So many people are now learning the true value in publishing a book to promote their businesses. I always tell my authors that their books are their business cards. A book is a way to highlight your expertise within your field in much more detail than you can do with traditional forms of advertising (e.g. print, radio, television) while also giving you a more professional air in the eyes of prospective readers/customers. But here are two common misconceptions held by many new indie authors: one, they assume most people only read e-books nowadays; and two, they assume e-books are the only books they can sell online using various forms of Internet marketing. Both of these statements are incorrect. The truth is, there are just as many people out there who still want to hold a physical book in their hands as there are people who love the compact convenience of e-readers. So, if you only publish an e-book, you're likely losing out on half your potential audience. No print budget? Not to worry! With the invention of print-on-demand (POD) technology, today's indie authors no longer have to print and store physical books in order to sell physical books ... whether those books are paperbacks or hardcovers. All you have to do is supply the digital files for your book's cover and interior to the e-commerce site of your choice because most of these online retailers utilize POD technology to sell books rather than stocking those books in warehouses. Then, whenever they receive an order for that book, they simply print, bind, and ship the exact quantity ordered (whether it is one book or ten) all at the same time. Easy peasy! Most of the e-commerce sites take digital files in the form of print-ready .PDF files and just store them on their servers, but I don't recommend selling those .PDF files as e-books because they are far too easy for users to copy and share with others (unless they are .DRMs ... but that's a whole different post). Instead, it's pretty cheap nowadays to have the .PDF files converted into either .ePUB (the format used by KoboBooks) or .MOBI (the format used by Kindle) and sell them through the proper channels. If you want to reach all your potential customers, then you need to realize that some of them are still reading hard copies and others are readying soft copies. Publish your book in both formats to give your customers more choice, and you'll have the best possible chance at commercial sales success. What do you prefer reading? Paperbacks? Hardcovers? Ebooks? Audiobooks? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Hello, I am old-school and prefer a physical book. If both choices are available to me, I go with Hardcover.
Physical and eBooks complement each other. There is still a place for physical books. I still prefer books, though I do not mind eBooks either. Each one has its own merits.
I wrote a book and published in leanpub.com. Currently, there are more than 90 readers. Do you have any ideas to increase the reader base? And I'm new to the idea of print-on-demand (POD). Do you know any companies that provide that service?
Yes, I did read an article stating that e-books will not replace hard books at all. According to the Anne Mangen, literacy professor at Norway’s University of Stavenger, “Reading is human-technology interaction. Perhaps the tactility and physical permanence of paper yields a different cognitive and emotional experience; reading that can’t be done in snippets, scanning here and there, but requires sustained attention.”
Amazon is rolling out a POD for books that is integrated with the KDP E-book platform. I have 3 e-books on there, that make occasionaly sales. I just converted one to paperback a few weeks ago. Got my first sale on that with little effort, so its worth it to have 2 options.
I agree with the general idea that some books are worth publishing in multiple formats. However, the main thing that newbie writers need to understand is that creating the book, and making it available in various formats is about 1% of what needs to be done. The other 99% is marketing . . . there are large numbers of Ebooks, and printable books available in the world today, and most of them sell little or no copies. So before you even think about writing a book, make sure you understand what's necessary to market it effectively. Chris
Very valid point, Chris! And I'll take it a step further by saying they not only need to understand how to market it effectively but they also need to provide quality content in the first place ... otherwise, no amount of marketing will be effective.
To some degree yes. Although it could be said that online at least, people usually people buy the content before they see the inside of the book, in which case it's still very much worth providing quality content (and professional-looking formatting etc.) so that you reduce your refund rate, and make the mailing-list that you'll be building, more responsive Chris
True! And I am one of those people who still prefer to hold a physical book in their hands rather than having an eBook and read it through a couple of devices.
While I do prefer print books, keeping them around the house is not practical for me. So l longed switched over to e-books.
Hi there, Thanks for this another great post! I've always preferred to read books on paperback but the convenience of eBooks always gets me. For leisure reading, I always opt for paperback. For work-related reading, I prefer eBook.