E-books: Authors

Introduction

  • "E-books are here and here to stay. Later than a lot of people, I for the first time downloaded e-books and it?s miraculous for travel and for children in particular. I feel great about taking Harry into this new medium." ~J. K. Rowling, 2011
  • writing: different genres/content/length, e.g., republished blogs; essays, "spam" (duplicate); expectations (media), reader interaction
  • (self-) publishing: faster process; role of publishers, agents, editors
  • selling: lower cost; royalties; excerpts vs. browsing; copyright; piracy
Questions
  • see earlier Features caveats
  • amount of your effort; easier than a few years ago
  • DIY or use an aggregator
  • amount of your $ to invest
  • which source editor, e.g., Word, Scrivener, Pages, etc.: ease of editing, conversion, final layout control
  • cost for software, conversion, other services (editing,...)
  • price of your eBook, discounts, Amazon Select, give-aways?
  • intellectual property rights
  • royalties
  • quality, control of layout, design
  • file formats and eReaders
  • POD (print on demand) instead of paper inventory?
  • which eBookstore(s)
  • buy an ISBN?
  • marketing, publicity: DIY, word-of-mouth, blogs, book clubs, ...
  • book as "product": monitor sales, revise title/cover?
  • ...
  • vellamunn.com (she spoke to class on 11/5/2012)
  • novelists, inc.; see: Guide to the New World of Publishing, The Future of Publishing