OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
An e-book is basically the same text as a print book can be, but it's sold electronically in a format compatible with ebook readers, for example mobipocket for Kindle or ePub for iPad. It can also be a special report, images, and useful material in PDF format that you can give away for free on your site like the Author 2.0 Blueprint available here.
The benefits of an e-book are:
· It can be sold to anyone in the world over the internet with no printing or shipping costs, therefore your market is instantly expanded beyond local bookstores.
· You can make more money selling an e-book than a print book. For example, the profit on a $27 e-book is about $24 (credit card/Paypal fees). Whereas for a $27 print book, it is about $3. However, as ebooks become more common, prices are dropping.
· You can write e-books more quickly than print books and they have a lower cost to produce.
· There is no set price for an e-book and many people combine them with other audio and video products to create packages selling for thousands of dollars. People know how much a print book costs so they will never pay more than a certain amount.
· It is another sales channel. You don’t need to stop doing print books as an e-book is just another way to sell.
· Once setup, e-book sales are passive income. The money just comes into your bank account without you doing anything else. No printing, shipping, no receipts, no documentation – just sales and profit.
- You can include interactive material in an ebook hyperlinking to websites and other material
The process for creating an e-book is:
· Finish your book
· Create your book in MS Word or in other word processing software programs.
· Publish it as an ebook in multiple formats using a site like Smashwords so it can be purchased by cell phone or over the internet.
· Or/ Save it as a .PDF format and sell it from your website
I have found e-books to be a brilliant way of making passive income. Once it is set up, the money comes in when people buy online and you don’t have to do a thing. Soon after loading my first e-book, we were watching a movie at home. I logged on afterwards and I had made money. That was my first online sale and I was so excited! I made money while watching a movie! It was just a start, but I'm focusing on growing this area of sales, as well as having print books.
Ebooks can be just one of many sales channel for you. I sell the same content as a print book, an ebook and as an audio book.Check out all your publishing options here.
View Comments (10)
Joanna,
Once again you have open my eyes to another avenue of publishing.
Thanks so much. By the way I am taking notes.
Linda
Hello Joanna,
My name is Cymthia Harris and I ama new Christian author considering using WinePress for the publishing of my first book. Finances are an issue I will say that off the top. I am curious to what you think about that particular company. Its so hard to know who to trust. They only real concern I have is they only pay royalities twice a year. I have read a little about ebooks and am interested in more infor on that. I have no idea how the publishig thing works I just know I love to write. The book I am currently writing is a three book novel. The first book has been completed and a jounalist friend of mine is editing it for me. I tested the water with about twenty people (closed friends whom I trust) and they all loved it. They were from all walks of life and some were not even drama/romance readers and they thoroughly enjoyed it. I had signed up for you newsletter but I guess what I am asking is HELP...i have absolutely no idea how to proceed. There is a local printing comany here in my town and I was considering going to speak with them as well. Could use some guidance as to how to approach this seeing I am not the most computer savy person.
Thank you in advance for any insight and help in this mater,
Cynthia Harris
I also directed a couple of plays at my local church from the book and they met with somewhat success. I guess that is what you would call promoting or marketing no sure. Like I said I'm new and its all French to me.
CynthiaHarris
i wrote a sequel to a quiz book which now has sold over 135,000 copies. it is published in 8 foreign laguages.
it is a true false type of aquiz book about your personality ( i am a psychologist).would this be of interest to you
Sorry, but I don't publish people. I just let people know information about publishing.
Hi,
I am currently in the process of writing a story that I hope to finish this year, and maybe publish. I'm very confident in it, and I'm positive that it will appeal to a wide range of audiences. It's not whether the editor likes it or not that I'm worried about, because it's going to be a really intereseting story, but it's the fact that I'm twelve!! Will this affect my chances of being published? In my query, should I or should I not mention my age? Should I not mention my age at all until they become interested in my book?
(Personally, I think being twelve improves the quality of my story, because it is about a twelve year-old. Some adult authors write about kids, but they are not in their shoes, therefore I would think that the characters wouldn't seem truly like they are kids. Plus, my story is supposed to be aimed towards people of my own age group and I know what kinds of stories are popular among them currently, because I am one of them, so maybe I have an advantage there?)
I don't know!! What should I do? :)
Hi Alyssa,
I've done a post for young writers here
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/07/20/resources-for-young-writers/
and also, I helped my 9 year niece publish her first book
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/10/12/print-on-demand-empowers/
so you could always use a site like Blurb and publish it yourself.
Christopher Paolini was very young when he wrote the Eragon series and his parents published it and sold it out of their van until he got picked up because of his sales success.
Definitely don't let your age stop you, and keep writing whatever happens!
Hi Alyssa,
I was a teacher in Canada for 20 years and LOVED to read and listen to the writings of my Grade 6 and 7 students. The fact that you want to publish a story you are writing, says volumes about who you are. You have NOTHING to lose and EVERYTHING to gain. I think your age is a positive, not a negative. You Go Girl :)
Can I do both e-book and publish on demand as one -- or are these two processes separate from each other? Thanks
Hi Tam - you can use a site like http://www.Createspace.com and they will do both print and ebooks for you - but generally people create them separately. Check out the publishing page for more info: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/publishing/