Self-Publishing: An Introduction

I am going to introduce and lay some of the groundwork here for self-publishing eBooks. There is a whole lot to cover but I will attempt to provide links and some insight into this ever-changing method of publishing your work. By far, the most beneficial links I can give you are going to be listed right after this paragraph so that you can geek out and look on your own. Below the link list is a narrative that I would like to be continued by all who are interested. One thing that I want everyone to remember that a fine young woman said to me: "Books don't have to be good to sell, you just have to have a niche, a ton of material and know how to market." I am paraphrasing a little because I was obviously distracted by the beauty here but there is some truth in that. Please, stay away from most of the "Secrets to selling eBooks and getting rich" type of material sold on www.Amazon.com For some of the eBook one stop shops, keep in mind that for the majority of these, they are looking to sell 10 copies of 150,000 books, not 150,000 copies of 10 books. That is how they make their money.

Links to add to your favorites to look through as you geek out and read the rest of my post:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10119891-82/self-publishing-a-book-25-things-you-need-to-know/

http://reviews.cnet.com/how-to-self-publish-an-e-book
(The above two are from +David Carnoy really great links here and an excellent summary of what it all means for self-publishing an eBook. Really a great how to.

http://www.authoragency.com/ (basically a middle man, but they offer some good, expensive services)
http://www.ingramcontent.com/pages/home.aspx
http://web.blogads.com/adspotgroups/mininetwork.2007-04-27.1123778986/ba_mininetwork_view
(paid blogs to get book reviews)
http://www.smashwords.com/
http://www.publishgreen.com/
www.createspace.com
 

 Novel Concept publishing (http://www.novelconceptpublishing.com/) is a small-scale publishing house that focuses on the editing and production of eBooks. They publish +Jason Halstead works which I wrote a review on yesterday. Traditional publishers and writers may consider up and coming publishers like Novel Concept a “subsidy press” or “vanity press”, which produce books upon acceptance and up-front payment from authors who may be considered not publishable by traditional means in the traditional market (www.poets.org). From the writer’s point of view, using a subsidy press is advantageous in that it represents an elimination of an unreachable and often unwilling middleman, the traditional publisher, in the process of publishing a work. The combination of the eBook market and disenfranchised writers has led to a streamlined production process. Truly, anyone with a computer, Internet, and written work can self-publish. They can either opt to gain assistance from a small publisher such as Novel Concept or go it alone.

The solo approach can be difficult as there are so many business which offer services to aspiring authors and publishers. www.Bookbaby.com, along with www.CDbaby.com for music, boasts “eBook distribution to the biggest retailers in the world, including Apple's iBookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Sony Reader Store, Kobo, and more…with 0% cut of the sales” (Bookbaby.com). Bookbaby, among others, takes payment for publishing packages. They offer “editing and cover design, to ISBNs and author websites and printing services…” (Bookbaby.com). There are many one stop shops similar as this option. Any young writer would truly have to weed out all of the choices out there as some are simply looking for the immediate payment alone. For some of these, they are looking to sell 10 copies of 150,000 books, not 150,000 copies of 10 books. Amazon also has a direct approach for authors and publishers to produce material direct to their Kindle marketplace.

Unlike Bookbaby, wwwAmazon.com has its own built-in marketing strategy, boasting “massive amounts of data mirroring user patterns and buying preferences, allowing further customization of the user experience” (http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/home/index.html). The marketing strategy described relates to everything else that Amazon sells, which is nearly anything. This brings the consumer in direct contact with what they are most likely to buy, or most likely to decide to buy without prior motivation. While there are many options for self-publishing or independent publishing, writers and small publishers have to choose strategy carefully as marketing is ultimately their own responsibility.

Marketing is again a large portion of a traditional publisher’s budget which an author would have to do by himself if choosing to self-publish. With the recognizable advantages of social media, personal promotion is certainly possible, especially within the growing eBook realm. Developing a digital social base is of absolute importance for writers who wish to promote. If a writer is truly interested in selling eBooks, he or she has to create a fan base within the same digital realm in which he or she wants to sell. Marketing platforms such as personal websites, www.Facebook.com, www.Twitter.com and www.blogger.com can be used to empower authors and drive customers to new work. A vanity style press or self-publishing business model must take advantage of social media in order to be successful and build a brand. This marketing technique would have meaningless impact on the book market for author and consumer alike if not for eBooks and the direct-to-consumer scenario they harbor.   

Truly a modern market, eBooks have augmented the traditional book and publishing systems with high impact in such a short amount of time. Each year, companies develop new devices to lure away traditional book buyers and add to the ease of access that current eBook consumers enjoy. The United States leads this market, with “3.7 million eReader owners at the end of 2009…and eBook revenue accounting for 7.2% of all consumer book sales in 2010” (PriceWaterhouseCoopers). Trends also suggest that “eBooks will have a market share of 22.5% of consumer books in 2015.” (PWC). As all of these statistics suggest, the eBook market is not going anywhere but up in the near future. Due to the direct approach that self-publishing or subsidy publishing represents, one can easily recognize a beneficial relationship for writers, sellers, and consumers. You can look up more eBook stats at http://www.infodocket.com/2011/05/23/aap-releases-march-2011-book-and-ebook-sales-numbers/

Jason Halstead (the author I reviewed yesterday) has benefited from the current open market described which allows authors the freedom to personally have a hand in the marketing process. Amazon empowers all sellers to set their own pricing. Many young authors who are promoting a series will “sell” the first book for free, counting on avid readers to be hooked and buy the rest of the series. The Voidhawk series dances between two genres that are known both for series writing and readers who avidly consume multiple works. A unique marketing scheme is needed for this scenario. Halstead lures readers of both genres by giving away the first book for free. There is nothing lost to the consumer here except the minuscule amount of space used for a Kindle file. The book is also listed in multiple sections of Amazon.com when listed for free, heightening the chance that a buyer will randomly browse the book. If the reader likes his work, the reader can then choose to purchase the other books in the series.

Writers decide pricing on Amazon.com and can make pricing changes at any time. This allows the author to increase the cost of books as the series increases in popularity. Some readers may be lost in this model due to pricing changes or distraction but monetary gain may remain the same due to the tiered pricing system.  Also, when readers search through genres or subgenres, overall Amazon sales rankings dictate how often certain titles will appear to the user. Amazon sales rankings are determined by frequency of sale over every thirty day period. This mathematical ranking system does not reset each month, instead, titles start out at their current ranking at the beginning of the month and go up or down from there. This is the same scale used for hardcover and paperback books as well.

The process of direct selling and the means through which an eBook reaches customers makes the cover of a book all the more important. Consumers can view thousands of titles in only minutes on a digital buying platform. The design of the cover art must also meet all guidelines of the marketplace as it is made into a small thumbnail and therefore must catch the eye of readers browsing very differently than they would in a bookstore (Rich). Halstead has done an excellent job in the design of his covers, essentially branding the Voidhawk representation of the name on all of his titles making them easily recognizable during a search.   

eBooks have augmented the traditional book and publishing systems with high impact in such a short amount of time. Jason Halstead has benefited from the current, more open market described. Authors have a high degree of freedom to personally have a hand in the marketing and production process upon completion of their written work. This new era of book marketing, does not change the fact that a book or series must be original and compelling enough to develop a fan base and sell copies.