Writing an E-Book

[Scott H Young]

Hello all,

I started writing my first e-book about a week ago. Has anyone else gotten into independent book publishing? What were your experiences, I'd like to know what the potential pitfalls and opportunities other people have faced in writing their own books.

How many of you have bought an e-book before? I have several, but I'm looking for others experiences. Anything you noticed an author did that made you not want to purchase an e-book? What was the motivation to purchase an e-book over a paper book? What are your expectations of e-books.

Considering my website and Steve's have somewhat similar topics and audience styles, I'd like to hear your thoughts as it can help me to know what to plan for while writing/editing/publishing.

On an aside note, how much do you think an e-book of 200 pages for general personal development should be worth? I'll have to do more research before getting into a specific price point but I want to know your thoughts. How would a different price (somewhere between 15 - 50$) affect your perception of the book/willingness to purchase.

I have lots of questions, but I'd like to get an idea from audience members on their opinion of e-books. Any advice or suggestions are welcome!

-Scott

[AndrewJ]

Hi Scott, you may be interested in lulu.com which allows you to create printed books from pdf ebooks and then sell both on the lulu site plus at Amazon too for a small fee.

You might also want to check the link in my sig which shows you how to create short, inexpensive ebook reports and use them to generate leads.

Andrew

[Pat P.]

Hi Scott,
As a good rule of thumb, you should define an audience for your book before you start writing. Most information in today books (and ebooks) can be found on the web, but if you are able to provide a new angle or bring ideas from other fields you would do fine.

I bought a couple of ebooks in the past, but their presentation was dissapointing. In addition, it seems that everyone is using the same template for the sale letter, and for the cover of the book. Try to avoid this and if you can, and if possible, create a professional looking site to sell the ebook.

Finally, you could offer a free chapter, or maybe build a small blog where you discuss superficially the topics you present in your ebook. You will increase your chance to be found on a search engine, and give the chance to your potential readers to have a taste of your writing.

Good luck,
Pat

[Dani]

Also, you might want to invest in some e-book authoring software to protect your book, rather than just using a pdf and having someone take your book and give it away, or better yet sell it on their own site!


This software will also often allow you to put music, video and other such computer enhancements in your ebook rather than just straight flat text.

I wouldn't go charging more than 15$ for it unless it has something you can't get anywhere else. Not many people will be willing to shell out 50$ for another self help book.

$50 will buy you several books from famous authors. You will need to provide a good reason why yours is worth $50 for one from an unknown author.

Also ebooks are free to make and sell so you need to really have a good reason because you can pick up a paper copy of a famous PD book for 15 or so dollars which costs money to produce, market and distribute.

$10-15 though, is nothing for most people and many will buy it just to give it a go in case it happens to have something useful.

GET IT PROOF READ. If not by a professional then by someone who at least studied English in University.

Get good sales copy on your site. Find a pro sales writer for this if you can. It might cost you money to get it but good copy = sales , bad copy = tumbleweeds.

Get someone with technical and marketing skills to build your site. Not just one or the other. A site that looks good doesn't necessarily sell, but nor does one that users can't figure out.

Alternately, write your book and get some pros to help you with the rest.

[AndrewJ]

Some good advice there. The problem with security software is that it rules out mac users and can cause extra customer support problems.

Andrew

[Dani]

Depends on the software, but if it was an issue you could always offer a PDF version for Mac users...

I think the extra multimedia benefits outweigh the security benefits. The security is just a plus. One I have on my 'to buy' list allows you to create the book in HTML and anything you can do in HTML you can do in the book. Very powerful stuff

[Caveman Joe]

Scott, I wish you the very best of luck with this, but for the avoidance of doubt - no truly effective form of copy protection has ever been made, or ever will be made. If it can be created and presented, it can be copied, and that's that. When you add copy protection to any product, you only harm legitimate users by burdening them with a higher file size, reduced performance and irritating side-effects - pirates crack and remove the protection usually within minutes of release, so it creates far less problems for the pirates than for the legitimate users.
Take the money that you would have spent on copy protection, and the energy you would have used worrying about whether people will make pirate copies of your book (if it's at least half-decent they will, regardless of whether you worry about it or not), and redirect it into making a good E-book.

[Dani]

lol you make it sound like there are a bunch of pirates hanging out there in cyberspace waiting to pounce on any ebook that is relased and hack it to pieces.

While popular and big focus programs get hacked within days, or occasionally hours, (minutes is a bit of an exaggeration. It takes minutes to install the initial software, a few more minutes to get into the binary and start reverse engineering it) your joe average ebook isn't going to attract that much attention. It is just as likely though that some tard throws it up on ebay, or on his own site if there is no protection.

I do have a general dislike of copy protection software as used by the big companies, as they usually involve installing programs that monitor and control your machine, and in many cases actually affect the performance of your machine with no extra benefits.

However if you offer benefits derived from the security function, and don't make it a painful process, then it can be worthwhile. e.g. A lot of online games don't come with CD protection software, but a serial number instead, because you need the number to actually play the game online. You can't easily get an online account without buying the game as the same serial numbers can't login simultaneously.

Just incorporating a registered serial number doesn't inconvenience readers that much and it is expected with most installs these days.

Plus these days the difference of an extra meg to download is unnoticeable.

Either way, I am advocating such software primarily for the enhancements it offers you and your customers and not for the security reasons.

Rather than a flat lifeless pdf to read they can get an interactive event to experience. The more senses you can involve, and the more interaction you provide the more people will enjoy your work, and the more it will stand out from other lifeless pdf's on the same subject.

Plus a good one will provide with a tool kit to help you assemble a good ebook that people will want to read.

[Scott H Young]

Well I already have a blog, so my audience is already pretty well defined. I currently have about 5000 unique visitors per week (5000 page views per day) and traffic is rising steadily. I've been blogging for over a year with > 200 articles, so the people I expect to buy the book would be my current audience.

I've already built the site infrastructure, so it would just be a simple matter of adding sales features -- most of the work will be producing the book.

AndrewJ,

Thanks for the lulu.com pointer, I'll check them out.

Dani,

I've already experimented with interactive software. I believe there is potential in it, but there are a lot of barriers that prevent it from becoming an immediate reality. You can check out my full, free program "Goals an Interactive Guide" at: Scott H Young » Programs

[AndrewJ]

Scott personally I'd start off selling the ebook with Paypal or Clickbank and then create a hardcopy for Amazon if it is received well.
The nice thing about Clickbank is the affiliate network which can really boost your ebook sales.

Andrew

[Caveman Joe]

Oh, also:
The Elements of Style

This is your best resource for any sort of writing. A lot of good writers (both of fiction and nonfiction) make a habit of re-reading it at least once a year; which is hardly a burden as it's very concise.

[Scott H Young]

AndrewJ,

Thanks a lot for the lulu.com suggestion - it looks like a fantastic offer. I was willing to settle for an e-book because I assumed self-publishing would be out of my league, but this will mean another form of product for people who prefer paper copies (such as myself).

I imagine I'll probably explore a variety of methods of selling. I have heard great things about Clickbank, so I'll definitely check them out.

Caveman Joe,

Thanks for the suggestion. I've already read a few books on writing and I tend to focus more on practice and observation rather than following specific writing guides, but I'm always on the lookout for how to improve my craft. Thanks.

[maclinda]

I'd recommend Clickbank, too. That's where I list mine.

[GoalGuru]

Hi Scott

How fast do you want to make your ebook available? How quickly would you like to earn income from your investment of time and energy?

Consider making your book available via ebook first (fastest) and then offering it via lulu or wherever in physical book form.

Advantages of ebooks are:

instantaneous delivery,
higher price margins and
more opportunities for Joint Ventures

And that is just the beginning...

Live Your Dreams,

-Jill

[Robert Avila]

Hi Scott,

Good luck with your ebook!

You will do awesome. Your writing experience will be a huge asset as will the traffic from your blog visitors.

As far as price goes, that is something you'll want to test. You would be surprised, sometimes a higher price will have a higher conversion rate than a lower price.

Typically you will find $10 to $15 common for ebooks. In the Internet marketing arena however, it's not uncommon to see prices of $47 and up. Your market plays a huge factor on the selling point.

The value of your content is key. When someone reads your ebook it's important they feel as though they have received several times more than what they paid for it. Some ebooks have low page counts...however the content is so valuable it justifies the price.

Be sure to allow a nice window of time for revisions. New ideas always seem to keep flowing and at some point you will just have to save additional content for another ebook so you don't delay your launch date.

Wish you the best!

Robert

[Scott H Young]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I've written twenty pages so far and the book should be published by September.

[Dani]

Do we who have helped get a free e-copy? Digitally Signed by the Author!

[moviestar]

Learn by example, a very succesful e-book: Dating Tips - Secrets To Attracting and Meeting Women

[Scott H Young]

Dani,

Well I'm not in the charity business, but I'll probably need some people to review my book before it is published, so if anyone here is interested, they can send me their e-mails to personal@scotthyoung.com

[Brutha]

lol you make it sound like there are a bunch of pirates hanging out there in cyberspace waiting to pounce on any ebook that is relased and hack it to pieces.

It is only a matter of time before a popular book or ebook get circulated through usenet/emule & co.

[Scott H Young]

Brutha,

Fighting piracy is always a battle between protecting your property and wasting time with a problem that can't be completely fixed. It's a bit like trying to stop water coming out of bucket with holes in it. You can do your best to block the holes, but at some point you just lose less water moving it faster to where you need the water.

You should make piracy difficult, but if you start doing it at the price of sales, you're hurting yourself.