Yes the holiday season is really here in all of its glorious commercialized regalia.

Many ebook sellers are tightening their belts for the often talk about ’slow’ holiday season.

You hear the same story every year around July and August too.

And then there was the lag around the World Cup earlier this year.

If you listen to the whispers, you’ll swear you only have a couple of months every year to generate any sales.

I personally don’t subscribe to any of these theories of slow sales seasons.

Nope. Not a single one.

It’s an urban myth right up there with the kidney snatchers.

People don’t stop buying because it’s a holiday. For one thing, the web is an international playground, and we don’t all celebrate the same holidays.

Nor do they stop buying during traditional vacation periods. Or during major events.

If you’re selling something that people want, they’ll buy it. A desperate buyer will plunk his or her cash down on any ordinary day.

And I guess that’s the whole point here.

If you’re going to take time out of your life to write an ebook, write something that people are clamoring for.

Solve a big, hairy, stinky problem, and you won’t have to worry about holidays, and sporting events and whether Mercury is in retrograde or if there’s a full moon.

I’m not saying you won’t ever have a slow period.

But when you carefully contemplate your topic you ALWAYS have a better chance at overall sales strength.

Plan carefully and grow rich,

Alexis Dawes

Well the holiday shopping season has officially begun.

It’s like the Kentucky Derby or the Indy 500 in the malls now.

In the States, it only takes a few stellar sale items to transform a retailers outlook from shit to sugar, on the infamous Black Friday.

Every year at this time I tell myself… “Self, you’re going to get a book/product or something ready to sell specifically for the next holiday season.”

And every year – without fail – I never meet this goal. Well at least I’m firmly consistent in that aspect.

Aaah well. The least I can do is recommend such an idea to you.

With 2007 rapidly approaching, now’s the time for you to start thinking about seasonal ebook ideas.

A seasonal idea might be something like “101 Summer Wedding Favors You Can Make in 30 Days or Less,” which can be targeted towards June brides. Or even “The Ultimate Turkey Cookbook – 101 Ways to Create a Thanksgiving Dinner No One Will Ever Forget.”

Of course seasonal ebooks won’t generate year round sales.

But it could be the boost you need to help you generate your own Black Friday-ish profit momentum.

So create seasonal ebooks and grow rich,

Alexis Dawes

It’s no secret that a lot of ebook authors use ghostwriters.

And I don’t have a problem with that. Not everyone has the skills (or the time) to sit down and write 20, 50, or 100 pages of nicely flowing copy.

But when you do hire them, I want you to remember one a couple of things–

1) Stop looking for the cheapest deal on the block.

A ghostwriter who charges $150 to write an ebook normally doesn’t put the time, energy and love into a project he would if it were a $1,500 project.

But even more often, a ghostwriter who charges $150 doesn’t have the same caliber of writing skills as someone whose fee’s are normally ten times that amount.

Of course this isn’t a blanket statement for all ghostwriters.

But I’ve been around the block more than once. And in every single situation where I’ve gone cheap, I’ve gotten what I paid for.

In other words: Cheap Fee’s=Below Standard Product.

In fact, I’ve NEVER had the balls to sell anything a cheap ghostwriter has done for me.

I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing that I was selling a ebook that didn’t meet up to my personal standards.

And I don’t blame the ghostwriter.

I blame myself for trying to cut corners, instead of paying to get the job done right the first time.

2) If you do go cheap, at least take the time to add your own revisions and personal touches to the final version.

Everybody wants a completely automated business nowadays.

Push a button, flip a switch, cut and paste, and you’re done.

It looks so easy. You’ll be sitting in your easy chair eating Bon-Bon’s, watching the PayPal payments stack up in no time.

But here’s the cold shower reality… the more sophisticated online users get, the more finely tuned their Bullshit-o-Meters become.

Buyers don’t want crap. If you think your own product is mediocre at best, buyers are going to have the exact same perception. 

So here’s my suggestion.

If you can’t find the time to tweak and improve what your cheap ghostwriter gave you, then just stop hiring cheap ghostwriters, and get the job done from a more skilled writer the first time.

When you hire great people you get a great product. And that’s just the way it works.

Alexis Dawes