Have you read an ebook, yet? Have you written one? I’ve purchased and downloaded ebooks only related to research and resources, except for one novel by a friend. If at all possible, I always buy the print version.
I’ve produced several ebooks, however. And I promote them. But they don’t sell very well. What has been your experience with promoting ebooks?
I keep hearing that ebook sales are up? They’re the wave of the future. I sure don’t see this happening. Do you? Honestly. I’d like to know about your experiences with ebooks.
This weekend, I was working on my new Web site—yup, I’m going to build a personal Web site and use my Matilija Press Web site just to showcase and sell my books. Well, I was looking at my home page when I realized that I really don’t like a couple of my book covers. The covers that don’t quite make it for me are on ebooks. So I asked my in-house cover designer to redesign them.
How cool is that to be able to switch out a cover, edit the text or even replace, update, refresh text. You can’t do that with a print book without a giant cost.
Also, what does an ebook cost you? If you do the work in-house, you post it for sale at your own Web site, it costs you NOTHING. But these books (ebooks) don’t seem to be worth much, either.
While the content might be absolutely priceless and, while people might pay a good amount to get that particular information in print form, they pretty much ignore and even reject really good ebooks. Why? Do they seem less than a book? Is it that my particular audience isn’t sophisticated enough or high tech enough to consider purchasing an ebook? Is it that they just don’t understand the concept of an ebook? That can’t be true of authors or of people who enjoy cat stories, could it?
One of my ebooks, for example, is The Author’s Repair Kit. (We’re getting ready to replace this book cover. Let us know if you have ideas. Mine is to make the title LARGER. I’ll probably get rid of the woman on the cover, too.) Anyway, The Author’s Repair Kit is an amazingly useful tool for authors with faltering or failing books. This book is designed to help you breathe new life into your book. It has only 27 pages, so it’s not going to cost you a lot in paper to print it out. So why haven’t you purchased it? I’ve even offered it for FREE a time or two and didn’t get many takers.
The Successful Author’s Handbook is brand new and not too many people have actually benefitted from it, yet, because it is an ebook. (This is the ebook for which we just designed a new cover. Sorry, my webmaster hasn’t posted it, yet. I’ll let you know when that happens. You might go look at the original version today and the new one later, to see what we did and why. http://www.matilijapress.com)
One thing about ebooks—you can’t sell them at presentations or display them at book festivals. Are you an author with one or more ebooks? How do you handle the live promotion of them? I guess one can create promo postcards, magnets, brochures, etc. just like you do for print books. I guess you could print it out and put it in a binder for folks to see. But they still have to go back to your Web site to purchase it. But, it has been my experience that if the customer doesn’t purchase the book on the spot, he/she is unlikely to do it later.
Ebooks—what is all of the hype. Who is buying them and why? Why do you avoid them? Do you write/publish them? How do you promote them? How are your book sales? We’d all like to know.
Catscapades
Interest is growing in my new print book (still with the printer), Catscapades, True Cat Tales. I’ve been handing out postcards and magnets displaying the cover of the book. Our cover girl, Lily, is becoming famous. Fans are trying to get into Lily’s head—they are guessing about what she was thinking when this professional photo was taken. One woman said it looks like she is saying, “What?” The way she stares right into your eyes is a tad eerie to some. “It’s as if she can see into your soul.” Others say, “She looks a little annoyed.” One young woman explained that she thinks Lily is looking down on us. She says, “She looks regal and sort of above everyone else.” Most say simply, “She is so sweet.”
While some see sweetness in this photo, others sense an impish demeanor. What do you think?
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html
Order your copy of Catscapades, True Cat Tales before March 15, 2010 and get free shipping and a gift.
By the way, Lily is 11 months old today.