The 7 Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

Self Publishing Book Expo October 2, 2010

Mark Coker Founder, Smashwords

My Background

About me

• Founder of Smashwords

• Free ebook publishing and distribution platform for indie authors

• We distribute ebooks to multiple major retailers (Apple, Sony, B&N, Kobo, etc.)

• Author of…

Indie ebooks published at Smashwords

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

2008 2009 2010 (Oct)

140

6,000

20,700

The Ebook Opportunity

Ebooks as a percentage of US wholesale trade market

0.00%

1.00%

2.00%

3.00%

4.00%

5.00%

6.00%

7.00%

8.00%

9.00%

2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Source: Association of American Publishers, publishers.org

Reading moving to screens

Why ebooks are hot

• Screens can offer better reading experience than paper

•Changeable font size A A A A

• Portable and compact

• Ebooks offer better purchasing experience

• Huge selection

• Convenient sampling and purchasing

• Lower cost than print

• Impulse buying

Why every indie author should self-publish an ebook

• Fast, easy, free to e-publish

• Start selling to global market in minutes

• Democratized distribution to all major ebook retailers

• Higher profits – 75%+ net vs. 25% net

• Price ebooks for less yet still make more per copy than traditionally pubbed authors

• $8 indie ebook earns $6.35 at SW, vs <$.40 trad MMP

• $.99 indie ebook earns more than $8.00 trad MMP

• Lower price = reach more readers = more sales at higher profits per sale

MMP=Mass market paperback, aka “pocket book” in some countries

Ebook retailers want indie ebooks

Mobile apps

FIRST, A BRIEF HISTORYOF PUBLISHING

(A Prologue of Sorts)

Before there were words, stories were told with pictures

… and then Words were invented

… and then monastic scribes became the first mass production printing presses

… and then Gutenberg created the printing press with moveable type

… which allowed commercial publishers to develop large mass market businesses

Bookstores made it easy for readers to discover and purchase books

PUBLISHERS WERE HAPPY BECAUSE THEY CONTROLLED THE PRINTING PRESSES AND

DISTRIBUTION TO BOOKSTORES

Publishers were in control

• Publishers decided:

• Which authors got published

• Which books could

• get distributed to bookstores

• receive heavy promotion

• get read by readers

PUBLISHERS AND RETAILERS ENJOYED THIS CLUBBY, CLOSED SYSTEM

$

$

$

$$ $

$

$

$

BUT THEN THE INTERNET HAPPENED

… AND THE RULES CHANGED FOREVER

THREE BIG TRENDS RESHAPING PUBLISHING

TREND ONE: Bookselling moving to the Web

Bookselling moves to the Web

• Publishers lose control

• Customer drivers:

• Price

• Convenience

• Selection

• Self-published books (P- & E-) displayed side by side with traditional books

• If brick & mortar disappears, publishers lose key value proposition: exclusive access to distribution and readers

Percentage of book purchases made online vs B&M, P- and E-

Brick &Mortar

Web

Today?

TREND TWO:

Ebooks to overtake print

Ebooks to overtake print

Print books

Ebooks

Today?

TREND THREE:

Authors Become Publishers

Authors become publishers

• Self-publishing platforms help authors become their own publishers

• Democratized access to distribution

• Favorable economics for indies

• reap 40-100% of retail price, vs. 5-12%

• More professional authors will go indie

• Mass exodus imminent?

Number of books published indie vs. traditional

Indie books

Today?

New trad. books

Publishers Reacting Inappropriately to Change

ooh,pretty!

Change is Difficult for Traditional Publishers

… their expenses are too high

… they’re exposed to too much risk

• Pay author advances

• Can’t predict demand

• many books fail and don’t earn out

• Broken supply chain

• 30%+ of printed books returned to publisher unsold

• Amazon is eating publishers for lunch

• Vertically integrated from authors to readers

… and as publishers try to mitigate risk, publishers act less like publishers

• Adopt customer-unfriendly policies

• Publish fewer books

• Scarcity tactics to maintain higher prices

• Limit worldwide distribution

• DRM

• Adopt author-unfriendly policies

• Reluctance to acquire books from unproven authors

• Provide less marketing, editing support to authors

When publishers act less like publishers, authors start questioning why they need a

publisher

The future of publishing belongs to indie authors

Summary of Indie Author Advantages

• Internet book buying levels playing field for indies

• Both print and ebook

• Self published authors

• closer to customers

• have lower expenses

• earn more per book

• never go out of print

The Seven Secrets to Indie Ebook Publishing Success

Secret #1

#1 Write a Great Book

• With the power to publish comes the responsibility to be a great publisher

• Honor your reader with a great book

• Be fanatical about quality

• Edit, revise, edit, revise, repeat

• Leverage beta readers

• Invest in a great cover image

Would You Buy This Book?

Secret Two

#2 Write Another Great Book

• Build a backlist

• Each new book offers the opportunity to market your backlist

• The best-selling authors on Smashwords have deep backlists

• Build trust with your reader

Secret Three

#3 Maximize Distribution

• If your book is not available, it’s not discoverable

• Retailers invest millions of dollars to attract readers to your book

• Consider using a distributor to get your book sold in as many ebook stores as possible *

• spend your time writing

* Smashwords is a distributor, so of course I believe this

Secret Four

#4 Give (Some of) Your Books away for Free

• The most misunderstood, most underutilized market development tool

• If you have a deep backlist, offer at least one book for free

• Eliminates financial risk for first-time readers

• The highest grossing authors at Smashwords offer at least one free book

Additional resource: Read FREE, by Chris Anderson

Secret Five

#5 Trust Your Readers and Partners

• If you practice paranoia, you and your books might as well live in a cave

• Trust your readers

• DRM is counterproductive

• If you don’t trust your readers to honor your copyright, you’ll reach fewer paid readers

• Trust your supply chain partners

• If you limit distribution due to lack of trust, you shoot yourself in the foot

Secret Six

#6 Have Patience

• Rome wasn’t build in a day, and neither will be your publishing empire

• Ebooks can develop differently

• Trad. print books – big sell-in, then yanked from shelves, then sales go to near zero

• Ebooks – can start small and grow slowly before breakout

• Ebooks are immortal

• Never go out of print

• Think of each book as an asset that will yield income over the long term

Secret Seven

#7 Marketing Starts Yesterday

• Marketing starts before you write your book

• Your readers are your sales force

• Give them tools to market your books for you

• Network your books with hyperlinks

• Build your social network

• Contribute, share ideas, support your fellow writers

• Don’t spam your network

• Your social network will help you reach first readers

Resource: Smashwords Book Marketing Guide

BONUS Secret Eight

Secret #8 Architect for Virality

• Secrets #1 - #7 help maximize virality

• Books have always been a word of mouth business

• Your readers determine your success

• Facilitate frictionless word of mouth

• Understand the concept of “first reader”

The Viral Dream

First reader

Readers

Viral Decay, The Reality

First reader

Readers

Negative Virality

First reader

This booksucks!!!!

Last reader

How to Architect for Virality

• Eliminate friction that limits

• availability

• sampling

• purchasing

• enjoyment

• Implement the Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

Additional resource: Read The Viral Loop by Adam Penenberg

The 7 8 Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

1. Write a great book

2. Write another great book

3. Maximize distribution

4. Give (some of) your books away for FREE

5. Trust your readers and partners

6. Have patience

7. Marketing starts yesterday

8. Architect for virality

Visit the Smashwords Blog, 9/16/2010 for the 7 Secrets to Failure: http://blog.smashwords.com/2010/09/seven-secrets-to-ebook-publishing.html

Thank you for listening!

Q&A

Where to find Mark Coker:

Web: www.smashwords.com

Blog: blog.smashwords.com

HuffPo: huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker

Twitter: @markcoker

Email: first initial second initial at

smashwords.com