# E-Book?



## seagullplayer (Nov 6, 2008)

I have a "how to" type book in the works right now. 

I had planned to self publish it, but I am now considering an E-book format.

But I know nothing about it. Do I sell the material to someone else to use, or create a website and host the book myself?
How do I make an E-book?

Is there an E-book for dummies?

Thanks for any help.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

They real question is how you're going to promote it. Web page, eBay, or what?


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## Peacock (Apr 12, 2006)

BookLocker.com seems to be a good, reputable place.

Lulu.com has good reviews too that I've seen.

Also Barbara Ling, who is a friend of mine, has a lot of experience writing and selling ebooks. This link might help you (and no, I get nothing from sending it, I just know her and like her a lot): http://www.barbaraling.com/entrepreneur-ebooks.html


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

edayna said:


> BookLocker.com seems to be a good, reputable place.
> 
> Lulu.com has good reviews too that I've seen.
> 
> Also Barbara Ling, who is a friend of mine, has a lot of experience writing and selling ebooks. This link might help you (and no, I get nothing from sending it, I just know her and like her a lot): http://www.barbaraling.com/entrepreneur-ebooks.html


Actually, I bought a thermal binder to make my own perfect bound books for a lot less than lulu.com could do it for. I think I had the price down to around $1.25 per book. My thermal binder is a lot like this one, but I think I only paid about $35 for it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Bindit-PerfectBind-II-Thermal-Binding-Machine_W0QQitemZ270311546768

As I said, the problem is in promoting the book. You may already know that I wrote a gambling book that I tried to promote at eBay. Unfortunately the truth about how to win at gambling isn't very interesting compared to the hype that some scam sellers at eBay promote. 

I've bought a lot of fraudulent gambling systems while doing research for my book so I know how absurd they can be, but the fact is that people seek-out the ridiculous claims that are promised in those auctions. The truth doesn't stand a chance at eBay when some sellers are making promises that their systems can make up to $5,000/day guaranteed.

I'm doing a rewrite now, so maybe I'll take another run at promoting it this spring.


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## Peacock (Apr 12, 2006)

Maybe you need a good copywriter. LOL!


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## Seeria (Jul 21, 2006)

I'd suggest picking up some books, both on publishing options and marketing self-published books.

Be sure to get a fairly recent one, like in the last couple years. Tech changes quickly. Also check into devices so you have a better idea what formats can be used where to give the wider audience. Amazon.com has the Kindle program as well as an ebook one not for Kindle (unless that's changed since Kindle came out). 

A search at Amazon will give you books with reviews, always read the reviews. Poytner (sp) is probably the most known author on self publishing. 

Luck with it and let us know how it goes!


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Depending on the topic of your e-book you may want to look at clickbank. Clickbank pays _other_ people a commission to promote your e-book. Said people tend to be ruthlessly capitalist and very good at promoting things, however, they are not always ethical, so you have to be careful. (Because YOU are the one with the CC chargebacks if they don't do things ethically.)

That said, publishing is a hard business. You're NOT going to get rich at it.


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

seagullplayer said:


> I have a "how to" type book in the works right now.
> 
> I had planned to self publish it, but I am now considering an E-book format.
> 
> ...


Personally, I'd put it into PDF format. Though there are some free PDF writers out there, I think you'd get the best features for your readers with Acrobat. You may want to check out clickbank and see if that might work for you. If you've been around the internet for awhile you could sell directly from a website, running an Adwords campaign. You'd probably want to hire a good copyrighter though, for your landing pages. At the very least, you could try selling your ebook through Craigslist, just to get started. If you write your book digitally, try submitting it to some relevant review sites for some additional exposure. Don't be afraid of some criticism. Use it to your advantage.


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## Nevada (Sep 9, 2004)

How Do I said:


> Personally, I'd put it into PDF format. Though there are some free PDF writers out there, I think you'd get the best features for your readers with Acrobat.


You don't want to give those bloodsuckers at Adobe $300 for software to make PDFs. There are free solutions out there.

OpenOffice is a free office suite for Windows, Mac, & Linux, which includes a PDF converter. Just open or create a document (it can open MS Word documents too) and select File==>Export As PDF.

For those of you who already own MS Word or Office, Microsoft offers a free plug-in for Word that can convert Word documents to PDF. Look in the priority download section at Microsoft's web site.

Keep in mind that eBay doesn't allow downloadable digital products any longer, but you can get around that by mailing a CD with your PDF on it. CD blanks are only about 15 cents. When I add the label, padded insert, cardboard mailer, and postage, I have about 85 cents invested in the CD + shipping. Not bad...


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

> OpenOffice is a free office suite for Windows, Mac, & Linux, which includes a PDF converter. Just open or create a document (it can open MS Word documents too) and select File==>Export As PDF.


That is the way I do my ebooks. I use Open Source for almost everything. I like Open Office and that is what I use to write my books then convert them to a PDF. Since my website gets good traffic, I just put it on there. It is the most popular product on my site. I even sold it to a famous person in L.A. 

You could though set up a free blog and market it there. My blogs (I have 5) bring my site lots of traffic as well as my membership on myspace. You have to work it though. Write a blog that is related to your book.

katlupe


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## Vashti (Dec 22, 2006)

Cygnet is right THE WAY to promote ebooks is through clickbank. However, you'll want to overcharge for your book so that the clickbank users get a high percentage. The higher percentage you offer, the more likely that the professional clickbank users (the ones with more experience) will pick up your product. You can do it a couple of different ways, but most people create a one page website for their book, called a "landing page". This is the page the clickbank promoters will send their traffic to in order to purchase the book. Clickbank keeps track of who sent you what buyers so that your clickbank clientele can get their commissions.


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