Introduction to Ebook PublishingHow to Publish an Ebook Fast, Free and Easily

Sunnyvale Public LibraryJanuary 26, 2015

Mark Coker Founder, Smashwords

Twitter: @markcoker

Welcome

• What you’ll learn• How SIMPLE it is to publish an ebook

• An ebook publishing checklist

• Who this presentation is for• Aspiring authors, published authors, library

staff

• No technical experience required!

My Backstory

My wife is a former soap opera reporter. Together we wrote a novel about the soap opera industry.

We were repped by a top NY literacy agency. We had a great agent.

2004-2005: Publishers Said “No”

• Despite great efforts of our agent, every major NY publisher said NO (TWICE!)

My Epiphany

• Publishers unable, unwilling and disinterested to take a risk on every author

• Publishing industry was failing to serve Authors

Readers

The future of books

• Judging books based on perceived commercial merit

• Publishers guess what readers want to buy

• Spaghetti against the wall

I evaluated our options

1.The rational option Admit we sucked, accept failure.

1. The irrational option Believe in ourselves

Mortgage the house and try to fix the problem for all writers

My solution: Smashwords

• FREE eBook Publishing Platform Free ebook printing press

Distribution to major ebook retailers and libraries

Free educational resources – best practices knowledge - to help writers publish like professionals

How Smashwords Works

1. UPLOAD• Upload a Microsoft Word file, formatted to

our Smashwords Style Guide

• Ready for immediate sale online

1. DISTRIBUTE• Distribution to major retailers

1. GET PAID• Author receives 85% of net

Get Started at the SPL ePublishing Portal

Visit http://GetePublished.inSunnyvale.com to access the portal and resources

Smashwords Distribution Network

Upload/Update Once, Distribute Globally

Ebooks published at Smashwords

THREE BIG EBOOK TRENDS

#1: The Rise of Ebooks

Source: Association of American Publishers, publishers.org. 2012-13 Smashwords estimate

Ebooks as a percentage of US wholesale trade market

Source: Association of American Publishers, publishers.org. 2012-2014 Smashwords estimate

Follow the Eyeballs

Print books

EbooksUnitsDollars

Print books

Ebooks

#2: Indies hitting the bestseller lists

• Indie ebooks scaling all the bestseller lists

• Retailers giving indies seat at merchandising table

• Indie titles on the NYT list nearly every week

#3: Stigmas reversing: percentage of authors who aspire

traditional vs. indieAspire

Traditional

Aspire Indie

Today?

Aspire Indie

Aspire Traditional

6 yrs ago Near future?Last year

THE GREAT RECKONING

Publishers losing their monopoly

• Writers no longer need publishers to publish, distribute and sell

• Writers asking two questions:1. “What can a publisher do for me that I can’t

do for myself?”

2. “Will a publisher harm my ability to reach readers?”

Advantages of Indie Authorship

• Indie ebook author advantages faster time to market total creative control better distribution to global market immortal ebooks never go out of print lower expenses lower prices to consumers earn more per book

Check out the Indie Author Manifesto to learn more about the indie author movement - http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/04/indie-author-manifesto.html

QUADRUPLE +

Indie Ebook Authors Earn Higher Percentage of List Price

• Indies earn more at lower prices

• At $3.99, indies earn ~$2.40. Traditional author would have to price over $14.00 to earn $2.00

• Lower price = reach more readers = more sales at higher profits per sale

• Traditionally published ebook authors at disadvantage with high prices, low royalties

60-80% 12-17%

Indie Traditional

Let’s learn the basics of how to publish, distribute and sell an ebook!

Checklist for Publishing an Ebook Finish a super-awesome book Format the book prior to conversion Prepare cover image Prepare the metadata Ebook conversion to multiple formats Pricing ISBNs Copyright Piracy Distribution to retailers, libraries Marketing

Finish Your Super-Awesome Book

• Ebook publishing tools make publishing fast, free and easy …• … but they don’t make it easy to write

a great book• Your book must move the reader to an emotionally

satisfying extreme

• You (the author) are the publisher

• Edit, revise, edit, revise

• Involve beta readers (then revise again)

• Hire professional editor if you can afford it

Ebook Formatting

Formatting is the layout and design process to prepare your book for

publication

Formatting for Smashwords

450,000+downloads!

It’s FREE!

Formatting Secrets

• Forget (some of) what you know• Don’t try to make e- look like p-

• Ebooks consumed differently than print

• Design for reflowability, small screens

• Less = more with ebooks

Reflowability: Ebook devices (and customers) shape shift text

• Example of Smashwords novel, Heller by JD Nixon as viewed in iBooks e-reading app

• Users can select font style, font size and nightime mode, or view in portrait or landscape mode. Reflowability enables this!

Cover Image

Create Your Ebook Cover

• Covers are important• First impression

• Great covers make a promise

• Make it:

engaging, matched to target audience

professional

good as thumbnail

good as B&W, greyscale

DIY Cover, or Hire Professional?

• Your cover should look as good or better than the covers from large NY publishers

• It should look professional, not amateur

• Unless you’re an expert graphic designer or experienced cover designer, hire someone (professional cover design is inexpensive!)

• Email list@smashwords.com for low cost cover designers and formatters or go to http://smashwords.com/list

• $50-$150 (Mark’s list) or under $300 elsewhere (still cheap!). Before you hire anyone, check out their online portfolio.

Great covers make a promise

Horror fans want to be scared. This cover promises to scare you, so it’s a great cover.

Great covers make a promise

This is a scary post-apocalyptic novel. Note the bloody hands as two friends walk down the road.

Great covers make a promise

This cover promises sweet romance and first love, perfect for its target audience of teens and young women.

WE’LL REVIEW MORE COVER EXAMPLES IN THE BEST PRACTICES

SEGMENT TOMORROW

Metadata

Metadata is data that makes your book discoverable in a store

Book title

Book description

Author name

Book category

Price

Publication dateISBN

Language Tags

Backmatter

(the stuff at the end of your book)

Backmatter: Add three sections to end of book

1. About Yourname Lastname

• Short bio

1. Other books by Yourname Lastname

• Title 1

• Title 2

1. Connect with Yourname Lastname

• Facebook:

• Twitter:

• Web site/blog:

• Smashwords author page:

• Learn more at http://blog.smashwords.com/2013/11/how-to-add-navigation-to-smashwords.html or Google “Smashwords navigation”

Ebook Conversion

Conversion = Turning your formatted manuscript into an ebook file readable on

multiple ebook reading devices

E-reading Devices

Ebook Conversion at Smashwords

Pricing

Pricing

• Determine objective• Build readership, sales, or both?

• Non-fiction supports higher prices than fiction

• If you publish multiple books, cover multiple price points to capture the most readers

• FREE, $.99, $2.99, $3.99, $4.99+

• $2.99 and $3.99 are sweet spots for full-length fiction

• Pricing strategy is integral to building readership

Learn more pricing strategy at the Smashwords Survey - http://blog.smashwords.com/2014/07/2014-smashwords-survey-reveals-new.html

ISBN

What’s an ISBN?

• What it is:• Unique digital identifier

• A 13-digit number

• Helps supply chain communicate about book

• Required for Smashwords distribution to Apple, Kobo, others

• Ebook ISBN must be different than print ISBN

• What it is NOT:• Does not connote ownership or copyright

• Does not imply “professional” or “real”

• Not a common discovery method

Where to Obtain an ISBN

• Go to Bowker.com• Purchase blocks of 10+ for $295

• Lists you as “publisher”

• Go to Smashwords• FREE ISBNs

Copyright

Copyright Simplified

• By publishing something you created, you have copyright• Copyright entitles you to an exclusive

bundle of rights

• The notation of © is optional

• For best legal protection in US, go to Copyright.gov and register copyright online

Distribution to retailers and libraries

Smashwords Distribution Network

Upload once, reach multiple outlets

*

Avoid Exclusivity

• Ebook retailing is not like sports, politics or religion where you pick one team.

• Distribute everywhere - if your book is not available at every retailer, it’s not discoverable or purchasable

• Exclusivity • angers fans

• limits global audience and opportunity

• increases your dependence upon a single sales outlet

• strips your independence

Two options for getting your book on a retailer’s virtual shelves

1. Use a Distributor• Helps you spend more time writing, less time fussing with

multiple upload platforms

Upload one file or update, reach many retailers

Centralized metadata management

Consolidated payments and tax reporting

Preorders to Apple, B&N, Kobo

Access to retailers (Flipkart, Oyster, Scribd, others) and Libraries require a distributor

1. Direct to Retailers

• Format for each specific retailer

• Upload to, and manage each retailer separately

Marketing

Marketing

• Marketing is a catalyst, not fuel• Your book is your best marketing

• Reader word of mouth determines your success

• Book must take reader to an emotionally satisfying extreme

• Focus marketing on activities that lead to permanent discoverability and platform building

• Viral catalysts amplify word of mouth

What’s a Viral Catalyst?

• A viral catalyst is something that makes your book more available, accessible, desirable and enjoyable to readers

• Read the Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (it’s FREE!) to learn how viral catalysts spur word-of-mouth

Viral Catalysts

• Every thing you do right increases virality

Great coverGreat bookBroad distributionFair priceGood categorizationProfessionally editedGreat formatting

Great titleGreat book descriptionGreat marketingSocial media enabledSampling enabledMultiple formatsLUCK!

• Fall short anywhere and you create unnecessary friction

THE PLAN FORWARD

YOU have a right to publish

YOU are your own gatekeeper

YOU decide when your manuscript graduates to published book

Honor your readers

Give them great books

(and do it faster with lower prices)

The task before you is not easy, yet…

The Opportunity to Reach Readers Has Never Been Greater

SUMMARY

Summary

• The process of turning your manuscript into a published ebook is… Fast

Free

Fun

Easy

• It’s DIFFICULT to sell books!

• You are your own gatekeeper

• Honor readers

FREE RESOURCES

Learn Best Practices

• Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of successful authors)

• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book)

• Smashwords Style Guide (how to format an ebook)

Learn how to e-publish like a pro with Smashwords Tutorials at Youtube at

youtube.com/user/Smashwords

Q&A

Connect with Mark Coker and Smashwords:

Web: www.smashwords.comBlog: blog.smashwords.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/markcokerFacebook: facebook.com/markcokerHuffPo: huffingtonpost.com/mark-cokerTwitter: @markcoker