this:

1. Find your true voice
2. Don't try to change it too much, even across genres

Does that sound right to you, writers? Of course, when you're writing a magazine article, you'll sound different then when you're writing an encyclopedia entry or a blog post, right? But the key to not losing your true voice- to keeping it real as a writer- is in not changing that voice overtly/too much. Trying to drown your encyclopedia entry in purple prose with vocab that is foreign to your everyday writing personality will be - you guessed it- fake.

Your opinion? Thoughts? Am I oversimplifying this?

Sorry all, looks like the wrong newsletter went out today. My apologies.