You’ve written your ebook. You’re sending out free copies. You’re using it as marketing material. Or maybe you’re selling ‘em and making cash hand over fist.

It doesn’t really matter WHAT you are doing with your ebook – the fact remains that you should keep in mind that updating your ebook can be a great way to keep your name, your business, in front of your peeps.

One of the best things about ebooks is that they are timely. They can be whipped up in days and then available to the public. No months of waiting for a  book to go to print. And then worrying about information being out of date by the time the book is available to the public.

Ebooks take that concern out of the equation.

But don’t assume that once you create your ebook you don’t ever have to update it again.

Okay, well, depending on your topic, maybe you don’t have to update it. If your ebook is a very specific topic then maybe you fully intended it to be a one-time hit to the market. Make your money and move on. But if you want your ebook to stand the test of time, you may think about updating it from time to time.

Weekly updates are pretty time-consuming and actually, silly, when you think about it.

Monthly updates are more manageable, but still – work on your part.

I suggest quarterly updates. Every 3 months or so skim through your book and take a look. Are any of the links outdated or broken? Is any of the information stale? Has anything happened since the last publication to necessitate new dialogue?

Sometimes, you may find everything is fine and dandy. Cool. But other times, you may find that an update is the right thing to do.

If the ebook is a freebie, then it’s easy enough to update and then use that update as a way to generate new interest in the ebook. People like the latest in info, especially when it’s FREE!

But if your ebook is a sales item, then you need to think about your options:

- provide the update FREE to previous buyers of your ebook

- provide the update at a discount to previous buyers of your ebook

- charge both new and old buyers for the newly updated ebook

If you go with option 3, you may find some disgruntled previous buyers. And that can hurt you in the long run. So I suggest going with options 1 or 2 to save face and make nice with the peeps.