Ebooks?! - Writers Forum

onedarkfairy · 11-19-2005, 06:09 PM

Hello everyone,

So, I'm thinking of creating and publishing my first ebook and launching it from my website, so people can buy it and download it. Anyone been there before? It seems to be the right thing for me now. E-books are the trend nowadays, right?

I would like to talk to other writers who have published ebboksbefore. How did you do it? All by yourself? Or are sites like Lulu.com better for me and other sites? If so, what do you recommend?

My ebook will be a novel (fiction). Genre: Romance/Drama.

Please tell me anything you think would help. Thanks.

Nickie · 11-20-2005, 03:22 AM

As far as I know, e-books are not sold. Two novels of mine are to be obtained in bookforms and as e-book - and the e-books don't sell.

Personally, I also prefer holding a real book into my hands over reading one on the pc.

Lulu.com is quite good. Never heard anything negative about it. But when you publish through Lulu, you need a good promotion plan for your work! Having a good website can help. Can I give you a tip? Try to get a dot.com site, which is more commercial. I got mine for free (well, I mean the webspace, as my internet provider allows one to have a website). I only pay a couple of dollars for webshosting. Originally, my website would be: http://users.skynet.be/fa024707 Nothing commercial in there, so I looked for another company which provides web hosting and forwarding, and came up with the nickiefleming.com

Nickie

onedarkfairy · 11-21-2005, 05:41 PM

Thanks for the reply Nickie. So, really e-books don't sell? Hmmm...

CabinFever · 11-21-2005, 05:57 PM

It's as easy as this 'onedarkfairy':

How many Ebooks have you paid for and downloaded and read?

My guess is none.

Now ask yourself why.

If you believe your story is good then go for the high-road first....traditional publishing. Don't settle for last place as soon as you get out of the gate!

You should be proud of your story! So give it the best shot possible! (and that's not Ebook

)

Kyle Bagley · 11-21-2005, 06:04 PM

Ebooks? I've only heard about them once or twice. Definately never heard of a "New-York Times Bestselling Ebook!"

Go with traditional publishing.

mammamaia · 11-22-2005, 08:16 AM

wrong... a fad, more than a 'trend'!

i agree with those advising against taking that route... even stephen king bombed out on his much-touted e-book venture... salon.com's review was headed, 'dead on the vine'...

if you're a dan brown, you can probably make some money on epublishing, but if you're not, it's bound to be an exercise in ego only, that'll cost you more in time and trouble than you'll ever make...

Mike C · 11-24-2005, 06:30 PM

It depends what you intend to achieve with your ebook. If you want to make money at it, give up writing and get a job herding cats, it's easier.

If you want to promote what you do, and maybe build up readership for your next novel, it's maybe worth giving it away. Cory Doctorow does this and it seems to work for him.

I recently put together a simple e-book for Rebecca del Rio - http://www.rebeccadelrio.net/html/po...a_del_rio.html - which she happily gives free to anyone who wants it, and is building readership for her first print anthology and for her novel. It's had about 500 downloads so far. Not made her a penny, but raised her profile which is more important than the pennies she may have earned from ebook sales.

Hodge · 11-24-2005, 07:20 PM

Not a fad, not a trend. It's a technology ahead of its time (sort of).

As of this moment, researchers are perfecting a technology similar to LED lights that uses bioluminescent substances found in nature. When I last checked, they had red and yellow down pat but were still working out the kinks in blue (which was the same with LED's as well).

What does this have to do with ebooks?

The substance can be painted on. It's very thin, very easy to produce, and takes only a fraction of the energy LED's to run at the same brightness. In as little as a decade we will be reading books on devices that have pages like books, but are connected to a little microchip with flash memory on board and rather than buying books on paper, you'll load them onto the device and the text will appear on the device's pages (it'll have maybe 10 pages to it).

Sand · 12-01-2005, 12:56 PM

I read books on my Palm all the time. I love it and wish e-books were more reasonably priced.

Mike C · 12-01-2005, 06:20 PM

I read on my journada occasionally, mainly when copy editing someone else's novel. I can hightlight and bookmark errors anywhere, and I can read in the dark.

I still prefer paper though, and I'd never pay for an e-book.