A white paper on self-publishing eBooks and selling them online. To learn more and start selling eBooks, visit https://www.payloadz.com

1. PayLoadz
Self-Publishing EBooks
A complete guide on creating, publishing and selling
eBooks yourself
www.payloadz.com
4/14/2013

2. Table of Contents
THE GROWTH OF SELF-PUBLISHING 3
SELF-PUBLISHING AND EBOOKS – MADE FOR EACH OTHER 3
HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH EBOOKS 4
Research 4
Outline Development 4
Writing 5
Editing and Proofreading 5
Cover Image 5
Layout and Formats 5
Marketing 6
Sales and Delivery 6
SALES PLATFORM FOR SELLING EBOOKS 6
BIBLIOGRAPHY 7

3. The Growth of Self-Publishing
About a decade ago, self-publishing was seen as an option for those writers who failed to secure a
traditional publisher for their books. This perception has changed dramatically. Many writers now
choose to self-publish their works, and some make and break revenue records. Self-published works
have even made it to the New York Times Best Sellers list.
According to Bowker, the official ISBN Agency for the United States, self-publishing in United States
grew by 287 percent between 2006 and 2011. There were more than 235,000 self-published print and
eBook titles in 2012.
The actual figure for self-published titles is even higher than what Bowker reports because those figures
are based on the number of ISBNs issued, whereas a significantly large number of books and eBooks are
sold without ISBNs.
Self-publishing is not new; it has existed for centuries.Some renowned and highly successful self-
published books include Laurence Sterne's "Tristram Shandy" (1759), Jane Austen’s "Pride and
Prejudice" (1813), "What Color is Your Parachute" by Richard Nelson Bolles (1970), "In Search of
Excellence" by Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. (1982) and "Chicken Soup for the Soul" by
Canfield and Hansen (1993).
More recently, some of the self-published eBooks that have become hugely popular are Hugh Howey’s
"Wool" and Amanda Hocking’s "Switched."
The advances in technology, rapid buildup of the self-publishing ecosystem and lots of success stories in
the last decade have fueled the growth of self-publishing, which is now a mainstream activity and a
business opportunity worth pursuing.
Self-Publishing and EBooks – Made for Each Other
Self-publishing is not restricted to print books only. You can publish work in several formats, including
eBooks. EBooks especially have a certain advantage over other formats and specifically over print books.
Here are some advantages:
Low Prices: It costs more to produce a print book than an eBook. Because of the lower production costs,
eBooks are offered to readers at significantly lower prices. The lower price, along with comparable
quality of content, makes eBooks a preferred format over print books.
No Rejections: In the traditional publishing world, publishers are the curators and the final word
regarding whether a book is worth selling. That results in rejections of books, including some great
quality works. Authors no longer have to be at the mercy of publishers and rely on their guesses about
the success of any book. Authors can now self-publish ebooks and sell to readers directly, engage with
them and take their feedback. The feedback from readers is the real gauge that authors can use to
refine their work and generate more sales.

4. Virtually Unlimited Shelf Space: In the traditional retail model, books have to fight for shelf space, and
books that don’t sell well are soon taken off the shelves. EBooks provide self-publishers an opportunity
to have a shelf space for virtually unlimited amount of time and be discovered by readers.
Never Out of Print: An eBook never goes out of print until the author stops selling it. Traditional brick-
and-mortar stores return unsold books to publishers, and the books with high number of returns are
forced out of print. With eBooks, authors don’t have to worry about that and can continue selling their
works for as long as they wish.
Going Global is Quick: Traditional publishing often restricts authors from catering to readers in other
areas of the world. Self-published eBook authors have the flexibility to be available to readers across the
globe. An eBook can be made available on various online stores in a matter of few hours with the help of
the Internet and new technology.
Perpetual Improvement: An author has complete independence in terms of updating an eBook as many
times as required. Authors can change the cover image or can add a new chapter. EBook authors enjoy
flexibility.
How to Self-Publish EBooks
Self-publishing eBooks, though easy, is not something that anyone can do without some knowledge. It is
a business and needs to be operated as one. A self-publisher has to manage and possibly do all the
work, which can include topic research, eBook cover design, writing and distribution. While you may be
tempted to do all that on your own, it is wise to use specialized people, services and tools to do tasks
that you are not an expert in.
Here's what you need to do to self-publish and sell eBooks:
Research
Find a topic that readers are interested in and will be willing to pay for. If you already have a ready
manuscript and want to get it published, you can skip this step. But, it is important to find out the size of
the market and the opportunity. To research the market, find out what people are buying on websites,
look at the bestsellers lists, conduct a survey on social networks, and join discussion groups and reading
networks.
When you are researching, look at the e-reading devices that your target readers use. For example,
business books may be read by professionals on their smartphones, whereas fiction books may be read
by people on devices like iPad or Kindle.
Outline Development
An outline is the skeleton of book. The outline should be developed based on the findings from your
research. An outline generally consists of everything you want to tell readers. That includes the title, the

5. subtitle and chapter headings. The goal during this step should be to put down everything on paper. It
does not have to be in order at this point. The order and contents of the outline might change once you
start writing and as more thoughts develop.
Writing
Writing the eBook begins after you have developed the outline. You may use any word processing tool
such as Microsoft Word, OpenOffice or any other tool for writing your book. The goal at this stage
should be to write the content for the sections of the outline and to make the text connect to and flow
from one section of the outline to another. Organize and edit the outline to structure the book. Remove
any redundant parts or information that isn't useful. Some eBook sellers hire ghostwriters, while they
act as the guiding force behind the content.
Editing and Proofreading
Editing is a specialized task; not every writer makes a good editor. Editing is one of the most important
steps in making the eBook worthy for readers, yet many self-published authors often overlook that part.
Hire an editor for your book. An experienced editor or an editor with extensive knowledge regarding
your book's subject is best.
Cover Image
The cover image has the potential to make an eBook successful. A great cover image is what leads a
casual browser to open the page of your eBook and possibly to buy it. A well-designed cover image also
sets the reader’s expectation about the content and quality of the book. Consider hiring a professional
designer to create the cover image.
Layout and Formats
The eBook layout involves creating the interior of the eBook with the text, graphics and photos. It also
involves choosing the right font type, color and size along with the background color. All those elements
should look good on e-reading devices with screen sizes ranging from 3-inch mobile phone screens to
30-inch desktop screens. The reader might also zoom in and zoom out on each page.
An eBook can be sold in various formats such as PDF, .Mobi and ePub. Depending on your target market
and your own preference, you may choose one or more formats for publishing your eBook. The PDF
format is one of the most popular and universally acceptable.
With some technical knowledge that can be gained from reading online and with some effort, you can
create an eBook layout and convert it in different formats yourself. There are specialized services
available for help that you may consider hiring to help with layout, conversion or both.

6. Marketing
The self-publishing business needs good marketing to generate sales. Marketing should really begin
before you have the edited manuscript; however, it’s never too late to begin. When you are marketing
eBooks, your goal is to connect with readers, which requires you to be visible where your readers are.
Here are some of the marketing activities you should do:
Create a blog and engage with the visitors
Create a Facebook page
Identify other social networks where your readers are likely to be, and create profiles
Build an email list to communicate with readers
Join forums, groups and clubs related to books, and participate
Connect with book review bloggers
Send press releases
Write guest posts on related blogs
Sales and Delivery
Some self-published authors sell eBooks from their website, some sell through marketplaces like eBay,
and others sell through online retailers like Amazon. As a self-publisher, you can display and sell from
the places of your choice, and you can use multiple sales fronts to maximize sales.
The sale and distribution of eBooks involve collecting payment for the eBook from buyers and delivering
the eBook. For selling an eBook, you will need a place to display it, a storage space to store it, payment
gateways to collect payment from customers, and a mechanism to deliver the eBook to the buyer after
completion of purchase. One way of doing that is to use individual services to perform the tasks of
display, payment collection and delivery. Another and more efficient way is to use a sales platform that
provides all those services and more in a single package.
Sales Platform for Selling EBooks
A sales platform helps you sell eBooks, processes payments and delivers the eBooks to buyers.
A sales platform makes it simple for customers to buy eBooks. In the beginning, you might have only one
or two eBooks to sell. You can always add more eBooks as you get them finished. Whether buyers find
your eBook on your website or through your affiliate marketing on Amazon and other bookseller pages,
you need tools to make the purchase process functional. Buying on Amazon through your site, without
leaving Amazon, is possible with the right sales platform. The buying process becomes streamlined.
With automated delivery, buyers receive eBooks immediately instead of waiting for you to process their
purchase requests.
The sales platform that you choose should have the following features:

7.  An easy-to-use process to upload and publish your eBook sales listing
 A place that allows selling the eBook on your website, other sites and popular eBook stores
 Marketing tools for increasing popularity and sales
 Automated delivery of eBooks
 Multiple payment gateway choices
PayLoadz is one of the sales platforms available to you. It is a full-service sales platform for selling
eBooks as well as other digital content such as audiobooks and videos. On this site, uploading your
eBook, creating a store listing and marketing the book are extremely easy and quick.
Writing an eBook takes time and dedication. To ensure this hard work is not lost, you need a sales
platform and marketing techniques that help readers find and buy your eBook. You can then become
successful making money by selling eBooks.
Find us at www.payloadz.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/payloadz Twitter:www.twitter.com/payloadz
Bibliography
Bowker.com. (2012, 10 24).Self-Publishing Sees Triple-Digit Growth in Just Five Years, Says Bowker®,
from bowker.com: http://www.bowker.com/en-US/aboutus/press_room/2012/pr_10242012.shtml