Archive for the ‘ebooks’ tag
Print Book
From Ebook To Print Book: Five Pitfalls
Has anyone else noticed a trend of books, both self-published and from commercial publishers, that were originally ebooks and have not completely shaken the unfortunate signs of their origin?
1.Since ebooks can be sold easily at 80-100 pages, but print books cannot, the book version gains length through appendices that take up one-third of the page count. Sometimes the appendices are quite tangential to the main topic, and other times they contain golden information that should have been better integrated with the main content. There’s also padding evident within the book, especially a lot of large illustrations, cartoons or Powerpoint slides that add little to the reader’s learning experience.
2.Because ebooks are often sold with a lot of time-limited bonuses, these books also contain bonuses printed in them – bonuses that have already expired when the book was purchased! This just happened to me with a hardcover 2007 book from John Wiley purchased through Amazon.com – not from some aftermarket source. What were they thinking?!
3.Ebooks, both free and for-fee, often function as a first step in a marketing funnel, with a disproportionate emphasis on moving the reader into the next, higher-priced offering, such as a boot camp or seminar. I’ve read two hardcover books recently that have too prominent and too pushy a pitch for the author’s very expensive seminar. A book should be a self-contained information unit, with other offerings mentioned but not with a hard sell. All promos should be placed after the main text, not within the chapters.
4.It’s common to create and sell or distribute an ebook anthology by asking contributors to send something in on a loosely defined theme and accepting all the contributions, with wildly uneven quality and relevance to one another. If it’s got a salable title, people will buy this sort of thing as a print book also, but reviews will be so-so at best, and the book is destined for a quick death.
5.Above all, laziness abounds. Since most ebooks have a short shelf life, there’s little thought given to making the contents substantive enough to withstand the evolution of the marketplace for a year or two. People who buy books for their personal library don’t want something that will make little sense when they pull a volume down from their shelf in three years’ time.
People can be fooled once, but book lovers won’t buy that author’s “books” again when it’s really an ebook in the trappings of a book – without a book’s soul. Additionally, one of the big benefits for an author of publishing in print is getting books into libraries. Librarians don’t normally purchase books with the above weaknesses.
Want to turn an ebook into a print book that fully works in its new format? Give it depth, organize it well, use quality control if coordinating multiple contributions, make it useful and relevant for years to come, and keep self-promotion low-key. Then you’ll have readers eagerly awaiting your next book – and the next and the next – to add to their personal libraries.
About the Author
Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity and other books from mainstream publishers like HarperCollins and Penguin USA. Learn more about her home-study course on becoming an information marketer:
http://www.yudkin.com/informationempire.htm
How To Print A Book – Get Published TV Episode #003
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Mud Pie 21 Hand Painted Wine Glass $19.98 “21″ glittery wine glass reads “Goodbye Bouncer, Hello Bartender!” around base and on packaging…. |
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Umbra PortoChef Recipe Easel Refill Pages, Set of 12 $4.99 Add additional storage space to your Portochef Recipe Easel with this set of 12 refill pages from Umbra…. |
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The Sound of Music [VHS] $2.96 Some people may sneer at this 1965 musical, but the truth is the film has earned its status as a perennially watchable romantic-drama, largely on the strength of a fun story and chemistry between stars Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Veteran filmmaker Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still) mostly stays out of the way of the film’s appealing elements, which include a based-on-fact tale … |
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Bambi (Fully Restored 55th Anniversary Limited Edition) (Walt Disney’s Masterpiece) [VHS] $2.49 It always comes up when people are comparing their most traumatic movie experiences: “the death of Bambi’s mother,” a recollection that can bring a shudder to even the most jaded filmgoer. That primal separation (which is no less stunning for happening off-screen) is the centerpiece of Bambi, Walt Disney’s 1942 animated classic, but it is by no means the only bold stroke in the film. In its swift … |
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Gerber 31-000699 Bear Grylls Survival Series Fire Starter $8.48 The product of collaboration between Gerber and survival expert Bear Grylls, the Survival Series Fire Starter is a must-have for scouting, camping, and hiking expeditions. Small and compact, this fire starter offers years of use. Watertight construction keeps tinder safe and dry, so when you need it, you can trust that it’s ready to use.Survival Series Fire StarterAt a Glance:Compact fire starter … |