How to Publish an E-Book

So you have an idea for an e-book (an electronic book which you can sell on the internet). It is possible to produce the book yourself using simple software - but remember, producing the book is just the beginning. Then you have to find some way to sell it. You should work that out, before deciding how to put the book together.

I'm sure you've seen many websites selling an individual e-book of some kind. You know the sort - a flashy page full of big coloured titles, exclamation marks and Buy This Now! banners. But is that the best way to market it?

One of the first things you discover when you start a new website or blog is that no one reads it. It’s lost in the millions of other sites on the net. So you spend hours promoting it and yourself on forums, submitting to search engines, etc etc. But unless you have a very hot topic and a wide circle of online friends, you still don’t get much traffic, and Google doesn’t even know you exist.

So publishing an e-book and selling it on your own little site can be a disappointing affair - if there's no traffic, there can't be any sales!

There is an alternative - publish with an established e-book publisher.

One of the highest profile e-publishers is Lulu.com. It also offers POD publishing, and is fast gaining a reputation as one of the few totally honest, upfront self-publishing companies out there.

The fantastic thing about Lulu.com and sites like it, is that they not only guide you through formatting your book for publication and put it on their website for sale at no cost – they can also print books, for people who prefer their books in hard copy. The book is printed on demand, so you only have to pay to print a copy if someone actually orders one, so you know you’re not out of pocket.

That means you also have the option of having a few books printed to take to markets, writers' festivals or even local bookshops - or to give to friends.

Of course, you can - and should - still start your own site or blog to promote your book. Just set up the ordering link to go to your ebook publisher. The publisher will take a commission on every book sold, of course, but considering the service they give, it’s worth it.

Now, whether it’s a good idea to self-publish at all is another question!

There are many good reasons to publish an ebook.  If you're publishing a short "how to" booklet which you want to sell on the internet, an ebook is the obvious way to go.  Or perhaps you're an instructor writing a book for students in your specialist subject.  Or you may be writing a family history and want to share it with all your relatives.

However, if you're thinking of publishing a novel or a serious non-fiction work, you should think twice.

First of all, it's a myth that self-publishing will get you noticed by a mainstream publisher.  In fact, the reverse is true - mention that you have self-published, and most mainstream publishers will reject your manuscript without even reading it.  

To a mainstream publisher, self-published authors are people who could be hard to work with.  After all, they're egotistical (they think their work is already good enough to publish without any  professional editing), as well as lazy and impatient (they're not prepared to go through the hard slog of finding an agent and a publisher).  Why should a publisher take a chance on potential prima donnas, when he has thousands of other manuscripts to choose from every year?

The only time a mainstream publisher will take notice of a self-published author is when they do well - very well.  If you can sell over 5,000 copies, there's a good chance a publisher will pick you up.  Considering most e-books don't get past double digits, five thousand copies is a huge target to reach. 

Yes, you've heard of self-published authors who made the transition to the high street bookshop - but you hear about them precisely because they are so rare, it's big news when it happens.  So don't live in Cloud Cuckoo Land, and have realistic expectations for your ebook!

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All text copyright Marisa Wright. Photo courtesy of AZAdam on Flickr.