Presented to the Publishers & Writers of San Diego on June 25, 2011 by David Wogahn, Sellbox.com

1. eBook Publishing
A Primer on Planning, Publishing
& Marketing eBooks
Publishers & Writers of San Diego
June 25, 2011
Presenter: David Wogahn, Sellbox.com

2. Today’s agenda…and a survey:
1. The Landscape A brief survey…
a. 3 Big Decisions
b. Don’t be an amateur 1. Who has an e-reader?
c. Insights & Hot Topics 2. Who buys ebooks?
2. Publishing
a. Document formats & 3. Who sells ebooks?
prep 4. Who has done their
b. Conversion
own ebook conversion?
c. Selling
d. Metadata
3. Final Thoughts
a. Tools
b. Pre-Launch Marketing
c. Words to the Wise
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

3. The three big subjective decisions
every ebook publisher must make:
1. How much?
2. Use DRM (Digital Rights
Management), or not?
3. Cover design
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

4. Self-Publishing: Now An Option of
“First Resort”
Don’t be an amateur:
1. Invest in a cover “…I thought that if I can
2. Invest in an editor
make a profit at 99 cents,
I no longer have to prove
3. Invest in your pre-launch
marketing I’m as good as them,
rather, they have to prove
they are ten times better
than me”.
-Independently published
author John Locke,
Amazon Kindle Million
Club member
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

5. Insights, Trends & Hot Topics
1. Impulse buying: driven by low prices
2. Collecting: because they are cheap
3. Grazing: no need to finish/return to later
4. Social reading & marginalia: virtual sharing
5. Lending: becoming easier
6. Multi-format buying: e versions driving print
book sales
7. Autographing: clumsy; a feature in progress
8. Spam: a by-product of success
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

6. Document Formatting & Prep
1. JUST WRITE!...and ignore design
2. Use style sheets…for easier conversion
3. e vs. p…ebook layout is evolving
4. Use color images
5. Heading 1…for automated TOC generation
6. Version control…in case you need to roll
back
7. Read the Smashwords Style Guide
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

7. Conversion Option Examples
DIY tools + selling, e.g. B&N Nook (Pubit);
Amazon Kindle (KDP)
Calibre
Smashwords vs. Bookbaby [different models]
Developers and Consultants
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

8. Selling eBooks
1. Amazon
2. Apple
3. Barnes & Noble
4. Diesel
5. Google
6. Sony
7. Many, many more…
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

9. Metadata: Information about
Information (three examples)
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

10. Metadata: Be Consistent & Document
Website, e-stores, newsletters, press
release boilerplate, discussion boards, bio,
photos, etc.
1. Titles
2. Descriptions
3. Keywords
4. Categories
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

11. Recommended Tools
1. MS Word
2. Text editor (Notepad)
3. Smashwords Style Guide, smashwords.com
4. Calibre, calibre-ebook.com
5. Marketing, Google tools:
Alerts
Adwords Keyword Tool
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

12. Pre-Launch Marketing
1. Metadata ready and consistent
2. Update bios, author pages, social profiles
3. Gifting copies
4. Reviews/blubs
5. Press release
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

13. Buy my book How can I contribute?
Where do people that write like
you, read your type of writing,
buy your type of books…hang
out online?
Start participating in these
communities now, even before
you publish.
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

14. Words to the Wise
1. Keep your final manuscript final, and safe
(including graphics)
2. Focus on writing, not presentation
3. Be anal about your metadata
4. Don’t spread your marketing efforts thin.
Pick a couple—ideally those your audience
uses—and master them.
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011

15. ePublishing and Sellbox.com
Sellbox works with businesses and publishers on epublishing
strategies, ebook marketing and ebook conversions.
Our specialty is working with “digital first” authors: businesses,
associations, non-profits and individual writers seeking to leverage
the economic advantages of epublishing. In addition to generating
revenue, project objectives may also include epublishing to create
marketing awareness, education, or cost savings.
sellbox.com david at sellbox dot com (760) 814-1416
David Wogahn Publishers & Writers of San Diego, June 25 2011