PUBLISHING E-BOOKS
To market e-books you will need a list to advertise your books to. There are other ways to do this as well, but a good list may be the best way. How to build a list is the subject of another article, so just keep in mind how important it is.
One concern about e-books is what to charge; another is how long must it be. According to Bly answers both questions with very good reasons. He says $29 is the best price for an e-book. The reason is his requirement to make $2,000 to $3,000 from each e-mail promotion sent to his list. This means he wants to sell 67 to 103 of his e-books with each promotion. You can set up any goal you wish for whatever promotion you choose. A price lower than $29 obviously will bring in less money. The price decision is yours, but $29 gives you an idea about where to start. The $29 price also seems to be at the point where buyer resistance falls off.
This brings up the question about how long the e-book must be. To charge $29, your book should be at least 50 pages long. This length depends on how you format your e-book; it may not be an MSWord document 50 pages. It does mean you need about 15,000 words, or 300 words per page.
You can find freelance people who will design your cover and your entire e-book on sites like eLance.com or Google or Fiverr. These services may cost as much as $200. In the beginning, you will probably want to do this yourself. You can use MSWord to type it, using 12-point Times New Roman in the body and double space. Chapter headings may be 14-point Ariel Bold, with subheadings in Times New Roman 14-point bold. When finished with your typing, convert the document to PDF. Open the document with Adobe Acrobat and check the security settings. Make any required changes.
With your new e-book ready to go, how will you convince readers to buy from you, a completely unknown author? One proven way is to sell new customers a $9 special report or a $7 booklet. There are two reasons why this is likely to work. First, buyers are more likely to buy the lower priced writings of an unknown author. A more important reason that has nothing to do with being a new author is simply that, to maximize your income, every writer should deliver their work in a variety of lengths and prices. This is because you want to sell to the widest range of buyers.
In the mix you will have a number of price levels. The lowest one includes products you are willing to offer free of charge. These could be an online newsletter, blog, podcasts, and other information you want to use to build your subscriber list.
The next level is made up of low priced products that includes any product under $100. Using docents in this area, we can provide an easy way for readers of our free content to transition from free to paying for content. When you begin to make sales of $39 items, you can easily sell $19 e-books as well as $25 paperbacks. This is an example of how a mix of various priced goods can greatly increase your income, mostly from work you have already done.
One useful product in the low priced range is the booklet. Normally, these sell for $7 to $19 each. These are a useful way make money from material that is not long enough to make a book out of. Remember, an e-book requires 50 pages, something you may not have; all is not lost–just put what you have into a booklet.
There are many ways to self-publish booklets listed on Google. You may also be able to find a local printer which could save a little money on shipping costs. One of the best printers I found on Google was Colorwise Commercial Printing. A 20-page booklet with black and white printing costs about $290 for 100 copies. You should be able to sell your booklet for around $11 each. Add shipping and handling to this price.
One way to market booklets is to use press releases. If you are unfamiliar with press releases, one place you can go for a tutorial is “How to write a press release-Mini Tutorial.” When you have your press release ready, you next project is to distribute it to 300 or so publications. One distribution system that will do the job for about $25 is “Wired PR News.”
I found this information from a great membership site, IAHBE. Each month this membership site provides timely reviews and information that you can grow your business.
http://www.tripleclicks.com/detail.php?item=5540/11444937
To your Happiness, Health and Wealth
Chari Farmer Ogogo
