How to make and write a Provocative ebook Table of Contents TOC

How to make and write a Provocative ebook Table of Contents TOC

Sep 03

Ever get an insane urge to write a smashing eBook table of contents?  It can really help boost your sales!

I realized this again after reading more of Tiffany’s great ebook Building an eBook Empire.   Now, back before the earth’s crust cooled, I used that technique in my ebook Table of Contents – my Make Them Beg to Hire You TOC included:

• Adventure 1 – The Importance Of Being Earnest: Assessing Your Skills   
  
• Adventure 2 – Trumping Checkmate - Realistically Assessing Your Situation    29
  
• Adventure 3  – The Laser Guided Career Missile: Uncovering Your Job Seeking OpportAdventureies
  
• Adventure 4 – Putting Together The Pieces And Plugging Them In: Security Resources and Getting Onto the Internet
  
• Adventure 5 – Building The Battle Armor -  Layoff-Proofing
  
• Adventure 6 – The Job Finders Horserace: You’re Competing Against…     
  
• Adventure 7 – Breaking Through The Wall - How To Demolish Job Seeker Fear Like A Wrecking Ball Through A Building
  
• Adventure 8 – Become a Job-Finding Iceberg – Rocking The Resume Boat
  
• Adventure 9 – Connect, Promote, Electrify – Killer Secret Networking Tips
  
• Adventure 10 – Blue-Ribbon Self-Promotion – Powerizing Via Job Fairs
  
• Adventure 11 -  Taking it to the Boards – Choosing the Right Job Boards for You
  
• Adventure  12 – Get Ready, Get Set … RUN! - Getting Into the Proactive Search Mode
  
• Adventure 13 – Peek-a-boo Searching – Revealing The Hidden Job Market

I realize now that I should have kept that technique in my latest endeavors…but have no fear, all future ebook covers of mine will take advantage of it! 

Check out Tiff’s Table of Contents:

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Empire-Building Secret #1:  How to Create an eBook That Targets Your Audience with Psychic-Like Precision!

Empire-Building Secret #2:  How to Find the Profit-Pulling Ideas Others Are Using and Then Improve on Them!

Empire-Building Secret #3 :   How to Hone in on Both Robotic and Human-Relevant Words and Phrases That Will Help Your Site Get Found, Indexed, and Presented to Potential Buyers!

Empire-Building Secret #4:  How to Digitally Format Your Info Product and Set It Up for Automatic Delivery, Helping You Maintain a Hands-Off Approach!

Empire-Building Secret #5:  How to Start from Scratch and Flesh Out a High-Converting Sales Page Without Shelling Out $10,000 for a Copywriting Pro to Write It!

Empire-Building Secret #6:  How to Put Together a Simple 1-Page Minisite (Like This One) at No Cost to You!

Empire-Building Secret #7:How to Set Your Site Live in a Consumer-Driven Marketplace So That You Expose It to Thousands of Commission-Driven Affiliates!

As you can see, "appealing" doesn’t begin to describe it.  Which is one reason why I’m following all the steps she outlines too1

So….back to how to make a great eBook Table of Contents.  Here’s what I do:

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Step 1.)  I write down my ebook chapters in plain language. 

What benefits will they give the readers?

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Step 2.)  Once I’m happy with that, I visit Thesaurus and search for synonyms to common, every day words. 

Things like:

great

can transform into:

august, capital, chief, commanding, dignified, distinguished, eminent, exalted, excellent, famed, famous, fine, glorious, grand, heroic, high-minded, highly regarded, honorable, idealistic, illustrious, impressive, leading, lofty, magnanimous, main, major, noble, notable, noted, noteworthy, outstanding, paramount, primary, principal, prominent, puissant, regal, remarkable, renowned, royal, stately, sublime, superior, superlative, talented

I patiently work my way through my chapter titles so that by the time I’m finished, they’re dressed to the 9s and could stroll down the red carpet at the Hollywood Oscars. 

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Step 3.)  I ask my husband, friends and family…what do you think of these ebook chapters or TOC? 

And then I revisit them and tweak as necessary.

And that’s how I create table of contents that make the angels sing and the unicorns prance and the sales truly effective.

Want some other ideas?  Check out some great headline writing posts (after all, what is a chapter title BUT a headline) at

• 10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work
  
• Warning: Use These 5 Surefire Headline Formulas at Your Own Risk
  
• The Cheater’s Guide to Writing Great Headlines

and of course, do check out Building an eBook Empire – you’ll find it worth its weight in gold. 

Hope you found this quick tutorial useful!  Do feel free to share it with your friends; I’ll bet they’ll find it useful too.

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling