eBook Marketing: How Do You Target Your Reading Audience?

One of the first questions a new indie author must ask is what audience will buy my book? The second question is how will I market to this audience? Both questions should be asked way before you get to the publishing stage of your book.

In the old days, there was a very standard set of rules and procedures. If you were fortunate enough to get picked up by a publisher, you got the finished product to the editors and off your book went into the market place.

On the other side, if you had to do the publishing yourself that added a lot of extra action points to get your book to the reader and getting your book into bookstores was a major component in determining whether your book was a success or not.

Well the whole process has turned upside down. Now the marketing targets are all different and the bookstore is no longer the primary focus in marketing your book. It is a turkey shoot, as they say.

Marketing using social media and the Internet are becoming the top choices for marketing for self-publishing authors.

The author must determine their audience, what they read and where to find them all online.

Knowing your audience will be the key in how you approach the marketing of your book.

Multiple Reader Audiences
The first thing you must realize is that there are multiple audiences to address and each will require a different approach. I view audiences in three distinct groups, all separated by experience with online media.

1. Mature (55+)
Most of this group is new to electronics. Ebook readers and tablets are all new to them. They are accustomed to paper reading. Some have adapted but still fall back to paper. They look for the Deal of the Day or a low priced ebook. Their first selection maybe by genre or an author they like. They have no real online community involvement. Reaching them will take a more direct approach.

2. Working/Family Group (30-55)
These are readers that are established adults. They grew up reading traditional books but they are more computer-savvy than the mature group. They have adapted to ebooks because of the time and convenience factor. An online approach could work with this group but they will seek advice from more than online sources.

3. Mobile, on the Move Youth
They make quicker decisions. They can’t go anywhere and do anything without their cell phone or their iPad or some electronic device at the ready. They would rely almost entirely on online communications to make their buying decision.

They won’t read a book on their iPad but they may use the ebook for an information source. You see this in the resistance to accept e-textbooks. About 60% of this group does all their communication via cell phones exclusively.

In contrast, only 25% of the mature group use cell phones exclusively (No landline phone). (34% overall)

It’s like being in the right place at the right time to be successful. In this case, you need to be in the right genre and target the right audience.

Shooting at the wrong target
Let me share with you the experience I had with my first novel, Call Off the Dogs. This is a story about the JFK Assassination and now Jonathon Stone, my pragmatist, found another shooter from that day in Dallas and the adventure begins.

I was so anxious to get the book out the door, I didn’t do my homework.

Where did the book fit in? Was it a mystery, a detective story, a historical novel or what?

My primary audience was the mature group mentioned above. They lived through that period and all the conflicts and conspiracy theories. I choose to take a ebook only approach and targeted my audience online.

I made all the wrong moves to sell my ebook to my target audience. It probably didn’t help that Stephen King released his book, ‘11/22/63’ in the same week so all my pre-publishing marketing was written over.

Shooting at the right target
Let’s discuss some authors that know how to target their audience. First there is M.R. Mathias, a fantasy writer, who has been quite successful with his online approach to his target audience. He focuses his marketing at the younger audience through Twitter and Facebook. At last count, his twitter followers were in excess of 87,000.

His main asset is he writes quality books. Lots of them. Next he feeds them to his followers like Halloween candy and they buy it. Sounds like a plan to me.

Another example is Amanda Hocking and a group of young writers who are writing to the young adult genre and targeting them through social media. Amanda has over 17,000 followers on Twitter and her Facebook audience is huge. Just send them a tweet and she is off and running. It is like having a barrel full of 140 word bullets.

Let’s take a test to see if you’re following me
Let’s say you write a book about an old biker who wants to take one last trip across the country. The book would highlight his conflicts between the way he approached the trip when he was young and full of adventure. And then compare that to the current old man who has declined in health and aggressiveness going down memory lane.

So do you have a family saga going here? Or is my biggest target group all the bikers across the country? How do I target them? Oh yeah. Do you start tweeting the world about your biker book or do you try a more conventional approach and get involved in the biker community? I believe you are looking at the mature group not the mobile one.

My first move would be to get involved with the Harley-Davidson audience. We are talking over a million people in this group. I’d try to get into their stores, sell at their events across the country, get a book display in their museum and get an endorsement from their owner's group.

I’d let my beard grow, get me some nice looking leathers, buy a good looking Harley and hit the road.

Social networking and publishing an eBook exclusively would be my last choice in selling to this audience.

Are you off target?
Where is your audience and how do you get to them? Tweet to tweet or do you hit the pavement and do it the old fashion way?

You must answer right up front, who is going to buy your type of book and define the genre? And then concentrate on marketing to them where ever they are.

Some good sources
Jason Boog
If want to keep up with who the top indie authors are and what they are writing about a good source is Mediabistro – Galleycat by Jason Boog. @jasonboog
Amazon Self-Published Bestsellers for the Week of Monday, September 17, 2012 by Jason Boog

Judith Briles
The Book Shepherd blog is another good source written by Dr. Judith Briles
"Publishing is riddled with obstacles. Sometimes nightmares for the author. You don’t need problems … you want solutions." She will shepherd you through the maze and chaos.
She also manages AuthorU.org which is for authors who want to be seriously successful.
Dr. Briles can be found on Twitter: @mybookshepherd

M.R. Mathias
M.R. Mathias Fantasy Author is in the HBS Author’s Spotlight this month.
He can be found on Twitter: @ dahgmahn or at his website: http://www.mrmathias.com
Also Mr. Mathias has written a must read book for indie authors about social networking and marketing books. The First Ten Steps - Ten proven steps to build a solid foundation for your ebook using free social networking.

Follow Me on Twitter: @jimhbs
Or EMAIL at: mailto:jim@jamesmoushon.com
View my website: James Moushon – Mystery Writer
Take a look at my NEW blog: HBS Author’s Spotlight
Check out the Jonathon Stone Mystery Novel: Call Off The Dogs

Indie Authors: Your Copyright Page Needs Work

One of the first things an indie author should realize is that the printed version of their book does not have the same content as the ebook version and the differences start right in the front of the book.

 

It starts with the Copyright Page.

The first area that jumps out is the copyright page should be different. In fact, the copyright page should be different between the various ebook versions, i.e. Amazon vs. Barnes and Noble vs. Smashwords, etc.

After reviewing a couple dozen recent ebooks from indie authors, the first item that should be added to the copyright page is the paper source of the ebook. Not having that information now doesn’t seem to be a major problem. But ask me that question in three years when I still have that same ebook on my e-reader and the hardcover book has a new edition. This could be a major problem with non-fiction ebooks. Not so much with fiction.

Amazon has seen the need to add the source information in their on-line product description to help. They have added a line: Page Number Source ISBN. But the ebooks that I reviewed didn’t have a clue to the original source document.

Here is where the train leaves the tracks. With the missing source information, there was no indication where the book’s content originated from or how we got to the digital format.

Certain information is required.

Somebody must have missed the memo about what information is required and what format the information should be presented in because we had a wide variety of formats and information, to say the least. Almost none of them matched.

The copyright page should have the basics. They should have the copyright notice, the Publisher and publishing information, a disclaimer, the edition data, the Library of Congress information and the ISBN.

Although it is not required, some gave credit to the basic book formatting and design people. Things like cover photograph, cover image/art, interior design and edited by information.

The ebooks did have some direct information about the ebook. One had ‘First Kindle Edition’. Another said ‘Epub edition © with a date and eISBN 978- number’.

I don’t know if ‘eISBN’ is official but its meaning is obvious. One ebook even had ‘Mobipocket reader format’ mentioned.

Only one of the ebooks had any information at all about the source. (“Simon & Schuster hardcover edition June 2010”) Maybe it should have included the ISBN of the paper version.

Adding more information to the ebook copyright page goes along with the same concept we use for an accurate bibliography, footnotes and appendix.

Here is My Wish List.

We are missing the boat with the copyright page. It’s like seeing Original Source: Undisclosed on the copyright page. That just doesn’t work. The ebook is a different product than the paper version. We need to provide more information.

 1.      We need the ISBN number and the hardcover edition on the copyright page like Amazon is providing on their ebook Product Production page. Of course, they are including this to help sync the page numbers with the hard copy but it should have been required in an ebook by publishers before Amazon added the feature.

2.      We need different copyright pages for each version of an ebook. We need a unique copyright page for the Kindle, Nook and Kobo, etc. Smashwords has its own copyright page format which is the same with each version (epub, mobi, txt, etc.) they sell. I don’t know whether that is good enough in the long run.

3.      I would like to see a reference on the copyright page about the ebook conversion process used. Is this an ebook only version? Is the source document from the original book’s source file or was it a scanned /OCR version to a digital file. This will give the reader some idea of the accuracy of the conversion.

4.      If you have web addresses and contact information on this page, the links should be live links. Make it easy for readers to form a relationship with you by taking advantage of the opportunity to get the information to them. Never pass up a chance to keep in touch with your reader base. Remember unlike the traditional book that is cast in stone, the eBook can be edited easily and republished if the upfront information changes.

Here are two examples that I found.

Kindle Version

Original Source: How to Create Copyright Pages Right – by Jim Satire

Hardcover Edition March 2011 (ISBN: 978-9-9999-9999-8)
Kindle Edition – 1.5.1 – Build 11/7/2011
Original Process: Direct from Digital Source File
Created by: Amazon DTP
Conversion Services by: HBSystems Publications
Rendered by: James Moushon

Nook Version

Original Source: How to Create Copyright Pages Right – by Jim Satire
Hardcover Edition March 2011 (ISBN: 978-9-9999-9999-9)
Nook Edition – 1.6.1 – Build 11/23/2011
Original Process: Direct from Digital Source File
Created by: BN Pubit
Conversion Services by: HBSystems Publications
Rendered by: James Moushon

Traditional publishers and self-publishers are responsible for this additional information. Sometimes publishers get caught up in trying to get the ebook out the door at the lowest cost rather than doing their own due-diligence. The Indie author does not have that luxury. You must stay out in front of this information and marketing opportunity.

Your ebook can’t be just a copy of the hardcover. It all starts with the copyright page and the definition of the sources of the ebook. Right now it appears that this is missing information in most ebooks.

 

A Great Source of Information on this is from Joel Friedlander

Joel is an expert in this area. He blogged ‘Self-Publishing Basics: The Copyright Page’.

Use it as a starting point.

Are you including this information in your ebook? Does the Indie publisher have the responsibility to provide this information to the reader?

View my website: James Moushon – Mystery Writer

Or EMAIL at: jim@jamesmoushon.com

Follow Me on Twitter

Check out my Jonathon Stone Mystery Novel: Call Off The Dogs

 

My next blog will discuss your ebook and the Contact Information Page that should be added.

eBook Authors: Self-Publishing is Like Playing Baseball

Recently I read a great article by Patricia Fry called ‘50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book’. It is a FREE 24-page Booklet filled with great ideas and information for self-publishing authors.

 

I was struck by the similarity between the problems eBook authors have when they get started and baseball players starting off on their journey to the big leagues. The question is how do authors and players keep from failing?

Less than 1% of all players drafted make it the big leagues. There are 750 choice positions in the majors. Of the thousands of players that have that dream, only a handful ever get drafted.

I am sure that of all the people who want to write a book, only a handful do. And of the writers who finally produce a book, only a handful reach the goal of being published. Of those, only a very small percent of those ever make it to the top.

Then along came ebook self-publishing and the ebook authors’ odds seem to change for the better. You see a home run in your next at bat and success is just around the corner. You have no umpire or gatekeeper to call you out. You can just start running the bases.

Now with self-publishing, anyone can make it to the first level. The minors if you will.

But there is a formula for failure

You know, three strikes and you’re out. Even with ebook self-publishing, you will not make it to the ‘bigs’ if you have:

1.      Poor content or a poorly created ebook

2.      A Poor marketing effort

3.      No fan base development

The minor leaguers make little money but they work hard and look for a break and so do the ebook authors when they first get started.

Preparation is like spring training

To keep from getting called out, you must touch all the bases.

1.      Goals – You need to set goals. More than just ‘I want to be published’. You know monetary goals with time frames. You must do them in a written form so you can judge your own progress as you travel around the bases. It is just like keeping score of your own game.

2.      Planning – Plan the steps you need to take to reach your goal. Things like time management and your marketing plan.

3.      Research – Do your homework. Patricia makes this a major point in her article

4.      Observation – Check out your competition. Watch how others are doing things.

5.      Mentors – Seek out experts in your deficient areas. You can get good advice from books and blogs in the industry.

Talent

Like baseball players, you must have talent. Here is a simple checklist.

1.      Do you have that killer idea? Something others would be interested in.

2.      Are you willing to put the effort into your ebook project to make it a success?

3.      Do you have the knowledge to backup what you’re writing about?

4.      Do you know the mechanics to pull this off? Learn how to create an ebook. The editing part can be a daunting task.

 Game time

It’s time to put your training and practice to use. You are going to have to address all the parts of ebook publishing. Like ballplayers, it is HOW you play the game that counts?

Are you ready to do book research and setup an outline of your book? Let’s get up to bat.

Be prepared to write and rewrite. Proof read and proof read again. Edit and edit again. Part of your game plan should be deciding on who will do your cover and the title and the subtitle are important as well as the first two chapters. It is the EFFORT that really counts.

Some say you have to be lucky. My response: make your own luck.

Self-publishing is a team sport

Unless you’re an expert in a lot of different areas, you will need help to get into the starting lineup. Things like writing, publishing, design, editing, marketing, ebook creation and on and on.

It is like being a free agent without a player agent. You can’t do everything unless you only want to play one game or write one book. The bad news is you will find that there is not enough time in the day. The good news is there are many experts and coaches that can help you play the game.

How can I strike out?

Here is list of things that if you do or don’t do them, they will differently lead to failure.

1.      You have positioned your ebook in a weak sales genre or in the wrong genre.

2.      You have poor or no marketing. Your ebook is not going to just be a winner on its own. Using an online publisher’s information only to market your ebook is not good enough.

3.      You are not involved in social networking. This is becoming more and more important. The readers want to know as much about you as they can.

4.      You have a poor website or no website. You must have an Internet presence to play this game.

5.      You have not created a blog or audience contact point.

6.      You are unable to get reviews posted on your online sites. They should not be phony ones. Seek reviews from third parties not just relatives and friends.

7.      You get off to a poor start with no targets or goals to meet. You need to know where you’re going. Go back to home plate and start over.

It is a business

One thing baseball players learn first after making it to the top is it is a business. You’re in it to make money. You can only control what you can control. A self-publisher controls most of the game.

You may have the talent and you may have a written a killer ebook but if you’re in it to make money, the game has only just begun.

Unless you keep up the effort you won’t be in the majors long.

Your long-term income depends on your fans

Once you are not a rookie anymore, things get a little easier. The more ebooks you put into the sales pipe, the better things can be. You must keep up the quality and fan base or you will be off to the minors.

That includes being active in Social networks like Facebook and Twitter. It is a good idea to get involved with Linkedin and join an organization like SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). These areas take a lot of time and effort to keep up with. You must build the time into your plan. At the end of the season you should be able to see the results.

Most important! Don’t let your fan base down.

This is an extra-inning game

Are you self-publishing to make money or is it just a vanity thing? Don’t take a wild swing at it.

Unlike Baseball there are NO free passes. You either get a hit or you’re out. How big a hit depends on how you play the game? It could be a small infield hit or it could be a home run.

The old baseball adage ‘It is not whether you win or lose, it is how you play the game?’ does not apply here. It is all about winning. Let’s play ball.

How do ebook self-publishing authors fail and why? Let me know what you think and check out Patricia Fry’s great article.

To sign up for Patricia Fry booklet ‘50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book’, click here.

Some of Patricia Fry’s Books:

The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book

Over 75 Good Ideas For Promoting Your Book

View her website: Matilija Press

Or goto her blog: Patricia Fry’s Blog

View my website: HBSystems Publications

Or EMAIL at: jrm@hbspub.com
Or goto my blog: The eBook Author’s Corner
Author: Call Off The Dogs, a rendered eBook
LinkedIn Profile: James Moushon

The Mystery of the Missing Amazon Public Notes

Prime Suspect: The New Amazon Upgrade Program

Amazon Public Notes look like they are taking a turn that only a detective can figure out.

I blogged in February about the Great News of Amazon adding a new feature to their eBooks called Public Notes in which readers could share highlights and notes with other readers. In that blog, I detailed some areas I thought were potential high benefit areas.

Public Notes have caught on with Kindle 3 users as more and more readers add their ideas and thoughts. If I follow the instructions, I can add my own notes as well as view other reader’s public notes.

I decided to go investigate the Public Notes process to see if there were any surprises or changes to the initial release. I not only found some surprises but I can see Amazon moving along in a whole new direction. One that I didn’t see coming.

The Process is Very Elementary

For the purposes of this blog, I selected the eBook with the most Public Notes to date. The leader was “THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES” with over 200 people adding notes and highlights. Since I share no expense in researching for my blogs, I downloaded the FREE version of the eBook.

Let me share with you the simple process.

1.      After I downloaded the eBook, I went to my “Your Books” section for my account and turned on the settings for: MAKE READING STATUS & RATING PUBLIC and the PUBLIC NOTES: MAKE YOURS PUBLIC for this eBook.

2.      Next I clicked on the “ADVENTURES…” title to view the books summary page. It showed that my status for this eBook, “PUBLIC”, had been unlocked. The page also showed me that 223 Customers had Public Notes for this eBook. To view other reader’s notes, you must setup a connection between yourself and the other reader called ‘Following’.

TIP: I could preview other reader’s posts and highlights on the books summary page but I couldn’t view Public Notes on my Kindle 3 until I ‘followed’ an individual reader to view their notes. Preview is the clue here. Only a portion of a reader’s notes can be viewed from the books summary page.

3.      I clicked on the number ‘223’ and a dropdown list called “Customers with Public Notes for this Book” appeared with the names of readers that had added public notes to this eBook.

4.      I selected one of the reader’s names and their profile appeared. Just under the name was a button named “Follow”. I clicked on the button and I was automatically following this reader. Now their notes for this eBook were going to appear on my Kindle 3. Very elementary.

IDEA: It would have been so much easier to have a ‘SELECT ALL’ button rather than going through all 223 readers to see their notes.

POTENTIAL PROBLEM: it seems there is no control over who follows you and who can view your note.

Back in the day even Watson could keep up with Holmes if he had a Kindle and they could sync their notes. I can visualize Dr. Watson taking notes for Holmes and maybe for once, Watson and Holmes would finally be on the same page.

The Plot Thickens

It was time to check the current Public Notes features against my blog in February 2011. There was indeed Good News. The Kindle 3 and Amazon connection was working great. My notes were present with little tags in the content. I had set my notes to be synced with all my devices so they would appear on my Kindle and in my Kindle for PC app.

Other reader’s public notes and highlights were there. Amazon even had included a note of who had created the annotation.

The eBook’s Popular Highlights for all readers of the eBook were underlined with dots and the number of people that highlighted the passage was noted.

TIP: on your Amazon site under “Manage your Device”, you must have the Whispersync Device Synchronization turned on.

Next I reviewed some of the opportunities I had addressed in my blog in the Educational area. They involved the coordination of Public Notes between a Kindle 3 device and Kindle for PC/Mac Apps.

I had discussed the use of teachers and students sharing notes in their etextbooks along with the authors being able to add additional ideas or updates after the eBook was published.

I had known that Kindle 2’s would not include Public Notes but I did not realize until this research that the Kindle Apps do not include Public Notes either. Maybe in the future?

A Red Herring?

As Sherlock Holmes would say “Watson, I have come across a three pipe problem.” While doing my research I came across what may be a clue for the missing public notes in the apps. Amazon has a new program called the Amazon Upgrade which focuses on the use of Public Notes and I believe the future of eBook viewing. As close as I can tell, the program is designed to help authors and publishers get more revenue from the increased use and popularity of Public Notes.

Evidence of foul play for the Reader

The Upgrade program allows a reader to view an online version of an eBook which is accessed from any Internet-connected computer using a browser.

The reader will be able to read, search and annotate every page online along with highlights, bookmarks, copy text and print pages using the Amazon Online Reader from inside a browser. This is not a Kindle for App. The Amazon Online Reader is the same program used to view the Search Inside! purchasing feature for the samples of an eBook.

You can access Amazon.com directly and the eBook will be stored in your media library. The reader can view public notes of other Amazon Upgrade customers.

Can anyone see where the trail is leading us?

Publishers and Authors have a motive

Let’s investigate deeper into the problem or should I say mystery.

1.     Amazon has created the Upgrade process to generate incremental revenue and increase our    costs.

2.     The content will be kept on the Amazon servers, in a cloud no doubt.

3.     You only have access to books purchased through Amazon.

4.     You can only read the eBook using the Amazon Online Reader not on a Kindle or using Kindle for Apps.

Amazon Upgrade Process

If my evidence is correct, this is a crime of the highest order. Here is how the process works.

1.     First to have access to the Upgrade process, you must buy the physical version of the book. No other vendors or personal uploads can be used.

2.     Next you must pay an additional charge for the online version of the same book.

3.     The book must be a part of the Amazon Upgrade program. Not all are.

4.     Not all publishers and authors will participate. In other words, not all books will be in the Upgrade Program.

So do we have a clue what is going to happen?

1.      The process is simple, elementary for starters.

2.      This is not an eBook only program. The author must have a physical book in inventory and it must have a digital version.

3.      You can view the Upgrade notes online but not on your Kindle.

4.      This has to be a Tablet venture with the use of a browser to view the notes.

5.      The process is controlled by publishers and maybe self-publishers but Amazon controls what eBooks they make available for the Upgrade program.

6.      One good thing is a real name is associated with each public note. At least when ‘the kids’ start playing with the notes, we will know who they are or at least where to find them.

WARNING: I see no gatekeeper here or a way to monitor the notes, so that could be a problem.

So where is Amazon going with this? Are they changing the way we use public notes by connecting them to the purchase of the physical book? Are simple ereaders like the Kindle still in Amazon’s plans or are they moving the eBook to online viewing with the use of tablets? Maybe we need Sherlock around to figure this one out?

View my website: HBSystems Publications

Or EMAIL at: jrm@hbspub.com

Or goto my blog: The eBook Author’s Corner

Author: Call Off The Dogs, a rendered eBook

LinkedIn Profile: James Moushon

Related Blog:

Amazon Has Some REAL Good News and They Have Some Great Newsfor e-Textbook and eBook Users

Holmes and Watson picture by Sidney Pagnet

Picture Image via Wikipedia

Ebook Publishing: Are Traditional Publishers Sitting on a Pot of Gold?

The prospects for an explosion in the ebook market are growing every day. Once traditional publishers realize the ebook-only market is a huge opportunity, they will embrace it and they will realize that they had a pot of gold right in front of them all the time.

Current Publishing – Are things panning out with ebooks?

Traditional book publishing is built on speculation and profit predictions. They control the system and the popular authors. They have been sitting at the end of the rainbow for a very long time.

Then along comes this ebook thing with a slick delivery system and their way of life is being threatened. The old guard is holding everything back, trying to protect their investment. They know one way and that way has been successful. Even though no one is admitting it, they have to see the additional income reaching their bottom line.

They realize ebooks do solve some of the traditional book problems. Ebooks have an unlimited shelf life. They are convenient to purchase and to read. There is no physical warehousing or distribution unless you want to count an unmanned server disbursing the ebook and collecting the money. There are no page number or book size limits, etc.

And there is the fading bookstore distribution channel problem which is a major part of their system. They must resolve this to be able to reach out to their customers.

They do have a stable of authors but the authors still have to pass the test of being published in hardcover first. And they are leaving the marketing up to the author unless they are a superstar to cut back on costs.

So how do they Strike gold?

Why do traditional publishers have a golden opportunity? They have most of the good players – you know the well know authors, the cover designers, editors, illustrators, layout staff, story/genre experts, marketing, etc. and there is a huge potential in their backlists inventories.

What do they need to do to dig into this opportunity?

1.      Rejections become products. They have a built-in process of prospecting and evaluating already in place. For example, if they just take the top ten percent of their rejections and move them directly to ebooks, like the movies do with their direct to video releases, the potential is huge.

2.      A big question for them is “Where will the next wave of super authors come from?” They     need to setup a farm system of potential super authors? For a relatively low cost, they can tryout authors and their titles through ebook offerings and then move them up-stream if they are successful.

3.      Establish a new author category in a genre specific area. If the ebook/author becomes successful, move them to paper. Work the traditional system in reverse.

4.      Work with bookstores to become more than just a shelf of books. If the traditionals don’t try to protect this channel, everyone will go on-line to purchase their books. That in turn directs the reader right into the lap of their competition.

5.      Once they get over just producing a digital copy of the original and start looking at rendered and enhanced ebooks, the more profit potential they’ll realize. The reader’s prospective is changing rapidly with color, the tablet market and the software advances like pub3.

6.      They must look at the royalty structure to be competitive with the on-line publishers/retailers.

Looking down stream

So the question is “Do traditional publishers keep damming the river or do they look down stream for the gold?”

The current stream of events should put most of the gold in their pile. They have the experts, the superstars and the inventory of unpublished material. There is indeed a high profit potential for the ebook-only market but they will have to change their ways and adapt.

There are some lessons for the self-publisher in this rainbow. If you create good content and are successful marketing, you have the keys to being recognized by traditional publishers. These publishers must make a move to protect their interests and the ebook author must be ready.

Do you think that traditional publishers will change their system and adopt real ebooks? Will they ever give the self-publishers/ebook authors a chance to break into the system?

View my website: HBSystems Publications

Or EMAIL at: jrm@hbspub.com
Author: Call Off The Dogs, a rendered ebook
LinkedIn Profile: James Moushon

Related Blog

Surefire Book Publishing Interview

Prospector image via Wikipedia