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 list@smashwords.com

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

• Facebook

• 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