Selling a book online can be a mysterious task for those authors who have not done it before. Many still wish to hand the manuscript over to a publisher and have them do all the legwork for them. That's great but you will pay for the privilege forever as they take their large portion of the proceeds regardless of the fact that they have absolutely no additional costs between book number 2 and book number 2,000.
I'm currently working with a client who has written a wonderful children's book targeted at military families (I'll put up a link when we have everything ready). She is launching the book soon with a first edition of hard copies to a local audience and has asked me to make it available online. I have done this with other books and so, I thought that I should make you aware of some of the changes and differences that you should expect if you decide to do the same.
When you create a hard copy book, you can use any of thousands of font styles, include illustrations in any way you like, and can format your pages just exactly the way you want. This is not the case with e-books. I think this is changing as the devices and software change and evolve but at the moment, there are some restrictions and the best way to understand these is to use an e-reader yourself. For those of you who create books that are reliant upon design and formatting rather than plain text, this will be a challenge. Children's books are a good example of needing to alter your expectations for e-readers. Once again, I am pretty sure that will change drastically as you will be able to embed videos, audio and everything else into your books but for now...for the conventional e-reader, here's some differences:
Fonts: probably best to stick with one font, including chapter titles and headings. Preferable to stay with something like, Times - New Roman, for the time being but you can use a couple of different sizes ( but make the normal text size 12 point) and bold the chapter headings. The eventual reader can change both the font style and the font size on their machine, which is why you need to be consistent in your source document.
Illustrations: At this time, most conventional e-readers are black and white based, but this is changing rapidly so color should be OK. Illustrations don't load particularly easily yet but this is getting better all the time. Quite often the e-reader screen size is rather limiting and can make clarity and readability of the pictures, maps and so on, difficult. Once again, devices like the I-Pad and other tablets have this in control and are much better than the conventional e-reader.
Right-hand justification: forget it! Because the reader controls sizing, right hand justification simply does not translate for e-readers. You still might like it for hard copy books but your source document for electronic books needs to have it removed. The same is true for things like centering and a lot of other formatting - best to keep it as clean as possible.
Page numbers: this process has improved immensely. Initially, e-readers couldn't handle page numbers and used a combination of percentage of book read and some convoluted system of determining book locations. Now, you can use page numbers and the various upload software that is available will guide you through the actual handling for each one.
Table of Contents: don't miss the opportunity to provide an active table of contents for non-fiction books. Most are not read "front to back" and the reader wants to read them out of order or maybe some parts, not at all. I'm thinking cookbooks, travel books and the like. You will normally add the "active table of contents " formatting in your source document - Word, for instance, has a process available for this and it can be found in their help section. Frankly, if you don't include that in most non-fiction books that have many chapters and sub-chapters/headings, you will succeed in ticking off your audience, royally.
ISBN's: I just think that it is best to acquire your own ISBN's from Bowker, or from the source in your own country, however, that is no longer always true. In some instances, you can obtain a free one through CreateSpace, for instance, or Smashwords that will then give you better access to their expanded distribution channels. Read the instructions and guidelines provided by the various outlets carefully BEFORE you make a decision that you cannot reverse. Do what's best, not necessarily most expedient, for you as the author. Remember that you will need a new ISBN for each book format that you create.
Design: For most fiction writers who create straight forward text based books, the whole process is reasonably simple but for those people who imagine the possibility of adding additional features to their book that will enhance the reader's enjoyment ( and perhaps their sales), it might be an idea to hook up with a good designer. When I say designer, I am thinking of someone who has an excellent understanding of new media and how to create it. Someone who can create graphics, video, photographs and sound that can be embedded in a document for publishing to the Apple, Kindle, Nook, Android and other stores or retail outlets. The non-fiction market is about to explode as these kinds of books become available. Imagine writing a house renovation book that shows in color and graphic detail exactly how to instal that new hardwood flooring with a combination of sound, video and print instructions. Imagine what this technology is going to do to the textbook market and how it will revolutionize education.
Selling Your Book Online: A few final thoughts about what's possible for you in the future. As the formats and technology change, your opportunity to create a revised edition for your book changes, too. Unlike the traditional bookstore, an electronic bookstore can accept and list an unlimited number of titles so that you can update the text, create videos ( how-to's, travel, cooking, etc.), release an audio version and lots of other things to publish a new edition of your book and still keep the original available for those people who continue to use the older style e-readers. Your costs don't substantially change and you don't need to pay for additional printing, shipping, etc.
If you have added some of this exciting new technology to any of your books, or are thinking about it, please leave a comment and a link so that we can all see how you are doing.
Saturday
Friday
Sunday
MORE ABOUT BOOK PRICING
I don't know if this is right or wrong - only time, or sales, will tell. I've been thinking about the pricing of my books for awhile and wondering if they should change to reflect changing times. Originally, pricing was based on production and distribution costs combined with the amount of effort, research, writing time and other stuff to determine how much I thought I should make per copy. All of that has changed.
I do agree with some friends in the industry that price should reflect the content and value to the reader to some extent, after all, how much is it worth to a reader to change their life? On the other hand, e-books are beginning to become commodities and after the initial costs of time for research and writing and the costs of design, editing and set up, there are no further costs for printing, distribution, returns, marketing, and so on. In other words, once the initial costs are covered, the author or publisher can sell unlimited copies without incurring further costs.
To some extent, the same is true for print-on-demand copies. The printer or supplier has a fixed cost for providing each additional printed book but the author has no extra costs over and above his original "inputs." It began to dawn on me that I don't care whether a reader wants a digital copy or a printed one. If I set my pricing so that my royalty works out to pretty much the same thing, regardless of format, then I could lower my prices and pass the benefit to the purchaser...so, I did. My net royalty on an e-book priced at $4.99 is almost the same for the printed version priced at $9.99. The extra cost to the buyer for the printed version goes to the printer who has to provide paper, ink, technology, labor and printing presses to produce it, but I end up with the same amount, which is perfectly alright with me.
Anyway - pretty unscientific and I'm sure there will be disagreement from traditional publishers but that's my logic on the reason for changing the prices of my books. It's nice to have the right to do so.
I do agree with some friends in the industry that price should reflect the content and value to the reader to some extent, after all, how much is it worth to a reader to change their life? On the other hand, e-books are beginning to become commodities and after the initial costs of time for research and writing and the costs of design, editing and set up, there are no further costs for printing, distribution, returns, marketing, and so on. In other words, once the initial costs are covered, the author or publisher can sell unlimited copies without incurring further costs.
To some extent, the same is true for print-on-demand copies. The printer or supplier has a fixed cost for providing each additional printed book but the author has no extra costs over and above his original "inputs." It began to dawn on me that I don't care whether a reader wants a digital copy or a printed one. If I set my pricing so that my royalty works out to pretty much the same thing, regardless of format, then I could lower my prices and pass the benefit to the purchaser...so, I did. My net royalty on an e-book priced at $4.99 is almost the same for the printed version priced at $9.99. The extra cost to the buyer for the printed version goes to the printer who has to provide paper, ink, technology, labor and printing presses to produce it, but I end up with the same amount, which is perfectly alright with me.
Anyway - pretty unscientific and I'm sure there will be disagreement from traditional publishers but that's my logic on the reason for changing the prices of my books. It's nice to have the right to do so.
WORLDREADER.ORG
I have long held that the cure for most of the world's ills lies in literacy and access to information. If we teach the disenfranchised to read and then provide them with the opportunity to access books and ideas, they will throw off the yoke of oppression, poverty, hunger, addiction and violence. We have seen the results of some of this in recent months in many places around the world. I suspect that we will see much more in years to come thanks to a project that I am privileged to be participating in.
THE STORY
As many of you might know, I am a big fan of Seth Godin and especially his commitment to making ideas available on a large scale basis and his willingness to share his own. He recently offered some thoughts on an organization called Worldreaders.org that you can read here. The ideas and efforts of this organization make so much sense in my mind that I just had to contact them and offer my own humble writing attempts for their program. I have just signed the agreement and sent it off to them. I don't know how many kids in Africa, Asia and South America will be interested in my books but that is not the point. The point is to give them the opportunity to read about the world and its possibilities. This project truly is about "teaching them to fish" rather than giving them a loaf of bread.
THE IDEA
In a nutshell, Worldreader is providing Kindles to students in developing countries, where paper based books are almost non-existent, and they are asking authors and publishers to make their books - the ones that are already part of the Kindle program - available at no charge. They will pre-load any books onto the devices before giving them to the students. They have made an agreement with Amazon and it really is possible for anyone who has written a book to make a difference in the world, in a very real sense. Simple, easy and brilliant - ideas, information and access, all in one package.
IF YOU ARE A READER
As a reader, there are three ways that I can suggest for you to participate:
Assuming your book is already listed on Kindle, it is a very simple process to contact Elizabeth Wood, Director of Digital Publishing for Worldreader and request their information package. There is a simple one page contract wherein you can direct Amazon to make your book available to this program. Yes, you will give up any income from potential sales to this group of potential readers. Kids learning to read in third world countries may not be that big a potential market for you, so, perhaps you will be willing to give up the royalties from sales in Ghana - think about it.
If your publisher holds the worldwide digital rights to your books, please consider talking to them about this program. Some are participating but others are requiring that the charity pay for the e-books. As you know, there is NO cost involved in making e-books available.
Send this post to your editors, designers, author-friends, distributors, and anyone else connected to making books available so that they can learn about this possibility for creating real change in the world.
AND FINALLY
A big thanks, once again, to Seth Godin for bringing this to our attention and big, big props to Worldreader.org for creating a project in which readers and authors can combine our talents, expertise, and need to make a difference into a program that will create so much good for so many people. Education will change the world and you can be a part of it.
Once again, please pass this message on to your social networks like Twitter and Facebook and let's get more people involved in this life-changing, world-building project.
THE STORY
As many of you might know, I am a big fan of Seth Godin and especially his commitment to making ideas available on a large scale basis and his willingness to share his own. He recently offered some thoughts on an organization called Worldreaders.org that you can read here. The ideas and efforts of this organization make so much sense in my mind that I just had to contact them and offer my own humble writing attempts for their program. I have just signed the agreement and sent it off to them. I don't know how many kids in Africa, Asia and South America will be interested in my books but that is not the point. The point is to give them the opportunity to read about the world and its possibilities. This project truly is about "teaching them to fish" rather than giving them a loaf of bread.
THE IDEA
In a nutshell, Worldreader is providing Kindles to students in developing countries, where paper based books are almost non-existent, and they are asking authors and publishers to make their books - the ones that are already part of the Kindle program - available at no charge. They will pre-load any books onto the devices before giving them to the students. They have made an agreement with Amazon and it really is possible for anyone who has written a book to make a difference in the world, in a very real sense. Simple, easy and brilliant - ideas, information and access, all in one package.
IF YOU ARE A READER
As a reader, there are three ways that I can suggest for you to participate:
- send an email to your favorite authors asking them to make their books available to this program - you can send the link to this blog if that makes it easier.
- send a message of support to info@worldreader.org and tell them how important their work is in transforming the world - I'm sure they would accept any donations, too!
- forward this blog post to your friends on Twitter and Facebook and encourage them to do the same - let's make this a movement for change.
Assuming your book is already listed on Kindle, it is a very simple process to contact Elizabeth Wood, Director of Digital Publishing for Worldreader and request their information package. There is a simple one page contract wherein you can direct Amazon to make your book available to this program. Yes, you will give up any income from potential sales to this group of potential readers. Kids learning to read in third world countries may not be that big a potential market for you, so, perhaps you will be willing to give up the royalties from sales in Ghana - think about it.
If your publisher holds the worldwide digital rights to your books, please consider talking to them about this program. Some are participating but others are requiring that the charity pay for the e-books. As you know, there is NO cost involved in making e-books available.
Send this post to your editors, designers, author-friends, distributors, and anyone else connected to making books available so that they can learn about this possibility for creating real change in the world.
AND FINALLY
A big thanks, once again, to Seth Godin for bringing this to our attention and big, big props to Worldreader.org for creating a project in which readers and authors can combine our talents, expertise, and need to make a difference into a program that will create so much good for so many people. Education will change the world and you can be a part of it.
Once again, please pass this message on to your social networks like Twitter and Facebook and let's get more people involved in this life-changing, world-building project.
Friday
1 REASON WHY A SALES PROFESSIONAL SHOULD WRITE A BOOK
"Why write a book? I'm a professional person and I'm already successful, what reason would I have to write a book?"
The obvious, trite and over simplified answer is, because you can. Leaving aside why you should, could, and would write your own book, let's look at one reason that writing your own book would make a big difference in your business life.
REPUTATION AND STANDING WITHIN YOUR FIELD. You may already be successful in terms of sales and income. You have great knowledge of your product or service, and you are able to find solutions to your client's problems. These are the keys to your success - how risky is it to share them? Won't your competitors learn your secrets and take away your business.
The answer is, yes and no. Yes, you will share some, or most of your skills and assets, but it launches you into a much bigger playing field. You will come to the attention of executives within your own company and in your competitor's companies. Your clients and their connections, however, will now come to see you as the expert in the field. You have written a book. You have established a higher standard. Writing a book automatically confers a status of expertness with it. Your customers and prospects will know this. They want to deal with you, the expert. More referrals, more business, more income - that's the way it works.
You can also expect to receive invitations to meetings, conferences and conventions and perhaps become a guest speaker or presenter on these occasions. All of this results from using the information you have to create a bigger playing field. Zig Ziglar didn't sit on his hard won skills and information for fear of passing on sales secrets to his competitors - he made his competitors customers! You can too.
There is an easy and fast way to create a book that presents you and your ideas professionally and in a way that will grab attention in those circles that you most want to access. THE ONE HOUR AUTHOR has been created to accomplish this goal quickly and successfully. It's easy to read and learn the techniques of professionals and move yourself on to the road to success. You can download a PDF to read or print on your own computer here, or you can get a copy to your e-reader, or a printed copy here.
Good luck and keep in mind that writing your own book can replace that tired old business card with a professional and valuable piece of information that your prospects will respect and appreciate for years to come. Some of you are giving away data sticks as business cards - load your book on and make it even more valuable.
The obvious, trite and over simplified answer is, because you can. Leaving aside why you should, could, and would write your own book, let's look at one reason that writing your own book would make a big difference in your business life.
REPUTATION AND STANDING WITHIN YOUR FIELD. You may already be successful in terms of sales and income. You have great knowledge of your product or service, and you are able to find solutions to your client's problems. These are the keys to your success - how risky is it to share them? Won't your competitors learn your secrets and take away your business.
The answer is, yes and no. Yes, you will share some, or most of your skills and assets, but it launches you into a much bigger playing field. You will come to the attention of executives within your own company and in your competitor's companies. Your clients and their connections, however, will now come to see you as the expert in the field. You have written a book. You have established a higher standard. Writing a book automatically confers a status of expertness with it. Your customers and prospects will know this. They want to deal with you, the expert. More referrals, more business, more income - that's the way it works.
You can also expect to receive invitations to meetings, conferences and conventions and perhaps become a guest speaker or presenter on these occasions. All of this results from using the information you have to create a bigger playing field. Zig Ziglar didn't sit on his hard won skills and information for fear of passing on sales secrets to his competitors - he made his competitors customers! You can too.
There is an easy and fast way to create a book that presents you and your ideas professionally and in a way that will grab attention in those circles that you most want to access. THE ONE HOUR AUTHOR has been created to accomplish this goal quickly and successfully. It's easy to read and learn the techniques of professionals and move yourself on to the road to success. You can download a PDF to read or print on your own computer here, or you can get a copy to your e-reader, or a printed copy here.
Good luck and keep in mind that writing your own book can replace that tired old business card with a professional and valuable piece of information that your prospects will respect and appreciate for years to come. Some of you are giving away data sticks as business cards - load your book on and make it even more valuable.
Saturday
PUBLISHERS ARE SPEAKING
The publishers appear to be taking a stand in terms of e-books. If you take a quick glance at the top 100 books on the Amazon Kindle listings, you will see that the major publishing houses now dominate the list. What is amazing is that in most cases, the Kindle price is higher than the paperback price and in more than a few instances, higher than the hardcover price.
As a reader, and an owner of a Kindle, I have a hard time justifying the price asked for a digital copy of a new release that is in the 15 - 20 dollar range. Some are well over $20.00. I don't think Amazon minds the prices since they get paid a percentage of the list and the higher the better for them. What does this mean for the early stage author who is publishing independently and doesn't have the marketing support of the big guys? It means the same thing it has always meant, build your own list of followers, connect and communicate with them in a timely and authentic fashion. Build your list one reader at a time - the same way you sell your books.
To be an author, you also need to be a marketer. If you are looking for advice in that area, I strongly suggest that you subscribe to Seth Godin's blog - no question that he is the preeminent marketer in this digital age. I suspect, but don't actually know, that there may be more platforms on the horizon for indie authors, so that they can get noticed by readers who appreciate us. I kind of like John Locke's philosophy for selling his pot boiler novels for .99 as he says that he offers the readers good entertainment and that the "big guys" have to justify why the reader should spend 15 to 20 times more for similar entertainment.
I realize that "name recognition" sells and it always has, but good writing, combined with a marketing plan that suits your needs, persistence, and most important of all, more books, you can get there. Keep writing, keep talking, keep posting, keep the faith baby!
As a reader, and an owner of a Kindle, I have a hard time justifying the price asked for a digital copy of a new release that is in the 15 - 20 dollar range. Some are well over $20.00. I don't think Amazon minds the prices since they get paid a percentage of the list and the higher the better for them. What does this mean for the early stage author who is publishing independently and doesn't have the marketing support of the big guys? It means the same thing it has always meant, build your own list of followers, connect and communicate with them in a timely and authentic fashion. Build your list one reader at a time - the same way you sell your books.
To be an author, you also need to be a marketer. If you are looking for advice in that area, I strongly suggest that you subscribe to Seth Godin's blog - no question that he is the preeminent marketer in this digital age. I suspect, but don't actually know, that there may be more platforms on the horizon for indie authors, so that they can get noticed by readers who appreciate us. I kind of like John Locke's philosophy for selling his pot boiler novels for .99 as he says that he offers the readers good entertainment and that the "big guys" have to justify why the reader should spend 15 to 20 times more for similar entertainment.
I realize that "name recognition" sells and it always has, but good writing, combined with a marketing plan that suits your needs, persistence, and most important of all, more books, you can get there. Keep writing, keep talking, keep posting, keep the faith baby!
Wednesday
APPRECIATE LIFE
As a creative person, we sometimes get caught up in the business of life. Here's a TED video from Louie Schwartzberg that will help you get back to what's important. Please take a moment to view it and rejuvenate yourself.
TED video
TED video
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