Comments on: What we can learn from the troubles of Martha Stewart http://www.teleread.com/publishing/what-we-can-learn-from-the-troubles-of-martha-stewart/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:23:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Clytie Siddall http://www.teleread.com/publishing/what-we-can-learn-from-the-troubles-of-martha-stewart/comment-page-1/#comment-1220241 Clytie Siddall Sun, 18 Nov 2012 04:59:08 +0000 http://www.teleread.com/?p=74483#comment-1220241 Very well-expressed, Joanna. Either you want to be read, or you don't. If you want to be read, either you want to make money out of it, or you don't. It's up to you. Contributing my individual bit of market research (I buy a lot of eBooks): 1. Geolims: get rid of them, unless you don't want my money. Note that the majority of English-speakers live outside the U.S., and by the time your geolims "licensing" applies, they'll have forgotten about your book. 2. Proof-reading and editing: pay for it. Good writing means continuing customers. 3. A good cover and blurb sell your book. Again, pay for true expertise. 4. Free offers work. I have gone on to buy so many authors' works from free offers. 5. KLL is trivial to voracious readers: one ebook free per MONTH? I read more than one ebook per DAY. Create a proper ebook subscription program. 6. Bundles sell. I've bought a bundle of bundles. ;) Curate, combine and cooperate. 7. Don't use DRM: it doesn't prevent piracy and just alienates customers. 8. Price reasonably: an ebook shouldn't be more than a quarter of the paperback price, given its lack of ownership, transferability and universal readability. Start low, then work up as people get to know your writing. I've bought a lot of free and 99c eBooks which were good enough to motivate me to buy later titles at progressively higher prices. Don't price over $4.99, unless you're a must-have. 9. Get your supporting info right: this includes a working TOC and links to your other titles. Include the first chapter of the next title in the series, with a link to buy it. Also link to your website. Check metadata by importing your ebook into Calibre: it should import with the title, author, cover, series details, ISBN etc., tags and blurb correct. This information encourages customers to collect and value your work, and make further purchases. 10. Genre sells. You can stretch genre a long way, but if people basically want a mystery, suspense, romance, SFF, horror or whatever, you have to present in that manner. Suck them in, then give them aspects they weren't expecting. Self-pub has allowed genres to grow and overlap: indeed, many titles are now functionally unclassifiable via genre. Base your book on a strong plot aligned with one genre, then build. I've been surprised how often I've bought what I thought was a standard mystery, SF, whatever, and had my assumptions stretched. It's an enjoyable experience. :) Very well-expressed, Joanna. Either you want to be read, or you don’t. If you want to be read, either you want to make money out of it, or you don’t. It’s up to you.

Contributing my individual bit of market research (I buy a lot of eBooks):

1. Geolims: get rid of them, unless you don’t want my money. Note that the majority of English-speakers live outside the U.S., and by the time your geolims “licensing” applies, they’ll have forgotten about your book.
2. Proof-reading and editing: pay for it. Good writing means continuing customers.
3. A good cover and blurb sell your book. Again, pay for true expertise.
4. Free offers work. I have gone on to buy so many authors’ works from free offers.
5. KLL is trivial to voracious readers: one ebook free per MONTH? I read more than one ebook per DAY. Create a proper ebook subscription program.
6. Bundles sell. I’ve bought a bundle of bundles. ;) Curate, combine and cooperate.
7. Don’t use DRM: it doesn’t prevent piracy and just alienates customers.
8. Price reasonably: an ebook shouldn’t be more than a quarter of the paperback price, given its lack of ownership, transferability and universal readability. Start low, then work up as people get to know your writing. I’ve bought a lot of free and 99c eBooks which were good enough to motivate me to buy later titles at progressively higher prices. Don’t price over $4.99, unless you’re a must-have.
9. Get your supporting info right: this includes a working TOC and links to your other titles. Include the first chapter of the next title in the series, with a link to buy it. Also link to your website. Check metadata by importing your ebook into Calibre: it should import with the title, author, cover, series details, ISBN etc., tags and blurb correct. This information encourages customers to collect and value your work, and make further purchases.
10. Genre sells. You can stretch genre a long way, but if people basically want a mystery, suspense, romance, SFF, horror or whatever, you have to present in that manner. Suck them in, then give them aspects they weren’t expecting. Self-pub has allowed genres to grow and overlap: indeed, many titles are now functionally unclassifiable via genre. Base your book on a strong plot aligned with one genre, then build. I’ve been surprised how often I’ve bought what I thought was a standard mystery, SF, whatever, and had my assumptions stretched. It’s an enjoyable experience. :)

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