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Successful Ebook

Publishing

Slides: www.TheCreativePenn.com/zurich2/Password: zurich2

with Joanna Penn@thecreativepenn

Sunday, 20 January 2013

J.F.Penn - Author The Creative Penn Ltd

Over 55,000 copies soldRepresented by Irene Goodman Agency NYC

* Multimedia courses

* Non-fiction

* Live workshops/ speaking

* Consulting

Blog live Dec 2008 - full-time income from Sept 2011Sunday, 20 January 2013

(1) Pros & cons of self-publishing

(2) Why ebooks?

(3) How to publish an ebook & budget

(4) Tips for success Sunday, 20 January 2013

*  Quicker  *me  to  market  &  income  (but  it’s  not  a  get-­‐rich-­‐quick  scheme)

*  Total  control  and  choice

*  Sell  by  any  means  as  you  retain  the  rights  

*  Niche  markets  perfect

*  Get  into  the  game!  Test  the  market  and  then  approach  a  publisher  with  evidence  of  sales.  Jump  the  slush-­‐pile  to  agents  &  publishers

*  You  need  to  do  it  all  yourself,  or  find  professionals  to  help*  For  a  pro  result,  you  need  a  budget  for  pros

*  Hard  to  get  distribu*on  into  physical  bookshops

*  Less  pres*ge  than  being  ‘published’  (but  the  s*gma  is  lessening  every  day)

Independent/ Self-Publishing

Sunday, 20 January 2013

5http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2011/12/09/self-publishing-indie-author-definition/

Self publishing or indie author?

* Truly independent - no publisher. Direct to the

platforms, no middleman (so no

vanity press)

* Indies are entrepreneurs and

business people. They are professionals and

invest in other pros (editors, cover design,

etc)

Sunday, 20 January 2013

6

Self-publishing will not ruin your chances at a traditional deal (Writer’s Digest Jane Friedman)

Hugh Howey: Indie author: $150,000

per month in ebook sales. Sold print rights

only to Simon & Schuster.

Film rights optioned by Ridley Scott.

Sunday, 20 January 2013

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Hybrid Model. It’s not an either-or choice anymore* Authors are choosing to have some projects with traditional publishers and others as independent - best of both worlds

* Hugh Howey, CJ Lyons, Scott Sigler, Chuck Wendig ... and many more

* Decide PER PROJECT which might be the best route for your book. Empowerment of the author as the centre of the model.

* A third of traditionally published authors are interested in self-publishing their next book, according to a new survey from Digital Book World and Writer’s Digest.

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/07/30/literary-agent/http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/04/26/traditional-self-publishing-not-mutually-exclusive/

Sunday, 20 January 2013

(1) Pros & cons of self-publishing

(2) Why ebooks?

(3) How to publish an ebook & budget

(4) Tips for success Sunday, 20 January 2013

http://smellofbooks.com/aromas/new-book-smell/

“But I will never give up printed books”

“I love the feel and the smell”

“I hate ebooks”

Sunday, 20 January 2013

* Sell to anyone in the world over the internet without printing or shipping costs.

* Huge growth market globally in coming years. US & UK ʻmatureʼ.

* Proliferation of smartphones, tablets & e-readers + kids reading on devices = future

* More profit per book even when priced reasonably, unlike print

* Speed of publishing and changes - 24 hours!

* Lower entry costs, lower risk

www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/ebooks-at-50/

Sunday, 20 January 2013

(1) Pros & cons of self-publishing

(2) Why ebooks?

(3) How to publish an ebook & budget

(4) Tips for success Sunday, 20 January 2013

12

http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php

Write your book and publish it to .mobi and .ePub with Scrivener. It’s only $49 for a once off payment and you can format forever.

For complicated multi-media (but book well in advance) http://ebookarchitects.com/

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/02/04/scrivener/

http://www.bookbaby.com/services/ebookconversion

ROUND-UP POST on publishing here: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/01/15/how-to-publish-a-book-101/

Format your edited manuscript

Sunday, 20 January 2013

http://kdp.amazon.com* Biggest share of ebook market revenue* Direct to all Kindle stores worldwide * Published in 24 hours, change whenever you like - pricing/content etc * KDP Select - your book in lending library and also free promos available for ranking - BUT/ exclusivity* Transparent reporting on ranking, sales & income * Payment by cheque/bank transfer monthly 90 days later

Sunday, 20 January 2013

14

Sunday, 20 January 2013

15http://www.kobobooks.com/kobowritinglife

* 20% of the ebook market now - beating B&N Nook, 2nd to Amazon

* Aggressive global expansion

* Partners with independent book stores

* ePub format and user friendly interface

* Electronic payment in author’s currency

Sunday, 20 January 2013

16

Apple iBookstore. Non-fiction & kids

http://www.apple.com/itunes/content-providers/book-faq.html

* Can go direct or go through distributors. Direct requires a Mac and US tax number (also required for with-holding tax)

* Kids at home with iPads and being used in some schools. Some kid’s publishers moving to iPad only editions. iBooksAuthor

* Takes time so don’t remove later e.g. for KDP Select. Leave it and promote it.

http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/11/how-to-sell-ebooks-at-apple-ibookstore.html

Sunday, 20 January 2013

www.smashwords.com

www.smashwords.com/books/view/52

* Distributes to all ebook stores so use for the ones you can’t get to directly

* Free to publish to, takes % of sales - so they take the risk, but more money later if you’re successful

* Formatting can be a real pain - for those who like to tinker & DIY or pay one of Smashword’s freelancers. ePub just available or Word.

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145431

Fantastic, free book!Sunday, 20 January 2013

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* Pay cost up front (~$199) and get 100% of royalties - so you take the risk & more money if you succeed * Opt out of Amazon, Kobo etc which we can do directly.

* Easier interface than Smashwords - ePub* Offers a lot more services if you don’t want to DIY * Difficult to change once published

Sunday, 20 January 2013

19

How does the money work? Upfront Costs: * Professional editing ~£300 - £1000* Cover design - ebook ~£125* Formatting - optional: ~£125

Income: * Amazon: 35% under $2.99. 70% 2.99 - 9.99. Pays monthly, 90 days after, by check/transfer in USD & GBP & EUR. Reconciles to sales report (awesome)

* Kobo. Pays monthly, 45 days after by EFT in author’s currency w/ report

*Smashwords. Quarterly by Paypal * Bookbaby. Set payment limit & paid when it reaches that. Check/EFT/Paypal

Sunday, 20 January 2013

(1) Pros & cons of self-publishing

(2) Why ebooks?

(3) How to publish an ebook & budget

(4) Tips for success Sunday, 20 January 2013

21

You

Customer

Book

* Speaking* Search* Articles/blog* Social* PR etc

* Amazon/ Kindle /Nook/Kobo etc* Browsing lists * Algorithms* Bookstores

Sale / Relationship

People will find your book in two ways

Sunday, 20 January 2013

22

** Write more books ** * Most authors need 5+ books before they build enough of an audience to make a decent living

* More digital shelf space, more chance of discovery, more reader word-of-mouth

* More fans, wanting more product

* Better craft & better niche & better list

My own sales growth: * May 2011: $200 (with extensive online platform) * Jan 2013: $4000 (3 fiction, 1 non-fiction)

Sunday, 20 January 2013

23

The Secrets Of Amazon Algorithms?* You can never sell as many books as Amazon can

* Personalized emails based on your buying preference

* Recommended for you on home page

* People who bought this, also bought

* Understand your customers, genre & expectations. Deliver on the promise.

* Reviews * Sales

* Ranking over time* Likes * Tags

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Correct category for target market

* Look for categories you can rank in as this helps sales algorithms & gets attention

* You get 2 categories on Kindle as well as print. Tagging can get you into others

* Meet expectations of the category

Sunday, 20 January 2013

25

Book Reviews on Book Sales Page

* Social Proof* Recommendation algorithms. Keeps it selling after the spike.

* Add to your description

* US feeds into other stores so focus there

* Give free copies to your list for reviewing. When you get fan mail, ask them for a review

Sunday, 20 January 2013

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Great Book Cover http://bookcovers.creativindie.com/

* Optimize for Amazon page and thumbnail size

* Revamp old books with a new cover* Must be able to read it - be bold

* Look at others in the genre Sunday, 20 January 2013

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Killer Back Blurb & Sales Page* Meta-data * Based on your target market research * Can include table of contents * Use keywords that your target market use * Include review quotes in description box - there’s no limit so use it. * Model successful books * Load on Createspace/ KDP * Also extras on Amazon Central

https://authorcentral.amazon.co.uk/

https://authorcentral.amazon.com/

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Non-Fiction Tip: Use keyword research http://adwords.google.com/o/KeywordTool

* Research keywords on Amazon & Google keyword tool

* Use in book title if possible and keywords when loading to book sites (also works for fiction keywords)

Sunday, 20 January 2013

29

The Sampling Effect Or Look Inside the Book

* Ebook readers sample. It’s how we buy. If you don’t hook me in the first 3 clicks/pages, I delete.

* You can get millions of samples, but people have to click Buy.

* Do you jump straight into the meat? Give people a reason to get the rest?

* Have you used beta reader/editor feedback to improve the book & first few chapters?

Sunday, 20 January 2013

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Appropriate Pricing / Price Pulsing

* Amazon royalties: Under $2.99 = 35% , $2.99 - 9.99 = 70%

* $4.99 - $9.99 for non-fiction ebooks. Look in your category/niche at what others are charging. What is your market happy to pay?

* Cost / benefit to the customer?

* There are no rules - you can play with it.

Sunday, 20 January 2013

31

Strategic use of Free (ebooks only)

* No.1 strategy of many authors who have done well

* It’s a marketing exercise. Gets you more exposure, more data on Amazon algorithms. * Often translates to paid list for a time afterwards, hence the pulsing. Best if you have multiple books.

* Do it through KDP Select or making free on Smashwords which then translates to the other sites

Sunday, 20 January 2013

Need more help?145+ episodes

www.TheCreativePenn.com/podcasts/

or on iTunes ‘The Creative Penn’

http://www.TheCreativePenn.com/resources/

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Sunday, 20 January 2013