If you want to make some money from publishing then publishing ebooks is the very latest way to do it. Apart from the fact demand for ebooks is booming, they’re also easy and cheap to create, publish and sell.
7 need-to-know secrets if you want to make money from ebook publishing:
1. Do your research. Know what people want to buy before you publish your ebook. It doesn’t matter how clever your book idea is. If people aren’t interested in it then it won’t sell!
Your book can be either fiction or non fiction. Generally, people want to buy ebooks on the same subjects they buy paper books on. So check the newspaper ‘best seller’ lists for ideas. Also look at the sales ranking on Amazon’s Kindle to see what’s selling there and what’s not.
2. Have a great title. A great title is what attracts potential buyers to your ebook in the first place. So spend some time coming up with a title that’s going to attract them before you even write or compile your book.
The best titles are those which tell prospective readers what your book is about but are also interesting or intriguing in some way. Try and keep them under about eight words long.
3. Have a great cover. It’s a mistake to think that because your book isn’t going to be printed you can get a way with a basic front cover made up of text on a plain background. Just like printed books, buyers DO judge an ebook by its cover and will be drawn to an interesting, nicely illustrated cover. Photos are great for ebook covers too.
Invest a little cash on getting a cover designed by a good graphic designer. You can find graphic designers willing to work for very reasonable rates on Elance.com or Odesk.com
4. Write good jacket copy. Just like printed books an ebook needs compelling jacket copy. Good jacket copy is essential when you list your book for sale. Your copy should be something that summarises what the book is about (without giving away the plot, if it’s a novel) and leaves the reader keen to buy the book.
Again, it could be worth hiring a copywriter to help you here.
5. Get the price right. Again, do some research to see what similar ebooks are selling for and pitch your price around the same. By and large ebooks sell for significantly less than paper books (but then your overheads are much less too).
It can be a good idea to price your ebooks as cheaply as possible (or even sell them free!) when you first start. This helps build an audience for future books at higher prices.
6. Use as many ebook markets as possible. Amazon’s Kindle is by far the most popular, but there are others too. These other markets might not be as large currently, but your book might have less competition there – and the average sales prices might be higher.
Other sites that can be useful for selling and distributing ebooks (as well as Kindle) include: Clickbank.com, Payloadz.com, Lulu.com, Tradebit.com and Smashwords.com.
7. Make sure your book is properly formatted. Before your book goes on sale do some test purchasing yourself to make sure it downloads properly on the platforms your readers are likely to be using to download and read it. For example, a book that is formatted properly when it is read on a Kindle ebook reader won’t necessarily be formatted properly when it is read on a smartphone or PC. Some simple checking can help complaints and lost sales.