8 Simple Steps to Join the e-book Revolution

I have no doubt that ebooks are here to stay.

Most authors I know are writing and self-publishing their ebooks. However there are a few authors, who so far, have their book only published in print book.

Here’s the truth. If you only have a paperback book right now, you’re missing out on around 90% of sales. Many indie authors report that the majority of their sales on Amazon and other digital retailers come from their ebooks.

I still love print books too, but I find buying and of course writing and publishing a digital book, quicker and easier on the budget.

The beautiful thing is that anyone with a smartphone, tablet or computer, can download the Kindle app for free and start reading books.

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8 Steps to Write, Publish and Market your e-book

So if you want to learn the steps to join this ebook revolution, read on.

The sooner you can write and publish your ebook, the sooner you can sell it to readers that are looking to read it.

If you are a self-published(indie) author, if you went with a traditional publisher you would earn about $2 royalties for selling a $20 hardcover book. For that same book in ebook format, on Amazon, you would earn $2 royalties on a ebook that is priced between $2.99 and $9.99.

That’s great news for both readers and writers alike.

It’s awesome for the author, who can lower the price of her or his book and still earn good income from royalties, also the reader is also happy, because they get easy access to a great book at a good price.

So here are the steps to take, if you want to join the ebook revolution yourself.

1. Write Your Book. I’ve discovered personally, that’s it’s much easier to start a book, than it is to finish it. So decide you’ll not only start writing, but that you’ll set a goal for when you want your book done. Perfection is your enemy. If you’re worried about word count, don’t be. Many successful authors are writing great ebooks that are between 10,000 and 30,000 words. So if you have a specific topic or a short story, now’s the time to write it.
2. Edit Your Book. Editing your book is critical. If you want to compete with the ‘professionals’ and other successful authors, it means you need a good editor at least. First you want to read through your book yourself, asking yourself where your book is unclear and where you can add more detail. Then you’re ready to bring your book to an editor. Editors turn bad writers into great writers. Remember editing is to make your book readable, NOT to make it perfect. Some great places to find editors are elance.com and Odesk.com.
3. Format your ebook. I use Scrivener, which I like for reasons that I list out here. But the big reason I love to use this software, is because I can format for Kindle(.mobi) and for Kobo, ibookstore and other digital retailers(epub). Then it’s a simple task to upload your book to Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, ibookstore and other digital retailers. I learned how to format quickly, from Joseph Michael’s Learn Scrivener Fast  online course – it made the process easy so that even a non-techy person like me could figure it out.
4. Choosing a Cover Design. Your Book Cover and title are what sell your book more than anything else. Your Cover needs to stand out so potential readers are interested to take another look. On digital retail sites like Amazon, your book cover and title is very tiny. So if potential readers can’t ready your title or see your image clearly, most likely they won’t buy your book. Another tip: If you’re writing fiction, have a title that creates curiosity but doesn’t confuse the reader. For non-fiction, people want to know clearly what solution you’re offering or how reading your book will help them. If you’re on a tight budget, you can go to Fiverr.com and find someone to design your book for less than $20.
5. Publishing on Digital Retail Sites. Once your book is edited, formatted and you have a great book cover, you’re ready to upload your book. Here you go to different digital retailers’ websites  and follow the directions to upload your book. There’s a few ways to do this. You can upload direct or you can use an aggregator like Smashwords.com or Draft2Digital.com to distribute your ebook for you to the other retailers. I like to upload direct to Amazon, because that way I have more control. If I want to put my ebook on for free for awhile, I can, instead of going through the extra ‘hoops’ needed to change the pricing. I use Smashwords to distribute ebooks to Barnes & Noble, Kobo, iBookstore and other retailers.
6. Use Some Free Promotions for Your ebook. There’s different opinions in the indie author world on whether using KDP Select on Amazon is a good idea or not. What is KDP Select? Basically if you enrol in the program, you’re giving Amazon exclusive rights to your ebook for 90 days. Which means you’re promising you won’t sell your book anywhere else… not even on your website for 90 days. I’ve heard some authors who have done amazingly well, when they’ve used the 5 free days to promote their book and have had 20,000 downloads during that time. Other authors haven’t got the results they wanted. I think getting your free book into as many readers hands as possible is a good idea no matter which way you do it.
7. Marketing Your Book. The key to marketing your book, is to give your reader what they want first, then give them what they need. That’s why your book cover and title are so important. Readers want to know what they can expect from you – what promise you’re going to deliver on, in your book. A big part of how you attract more readers, has to do with how  well you package and position your book. There are free groups on Facebook, here, here and here or here’s some Twitter users who love to hear about free ebooks: @freedailybooks; @pixelofink; @kindle_free and @bookbub. Here’s a few websites where you can post your Free ebook: www.freebookdude.com, www.frugal-freebies.com, www.ereaderutopia.com. I hope that list helps.
8. Write more ebooks.  At the end of the day, it’s really about writing more books. That’s the #1 key to success as an author. For instance, you could do a free promotion and buy Ads after that, or you could just write the next book, and that will promote your book for you. A great strategy is for your book to be marketing themselves as you keep writing more books. It’s about growing readers who love your books. Every book you publish  is a new chance to attract a lifelong, raving fan. Isn’t that great?!  With 7 billion people on the planet, there’s readers out there who want to read your books. And when you offer a free book, you’ll attract new readers. When you give something, people want to give you something back in return. So keep writing.

I’ve been inspired by many stories, like my friend Stacy Claflin, who in three years wrote twenty books and was able to quit her day job to write full time. We had a great chat for a podcast interview, that will be out soon.

Also, there another author, who has over 130 kindle ebook novels and short stories written. Even though none of them sell exceptionally well, all those books combined, earn her a high six-figure income.

So if you’ve been unsure about whether you should write your ebook, I hope this blogpost gives you confidence and some know-how to get going.

The takeaway in this ebook revolution, is that the more you write the more readers you will attract. And you might be able to give up your day job.

So keep writing.

What are your thoughts, on writing ebooks? I’d love to hear what you’ve learned and your story in the comments.

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