WHY PUBLISH E-BOOKS?
by Nicholas Thomas


There are over 130 million Internet users in North America alone,
and approx. 70,000 new users come online every day. Personal
computers and other Internet ready gizmos, are now everywhere, and
users range from elementary school children to grandma & grandpa.

The Internet has grown from a few techies sending notes to each other
over the wires, to a huge and rapidly growing population of consumers.
Yes, still sending notes to each other over the wires.

The Internet is quickly becoming the 8th wonder of the world and a
mega commerce platform. Much to the dismay of some who wanted to
keep the Internet all to themselves, the Internet has sprung to life
with new blood with all sorts of fresh ideas for the new millennium.

One new idea that is beginning to gain a foothold is ebook publishing.
Is it just a fad or is it here to stay? First let's take a look at some
traditional publishing methods.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GETTING PUBLISHED: Just a few facts
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Many first time authors attempt to get published by sending off their
manuscripts to big publishing houses for review and hopefully a
contract to publish their book. Meanwhile, they sit around waiting
months for the dreaded rejection notice, and sometimes no notice
shows up at all.

They are under the impression that getting published by a big gun
publisher carries with it a certain amount of prestige. The truth is,
nobody cares who publishes your book.

Most first timers believe that the publisher will promote their book.
The truth is, the publisher puts up the money to manufacture the book
and has rep's get the book into the stores, but that's it. You'll
be responsible for promoting your book at your own expense if you
can't negotiate a favorable promotion budget in the contract.

As a first time author, you may not be able to negotiate much of a
promotion budget into your first contract. So, you'll have to be
ready with the money for this yourself and your publisher may want
to know how much you have budgeted and a copy of your marketing plan.

Another problem with traditional publishing is the time factor. It
can take as long as 3 years to get your book published. Most
publishers operate within an 18 month production cycle. This means
your publish date won't even begin until after a publisher accepts
it. What ever time you have invested shipping your manuscript
around will be that much longer before your book gets to press.

Once you agree to turn your book over to a publisher, you will lose
most or even all control of your book. Most publishing contracts,
especially with new authors, give the publisher a free hand in any
changes to your book they see fit.

Traditional publishers have 3 selling seasons. This means your
book will be on the shelves for 4 months, after that, they pull
it off the shelves to be replaced by other books for that season.

Your left over books will have to be "remaindered" meaning they
will be sent to warehouse and generally sold in bulk at a fraction
of the original manufactured price.

Some new authors opt to hire literary agents to go to bat for them
thinking that with an agent their bound to get published. This has
some truth to it but here to there are problems. You really have to
shop around for a good one and even then, depending on the material,
agents will reject well over 90% of submitted book manuscripts, plus
if they do accept it they take a healthy percentage of sales for their
efforts. This is generally a 15% commission.

Getting published can really become a daunting task to first time
authors, even with the ferocious tenacity of a wolverine it won't
happen overnight. On top of all this, as a first time author you
really have no bargaining muscle.

You might end up signing a contract your not going to be to happy with
and the lions share of the books revenue will go to all the middlemen.

Unless your Steven King, there are better alternatives.

Most first time authors don't really know all the pitfalls to getting
published, and after many attempts to breech the defenses of the
publishing houses a writer may either give up or try to self publish
on their own. This presents a whole new set of problems, but they can
be overcome.

Even though self publishing is a good choice, you'll still need to
gather the information needed to do it yourself, and approx. $13,000
to $15,000 minimum needed to get started?

$13,000 to $15,000 will probably cover printing, promotion, and some
other expenses for about 4000 copies of a 100 to 250 page book. But,
it's still $13,000 and not readily available to most struggling authors.

Some first time authors will opt for the vanity publisher. The vanity
publisher will be more than happy to look at your manuscript and even
give you glowing reviews, but this I'm afraid is false praise.
The only thing the vanity publisher want's to do for you is
manufacture your book.

An author using a vanity press will pay a lot more than printing cost's
and will only receive around 40 percent of the retail price of
the book.

This service will cost you around $10,000 to $30,000 or more,
depending on the book. This doesn't include things like editing,
promotion, or distribution. Copies sent to columnists for book
reviews are generally trashed as soon as they see a subsidy publishers
name on your book, and here's why.

Review columnists are well aware of the problems associated with vanity
publishing. They know there was little attention paid to editing and
that little if any promotional effort will take place. So the book will
probably not be available in book stores.

Of all the choices before you, the best so far would be to self
publish your book. The only problem would be gathering the know how
and of course the $13,000 to get started. So what if you don't have
$13,000? What's next? How in the world are you going to get published?

Good questions, let's find out now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
E-BOOKS: A Ripple Or A Tsunami?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just a few short years ago the idea of distributing books in a digital
format seemed a ridiculous notion to many. "It will never fly!",
"Nonsense!", they bellowed.

The large publishers in their shining glass towers ruled. They scoffed
at the very idea of such a scenario. They sat upon their thrones like
they always have, decade after decade deciding on what you and I will
read next.

They would hurl the hard work of many would be authors to the circular
file like flicking a piece of lint from a $900 dollar suit.

The dream of being published once again dashed upon the jagged rocks
of this "Impenetrable Conglomerated Fortress". OK, I got a little
carried away.

We will never know how many great books have been dispatched to the
dumpster, but one thing is for sure, a lot less will be from now on.

============================
Enter, * E-Book Publishing *
============================

The world is changing at a very rapid clip. So rapid in fact, that
it's really not possible to predict anything at this point. We can
speculate all we want, but the bottom line is, ever since the
Internet explosion a few years ago the pace has been just a blur.

To suggest any kind of logical destination for the Net, at this
point, would be a wild guess at best.

However, people will always have wants and needs. As the population
continues to warm up to the Internet, it will become second nature for
them to actively seek out the things they want and purchase them over
the Internet. At no time in our recent history have book authors
been in a better position to compete heads up with the Big Boys.

The number 1 & 2 selling items on the Net in the United States are
"Software and Books", in that order. So if your going to write
books and sell them on the Internet, you'll have a very large
and responsive market. The only difference will be that your books
will be in a digital format.

But, before you do anything else you should determine whether or
not you want to make a living as a book author. This is extremely
important for a couple of reasons.

Some authors just like to write, while others want to write books for a
living. Deciding which one you are is very important because it may
determine what kinds of books you begin to write.

Will you write fiction or nonfiction?

=========
FICTION:
=========

It can be artful, emotional, imaginative, thought provoking, and
entertaining. However, fiction is purchased mainly for its
entertainment value and has to compete for entertainment dollars.

You will be competing with movies, fishing, golfing, hiking and
anything else that entertains the population and of course other
works of similar fiction.

=============
NON-FICTION:
=============

In general, nonfiction falls into the category of informational types
of books where artful, emotional, imaginative, thought provoking
language and how to use it is not necessary. You won't need a
literary arts degree to write nonfiction and nonfiction doesn't
compete for entertainment dollars like fiction.

The reason people buy informational types of books is to save time and
money, or enhance their lives in some way. This is what most people
are interested in anyway and a perfect marriage for information book
writers.

Rarely are two books exactly alike. With your unique perspective and
personality, your competition is just about zero.

So lets assume we want to make a living writing non-fiction books.

===================
E-BOOK PUBLISHING:
===================

Lets examine an abbreviated process of publishing eBooks and explore
some advantages. All of the following will be done using email and
websites. It's also abbreviated to save space, but you'll
get the idea.

(1)

Assuming you have a subject or subjects you want to write about,
you'll have to research the market and determine if your book has
some merit.

"Don't Try To Hit A Home run"

Some newbee authors will grab an idea and start writing an 800 page
manual without first examining the market for it. Approach your book
subject with logic and see if there is a market for your books first.

(2)

Next, you will begin researching the book and gather information.

(3)

Next, instead of writing a full blown book or manual, you could write
a small 30 page report, a booklet, or just a chapter or two. Then send
it off to some experts in the field of your books subject for
review. You'll be amazed how helpful they can be.

They will often times give suggestions and even correct errors for you,
all for free if you do this right.

Remember to inject yourself into your books, this is where the rubber
really meets the road. By doing this, your unique slant and personality
will shine through and your book will really stand out.

(4)

Next, once you've got your report or booklet cleaned up, you could
offer it free for a limited time on your website or even someone
else's. You could make this offer conditional by asking for opinions
and feedback for the free offer.

(5)

Next, after you have tested this report or booklet in the open market
and got some raving reviews and testimonials, you would have a green
light to proceed with your project. Create several eBooks in series
or one masterpiece Manual. You already know it will sell by your
tests. All of this done digitally, with email and websites.

It's my opinion that nonfiction is hands down the best category for
eBook publishing and making Internet sales. Information is king on the
net, so what better way to make your publishing pay off then to supply
people with what they want and need right now.

Why wait 3 years to get your book on the shelves? As soon as your eBook
is completed it can immediately hit the virtual streets.

(6)

Another advantage is that it's far easier to change and update a
digital book than to change 3000 copies of a book all ready in print
sitting in a warehouse somewhere. Updating your eBooks wont involve
more printing costs and can extend the life of your eBook indefinately.

Now obviously there is a little more to it than what I've just shown
you here, but this is the general idea. And it can all be done with
email and websites.

You could even set yourself up right and sell your eBooks on autopilot!

(7)

Finally you'll have full control over your book and when it gets
published. You won't have publishers and agents to deal with. You'll
keep all the profits from your books. Why settle for 6% to 10%,
when you can get a 100%? You won't have to wait three years to get
published. You won't have remaindered books. You won't need $13,000 to
$15,000 to start. Nonfiction eBooks sell very well on the net and
it's heating up.

Here are a few more good reasons to publish eBooks.

================
SAVES RESOURCES:
================

With eBook publishing, the use of our resources such as Tree's, diesel
fuel, electricity, etc. is greatly diminished.

============
LOWER COSTS:
============

With no printing, storing, or shipping costs, publishers can sell the
same quality at reduced prices to consumers, while at the same time
earning more profits. It's a classic win-win situation.

================
SPEEDY DELIVERY:
================

Just download your book, and start reading. FedEx is a giant snail
compared to this. In the time it takes you to start your car to go get
a book, you could be reading it with no "Shipping and Handling" charges.

============
PORTABILITY:
============

With the new electronic reading devices hitting the market, you can
carry 20 or 30 maybe more, large books in a single device. A great way
to travel. Manufacturers of reading devices are making them water proof
so you can read your books in the tub, no more wet pages.

=======================
INFINITE POSSIBILITIES:
=======================

No out of print books ever again and all up to date. This is perfect
for: Students, Doctors, Lawyers, Scientists, Engineers, Biologists,
the list is endless.

============
INTERACTIVE:
============

Search a document, insert bookmarks, and add cross-referenced
hyperlinks, it's easy within eBook formats like (PDF) for example.
You can include sound, video, and animation, something that paper
books will never have.

In conclusion, I would like to say that Electronic Publishing is
obviously here to stay. The only question is, will you take advantage
of it?

Nicholas Thomas
mailto:edito-@netcitypress.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
P.S. For more info on how to get started please visit:

NetCity Press http://www.netcitypress.com (c) 2000

Article by: Nicholas Thomas --- Veteran direct marketer, editor and
publisher of "NCP ONLINE", a free newsletter for ebook publishers and
marketers. Permission is granted to reprint and distribute this
article with this resource box included. Thank you.