I don't know if any of you know this, but the Boomer Chick is really getting into this self-publishing thing. Not self-publishing books, but self-publishing eBooks. I think most you might know it, but for those who wonder why in the heck would I do such a thing and what in the heck is an ebook anyway, I'm going to tell you why in 100 words (more or less) and how I got started.
I have books published by small presses. In fact, I even have a children's book that is published by an epublisher. But, one area I find so exciting, and can be very profitable (if done right) is self-publishing my own eBook.
First of all, an eBook is a book in pdf format. You need Acrobat Reader, which you can download free, to read it. It reads like a book except you need a computer, of course. Or a handheld eReader.
Now, normally, I don't buy eBooks, but the ones I have bought have all been how-to eBooks. They're generally cheap and it's that information I need that I either can't find anywhere else or I want it NOW. That's the charm of eBooks. No waiting.
If you really want to know how I got started in all this, go to www.thewriterslife.net/TheWritersLifePublications.html and read the excerpt of my second self-published eBook titled A Complete Guide to Promoting and Selling Your eBook for FREE. It's not available until September but I have spent months (translate that to five years of research) putting this together.
Oh, yeah, I've set myself up a publishing company with an ebook store to sell it. Cool, eh?
Now, this is something you might be interested in...putting together an eBook for yourself and selling it right off your website. The extra income could come in handy, don't you think?
I'm so excited about this eBook and I can hardly wait for it to come out. I've done the research and it's a one-of-a-kind in that it shows you step-by-step what to do to promote your own eBook. And the charm of it all, every step won't cost you a dime so that what money you earn is all profit. I'm just surprised more people haven't thought about doing this.
The first step you need to take is to find a subject you know a lot about. Once you have zeroed in on this, put it all in a word .doc. It doesn't have to be long, either. With how-to eBooks, you need to cut out the fluff and get right to the basics. People don't want to sit at their computer reading an eBook all day, so you really have to be concise.
Then, you put it in pdf format and use Paypal to handle the financial end of it.
Like to travel? Pick a travel destination and write about it!
Have a short story collection or enough poems to put into an eBook? Do it!
I sound like one of those infocommercials, but I'm serious, this is a great way to earn money with your love of writing.
So, do you have an eBook in you?
Strange... it occurs to me that writing content for profit is about to converge in the middle from two directions. I have been using the broadcasting model, where you invest in infrastucture (a website, or radio or TV station), offer content for free, then sell advertising to recoup costs. (I had to buy MORE bandwidth today!) The ad price is based on how many people take advantage of your free content.
ReplyDeleteThe publishing, or movie theater model sells content directly to the customer. the ebook idea is an internet extension of that model. The 'net makes both these options available to everyone.
Best of luck with your ebooks!
Wow, you should be in sales, you got me hooked. want to know more.
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting concept. My only concern is that I really like having a printer book that I can hold in my hands, carry along in the car, etc. It would take awhile to get used to reading electronically. Maybe I could get used to it with practice.
ReplyDeleteDo most ebooks offer a search engine included with the book, kind of a modern form of an index?
Hi Dick, most eBooks are short enough to not require an index, but I've seen some authors who do use them. This is my opinion, but the ebooks that sell better are more the reference type of books or how to. There are certain ebooks that sell better in that area than others, too. The "get rich" stage is really overrun by everyone in their brother writing about it and half of them I hear aren't quite up to snuff if you knowwhattamean. The last two ebooks were about promoting, my area. So, I'm thinking most of these ebooks are bought simply for research. That's why I bought mine. I think the ebook craze is still too new to make significant sales, but I do hear about it being done and with proof from the author. So, I know it does happen. I don't feel it will ever replace print books either but if you want something in a hurry, like in a few minutes, and it's something you really need for a particular project, I think they're the ebooks that will take off.
ReplyDeleteDorothy - how timely. I just listened in on one of those teleseminars which talked about how fabulous ebooks are and for a fee, of course, they'll show you how to get top amazon ratings. What fascinated me is, being a do-it-yourselfer, I could control so much of it. As you know, I started writing an ebook but had to put it away for the day job but now I'm thinking I should get back to it. Can't wait to get your how-to ebook to find out more.
ReplyDelete