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Thread: creating and selling ebooks

  1. #1
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    creating and selling ebooks

    Who has and can anyone point me to a good reference that will detail how to go about it?

    I need to know about creating them and publishing in PDF and also protecting against piracy and also actually an easy way to sell e-books.

    I have tried to search but ironically the only thing I have found are ebooks that tell you how to write an ebook lol.. I really do not mind purchasing one either if anyone knows of a good one?

    Thanks,

    Daniel
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  2. #2
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    I have published an e-book, so far its sold 3 copies. I'm not promoting it anymore (ad campaign broke even.) The site only gets promoted through SE traffic now. It was written for a very small, and targetted, market.

    I created the book in HTML, imported it into Adobe Acrobat. To protect against piracy I just put a password on the file. There isn't much else you can do. Piracy isn't as bad as it sounds. Obviously you have your own websites. Label every page with your URL and your logo and piracy will make you money.

    I sell the book using Paypal. Whenever I get an order I just e-mail the person the pdf.

    If you want any specific help with making your ebook PM me & we can work out a deal. My results haven't been absolutely spectacular, but I know how to make sales.
    Make more money - Read my Web Publishing Blog

  3. #3
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    In fact the market of ebook is saturated now but if you come up with some valuable information making it more informative and user friendly and comprehensive to search you might get good response.

  4. #4
    Senior Member chromate's Avatar
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    Here's what I've learnt from some of the big ebook publishers over on clickbanksuccessforum.com (which you may want to check out too BTW).

    Firstly, it's a good idea to setup a focus group consisting of about 100 - 200 people. Ask them a series of questions relating to your planned eBook to gauge exactly what users want to see in it. Give them the promise that they'll get a free copy of the ebook when it's published to entice them to answer the questions properly. Then, when they have the ebook, get their feedback. This is also a good way of collecting your first batch of testimonials which is essential for your sales page.

    Once you've hired a good copywriter and have your sales page put together you're ready to start making sales. Make sure you have a good email newsletter or auto-responder course. Setup your own campaigns to begin with and forget about affiliates. The idea is you want to work out if your sales page is converting well and you're not getting too many refund requests before you invite affiliates to promote your book.

    Once you know it's a strong converter and you're not getting too many refund requests (aim for below 3-4%) then sign up with ClickBank to get your book into the marketplace so affiliates can start promoting it.

    Also pick the top 10 or 15 websites in your field and convince them that they should promote your ebook. Include some projected sales figures based on your own sales testing to entice them.

  5. #5
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    Some of these ebooks out there seem as if they hired a staff of 5 year olds to write it.

  6. #6
    Senior Member chromate's Avatar
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    Indeed. But then the same can be said for conventionaly published books Some ebooks I've read are of a really high quality.

    But I do agree that there's a lot of complete rubbish out there.

  7. #7
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    Great reply, chromate. you sound like someone who truly understands web marketing.

    I especially liked your insight on running your own campaigns prior to getting affiliates involved. Just imagine the headache of doing tons of refunds and at the same time dealing with affiliates pestering for their checks.
    Last edited by jspider; 02-14-2006 at 12:56 PM.

  8. #8
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    I don't think the ebook market is oversaturated at all... the cheap, ill-prepared, get rich quick ebook market definitely is. If you are a good writer and expert in your industry you could do very well by publishing ebooks.

    37 Signals just published their 2nd book as an ebook for $19 (https://gettingreal.37signals.com/) and in the first day sold 1750 copies. Source

    That proves to me that the ebook market is definitely thriving. I bought their book, and it was well worth $19.

    A note about piracy... the last several ebooks I purchased, both from 37 Signals and The Pragmatic Programmers, had a special line at the bottom:

    Prepared Exclusively for Brandon Eley
    Now, it doesn't neccessarily stop you from uploading the book to a download site, but it sure discourages it. I think it would be a pretty effective detterent and it's something you could do with a server-side script automatically when someone orders.
    Brandon Eley

  9. #9
    Senior Member chromate's Avatar
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    37 Signals are just great aren't they? I've long been a fan of their stuff.

    Interesting regarding th ebook "watermark" thing. I dunno if it would be legal, but you could take it a step further and print their address or phone number on the pages too.

  10. #10
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    I am considering working on an ebook myself.. I wonder where I can get the component that adds the purchasers name to the PDF. That's what they do in Hollywood when they send around scripts (using a real watermark).

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sagewing
    I am considering working on an ebook myself.. I wonder where I can get the component that adds the purchasers name to the PDF. That's what they do in Hollywood when they send around scripts (using a real watermark).
    Do you have Acrobat Distiller or PDF writer?
    Linda Jenkinson
    Shyflower.com
    Writing & Editorial Services for Web Businesses

  12. #12
    Registered Sagewing's Avatar
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    Yep... but I dont want to do it manually..

  13. #13
    Working. Masetek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cloughie
    Who has and can anyone point me to a good reference that will detail how to go about it?

    I need to know about creating them and publishing in PDF and also protecting against piracy and also actually an easy way to sell e-books.

    I have tried to search but ironically the only thing I have found are ebooks that tell you how to write an ebook lol.. I really do not mind purchasing one either if anyone knows of a good one?

    Thanks,

    Daniel
    Did you end up writing this eBook? If so, how did it go?

  14. #14
    Registered beley's Avatar
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    Dave, PHP has some PDF functions and there are additional PDF libraries you can download. I'm not sure exactly how they do it, but I'm sure it's automated. Might not be a bad idea to ask them... both the Pragmatic Programmers and 37Signals use the exact same method with their books.
    Brandon Eley

  15. #15
    Registered Mullen's Avatar
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    Has anyone had a 100+ page eBook written for them? What would a rough price be? I'm assuming the price would change between different copywriters, but it would be good to know a rough estimate.

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