For those of you who have been reading my articles since 2006 know that I’ve been a self-publisher for a few years now. The biggest problem facing self-publishers is how to promote your book. Recently As a self-publisher you don’t have tens of thousands of dollars to run a huge campaign.
In a forum for authors and self-publishers I came across an author who wanted to increase his digital sales by giving away a hardcover copy of his book to readers who already bought the digital format of his book. I’ve also ran across self-publishers who wanted to give away their eBooks for 99 cents or worse yet for free.
When I see a free eBook on a website, I think scam, gimmick or worse what is this guy trying to sell me. Usually free eBooks are filled with useless and out dated information. There are very few good reasons for giving away a free eBook. I will go into that later. But there are very few reasons to ever sell it for 99 cents.
When I think of what I can get for 99 cents which is of any value, very little comes to mind. I guess I can get a 99 cent hamburger. When you sell your eBook for 99 cents you tell the reader that what you have to say is worth about a quarter. Most eBooks sell for the same price as their printed edition goes for.
I know what you are going to say. You are going to point to Amazon’s best seller’s list where most of the books are being sold for $9.99. Amazon isn’t a publisher. Amazon is a retailer and a distribution channel. As a retailer Amazon may sell a book or eBook for any price they so desire, as can any other retailers.
You are a publisher. When you set a suggested retail price it determines what the retailer or distributor is going to pay you. The standard discount is 55%. So If I sell my book for $15.00 I make $6.75 for each book sold. After that it doesn’t matter what the retailer sells the book for. I get the same amount for each book sold.
So if you set your suggested retail price at .99 cents, you make .45 cents for that book. Now most eBook retailers get a 50/50 split with the publisher. Amazon takes a 65/35 split. Some complain about Amazon taking a 65% cut, but Amazon gives you a worldwide market, so it is well worth the extra 15% they take. I currently make $750.00 a month in royalties from books I’ve self-published. That may not sound like much but for almost zero effort I think it’s pretty good.
Let’s look at the 50/50 split model. Let’s say Self-publisher A sells his eBook for 99 cent and sells 100 eBooks a month. At the end of the month he made about $50.00.
Now let’s look at Self-publisher B who sells her eBook for $6.00 and only sells 25 eBooks. Self-publisher B will make $75.00.
It takes just as much effort to write and publish a 99 cents eBook as it does to write and publish a $6.00 eBook. If self-publisher A would have had confidence in his ability to write and priced his eBook at $6.00 he would have walked away with $300.00 that month, instead of $50.00.
So rule number one in marketing your eBook. Don’t under price your eBook. If you don’t believe in your writing abilities no one else will. If you can sell 100 eBooks at 99 cents then you can sell 200 at $6.00 each. Books make the best seller’s list everyday and they retail as much as $15.00 to $25.00. I don’t remember seeing too many 99 cent best sellers.
For self-publishers who want to get people to try your eBook a good price is usually somewhere between $4.95 and $7.95. It depends on the length of your eBook, content and subject manner. Some eBooks can go for more. You have to play with the price to find your price point.
I wrote an article in 2008 titled “Digital Writes” which goes into where to go to get self-published. So I won’t go into that much. You can go to Lulu.com, smashwords.com, dtp.amazon.com, createspace.com and there are others. I may write an article reviewing them.
Now that you are published and not selling your eBook for 99 cents you need to get the word out. Many self-publishers publish with one source and expect that source to help them promote their eBook. Amazon will not help you promote your eBook. Promotion is your job. Amazon is a distribution channel and retailer.
For about $150.00 per month (about $75.00 each site) I have been running successful ads on MySpace and FaceBook.com. You can target your audience and direct them to the sales page for your digital book (eBook). I have had very promising results. I run one campaign for two weeks on each site. I cap it at $75.00 to control cost. I rotate between sites.
I have a 3% click through rate per thousand impressions (CPM) and of the 3% who click through 86% buy my book. I do this with my print version and link it directly to the sales page on Amazon.com. CPM stands for clicks per million. It is called clicks per thousand because when you by a unit of banner rotation and pay $5.00 per CPM you are paying $5.00 for every one thousand times your banner is shown across the network. Not a million rotations (impressions).
Let’s go back to the author who wanted to give away his hardcover book. His publisher gave him a set number of hardcover books to give away as a promotional tool. The author wanted to give the book away to customers who already bought the Kindle book version of their eBook. He had good intentions. He wanted to increase interest in the Kindle version of his eBook.
Now answer me this one question. If I want to get more people to buy your eBook, why would you give away a printed copy to those who just bought your eBook? You just gave away a book valued at $25.00 to get a $6.00 sell which you already made. Not effective marketing.
Here is what I suggested he do with the printed copies of his book. I would join AurthorsDen.com. About 3 to 4 times a year they have booths at book fairs and members can buy space at a very reduced rate, if you signed up for the book fair yourself. You can promote your books there. They usually give you an hour. What I would do with the hardcover is to sign a few and hold a raffle at the book fair and raffle them off one or two per book fair.
To give away a book to someone who already bought a copy is redundant. Someone who already bought your Kindle book doesn’t need to be enticed to buy a kindle version of your book.
If you want to get people to buy kindle versions of your book, another way is to go to a store like Office Depot of Staples and buy some CD sleeves that you can stick on the inside of the hardcover books you have. Go to http://calibre-ebook.com and download the free eBook conversion program. It’s very easy to use; just watch the tutorial video they have posted on the site. It allows you to create a Kindle, .prc and other digital formats which you can burn to a CD and add it to the hardcover copies you have.
Then go to one of the Authors Den book fairs sell your hardcover book there or raffle it off. This way someone who hasn’t bought a digital book will be able to view yours and if they like the digital format and your book they are likely to buy other titles you have in the Kindle format. Authors Den will even allow you to sell the signed copies of your hardcover books on their site. Also you can do this at a swap meet in your area. Who says you can only have a book signing at a book store?
I have found that too many authors are too quick to just give away their work. I never give away my titles unless I can get a return either in exposure such as I would get at a book fair or new customer such as some one who has not bought a digital book before. This also goes for under selling your title. If you tell a customer that your 120,000 word eBook is only worth .99 cents they will not buy it. If I offer a sale I usually reduce the price by no more that 10% to 20% and only for a week or two. Any longer and your sale looses it’s “Buy Now” effect. With those hardcopy books you are sitting on a gold mine as far as marketing goes.
The author wanted Amazon to help him give away the hardcover copies of his book. Why would Amazon or any other retailer do that? They run their own specials. It’s up to us to create our own buzz. I see Amazon as a distribution channel only. Not as a marketing partner. I create my own buzz using other sources and so should you.
FYI: In this down economy last year on the average I bought in an extra $750.00 per month self-publishing, without any marketing. I only started marketing this year and my sales are raising so much I’ve incorporated and started my own publishing company. I’ll write about that experience in another article.
Anthony Coe is the Vice-President of the Missing Children Investigation Agency (MCIA) and author – pen name: Jerome-Paul. Titles include Amazing Grace and How to Become a Nightclub Promoter. Mr. Coe is also… View profile
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