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While BB eBooks does not get directly involved in the writing, editing, and marketing process, we want to make sure that you have all the resources available to help make your book a success. The good news is that at no other time in the history of civilization has it been so easy to publish a book that the entire world has access to…that’s also the bad news. Gone are the days when one of the big publishing houses could shove a steamy pile of poorly-written words onto an unsuspecting public. Readers are more savyy now than ever before, and they can voice their dissatisfaction instantaneously with online reviews. That’s okay, because you are taking your writing seriously, and it will show in the quality of your work.
The much-despised process of querying agent after agent to get your manuscript in the hands of a publisher is, thankfully, going away. However, this means that you as the writer or owner of the small press are responsible for the task of publishing and promoting your book. Marketing is an important aspect of the publishing process, and it has become an increasingly complex array of social networking, content marketing, and letting people know your book exists. Obscurity is the enemy, but you want to avoid looking like a self-promoting windbag. Ostentatiousness is not a trait typically associated with writers, and you need to walk a fine line. However, keep in mind that just being on Amazon does not necessarily guarantee sales on Amazon.
Writing, publishing, and marketing is a business that is hard work, not a hobby. Therefore, you may want to carefully consider the time, costs, and potential return on investment for your book prior to beginning your journey. The authors at duolit have created an excellent guide on the costs of independent publishing that serves as an excellent game plan to properly allocate your resources. Belinda Nicoll offers some helpful lessons that she learned while going through the self-publishing process. Finally, Karen Woodward offers some food for thought that you should take into consideration before making the leap into self-publishing.
If you’ve come to the point where you are shopping around for an eBook designer, you probably have figured out that writing is a challenging affair that takes a lot of time and effort to get good at. Luckily, many experienced writers are remarkably open about sharing their advice and guidance to newcomers. Dean Wesley Smith has been writing for decades, and his blog is a tremendous help to newcomers and pros alike. Chuck Wendig has an ongoing series that provides tips in his own humorous way on how to improve your craft. Most importantly, writers are avid readers. BB eBooks has some freebies of the classics in our eBooks section if you fancy a read, and Project Gutenberg has many more. No one is born a great writer, and talent is overrated (as Dean Wesley Smith has said repeatedly).
For those looking for a good word processing program to start their manuscript, here are some suggestions:
Another important aspect of writing is re-writing and editing, preferably by someone else. Although, don’t overlook the self-editing process, and Bridget McKenna is coming out with some tips on ways to catch your own mistakes. Re-writing and editing is not always the most exciting task, but it can get you reamed by reviewers if it is overlooked. Lindsay Buroker has some tips on where to look for editors if you want to hire the job out. Professor Brennan Kraxberger of Kraxberger Editing Services has excellent rates for quality editing. If you are on a shoestring, consider employing a friend as a beta-reader to help catch your silly mistakes—we all make them.
Prior to sending your manuscript to the eBook designer for conversion (hopefully you’ll choose BB eBooks!), you should lay out your manuscript in a logical fashion. Besides the actual content, your eBook is the perfect place to speak to your readers about your other work. Do not pass up on the opportunity to add promotional content in the back.
Below is a recommended structure for fiction eBooks:
Some writers may find it strange that there is a Table of Contents in an eBook. Although, it is important, because it allows the reader to easily navigate through the eBook. For BB eBooks clients, we create a Table of Contents at no cost to you if you do not have one. It is important to note that you should load up extra material at the end of your manuscript. The reason for this is that the sampling process at most eBook stores only allows the potential reader to see the first 10% of the eBook. If all the reader can see is a bunch of acknowledgements in the sample, they may not be interested in purchasing your eBook.
Below is a recommended structure for non-fiction eBooks:
The logic of putting material in the back of the eBook is once again due to the sampling constraints at most eBook stores. You will also notice that footnotes have their own section, which may seem unusual for authors of print books. This is actually due to technical considerations. It is best to have a separate section that can provide cross-references between the content and the footnote section. Putting footnotes at the bottom of the page of an eBook is not possible at this time, since there really isn’t a fixed bottom of the page. The footnote situation will hopefully change in the near future once the big eBook stores seriously begin adopting the EPUB 3 eBook standard.
This is the primary reason that BB eBooks exists—to help writers and small presses with this frustrating process. So visit this page to get a no-obligation quote on your eBook.
Shameless self-promotion aside, we understand that some writers want to go the DIY route on eBook design. Do not be tempted into thinking that you can use automatic conversion programs like Calibre, Sigil, or Scrivener to create a professional-quality eBook from your manuscript. We’re not here to deride these software programs, but they are not suitable for a 100% professional eBook. You will spend an awful lot of time and energy trying to figure out how the software’s interface works rather than learning how an eBook is actually created.
To make your own eBook, you really need to get into the geekiness of HTML, CSS, and the way the EPUB package works. There is no other way around this right now. It also helps to learn more advanced concepts like regular expressions and scripting languages, which saves you a tremendous amount of time and prevents errors.
Since most writers and editors tend to be more mature and older (according to Taleist the average age is in the 40s), they may be weary of the young whippersnappers in hoodies and their fancy computer skills. Don’t be afraid. Check out our developers page and start learning the basics. It takes time, but it is indeed a valuable skill to have.
It is conventional wisdom that a book is usually judged by its cover, and this is especially true in the digital age when a small thumbnail of your cover will be appearing besides a bunch of other ones during a search query. Because the same cover will be displayed to users in both small and large versions, it is essential that you follow some basic guidelines:
If you are hiring out a cover designer, they cost is generally $50-$1,000 per cover, depending on where you look. Ensure that your cover designer is creating your cover in the RGB color space for your eBook and the CMYK color space if you want a Print-On-Demand cover. Be certain to obtain your cover image in as high-resolution as possible. For example, a tiny 6“x9” paperback requires a front cover of at least 1800x2700px, since print covers must be 300dpi. Don’t let your cover designer shortchange you by only providing the 600x800px cover that gets embedded in the eBook package. It’s always easy to convert from high-res to low-res, but not vice versa.
Since some writers have basic artistic capabilities (or are on a shoestring), you may want to consider creating your own cover. Check out The Book Designer’s monthly cover art awards if you need inspiration for your art. Many graphic artists use Adobe Photoshop, but there is an open-source solution called Gimp which is almost as good and doesn’t cost a dime.
If you need some stock images to begin working with, here are some websites that have both free and cheaply available royalty-free images:
You probably want to jazz up the font on your cover, and you can find a large selection of unique, interesting, and even bizarre fonts at the following sites:
Make sure to save your eBook cover as a JPG for eBooks and as a PDF if you are using CreateSpace for Print-On-Demand. The resolution specs for the major eBook stores are as follows and BB eBooks recommends using a 1.6:1 height:width ratio for all eBook covers:
If you are one of our clients, we can help you get the varying cover images all sorted out. Just send us the highest resolution of your cover when you request a quote, and we are happy to be of assistance with cover re-sizing at no extra charge.
After you have your cover and you have received your eBook files back from BB eBooks, you can now upload and sell your book. For a general discussion on the merits of each store, please visit our Services page. Please note that most stores require you to have an International Tax Identification Number (ITIN) issued by the Internal Revenue Service if you are a non-US citizen. It is a complex and cumbersome process that takes about two months and may require you to mail in your passport. BB herself received her ITIN and passport back from the IRS three months after initially filing. The passport arrived back in Thailand with extensive water damage—not a good way to keep up diplomatic relations! Ensure that you plan accordingly.
An important part of selling your book is the information that appears in the product description. You should have solid back copy (aka a blurb) that makes people want to buy your book. It doesn’t need to be that long (one or two paragraphs is fine), but you should carefully consider your word choice. A good blurb should be a tease to get people interested and you should avoid making it a dull description. This blurb will appear alongside your book on the eBook stores. Take a look at some of the descriptions for the best sellers on Amazon for inspiration or follow Joanna Penn’s advice on good copywriting to properly blurb your book.
You should also create a decent bio of yourself, because readers only really care about the author (not the publishing company and definitely not the eBook design shop). Your bio isn’t a CV being submitted to some stuffy corporation, so be yourself and have some fun. This bio will also appear alongside your product description in most eBook stores.
With the exception of iBookstore, signing up as a publisher at the eBook vendors is a breeze once you have your ITIN or Social Security Number. Below are the requirements:
You will have almost the entire worldwide market for eBooks covered if you sign up at these stores, but a few other vendors of note are Google Play, Diesel, and the Sony Reader Store. One program that Amazon launched in late 2011 is KDP Select. This allows your eBook to get promoted through the Kindle Owner’s Lending Library for Amazon Prime customers. You can also make your eBook free for a short time. The catch is that you cannot sell your eBook anywhere else (even on your own website) for a 90-day period. Authors have tried this program with mixed results. It may be worthwhile experimenting with KDP Select in a “split-test” to see what works for your sales (i.e. try one eBook in KDP Select and one eBook not in KDP Select).
There is a lot of debate on how you should price your eBook and you shouldn’t be afraid to experiment with different price points to see what works for you. Dean Wesley Smith has some very good advice on how to price your book, and he advises to not go too low. The $0.99 price for a self-published novel was popular for some time in 2010 and 2011, but the novelty has worn off.
For independent publishers, BB eBooks suggests the following prices:
Writers are often introspective types living a life of quiet contemplation and intellectual curiosity. Unfortunately, this is not conducive to selling yourself or your book. However, some authors go to the other extreme and become horribly overbearing, spamming their book’s hyperlink on their twitter account dozens of times a day. This is also not conducive to selling your eBook and only gets people angry at you. It’s a tough road ahead and a fine line to walk, but here are a few helpful suggestions that will help market your book and build your brand name.
The key to having a good website is to create something of value for your readers and your potential readers. For instance, you may want to consider having extra information about your setting if you’re a fantasy author, you could provide additional links and references if you’re writing a How-To book, or you could provide free art if you’re working on a comic book. The trick is that you want to have something of interest for your target demographic. Quality content is key to attracting potential readers and you should ensure that links to your book for sale at the various stores are prominently displayed on your website. Writing copy is a bit different than writing fiction, so blogs like Copy Blogger can be a tremendous asset.
It is possible to pay for the design of your website, but this can be rather expensive (often over $1,000). If you aren’t a poindexter who can build a website from scratch, you may wish to consider setting up a WordPress blog with a relevant domain name (most authors go with their own name or pen name). The themes are highly customizable and it is easy to add new content and widgets. Please keep in mind that content, not flashy design, is the most important part of keeping readers engaged on your website. It is also your content that is the most important aspect of getting search engines to improve your site’s ranking.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a method of writing copy that will help search engines find your website. Unless you’re sleeping with someone at Google, there is no “secret algorithm” to get ranked number one. There used to be extensive focus on peppering your content with keywords to get your site highly ranked, but Google is now focusing more on quality content. This is good news for you as a writer and bad news for Russian spam sites selling cheap Viagra.
Besides writing high-quality content that you want your target readers to enjoy, here are a few tips to help you with SEO:
Your site traffic will probably be low at first unless you are a celebrity, but over time it will continue to increase as you add more and more useful and interesting content. You can get more tips on SEO for authors from SEOmoz.
Social networking is a very useful way to drive traffic to your website and even make direct sales. For authors, the big networks where they have the most impact are typically Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn is a good idea if you are running a small press and want to build a reputation of legitimacy and credibility, but it may be too stiff and rigid for some independent authors. Additionally, Goodreads is an interesting network where a lot of readers spend their online time. Don’t neglect to fill out your Amazon Author Profile, because many potential readers will view this before buying their first copy of one of your books. First impressions count.
The problem is that many indies have given themselves a bad name by flooding Twitter and Facebook feeds with nothing but advertisements for their books. Social media is supposed to be social. A good rule of thumb is to spend about 10% on direct promotion and 90% interacting with others and providing useful links, article, and tips that aren’t directly related to your book. This will give your brand name credibility and show who you are as a person rather than a salesman.
Take Lindsay Buroker’s advice and begin collecting emails from your website to set up a newsletter. This is a great opportunity to directly market with readers who have given you permission to send them promotional material. Technically speaking, it is complicated to set up your site to collect email addresses and then send everyone a mass email that doesn’t go into their spam folder. It is also considered a good courtesy to allow people to unsubscribe from your newsletter with one click inside the email. If you’re a programming geek, you can probably figure out how to do all this with PHP and the PHPMailer class or Python with the smtplib module. If you don’t what the hell that is, consider paying for a service such as aWeber to handle newsletter mailings for you.
Press releases may sound a bit dull and pretentious if you are an indie, considering you are trying to sell your exciting book and not Crystal Pepsi. However, you should keep in mind that small presses and independent authors have to ensure they give their readers a vote of confidence that their product is of suitable quality. You can excuse the skepticism from readers since many poorly written and designed self-published works have flooded the market in the last two years. To distinguish yourself, you should strongly consider writing a press release that answers the following basic questions:
There are some pay-to-play options available, but there are many sites that allow you to submit press releases for free. Follow Gof’s advice on how to write an effective press release and where to distribute it for free to give your book that extra edge.
Hopefully this gives you some base-level knowledge on the independent publishing process. Please visit the links on the sidebar for more information and don’t forget to share what you have learned with others. Good luck with your eBook!
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