Whenever I start to learn about a new skill, I like to search the web for “what I wish I knew about [that skill].” I’ve heard it’s a good way to avoid some of the pitfalls first-timers might encounter. After watching the first 4 lessons in Anne-Marie Concepción’s LinkedIn Learning course Ebook Foundations, I tried out this technique by searching for “what I wish I knew about ebooks.”
Foundations
Concepción’s course is surprisingly thorough for an introductory course. Maybe it’s just that there is a lot to know about the different digital publishing formats and platforms. It’s obvious she knows a lot about her subject, as she talks about walking “clients” through the process in her videos and her LinkedIn bio mentions the design studio she owns. The course is chock full of info on the nitty-gritty of publishing your ebook.
But I’m not quite there yet! Before I decide on format and content, I need to mentally prepare myself. What am I missing?
Before Self-Publishing
For answers, I turned to Matthew Ward’s list, “10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Self-Publishing“. Matt has written for the web for more than 10 years and has self-published more than 10 books through Amazon. In his article, Ward offers advice to those of us who, like me, maybe new to ebooks and self-publishing.
Don’t:
- Worry about your “platform.” By platform, Ward means your audience. He thinks it doesn’t really matter (in terms of book sales) how active you are on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram. It’s not worth the effort if it doesn’t translate into sales.
- Neglect advertising. But wait, didn’t he just say not to worry about selling your book by being active on social media? Your online presence alone won’t cut it. Apparently, ads are needed in order to sell books because that’s how people hear about your book. Ward goes on to say that it makes sense to spend as much as $40,000 on advertising if it makes you $100,000 back in sales. But $40,000 is a big scary number for a new author!
Now that we’ve heard what to avoid, what should we do instead?
Do:
- Write fast. That doesn’t mean you should sacrifice quality for speed. The first 30 days after your book’s release is the most important for its success. After that, the best way to give your older books a boost is … by writing a new book.
- Aim for slow and steady growth. Just like in the old fable, this is the approach that will ultimately win the race when it comes to self-publishing. With each successive book, you can potentially grow your audience, and therefore your customer base. After all, not everyone can be an overnight success.
Final Thoughts
Although Ward’s article doesn’t approach the level of technical detail regarding layouts, file types, and programs that Concepción’s course does, it does contain some specifics about publishing with Amazon from an author who has experience. I would describe it as more of a qualitative analysis of some of the finer points of self-publishing. Rather than saying one approach is better than the other, I think ultimately both are necessary considerations for someone getting their feet wet in the area of ebooks. In addition, I noticed that Ward’s article was posted in 2019, while Concepción’s course was dated 2017. I’m not sure what content, if any, has changed since publication, but since technology is always advancing, the more recent the better.
This chapter is a revised version of a blog post titled “What NOT to do When Writing Your E-book” on Writing References.
