photo credit: edans

Do you have a burning desire to write an ebook or novel, but not sure where to begin? Well, look no further as I’ve compiled a list of books that will help motivate you and get you up off the couch and writing the next best selling ebook. Can the ebook be a source of residual passive income? This will not be a “How to write an ebook” post, but an opportunity to look at some successful business ebooks for motivation. An ebook can be an opportunity for residual passive income, because it can be distributed for little or no cost. Besides your time the only other cost would be marketing the ebook. If you have a popular blog or website, this cost could be minimal. I must be honest and say that I am a bit jealous of writers who have managed so successfully market and sell thousands of ebooks. Maybe you have an idea for an ebook or have already written one, how has it done? Are you marketing your ebook yourself, or utilizing a site like ebooks.com or lulu.com?

Before I get to the top 10 business ebooks, I wanted to give you some ideas for ebook topics.

1. Write a mystery ebook. This is a great niche market and if you have an interest in mystery novels, this could be a great opportunity to start writing.

2. Economics ebook. Yes, I macro and micro in college and it was filled with examples of widgets, guns, and butter. Writing an economics ebook could allow you to be creative with your econ analysis of Keynesian theory and supply-side economics. Maybe you could substitute ipods for widgets.

3. History ebook. Do you have a passion for history? Maybe you’ve wanted to write a book on the history of surfing or history of blogs?

4. How about ebook novels? Do you have a deep desire to write a romance novel? The type of novel willed with passion and desire? Fabio won’t be on the cover, but it can still be full of steamy romance.

5. Psychology ebook. This idea came to mind as I was thinking about writing an economics ebook. You could create a personality test for bloggers and ask them a series of questions. Report your findings in your psychology ebook and market it to bloggers. You might have some interesting findings like 70% of bloggers have 100 online friends, but only 3 offline friends.

Since this is a personal finance blog, I thought I would highlight the top selling business ebooks currently being sold at ebooks.com

1. Getting Things Done by David Allen Published by Penguin Group Inc

2. The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell Published by Brown Little

3. Multiple Streams of Income by Robert G. Allen Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

4. The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss Published by Crown Publishing Group

5. 2600 Phrases for Effective Performance Reviews by Paul Falcone Published by AMACOM

6. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by Harv Eker Published by HarperCollins

7. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Sharon L. Lecter Published by Warner Books

8. The Coming Economic Collapse by Glen Strathy and Stephen Leeb Published by Warner

9. The Ten-Day MBA by Steven A. Silbiger Published by HarperCollins US

10. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber Published by HarperCollins

ebook books and other resources:

Squawkfox wrote a free ebook: Frugal Food & Fitness: How to get fit and fab without spending a fortune
Seth Godin’s You should write an ebook
Lulu.com
Clickbank
Simple Mom’s Spring Cleaning for normal people
30 free ebooks from Mint.com

What has been your favorite ebook? Do you have one that you read that has been a source of motivation and inspiration for writing, investing, or being a better parent?