Ebook Marketing

desgreene

Ebooks can easily be presented to a worldwide market over the internet. That is the easy part. Making the potential readership aware of the presented work is the marketing hurdle.
To date I have presented my works to the internet and have achieved over two thousand downloads but only after making the work free and with considerable promotional effort. This is relative success but there must be a better way!

Marketing is key to unlocking the ebook revolution. Maybe there are potentially effective tools (other than laborious blogging, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) out there waiting to be discovered?

pickarooney

Are you going to subtly market that book here now?

Ebooks are an interesting area of discussion but I don't personally know a whole lot about them. I don't think I would purchase a book that I couldn't carry around with me.

00sully

You can carry it around with you on your ebook reader/laptop/phone! I agree with OP there is potential for marketing other than the usual net outlets mentioned above. I can only think of a central review site that becomes popular enough with users tho (rather than having to flog your own site content) ?

pickarooney

00sully wrote: »

You can carry it around with you on your ebook reader/laptop/phone!

Yeah, I really can't get to grips with the logic of paying a few hundred quid for a device that simulates paper. As for reading a book on a phone... just, no, ridiculous idea.

EileenG

I've started reading the paper on my phone, and I have a very old crappy low spec phone. I can certainly see myself reading a short story, or novella or a technical book on my phone or a specialised e-reader.

Amazon and most of the big book websites now have just about everything in e-form as well as paper, and some are on e-form only.

Antilles

My problems with ebook readers:

1) Far too expensive
2) Can't read them in bright sunlight
3) Worry about breaking them in my pocket/bag
4) Ridiculous DRM, depending on where you get your ebooks
5) Can't lend a book to someone, or give it to the library after reading

Solve those issues and I'm all for them!

Eoinp

I'm no ebook advocate, I prefer print for my long form reading, but i read a heck of a lot on screen too! but to your points!

1) Far too expensive
- What's too expensive eink ereaders available for <$150 in the US right now, by xmas it will be <$100 by xmas 2011 <$50 most likely. What price point is compelling. What of they offered you the device free for a certain amount of books?

2) Can't read them in bright sunlight
- This is mostly resolved by eink and ipod touch/iPad and in any case how often do you really read in bright sunlight

3) Worry about breaking them in my pocket/bag
- Fair enough, but do you have a phone/mp3 player?

4) Ridiculous DRM, depending on where you get your ebooks
- Agreed but a) most consumers don't know or care about drm and b) less of an issue as cloud availability becomes the norm across platforms.


5) Can't lend a book to someone, or give it to the library after reading
- On the B&N nook this is a feature for some titles, I'd expect it to become increasingly widespread

Eoin

Antilles

Eoinp wrote: »

What's too expensive eink ereaders available for <$150 in the US right now, by xmas it will be <$100 by xmas 2011 <$50 most likely. What price point is compelling. What of they offered you the device free for a certain amount of books?

I'd pay fifty quid for one that addressed my concerns. I'm sure that eventually I'll get one, but the price right now is just too high considering the drawbacks.

This is mostly resolved by eink and ipod touch/iPad and in any case how often do you really read in bright sunlight

I read a lot on trains, which in this weather means I have to deal with a lot of light streaming in the windows. I have an iPhone, and to use the net on the train, I frequently have to put it under something else to read in the shadow. To be fair, I haven't used an e-Ink device (unless you count in a bookstore) so I've no idea how their do in sunlight.

Fair enough, but do you have a phone/mp3 player?

I do, but my phone is small and sturdy. All the e-book readers I've seen are much larger, and if they weren't they'd be too small to comfortably read from (for me).

Agreed but a) most consumers don't know or care about drm and b) less of an issue as cloud availability becomes the norm across platforms.

You're the industry expert, obviously, but I don't believe DRM is going anywhere. For now, you can work around it, but its a PITA if you want to do anything outside what the manufactuerr/publisher allows you to with the text. This is probably less of an issue for most people than it is for me, but hey its my list

On the B&N nook this is a feature for some titles, I'd expect it to become increasingly widespread

Hopefully so, but even then I'd wager you are locked into sharing with other nook users. I can't lend a novel to you if you don't have an e-Reader, or if you have a Kindle etc.

As I said, I'll probably get an e-Reader at some stage. I'm not philosophically opposed to them. Its just that the technology, imho, is not quite there yet. I'm hoping that early adopters will push the market forward, so that a reader that meets my concerns will be available in the relative near term.

Eoinp

For the record I think DRM is stupid and wasteful, but honesty when you talk to the majority of consumers they don't know what it is and if they do, it rarely affects their experience!

On a more general point, if you look at the way that people now read so much on screen the idea that people don't like screen reading is just utter balderdash. They are lapping it up. They just don't realize it!
Eoin

smcgiff

Funny enough - as (potential) novelists we should all be in favour of DRM. An ebook is not like a hard back that can only be passed around once at a time.

However, without DRM an ebook could be viral emailed to dozens of friends who could then pass it on to dozens of friends etc, which would ultimately seriously damage ALL publishing in the same way as music publishing is right now.

When I eventually re-edit my YA book and fail at the traditional route, I'll most likely try the ebook route.

The Mad Hatter

Eoinp wrote: »

For the record I think DRM is stupid and wasteful, but honesty when you talk to the majority of consumers they don't know what it is and if they do, it rarely affects their experience!
Eoin

I'm not sure that's true. Many people will finish a book and lend it to a friend. (I say this as a confirmed book evangelist.) You can't do that with a DRM book, so, it would affect my experience in a big way.

I think books are the only thing I own that I won't completely digitise. I'm considering getting rid of my CD and DVD collections as they take up a lot of room, but books carry memories better than those things.

Antilles

smcgiff wrote: »

Funny enough - as (potential) novelists we should all be in favour of DRM.

Like hell we should. I want my work read as widely as possible so that I can build a reader base. If that means a percentage of people infringe my copyright then so be it. People that would pirate the book are unlikely to have bought it in the first place, and even if they did, if they enjoy it, they are likely to go out and buy the next one that comes out.

There are plenty of artists out there who reject DRM and are very successful. DRM is about restricting people's actions, art is about opening people's minds. The two are mutually incompatable.

However, without DRM an ebook could be viral emailed to dozens of friends who could then pass it on to dozens of friends etc, which would ultimately seriously damage ALL publishing in the same way as music publishing is right now.

The music and movie industries are making far far far more money now than they ever have in their history. The "serious damage" you mention is a spurious claim invented by lawyers trying to influence lawmakers in their favour.

Eoinp

smcgiff wrote: »

Funny enough - as (potential) novelists we should all be in favour of DRM. An ebook is not like a hard back that can only be passed around once at a time.

However, without DRM an ebook could be viral emailed to dozens of friends who could then pass it on to dozens of friends etc, which would ultimately seriously damage ALL publishing in the same way as music publishing is right now.

When I eventually re-edit my YA book and fail at the traditional route, I'll most likely try the ebook route.

DRM doesn't work, people who want to will still pirate material all it does is prevent legitimate sharing.

One pirated copy does NOT equal one lost sale, even 55K emailed copies does NOT equal one lost sale or even 55K lost sales! There is evidence that piracy can help sales of some books. But even if it doesn't, there's no solid evidence that it hurts them either, except maybe at the VERY top of the market.

As for comparisons with the music industry it's worth reading some fo Brian O'Leary's (and others, but he writes very well and clearly) thoughtful notes on the impact of piracy:
http://www.magellanmediapartners.com/index.php/mmcp/article/a_resounding_kinda/

For authors trying to build readership, sharing and non-drmed books are probably advisable.

The key is to create following and buzz around you work rather than close that down.

There is no doubt that my views on drm and piracy are somewhat unorthodox and many publishers think I'm crazy, but I think the evidence will eventually support a drm free or at least very mild drm standard.

Eoin

Eoinp

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

I'm not sure that's true. Many people will finish a book and lend it to a friend. (I say this as a confirmed book evangelist.) You can't do that with a DRM book, so, it would affect my experience in a big way.

I think books are the only thing I own that I won't completely digitise. I'm considering getting rid of my CD and DVD collections as they take up a lot of room, but books carry memories better than those things.

When you think about the user experience of reading on an electronic device, I'm sure the urge to e-mail and share is an important part of the process and demand for it will grow. I'd like to see that increase and as I mentioned some devices are beginning to allow this, I'd expect to see it more and more. BUT it is not critical to actually reading it.

I'm fairly sure the bulk of my reading will remain in print as it is now (though I read a huge amount in laptop screen and on my ipod touch using the kindle app.

Eoin

SamB64

One extra way of marketing your ebooks it allow people to order hard copy versions. I've sold a reasonable number of both ebooks and hardcopy versions of my books. and they get listed in Amazon too.

As ever with writing and marketing information on the market - the key is creating something people actually want - and then putting it in front of them.

Hope this helps

Sam

The Mad Hatter

Eoinp wrote: »

When you think about the user experience of reading on an electronic device, I'm sure the urge to e-mail and share is an important part of the process and demand for it will grow. I'd like to see that increase and as I mentioned some devices are beginning to allow this, I'd expect to see it more and more. BUT it is not critical to actually reading it.

Mm, it's precisely the urge to email that'll keep me from switching to digital books. It's hard enough to concentrate in this world! I have to leave my phone in another room just to watch a film!

Eoinp

Sometimes I wonder if people realise how much reading on screen we are doing RIGHT now.

It's not on screen reading that's a barrier to ebook or digital book reading. its something else. Desire to read in print is one for sure. Lack of real ebook options for another. Probably just the fact that readers in Ireland just haven't given it much thought yet is another.

I reckon give it five years and we'll see considerable change in Irish reading habits. But if I'm wrong, it's no biggie!
Eoin

Antilles

I have no problem reading text on a screen in small chunks. Maybe e-ink fixes this, but reading continuously on a screen with no interruption hurts my eyes.

The Mad Hatter

Eoin: I'm not disputing that at all. Just saying that when I'm reading for pleasure, I'll continue to do it on paper.

desgreene

Funny how a query about marketing becomes a question of whether ereaders will progress to displace paperbooks in the near or for some far future.

I brought my Sony Reader Touch to Turkey recently (loaded with some hundreds of books) and spent long and pleasurable hours by the poolside in the bright Aegean sun reading comfortably the e-ink script. I read 'Crime and Punishment' but intermingled with 'Beyond Good and Evil' and an early Bertrand Russel philosophical text. All had been downloaded free!! The delight of this accessibility to literature in Turkey is indescribable! If I needed more (which I didn't as it turned out even over a protracted stay) all I had to do was log on to the internet.

The fact that these books are free may disturb some people but I feel that bringing literature to a wider audience unconstrained by cost is a very laudable convenience.

The ebook 'revolution' allows this very simply. It changes publishing on both fronts; writers are free to present their work with minimal obstacles, readers are free to sample the proffered work at minimal cost and great ease.

But as I initially pointed out at the outset of this thread there is a glaring discontinuity: how to link the ebook to the potential ereader (the person not the device). This is the marketing problem that I alluded to.

But it is not a traditional marketing paradigm. The product is not designed to fulfill the needs of the consumer. At least not when one talks of literature that purports to be that verbal form of art that is increasingly rare in these materially driven times.

The question is how one markets literary art - literary fiction that the author has created without pandering to the entertainment needs or otherwise of the reader.

I do not know the answer but I believe that there is an audience out there for serious literary fiction, just as there are writers who write to create aesthetic works that endure.

Eoinp

Yes,

I was conscious of that slide.

In terms of marketing one of the best ways is simply to start presenting yourself online, creating a hub for your identity as a writer through a website of some kind, perhaps a blog.

After that some of the social networks will work for you, some won't. Find one that has a string community in your niche and engage with it on a genuine basis. Then take it from there.

Eoin

desgreene

Hi Eoin,

Been there, done that and whew it takes a lot of graft and success depends as much on luck as on anything else.

Lateral thinking by a whole lot of thinkers may unlock the enormous potential of the ebook internet presence.

I live in hope...

Antilles

I've had something of a change of heart and thought people might appreciate my revised thoughts on the post I made above.

1) Far too expensive
The new Kindle is much cheaper than it was before. It finally passed the "tipping point" for me, and I ordered one last month just to give it a go. As a constant reader, I figured it was worth the cost just to find out if I was wrong - which I was.

2) Can't read them in bright sunlight
Yes you can! I can't believe how clear the Kindle is in direct sunlight. If anything, its easier to read the brighter your environment is. There is absolutely no difference in ease of reading compared to paper.

3) Worry about breaking them in my pocket/bag
The Kindle is very solid, and unless you apply severe force to it, seems unlikely to break. I also got a slim leather case which bulks the Kindle up a little bit but since I only use the case when putting it in my pocket (i.e. not while reading) there's no problem there.

4) Ridiculous DRM, depending on where you get your ebooks
DRM is still a problem, but so far all the books I've put on it have been plain text. If you can source the books you want in plain text (i.e. not from Amazon) then this is a non-issue. I'll leave how I get books in plain text as an exercise to the reader.

5) Can't lend a book to someone, or give it to the library after reading
As per my response to (4), if the books don't have DRM then you can transfer them as you see fit.

Getting a Kindle totally turned me around on eReaders and I would heartily reccomend them to anyone who enjoys reading but doesn't want to carry around often bulky and heavy books - or in fact anyone else who just likes to read!

EileenG

I'd like to add that since discovering wattpad, I've read at least a dozen books on my phone, and now read on my crappy old phone in preference to paper books. When I finally get round to upgrading to a smart phone, I expect to be buying a lot of e-books.

The Mad Hatter

I'm currently reading The Iliad on my phone, which is very doable and pleasant, but I still can't see myself ever paying money for an ebook. Project Gutenberg all the way.

Oracle

I'm interested in the area of ebooks, self-publishing, blogs and POD (print on demand). I see all these coming together in a way that will revolutionise book publishing and writing.

EileenG

The Mad Hatter wrote: »

I'm currently reading The Iliad on my phone, which is very doable and pleasant, but I still can't see myself ever paying money for an ebook. Project Gutenberg all the way.

I've already bought a couple of novellas in e-book form. I think that's one area where e-pubs have an advantage. No-one would pay the amount it would cost to buy a short story or novella in print, but a euro or so for it in e-book? You bet I'll buy it. I'll even take a chance on authors I haven't heard of, where I wouldn't be so keen to shell out the €10+ for a paper book.

Oracle

EileenG wrote: »

I've already bought a couple of novellas in e-book form. I think that's one area where e-pubs have an advantage. No-one would pay the amount it would cost to buy a short story or novella in print, but a euro or so for it in e-book? You bet I'll buy it. I'll even take a chance on authors I haven't heard of, where I wouldn't be so keen to shell out the €10+ for a paper book.

I agree, thats one of the reasons e-publishing has a huge advantage; the cost of production and delivery is small, so the price you need to charge to make a profit is also smaller. You've also mentioned another reason e-books will become more popular; people want to read a greater variety of authors, and more people want to become authors. Why should a handful of multi-national book publishers, and agents, decide what gets published and ultimately read?

Antilles

Last week I was at Octocon, and attended two panels by Peadar O'Guilin. After listening to him speak I decided to get the first of his novel series, "The Inferior". I'd gone to download it before the panels were over. Online e-readers have revolutionised impulse buying for me.