By: Stephanie Burkhart
Ebooks have been on the rise since 2007 when Amazon
introduced the Kindle. Other retailers followed suit with the Nook, Sony's
ereaders, Kobo, and the Ipad. With easy to use readers, the ebook market took off.
There are several advantages to ebooks. They save on shelf
space and ebook readers are light and easy to carry around. Novels now have a
worldwide reach and readers have access to older novels since ebooks don't go
out of print.
As an author, it's important to consider taping into the
ebook market. Kids these days have access to ebook readers and the bulk of the
books they buy are on ereaders.
Ebooks have changed several fundamental ways books are made
available to consumers including: distribution, marketing, pricing, and
contracts.
Ebooks have opened new, broader channels of distribution.
Amazon, Kobo, and Smashwords have worldwide audiences. In 2013, Smashwords
reported it earned 20 million in profits as a distributor. It's a big plus for
an author to have their books available to the widest audience possible and an
ebook gives them that.
Marketing is all about discovery. An author may have a wide
distribution, but now the challenge is being 'discovered.' How do readers find
'your' title? Consider with ebooks: your novel/story goes to print right away.
It's an opportunity to meet demand for a certain topic. As an author, you also
have an opportunity for longer promotion through electronic media like blog
tours, facebook, twitter, yahoo groups, and other social media.
Ebooks generally have lower costs to create. There's no ink,
paper or binding. Lower overhead allows for ebooks to drop prices, allowing for
competition. When you can drop a price, there's an opportunity to sell more
books.
When working with publishers, traditional and small, authors
need to consider their ebook contracts. Since ebooks are generating more sales
than ever, royalty clauses in contracts need to be fair for authors and
publishers. Pricing and contracts are new considerations due to the popularity
of ebooks.
Question: As an author, what's your biggest consideration
regarding ebooks? How do ebooks benefit you? Do you find marketing ebooks
challenging? Why or why not?
Reference for this blog: "What Writer's Need to Know about
the Ebook Market," by Jeremy Greenfield, Writer's Digest, FEB 2014, pages
21-25.
Author Bio: Stephanie Burkhart is a 911 dispatcher for LAPD.
She loves chocolate, enjoys a good cup of coffee, and taking long walks. She's
a cub scout den leader for her son's troop. Her books, "The Giving
Meadow," and "First Flag of New Hampshire," are published with
4RV Publishing. Find her on the web at:
WEBSITE:
TWITTER:
FACEBOOK:
https://www.facebook.com/StephanieBurkhartAuthor
GOOD
READS:
YOU
TUBE CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/user/botrina?feature=mhee
PINTEREST:
