The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success
Ebook Publishing Best Practices
September, 2013
Mark Coker Founder, Smashwords
Twitter: @markcoker
Notes for the Slideshare edition of this presentation
This is the companion deck to a Smashwords video workshop available on YouTube
Here are links to each video in this 5-part series:
#1 - An Introduction to Ebook Publishing (a primer and e-publishing checklist) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khM4czIJUVM
#2 - The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices secrets for reaching more readers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnd7jYcjqm8
#3 - Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More Books (pricing strategy and fun metrics) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rrl4NExo3Y
#4 - 10 Trends Driving the Future of Authorship (indie authors are the future of publishing!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbT7r-DUa6M
#5 - How to Reach More Readers at Apple iBooks (merchandising secrets to grow sales!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKwwcL_FS_c
The complete video collection is at http://www.youtube.com/user/smashwords
View more Smashwords presentations on Slideshare at http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/presentations
About this video
• What you’ll learn
• 16 best practices tips for reaching more readers
• Topics covered include book marketing, retail distribution strategy, pricing strategy, cover design, author platform building, preorders and more
• Who this video is for
• Writers, aspiring authors, published authors
• No technical experience required!
• If you’re new to ebooks, check out our Introduction to Ebook Publishing video on Youtube
This is me
My Backstory
In 2002, we decided to write a satire about the daytime television soap
opera industry
2004-2005: Publishers Said “No”
• Despite great efforts of our agent, every major NY publisher said NO (TWICE!)
I evaluated our options
1. The rational option Accept failure
2. The irrational option
Believe in ourselves
Mortgage our home and try to fix the problem
The problem
• The publishing industry was failing to serve Authors
Readers
The future of books
• Publishers could only guess what readers wanted to buy
• Throwing spaghetti against the wall
I imagined a publishing revolution where writers would rise up and take control
Writers needed the tools for revolution..
.. tools that would enable them to professionally publish without publishers
My solution: Smashwords
• FREE eBook Publishing Platform
Free ebook printing press
Distribution to major ebook retailers and libraries
Best practices knowledge to help writers become professional publishers
The Smashwords Mission
• The goal:
• Make it fast, free and easy to publish an ebook
• Give writers the freedom to publish what they want
• Give readers the freedom to decide what’s worth reading
How Smashwords Works
• UPLOAD
• Author uploads their manuscript to Smashwords (Word .doc or epub)
• Instant, free ebook conversion
• For sale within 3 minutes
• DISTRIBUTE
• Distribution to retailers and libraries
• GET PAID
• Author earns 60-80% list
• Quarterly payments
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Ebooks published at Smashwords
140 6,000
28,800
92,000
191,000
250,000+ September 2013
Let’s talk best practices
Smashwords make ePublishing and eDistribution Easy…
Reaching Readers is Still Difficult *
* but achievable if you emulate best practices
Let’s review 16 best practices of the best-selling indie authors
FREE at all major ebook retailers
Download to learn all 30 best practices
Secret One
#1 Your best marketing is a great book
• With the power to publish comes the responsibility to be a great publisher
• Honor your reader with a great book
• Move reader to a satisfying emotional extreme
• Turns readers into evangelists
• Be fanatical about quality
• Edit, revise, edit, revise, repeat, proof
• Leverage beta readers
Secret Two
#2 Create a Great Cover image
• Invest in a quality cover image
• Your first impression on path to discovery
• Look professional
• Resonate with target audience
• Makes a promise to the reader
• Should arrest reader with thumb nail
Check out “Mark’s List” of low cost cover designers. Email [email protected]
What’s this book about?
Don’t do this
Don’t do this either
Great covers make a promise
Great covers make a promise
Great covers make a promise
Great covers make a promise
Great covers make a promise
Great covers make a promise
A case study: Look what happened when the author went from this
cover
… to this cover…
The cover sparked a breakout at Apple
And landed her on the NY Times Bestseller List
Secret Three
#3 Publish Another Great Book
• The best-selling authors on Smashwords offer deep backlists
• Each new ebook offers opportunity to
• cross-promote other titles
• build trust with your reader
• build your brand
Secret Four
#4 Give (some of) Your Books away for Free
• If you have a deep backlist, offer at least one full-length book for free
• Eliminates financial risk for first-time readers
• ~91X more downloads
• Turbocharges a series
• Free works for standalone promos too
• The highest grossing authors at Smashwords offer at least one free book
Secret Five
#5 Patience is a Virtue
• Ebooks are immortal
• Never go out of print
• When your book lands at retailer, it’s a seedling, nourish it
• Never remove
• Ebooks develop differently
• Traditional print books – big sell-in, then yanked from shelves, then sales go to zero
• Ebooks – can start small and grow slowly before breakout
• Let’s look at some examples…
Slow boil, breakout, slow boil, bigger breakout
Slow boil, slow build, breakout, slow boil
Slow boil, breakout, slow boil, smaller breakouts
Slow boil to breakout
Ruth Ann Nordin’s An Inconvenient Marriage
Secret Six
#6 Maximize Availability, Avoid Exclusivity
• Ebook retailing is not like sports, religion or politics
• If your book is not available at every retailer, it’s not discoverable or purchasable
• Exclusivity
• angers fans
• limits audience
• limits merchandising opportunities
• increases your dependence upon a single sales outlet
Ebook retailers want indie ebooks
Secret Seven
#7 Build your Platform
• Platform gives you control, leverage
• Platform is your ability to reach and cultivate fans
• Let fans decide how to connect
• Blog and/or website
• Mailing list subscription
• Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn
• Include “Connect with the author” links at the end of every book
Secret Eight
Secret #8 Architect for Virality
• Books have always been a word of mouth business
• Your readers determine your success
• Understand the power of your “First Reader”
• Reach First Readers with marketing
The Viral Dream
First reader
More Readers
Viral Decay, The Reality
First reader
Readers
Negative Virality
First reader
This booksucks!!!!
= Last reader
Fun fact: 29 of 30 Apple bestsellers had rating of 4.5 stars
How to Architect for Virality
• Implement best practices
• Avoid mistakes that undermine
• Eliminate friction that limits
• availability
• discoverability
• sampling
• purchasing
• enjoyment
• Leverage viral catalysts
What’s a Viral Catalyst?
• A viral catalyst is anything that makes your book more available, accessible, desirable and enjoyable to readers
• Read the Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (it’s FREE!) to learn how viral catalysts spur word-of-mouth
Viral Catalysts
• Every thing you do right increases virality
Great coverGreat bookBroad distributionFair priceGood categorizationProfessionally editedGreat formatting
Great titleGreat book descriptionGreat marketingSocial media enabledSampling enabledMultiple formatsLUCK!
• Fall short anywhere, and you create unnecessary friction
Secret Nine
Secret #9 Pricing Strategy is Lever for Success
• Pricing strategy impacts unit sales
• Unit volume (sales and downloads) builds author platform, drives readers to your backlist
• Unit sales X royalty per unit = profit
• Pricing strategy essential to maximize both
How Price Impacts Units Sold
What Price Yields the Greatest Author Earnings?
Secret Ten
Secret 10: Don’t Worry about Piracy
Everything you need to know about piracy
• Obscurity is bigger risk
• Black hat pirates who steal your book wouldn’t have purchased it anyway
• Most piracy is accidental – it’s an enthusiastic fan marketing your book for you
Irrational fear of piracy leads leads to obscurity
• The only reliable method of piracy prevention is to NEVER PUBLISH
• Anti-piracy measures such as DRM only limit availability, accessibility and enjoyment (they create FRICTION)
• Combat piracy by making your book easier to purchase than steal
• Low, fair price
• Broad distribution
Secret Eleven
Secret #11 Leverage Preorders!
• Catalyst for increased sales
• At Apple and Kobo, accumulated sales credit all at once on “onsale” date
• Increased visibility leads to virtuous, self-reinforcing cycle of sales, also boughts
• Capture the reader’s order
• Budget 4-6 week preorder “runway”
• Execute multi-part advance marketing plan
• Increases retailer merchandising opps
• NEW! - Smashwords delivers preorders to Apple, B&N and Kobo!
Secret Twelve
Secret #12 Practice Partnership and Positivity
• Your fellow authors and service providers are your partners
• Help them be successful
• Learn from them
• Share your secrets
• Positivity trumps negativity
• Relationships give you upper hand
• Internet rants are permanent
• Google alerts keep no secrets
Secret Thirteen
Secret #13 Collaborate with Fellow Authors
• Identify authors you love and your fans will love
• Publish collaborations
• Short story collections
• Box sets
• Joint promos
• They have fans you don’t reach, you have fans they don’t reach
• Everyone wins
Secret Fourteen
Secret #14 Think Globally
You Have the Tools to Reach a Worldwide Market Today
The tools are FREE
The Global Ebook Opportunity
• Countries outside the US are entering the exponential growth phase of their ebook markets
• Ebook retailers going global
• Apple iBooks (51 countries), Amazon (~13), Kobo (14+), B&N (US, U.K.+)
• ~45% of Smashwords/iBooks sales global
Secret Fifteen
Secret #15 Add three sections to backmatter
• About the Yourname Lastname
• Short bio
• Other books by Yourname Lastname
• Title 1
• Title 2
• Connect with Yourname Lastname
• Facebook:
• Twitter:
• Web site:
• Blog:
• Smashwords author page:
Secret Sixteen
Secret #16 Pinch Your Pennies
• You’re running a business
• Profit = Sales minus Expenses
• Most books don’t sell well (!!!!)
• NEVER borrow money to publish a book
• NEVER spend or invest money you need for food and shelter
• DIY then reinvest
Thanks for Listening, and Good Luck!
Free Ebook Publishing Resources
• Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of successful authors)
• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book)
• Smashwords Style Guide (how to format an ebook)
Connect with Smashwords
Connect with Smashwords:
Web: www.smashwords.com
Smashwords FAQ: https://www.smashwords.com/about/supportfaq
Connect with Mark Coker:Blog: blog.smashwords.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/markcoker
Facebook: facebook.com/markcoker
HuffPo: huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker
Twitter: @markcoker
