Hello, my boss is trying to write an eBook and sent me, her lowly assistant, to gather information on the topic. I have read through 3.2 billion blogs on eBook publishing (and a few on hyperbole) and I still don't have a good grasp on the subject. So, I was hoping people who have published and eBook on here could provide me with a guide or tips. The biggest question I have right now is what best platform. From what I've read smashwords appears to be the best option, but is it the best option because it converts your Ebook into a readable document or because it has the sway to get your eBook in iBookstore, B&N, and etc. If it is the former, doesn't it make more sense to just host the books to all major eBook distributors yourself? I have also read the 99 cents is the price that all the cool kids are charging. Is that the most successful from your experiences? The book would be about the housing market and how to write certain documents from someone who has been in the field for 10+ years. Thank you all for your help!
I think 99 cents is the lowest that Amazon.com will let you charge for a Kindle book, but I confess I'm not terribly knowledgeable on the subject.
Yeah, it is. Amazon has a big difference in how much they pay you based on the price of your book which is why I was trying to get some actual writer's feedback if you'll make up the loss in volume.
I'm going to try to post a few of my short stories as ebooks on Amazon. Is there any reason I shouldn't do this? Mostly I'm trying it as an experiment to see how it works out. One has 38 pages and the other 31 pages (~131000 and ~19000 words, respectively) What should I charge for them? I get 35% royalties for under $2.99, I think, and 75% royalties if over that. Any recommendations?
First your boss needs to ask herself what she wants to achieve. Is it about earning money directly from the book? Or is it about building reputation and getting more customers to her business? If the latter, she may wish to simply format the book nicely and offer it as a free PDF download from her web page.
There is a nice series on how to indie publish here: http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=3736. It's called "Think Like a Publisher" and it includes directions on how to get a short story or novel uploaded onto Amazon's Direct Publishing, Barnes & Noble's PubIt, and SmashWords, as well as advice on designing a suitable cover. A nonfiction book such as you described can likely be sold for between $4 and $8 profitably -- meaning you'll get 70% royalty from Amazon at those prices, and still be a bargain compared to paperback nonfiction on that topic. Naturally, the blurb and the writing quality of the book will matter quite a bit as well. But as Islander noted above, your boss might be better off making the eBook a freely downloadable document if she doesn't care about money and just wants something she can direct customers to. SmashWords and XinXii both can offer documents for free from their sites, if you upload there.
You can try $2.99 but might want to test one at $0.99 first. Just be careful that you let people know it's a short story. Some buyers can get upset if they think they are purchasing a full length book and it ends up being a short story.
