Book Review - ePublish: Self-Publish Fast and Profitably for Kindle, iPhone, CreateSpace and Print on Demand by Steve Weber
Category Book Review Steve Weber ePublish: Self-Publish Fast and Profitably for Kindle iPhone CreateSpace and Print on Demand
There's a good chance that if you want to write and publish a book, you'll struggle to find a publisher who can and will take you on. It's even worse if you're a first time author, or if your subject matter is rather narrow. Steve Weber shows how you can explore alternatives in his book ePublish: Self-Publish Fast and Profitably for Kindle, iPhone, CreateSpace and Print on Demand. What you quickly learn is that you *can* be published with little money at risk, and the margins at which you can make worthwhile money are not as high as you might think.
Table of Contents:
Introduction; Dive Into Electronic Text; Publish To The Kindle Store; Target The Mobile Reader; Give It Away And Prosper; Ready, Aim, Format!; Weave Your Web; Wag The Long Tail; Rise Above The Noise; Graduate To Print; Write Off Your Expenses; More Resources; Index
The rise of electronic publishing makes the barrier to entry much lower than in the past. Weber explains how devices like the Kindle and the iPhone can be leveraged to prepare and publish your book electronically, and how formatting and pricing comes into play. There are pros and cons of each different platform, and a single formatting option will not cover them all. You'll learn what choices you'll need to make, and how they might affect your eventual monetary return on your time and effort. I also like how he covers something often left out... publicity. If you go the self-publishing route, you'll be responsible for all your own press. Using web sites, reviewers, affiliate sites, and the like can overcome that "lost in a crowd effect", and there's plenty of ideas in here. And for the "dead tree" crowd (of which I am a member), he covers the requirements to go down the Print On Demand route. This is perfect for many authors in that they don't have to pre-order a ton of copies. The books are printed when ordered, so your cash outlay and risk is minimal, and the margin of profit on each sale is much higher. Add into all this content his advice on how best to protect your rights and tax implications, and you have a very valuable book well worth its cost (which isn't much).
As with many books like this (how to make money doing <whatever>), the success stories used are such that you may feel you have only to write a couple hundred pages and money will start rolling in. Not true... If your writing is garbage and the material is not well-edited, it doesn't matter how much you publish... it won't sell. But assuming you *do* have good content worth reading and buying, ePublish will help you make that transition from idea to reality. I am already starting to think of a few ideas for this option...
There's a good chance that if you want to write and publish a book, you'll struggle to find a publisher who can and will take you on. It's even worse if you're a first time author, or if your subject matter is rather narrow. Steve Weber shows how you can explore alternatives in his book ePublish: Self-Publish Fast and Profitably for Kindle, iPhone, CreateSpace and Print on Demand. What you quickly learn is that you *can* be published with little money at risk, and the margins at which you can make worthwhile money are not as high as you might think.
Table of Contents:
Introduction; Dive Into Electronic Text; Publish To The Kindle Store; Target The Mobile Reader; Give It Away And Prosper; Ready, Aim, Format!; Weave Your Web; Wag The Long Tail; Rise Above The Noise; Graduate To Print; Write Off Your Expenses; More Resources; Index
The rise of electronic publishing makes the barrier to entry much lower than in the past. Weber explains how devices like the Kindle and the iPhone can be leveraged to prepare and publish your book electronically, and how formatting and pricing comes into play. There are pros and cons of each different platform, and a single formatting option will not cover them all. You'll learn what choices you'll need to make, and how they might affect your eventual monetary return on your time and effort. I also like how he covers something often left out... publicity. If you go the self-publishing route, you'll be responsible for all your own press. Using web sites, reviewers, affiliate sites, and the like can overcome that "lost in a crowd effect", and there's plenty of ideas in here. And for the "dead tree" crowd (of which I am a member), he covers the requirements to go down the Print On Demand route. This is perfect for many authors in that they don't have to pre-order a ton of copies. The books are printed when ordered, so your cash outlay and risk is minimal, and the margin of profit on each sale is much higher. Add into all this content his advice on how best to protect your rights and tax implications, and you have a very valuable book well worth its cost (which isn't much).
As with many books like this (how to make money doing <whatever>), the success stories used are such that you may feel you have only to write a couple hundred pages and money will start rolling in. Not true... If your writing is garbage and the material is not well-edited, it doesn't matter how much you publish... it won't sell. But assuming you *do* have good content worth reading and buying, ePublish will help you make that transition from idea to reality. I am already starting to think of a few ideas for this option...
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