A Crash Course in E-book Self-Publishing: How to Do It Fast, Free & Easy AND How to Become a Bestselling E-book Author - from Smashwords!
E-books are the fastest-growing segment of the publishing industry, and self-published authors are in the lead. This introduction to e-book self-publishing will teach you how to publish like a professional and reach a global market. Learn the top trends in e-publishing, followed by a step-by-step checklist of what’s involved to produce, publish, price, distribute, and market your e-book. This session addresses every author’s most common questions about e-book formatting, conversion, cover images, ISBNs, copyright, piracy, pricing, and distribution. The panel will give you the foundational knowledge you need to become a more professional, more successful author, regardless of your publishing experience, without technical jargon—all terms are defined in plain English.
Self-published e-book authors are hitting all the bestseller lists. Nearly every week, self-published e-books are featured on the New York Times bestseller list and in the top-10 bestseller lists at every major retailer. What are these authors doing to make their books stand out from the million-plus books crowding online e-book shelves? What can you do as a self-published author to take your e-book to the next level of success?
This session identifies the best practices of the most commercially successful self-published e-book authors. Session attendees will hear real-life examples of how many self-published authors broke out to become bestsellers. Among the many secrets in this presentation are best practice strategies for cover design (including examples and a cool case study), pricing, platform-building, distribution, how to turbo-charge word-of-mouth with viral catalysts and how to tap into the global market.
10. Publishers Said “No”
• Despite great efforts by his agent,
every major publisher said NO!
(TWICE!!)
11. Mark Decided Big Publishing was
Broken
• Books judged on perceived commercial merit
• Difficult to identify potential bestsellers
• Cannot take a risk on every book
• Reject many great authors
• Hundreds of thousands of writers silenced
12. Mark’s Answer: Smashwords
Democratize ebook publishing & distro
• Free ebook publishing tools
• Distribution to major ebook stores
• Shared best practices knowledge
13. Enough about me and Smashwords
Let’s talk about you and ebooks
20. Writers who dreamed of becoming
published authors felt they needed to bow
down to Big Publishing
21. They felt they weren’t *really* authors
until accepted by a publisher
… and until they were accepted, their
dreams had to wait
22. Publishers Controlled Dreams
• Promised Perks of Reaching Our Dreams
• editing
• printing press
• distribution
• marketing
• royalties
• fame and respect
• readers
• “published author” inscribed
on your tombstone
23. … and if you even considered the idea of
self-publishing...
24. You were told to keep toiling and waiting.
And waiting….
… you’d get a deal when you’ve sacrificed
enough of your soul like these other great
writers…
34. Bookselling moves to the Web
• The decline of brick and mortar
• Consumer drivers:
Price
Convenience
Selection
• Self-published books displayed
side by side with traditional books
• Big publishers no longer control
distribution
37. Ebooks as percentage of US
wholesale trade market
0
10
20
30
40
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
1%.5%
3%
8%
19%
>30%
Source: Association of American Publishers; 2012 Smashwords estimate
38. Why ebooks are hot
• Screens offer better reading experience than
paper
• Changeable font size
• Portable and compact
• Screens will get better/faster/cheaper
• Ebooks offer better consumption experience
• Lower cost than print
• Convenient sampling and purchasing
• Huge selection
A B C D
43. New tools open book publishing
and distribution to all
• Authors and small presses now
empowered to professionally
publish
• Printing press in the cloud
• Distribution to major online retailers,
libraries
• Knowledge of best practices freely
accessible to all
47. Publishers losing their primacy
• Writers no longer need publishers to
publish, distribute and sell
• Writers starting to ask:
• “What can a publisher do for me that I can’t
do for myself?”
• “Can a publisher actually harm my ability to
reach readers (by pricing too high)?”
48. Indies are Now Out-Publishing Big
Publishers
• Indies scaling all the bestseller lists
• Retailer and traditional media lists
• Indie ebook author advantages
• faster time to market
• better distribution to global market
• never go out of print
• greater creative control
• lower expenses
• lower prices to consumers
• earn more per book
49. Indie Ebook Authors Earn Higher
Percentage of List Price
• Indies earn more at lower prices
• Indies earn more selling a $.99 ebook ($.60-$.70) than a
traditional $8.00 MMP ($.40)
• At $2.99, indies earn $1.80. Trad. author would have to
sell at $10+
• Lower price = reach more readers = more sales at
higher profits per sale
• Higher price = less readers
60-80% 5-17%
Indie Traditional
51. Checklist for Publishing an Ebook
Finish a super-awesome book
Format the book prior to conversion
Prepare cover image
Ebook conversion to multiple formats
Pricing
ISBNs
Copyright
Distribution
52. Finish Your Super-Awesome Book
• Ebook publishing tools make publishing
fast, free and easy, but…
• They don’t make it easy to write a great
book
• You’re the publisher, act like one
• Edit, edit, edit, revise, revise, revise
• Involve beta readers (then revise again)
• Hire professional editor if necessary
54. Formatting is the layout and design
process to prepare your book for
ebook conversion
55. Formatting Secrets
• Forget (some of) what you know
• Don’t try to make e- look like p-
• Ebooks consumed differently than print
• Design for reflowability, small screens
• Less = more with ebooks
56. Ebook devices (and customers)
shape shift text
• Example of Smashwords novel, All Good
Things Die in L.A. by Anhoni Patel
• iPhone, using the Stanza reader with user-
selected options
58. Create Your Ebook Cover
• Covers are important
• First impression
• Covers are both marketing and content
• Should look
• engaging, matched to target audience
• professional
• good as thumbnail
• good as B&W, greyscale
60. DIY Cover, or Hire Professional?
• Good covers make a promise (so do
bad covers)
• Unless you’re an expert graphic
designer or cover designer, it’s best to
hire
69. Pricing
• Determine objective
• Platform building, sales, or both?
• Think like a fisherman
• Blended strategy of chum and hooks, low
prices and higher prices
• Investigate
• Check out what others are doing. Don’t
over/under price your books.
70. Considerations Beyond Price
• Quality, reader (fan) passion
• Length
• Author platform/brand
• Marketing that builds urgency
• Series or not
• Non-fiction supports higher prices
72. What’s an ISBN?
• What it is:
• Unique digital identifier
• A 13-digit number
• Helps supply chain communicate about book
• Required for distribution to Apple, Sony, Kobo
• What it is NOT:
• Does not connote ownership or copyright
• Does not imply “professional” or “real”
• Not a common discovery method
73. Where to Obtain an ISBN
• Go to Bowker.com
• Expensive unless you purchase blocks of
10+
• Lists you as “publisher” in Books in Print
• Go to Smashwords
• FREE ISBNs
84. #1 Write a great book
• Honor your reader with a great book
• Turn readers into evangelists
• With the power to publish comes the
responsibility to be a superb publisher
• Be fanatical about quality
• Edit, revise, edit, revise, repeat
• Leverage beta readers
Super Awesome
^
86. #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
99. #3 Publish Another Great Book
• Best-selling authors and
publishers at Smashwords offer
deep backlists
• Each ebook offers the opportunity to
cross-promote other titles
• Build trust with your reader
• You’re the brand
102. #4 Maximize Distribution, Avoid
Exclusivity
• Ebook retailing is not like sports, religion or
politics
• If your book is not available everywhere, it’s
not discoverable or purchasable
• Retailers & device-makers invest millions of
dollars to attract readers to your books
• Consider using a distributor to get your book
sold in as many ebook stores as possible
• Spend your time writing, producing,
marketing
104. #5 Give (some of) Your Books
away for Free
• Most misunderstood, underutilized market
development tool
• If you have a deep backlist, offer at least one
full-length book for free
• Eliminates financial risk for first-time readers
• Turbo charges a series
• The highest grossing authors/publishers at
Smashwords offer at least one free book
106. #6 Patience is a Virtue
• Ebooks sales 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
• Ebooks are immortal
• Never go out of print
• When your book lands at retailer, it’s a
seedling, nourish it
• An asset – a fruit tree – that will yield fruit over the
long term
• Never pull out by the roots
111. #7 Trust Your Readers and
Partners
• Don’t worry so much about piracy
• DRM copy protection is counterproductive
• If you don’t trust your readers to honor your
copyright, you’ll reach fewer paid readers
• Trust your supply chain partners
• If you limit distribution due to lack of trust,
you’ll limit your sales
113. #8 Platform Building Starts
Yesterday
• Platform = your ability to reach readers
• Utilize multiple tools
• Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus
• Book sales, free downloads
• Cultivate your social network
• Contribute, share ideas, support your fellow
writers and publishers
• Don’t spam your network
115. #9 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,
social media, networking
119. How to Architect for Virality
• Implement the Secrets
• Eliminate friction that limits
• availability
• sampling
• purchasing
• enjoyment
Additional resource: Read The Viral Loop by Adam Penenberg
120. Viral Catalysts
• Every thing you do right increases
virality
Great cover
Great story
Professionally edited
Great title
Great book description
Great book
Great marketing
Fair price
Social media enabled
Sampling enabled
Multiple formats
Broad distribution
Good formatting
Good categorization
LUCK!
122. #10 Unit Volume and Royalty
Rate are Levers for Success
• Unit volume (sales and downloads)
increase platform, drives readers to
your backlist
• Unit sales X royalty rate = profit
• Pricing strategy essential to
maximize both
125. How Price Impacts Units Sold
Our reference point is $10+. So, looking back to the left, books priced at $.99 sell 3.9x more than books that sell at $10 and above. $1.99 is a black hole, but $3.99, we’ve learned, has become a sweet spot. Currently, $2.99
seems the most popular price point, and authors may even be under pricing their books.We suspect that $3.99 may become “the new $2.99” once authors discover they’re selling $4.3 times as many books.
You might conclude, correctly, by a simple glance that chart that as prices go up, unit sales decrease. But what price nets the author the most earnings?
--
• This set of data examines how price impacts unit sales
• 1.0 = normalized reference point. For example, books priced in $3.00-$3.99 price band, on average sell 4.3 times more units than books priced $10.00+
• Key findings:
• Low prices tend to sell more units (not a surprise)
• $1.99 price point dramatically underperforms (surprise)
• Is $3.99 the new $2.99? I see untapped opportunity there, where indies may be able to raise prices but not suffer unit volume decline.
127. What Price Yields the Greatest
Author Earnings?
Again, using $10.00+ as our reference point, and 100% as our average, we can see that $3.99 books, on average, netted the
authors more earnings (profit per unit, multiplied by units sold) than the average book at any price. When we look at the $3.99
price point compared to the average @ 100%, that price earned the author about %55 more. So if you’re trying to make a
decision about how to price your book in order to attract readers and still get a respectable earning, now you know that an
ebook priced at $3.99 will produce more earnings for you AND enable you to reach >4X the amount of readers that a book
priced at $10+.
The lower-priced books are building author brand faster. Never mind that an indie author earns more per $3.99 unit sold than a
traditionally published author earns at $10. If an author can earn the same or greater income selling lower cost books, yet reach
significantly more readers, then, drum roll please, it means the authors who are selling higher priced books through traditional
publishers are at an extreme disadvantage to indie authors in terms of long term platform building.
128. The Interplay Between Unit
Volume and Dollar Volume
Implications
• Lower priced books sell more units
• Ebooks priced @ $3.99 EARN MORE and REACH 4X
MORE READERS than ebooks priced @ $10+.
• Indie ebook authors’ long-term advantage over
traditionally published authors
130. #11 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
133. Apple, B&N, Kobo, Amazon and
others are going global
You Have the Tools to Reach a
Worldwide Market Today, and
The Tools are FREE
134. Apple operates iBookstores in 51 countries.
In Sept 2012, ~46% of Smashwords Apple
iBookstore sales were outside the US.
The market for your books outside the US
will soon dwarf the US market.
136. DON’T FORGET
• Your opportunity to reach readers has
never been greater
• Free tools make it fast, free and easy
to publish a book
• A great book is your best marketing