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This presentation was given by Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, at Self Publishing Boot Camp in San Francisco on February 18. The presentation summarizes the best practices of the most successful self-published ebook authors.
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How to Reach More Readers with
February 18, 2013
Mark Coker Founder, Smashwords
Twitter: @markcoker
My Backstory
I met Lesleyann
We made wrote a book together
Publishers Said “No”
• Every major publisher said NO (TWICE!)
I evaluated our options
1. The rational option Acknowledge we sucked and weren’t good enough to
be a published author
Curl up in fetal position and cry
Give up
2. The irrational option Believe in ourselves
Get mad
Try to fix the problem
How to fix a problem
1. Identify the problem Big 6 Publishers!!!
Toxic to the future of publishing
Don’t value all writers
Unable to take a risk on all writers
2. Visualize the utopian solution Every writer should have the right and the ability to
publish
Readers should have the power to judge what’s worth reading
3. Create the Solution
My Answer: Smashwords
• Free Ebook Publishing Platform
• Provide writers free tools so they can become their own ebook publishers
• Open up the printing press to all
• Open up distribution to major ebook stores
Indie ebooks published at Smashwords
1406,000
28,800
92,000
191,000
Ebooks as a percentage of US wholesale trade market
Source: Association of American Publishers, publishers.org. 2012 Smashwords estimate
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012
How Smashwords Works
• UPLOAD
• Author follows our Style Guide, uploads a Word .doc file … or (NEW), upload .epub
• Instant, free ebook conversion
• Sell today to global audience
• DISTRIBUTE
• Distribution to major retailers
• GET PAID
• Earn 60% list for books sold at retail
• Quarterly payments
Smashwords offers Free publishing and distribution
85% net royalties (commission of 10% list price at retailers. Author earns 60% list on prices $.99 and up)
Unlimited free updates
Centralized metadata management
Aggregated sales reports
Free marketing tools (Coupons!)
Global community of 50,000+ fellow Smashwords authors, publishers, agents
Professional development resources
Learn (for FREE!) to Become a Professional Self-Publisher
• Smashwords Style Guide (how to create and publish an ebook)
• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book)
• Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of successful authors)
Let’s review the best practices of the best-selling indie authors
Secret One
#1 Your best marketing is a great book
• Honor your reader with a great book
• If your book doesn’t make readers go, “WOW!” you’re not done yet
• Must turn readers into evangelists
• Be fanatical about quality
• Edit, revise, edit, revise, repeat, proof
• Leverage beta readers
Secret Two
#2 Adorn your book with a GREAT cover image
• Invest in a quality cover image
• Your first impression
• Look professional
• Should arrest reader with thumb nail
• Visual
• Genre/category appropriate
• Makes a promise to the reader
Here’s a promise
Here’s another promise
Look what happened when the author went from this cover
… to this cover…
The cover sparked a breakout at Apple
And landed her on the NY Times Bestseller List
Secret Three
#3 Publish Another Great Book
• The best-selling authors on Smashwords offer deep backlists
• Each new ebook offers opportunity to
• cross-promote other titles
• Build trust with your reader
• Build your brand
Secret Four
#4 Give (some of) Your Books away for Free
• After book quality & cover image, FREE is the next most powerful marketing tool
• If you have a deep backlist, offer at least one full-length book for free
• Eliminates financial risk for first-time readers
• Turbocharges a series
• The highest grossing authors/publishers at Smashwords offer at least one free book
Secret Five
#5 Maximize Availability, Avoid Exclusivity
• Exclusivity
• angers fans
• limits audience
• increases your dependence upon a single retailer
• Ebook retailing is not like sports, religion or politics
• If your book is not available at every retailer, it’s not discoverable or purchasable
Ebook retailers want indie ebooks
Secret Six
#6 Patience is a Virtue
• When your book lands at retailer, it’s a seedling, nourish it
• Never pull out by the roots, never remove
• Ebooks develop differently
• Traditional print books – big sell-in, then yanked from shelves, then sales go to zero
• Ebooks – can start small and grow slowly before breakout
• Breakouts are unpredictable
• Let’s look at some examples…
Slow boil, breakout, slow boil, bigger breakout
Slow boil, breakout, slow boil, smaller breakouts
Slow boil to breakout
Ruth Ann Nordin’s An Inconvenient Marriage
Secret Seven
Don’t Worry about Piracy
Everything you need to know about piracy
• Obscurity is your biggest risk
• Black hat pirates who steal your book wouldn’t have purchased it anyway
• Most piracy is accidental – it’s enthusiastic fans marketing your book for you
• Combat piracy by making your book easier to purchase than steal
Irrational fear of piracy leads leads to obscurity
• The only reliable method of avoiding piracy is to NEVER PUBLISH
• Anti-piracy measures such as DRM only limit availability, accessibility and enjoyment
• Fear gone too far will scare readers:
• Bio: Dear all, Mohammad Nashir is a poet, foreign language poet and writer. Laws: If you have been found stealing or maintaining theft of any of this material you will be taken to court, have an injunction be contacted by fraud squads or have the police at your door.
Secret Eight
Leverage Viral Catalysts
What’s a Viral Catalyst?
• A viral catalyst is something that makes your book more available, accessible, desirable and enjoyable to readers
Viral Catalysts
• Every thing you do right increases virality. Iterate until you get right formula
Great coverGreat storyProfessionally editedGreat titleBroad distributionCompetitive priceGreat book descriptionGreat marketing
Social media enabledSampling enabledMultiple formatsGood formattingGood categorizationLUCK!
Secret Nine
Secret #9 Unit Volume is Lever for Success
• Unit volume (sales and downloads) increase platform, drives readers to your backlist
• Unit sales X royalty per unit = profit
• Pricing strategy essential to maximize both
How Price Impacts Units Sold
Data source: http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/04/can-ebook-data-reveal-new-viral.html
What Price Yields Highest Earnings?
Data source: http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/04/can-ebook-data-reveal-new-viral.html
Secret Ten
Secret #10 Practice Partnership and Positivity
• Your fellow authors and service providers are your partners
• Help them be successful
• Learn from them
• Share your secrets
• Positivity trumps negativity
• Relationships give you upper hand
• Internet rants are permanent
• Google alerts keeps no secrets
Secret Eleven
Secret #11 Think Globally
Retailers are going global. Apple iBookstore (50 countries), Kobo (15/180), B&N (2), Amazon
(~12)
Nearly 50% of Smashwords iBookstore sales outside the US
Secret Twelve
Secret #12 Pinch Your Pennies
• You’re running a business
• Profit = Sales minus Expenses
• Most books don’t sell well (!!!!)
• NEVER borrow money to publish a book
• NEVER spend or invest money you need for food and shelter
• DIY then reinvest
Free Ebook Publishing Resources
• NEW! Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success (best practices of successful authors)
• Smashwords Book Marketing Guide (how to market any book)
• Smashwords Style Guide (how to format an ebook)
Thank you!
Q&A
Connect with Mark Coker and Smashwords:
Web: www.smashwords.com
Blog: blog.smashwords.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/markcoker
Facebook: facebook.com/markcoker
HuffPo: huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker
Twitter: @markcoker