Home of the E-book

Self-publishing has now become much easier since the advent of various types of readers; software that handles a specific format of e-book. The book that we have known for centuries has now taken on a revolutionary form; one which can adapt to almost any type of hardware currently on the market...from desktop and laptop computers, to handheld Palms and HPs, just to mention a few. The book can now go almost anywhere (except perhaps underwater, and no doubt someone will conquer that limitation soon!). I was amazed at the ease by which any person who was even half-literate with computers could do with RMR software (Read in Microsoft Reader) installed with Word 2000 or Word 2002. I sensed the software was revolutionary...and I still believe that. With the e-book compiler, authors have been turned into publishers as well. This holds enormous ramifications for publishing, as it existed just a few years ago, and today. POD (Print on Demand) is the new force in publishing, allowing authors to test the market with their book, without having to invest large quantities of money into a press run of a few thousand books.

Publishing is a business, and it is different than writing books. It requires a certain sense and acumen in order to successfully pull it off. It also requires a different skill set than simply being a writer. Finding cheap advice about publishing e-books, or finding sales statistics is not easy. There are statistics out there, but the more specialized statistical compilations run in excess of $600.00. For me, it is out of reach, financially, and I suspect it would stagger most who are trying to start out in this business. Other information on the Internet point out that over a million e-books are now being sold yearly in the U.S. There is plainly a market for e-books, if you know who you’re targeting, and what they want. There is a subset of the U.S. population that can read e-books; that is, they can set up the needed software on their computer or handheld device, download the e-book, then get through opening the e-book and read it. This takes a bit more sophistication than a neat percentage of people have. The heartening fact is that close to 50% of Americans are hooked up to the Internet at home. But, that still doesn’t mean they have the savvy needed to do software installation—a critical element in reading e-books. That is a potential block to growing e-book sales: Computers still don’t ship with e-book readers added in; that means that whoever wants to read e-books has to be brave enough to install software on their computer...and not that many people have the raw moxie to do that. It might be more a matter of confidence; when you add software to your computer, you’re changing a configuration. One that already works, in favor of something unknown, that might render your computer useless, and you having to hire the services of a professional—at substantial cost—to put back together the pieces. Anyone who tells you that software doesn’t mix is full of...!! Software incompatibility can easily unscrew your computer, requiring you to do troubleshooting, or a reinstall of the operating system and programs. Speaking from experience, I can tell you it is painstakingly difficult, time-consuming, and prone to errors. Unrecoverable errors, if you’re not absolutely careful about your backup routine and what needs to be backed up before you embark upon adding software, including Microsoft Reader. Whoever reads your e-book is going to have more intelligence to them than the “average” person, in part because they took the time and trouble to figure out how to download and install the software needed to read your e-book.

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Some sites will tell you that you can make rapid money selling e-books, and that it’s easy. My personal experience is...it isn’t the case. You have to set this up, and carefully, before you make any money with this. You are dealing with a business, and they need planning and foresight before you run off and invest the money to get yourself underway. My decision to self-publish wasn’t done in haste; I did a neat amount of research to determine if it was even feasible, given the amount of money that I could sink into this venture—and afford to lose. I’m still in my comfort zone, even though I’ve spent about $500.00 so far. That’s not too bad, considering I’ve been running this operation for nearly 2 years. Other types of business lose thousands of dollars and more before they begin making any profit. New England Press is now in its second year of operations...and has yet to see a penny of revenues from any of its e-books or e-docs. While there is only one title for sale presently, what I have found that it is still work to get people to your website, and it is quite another for them to make the quantum leap to actually purchasing. It is not the search engines that get me hits on this website: it is the more traditional marketing strategies that produce people looking at this website. Some of my low-priced strategies have involved going around Northeastern University and placing business cards with my website address on them in the windshields of parked card; leaving
4” x 6” postcards at various schools around Boston (all of which are within walking distance from where I live.). I expect I’m going to repeat that pretty soon, as August is now upon us, and the students will be going back to school next month; this is when students are more likely to see the postcards and be tempted to pull them. One idea that has come to mind is to offer my e-book on CD-ROM; make about 100 of them, then distribute to the universities that have upcoming orientation, as something to put in their “survival kits” for their students. 

Earlier this summer, I went over to Dudley Square, here in Boston, Massachusetts, to a small business clearinghouse, and the counselor couldn’t help me all that much, because this type of business was so new and novel to her. I left with more questions then answers...and not too many leads about where I could turn for help on a business like this. This should be a warning to you that self publishing e-books isn’t for the faint of heart. This takes resourcefulness on your part to find out what is out there, and how to proceed with an enterprise like this! I took a lot of cues from Dan Poynter’s book, The Self-Publishing Manual, as well as other authors who have written about self-publishing, including books on marketing both regular and e-books. I spent substantial time combing the Census.gov website, finding statistics about book sales, and computer/Internet usage in this country, before, and after, starting out this endeavor. It doesn’t appear like it has paid off...yet. But it has, in yet seen ways. All the statistics are what have given me the knowledge on how—and where—to search for my audience. Granted...I already had an idea on where to find them even before I wrote the book on how to research college scholarships. 

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Next: Marketing e-books, and this publisher’s experience.