Consider Self Publishing in Ebook Format
Today, thanks to ebooks and self publishing software, more than every before authors are presented with publishing opportunities that have not existed before. This is not to understate the hard work that authors have to go through to get recognition, write great books, and make a full time living from their passion of expression. However, it is to say that today, due to advances in communications technology, authors can now get their books distributed much easier than they could a decade ago. One very popular way that authors are distributing their work is digitally through ebooks. Digital books are gaining so much popularity that even some of the most popular authors in the world have used this format to distribute their books. Stephen King for example published “Riding the Bullet” exclusively in ebook format. When this ebook began distribution over Barns and Nobel and Amazon.com there was so much demand for the download that the servers of these two book giants screeched almost to a halt. People that wanted to download the ebook were put in a large queue waiting with hundreds of thousands of other who wanted to downloaded the ebook as well.
It’s not only big name authors that are finding success in ebooks. Many authors have created, marketed and sold their ebooks online for years now with great success. Many of these people are first time authors and are often amazed with the success of their own ebook. Below are some of their ebook writing tips.
Don’t underestimate the power of the Ebook
Ebooks are still looked upon as unpopular by many authors who haven’t yet taken the time to learn about the success within this industry. For example, while the traditional publishing industry is growing at the sluggish rate of 5% a year the digital publishing industry is growing at rates between 30% – 50%. This means that the opportunities within the publishing industry are growing at a fraction of the rate that opportunities within the digital publishing industry are growing.
To set up an ebook you don’t need to be a “techie”
Setting up your ebook from the idea stage to the selling stage can’t be completed overnight but it is definitely something that can be done by anyone regardless of your technological background. If you can use a word processor then you can create and sell an ebook online. While it’s recommended you set up your own website, it’s certainly not necessary. There are outlets such as amazon.com, EBay and Lulu.com to name only a few sites that allow you to post your ebook for sale on their servers. They take care of the whole transaction including returns, collecting the money and sending you a check.
Setting up an Ebook site is virtually costless and you keep 100% of the profits
With traditional publishers you’ll be lucky to see 10% of the profits from your book. With ebooks however, you keep 100% of the profits minus the fees required to set up the site which are minimal. Here is the fee breakdown for ebooks vs traditional books
Ebook vs Book cost
Ebook = Free to create an unlimited number of copies
Book = Approximately $1500 for 200 copies of a 200 page soft cover book
Rights and profit
Ebook = You keep 100% of the profits and rights to your ebooks
Book = You get 10-40% royalty (usually about $2-$5/ book)
It’s easy to see self publishing ebooks make a lot of sense. The risk associated with publishing an ebook is much lower than it is with distributing a soft or hard cover book. Likewise, as an ebook author you’ll keep virtually all of your own profits.
If nothing else, it’s something worth consideration. Ebooks may not replace traditional paperback books, but self publishing ebooks is certainly gaining popularity at a rate that should make all authors stop to think about how they could use ebooks to their advantage. And I didn’t even mention what the Kindle Reader has done for ebook sales!
