DIGITAL PUBLISHING INCLUDES DIGITAL SELF-PUBLISHING
Important information, conclusions, advice and overview on digital publishing, including digital self publishing
The World Wide Web has become the biggest seller of digital books. The exclusive hold over authors by publishing companies, distributors and retailers disappeared with the appearance of the Internet. In a short period of time overall sales of digital books overtook sales of hardcover and paperback books. The world wide choice of digital books available on the Internet has reached an ultimate almost unlimited presence. A key benefit is the emergence of unparalleled opportunities for any author to become the publisher, distributor and retailers of their own work. No more rejections or “out of print” situations. Published and self published authors can sell their digital books forever.
What makes digital publishing so attractive? The three major factors are:
- Digital publishing is faster than traditional publishing
- Digital publishing is cheaper
- Digital publishing is far more environmentally friendly than traditional publishing
The new digital publishing industry is continuing to gaining momentum – faster than you can read our presentation on digital publishing.
However, glossy presentation is only a part of new success story. Some published authors and self published authors are selling well and fast but some are struggling to make sales.
To become a well known author you must take some important notes for yourself.
Reader’s likability of your book is vital to your success as an author. This means your digital book’s content and quality is critical. If your story is great, your copy, editing, proofreading and cover of your digital book must be excellent also. There are no short cuts in achieving excellence; it must be by done professionally. This is a long term investment in you as an author - and not a get rich quick scheme.
The second most important aspect of online publishing is your exposure and visibility. What will promote your digital book globally? The trick is to make your digital book easy to discover on the Internet - by topic; by title; by category; by name of the author and by sampling of actual content. The current best way to make your book highly visible is to get it on the Google Books list. Yes, you need an ISBN number and yes, it will cost some dollars but the world wide exposure is worth every cent.
The fast and safe purchasing process of your digital book is very important. It is essential that your potential buyers/readers have peace of mind during the purchasing process. For proven and safe transactions on the Internet we recommend and exclusively use Pay Pal. If you sell your digital book from your own website or blog, you must obtain a SSL certificate and open a bank account. If you have a SSL, your customers will know that it is safe to buy from you.
The promotion, marketing and advertising of your name as an author and of your digital book as a product is also a key consideration that impacts on your ability to connect with potential buyers of your digital book. You can achieve exposure with professional companies or you can do it yourself. If you do it yourself you must immediately think about social media channels on the Internet. It is mostly free to join these networks and they may assist you to become known as an author. All you need is a lot of time and patience. If not, you need to find a company that will do it for you.
There is one more aspect any author of digital books has to take into consideration - the price. You can go straight to major online selling companies and sign their agreements. With big companies it is all about quantities and therefore the price of your digital book will be quite low. You will more than likely sell it cheaper than you had intended to and there may well be pressure for further discounting. Once you sell cheaper you cannot reverse your price. The other way is to find boutique digital book publishing and selling companies, just like ours, where you will have no internal competition and no pressure to discount. It is all up to you to shop around and make you choice.
Securing your digital book is quite easy provided the company you are selling with has their own secure server that provides all security measures for your digital book online. If you want to sell your digital book yourself and are thinking about protecting your digital book by DRM - think again. For internet pirates it is a red flag that grabs their attention and therefore your digital book is more likely to be targeted with DRM than without it. Generally, Internet piracy is very small, around 2%. It is there and it will be there for some time to come or maybe forever. Think about it as a small loss just like in a shop when some thief steals one or two items.
One general aspect you must understand very clearly is that in any business, just as in life, there are no short cuts to achieve overnight success. When you hear success stories about authors selling thousands of copies in a short period of time they are usually well known and have build their name and reputation over many years. You need to be patient and you need to look at your digital book as a long term investment. Do not torture yourself with high expectations but stay focused and pay attention in order to perfect every step: from writing your book; converting it into digital format; editing and proofreading, creating an attractive digital cover; providing visibility and availability; securing the safest process for purchasing; promoting, marketing, advertising and branding you book or your name; building connections with potential markets trough social media channels; finding or creating your own outlet on the Internet and deciding a price of your digital book for years to come.
If you want to see our publishing offers or if you are seeking services for self publishing digital books with our company, please click on the links bellow to find out more.
