ebooks and eReading: The Changing World of Publishing was presented to the Publishers and Writers of San Diego on March 31, 2012 by David Wogahn, managing partner of SellBox.com. It is an update on what’s new in eBooks and eBook publishing and covers a perspective on the state of the market in 2012, key trends, eBook/eReading resources, case studies, eBook marketing and the 5 steps of eBook publishing: designing, formatting, conversion, quality control and distribution.

1. eBooks and eReading:
The Changing World of Publishing
March 31, 2012
David Wogahn
david@Sellbox.com | 760-942-4227

2. How do you spend your time?
Source: www.ispwp.com

3. What is an eBook?
1. Can you read it—without
panning & zooming—on a
mobile device?
2. Can someone buy it from
some place other than
your website, i.e. an
online retailer?

4. What is an eReader?
 It can be a device…
…or software.

5. Tablets vs. eReaders
 Differentiators: Cost, portability, battery life,
multimedia, screen type, function
 People who prefer tablets are more interested in
multi-tasking and computing activities. It's a
computer replacement.
 People who want to read buy an eReader: fewer
distractions, lower cost, smaller, easier on the
eyes, read in daylight.
 29% of Americans have one or the other (Pew, 1/2012)

6. ePublishing introduces a new
vocabulary & new processes.
 File formats  App
 Developer  Enhanced eBook
 Conversion  Fixed page layout
 Aggregator  Page replica layout
 Distributor  Side Loading
 Agency Pricing

7. Readers: choose your silo!
ePub

8. eBook-buying and reading habits
differ from pBook habits…
1. Impulse buying
2. Collecting
3. Grazing
4. Multi-format buying

9. Emerging Trends
 Dedicated eReaders vs. Tablet computers
 Competition for reading time: eBooks vs. digital
‘everything else’
 What’s a book?

10. More Emerging Trends
1. Devices will proliferate creating a challenge for
do-it-yourself publishers
2. Shift from a hardware view to an eco-view
3. Ad supported books
4. Diminishing physical shelf space
Can B&N survive as an
independent company?

11. 3 Big Decisions

12. Book Covers: When exactly did they
stop being important?
eReader screens are evolving
Can anyone name this book?

13. Bottomline: How would your
cover look if placed in this line up?

14. The Art of Pricing
 “Over the last year I've tried pricing from .99 to $5.95. I
found that lower prices did not substantially increase
sales and higher prices did not diminish sales. So why sell
my work for 35% of 99-cents when I can sell just as many
books for 70% of $5.95?
 “I think pricing my books too low actually causes a
perception problem: they mustn't be very good if that
cheap.”
 “…I thought that if I can make a profit at 99 cents, I no
longer have to prove I’m as good as them, rather, they
have to prove they are ten times better than me”.

15. Thinking about your
price…
 Is there a print edition?
 What do competitors charge for similar topics?
 Do you have other books?
 How long is it?
 How specialized is the information?
 Your price is no longer static!
Experiment-don’t be afraid to change it, regularly

16. DRM: Digital Rights Management
 Publishers want it.
 Readers hate it.
 It can be circumvented.
 Can piracy be good?
“Damn. Guess I have
to buy The White
Album again.”

17. The End of DRM?
 Who doesn’t want to sell direct and keep 100%?
 A few challenges:
 Training readers to side-load
 Teaching them about eBook back-up
 How will highlights & notes be handled?
 They’ll need to give up syncing too
 Marketing to readers

18. Questions a self-publisher should
ask themselves:
1. What are the design requirements?
 Media elements
 Informational
 Creative
2. How close does your current manuscript format
come to meeting these requirements?
3. Where do you want to sell it?

19. eBook Publishing
Five Steps:
2. Design
3. Format
4. Convert
5. Review
6. Distribute
(Resource: kdp.amazon.com)

20. Step 1: Design
 Ideal: narrative text and headings
 Challenges:
 Sidebars
 Outline and poetry layouts
 Indexes
 Video, audio, animation
 Navigation
eBook design still involves some compromises

21. Step 2: Formatting
 Use stylesheets
 Be consistent
 Don’t get fancy
 Remember that there is essentially only one page
in an eBook
A complex design may require knowledge of
HTML to implement.

23. Step 3: Conversion
 Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP): kdp.amazon.com
 Barnes & Noble Nook: www.pubit.com
 Calibre
 Smashwords

24. Conversion: Amazon and B&N
 Word (.doc or .docx) [B&N]
 ePub (.epub) [B&N]
 Plain Text (.txt) [B&N]
 Mobipocket (.mobi or .prc)
 HTML (.zip, .htm, or .html) [B&N]
 Adobe PDF (.pdf)
 Rich Text Format (.rtf) [B&N]

25. Step 4: Review [Quality Control]
 Inspect the front matter for accuracy
 Check line spacing, indents and justification
 Click the menu button, do all options work?
 Test any hyperlinks to Web sites
 Check images
 Use Kindle Previewer
 Validate ePub files
Alas, not all eReaders display the same

26. Reality check: Distribution vs.
Sales
Through Which channel
which produces the
channels are largest
your percentage of
eBooks your eBook
distributed? sales?
Aptara, 3rd Annual eBook Survey of Publishers, Spring 2011

27. Step 5: Distribution
 Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
 Barnes & Noble (Pubit)
 BookRix, Bookbaby, eBookit, Fastpencil, Lulu,
Smashwords, MintRight, LibreDigital, INscribe
Digital
Small publishers must go through an aggregator
to be placed in the Apple and Sony stores.

28. Marketing: think cooperatively,
not competitively.
 Buddy-up with other author/publishers
 Building addressable connections
 Be public
 Publish multiple titles
 Create thorough metadata
 Get reviews
 Consider sampling

29. Survey: What do you rely on to
help you discover books? (select 3)

30. 10 Social Networks for Readers
 www.goodreads.com
 www.scribd.com
 www.wattpad.com
 www.shelfari.com
 www.thecopia.com
 www.bookcountry.com
 www.inreads.com
 www.byliner.com
 www.anobii.com
 www.librarything.com

31. Good editing and writing extends
to metadata—and be consistent
Search
Results
Titles &
Descriptions
Press Release
Boilerplate

32. Importance of Quality and Future
Proofing
 Baseline is moving lower
 Trade-off of cost for lower quality
 It will get worse before it gets better
 New review standards could help
 Rate the publisher
 Rate the presentation
 Future Proofing
 Compatibility
 Color images
 300 dpi resolution
Is the public willing to pay for quality?

33. If anyone can publish a book how
do readers judge quality?
1. They download a sample.
2. Read the reviews.
3. Check out the social reading websites.
4. Who is the publisher? (Check their other books)
5. Is the design and formatting pleasing?
6. Does the cover look professional?
7. Is there an editor referenced in the credits?
8. Has the author written other books?
9. Is there a print edition?
10. Does it appear on any ‘best-seller’ lists.
(Pssst: Amazon gives refunds on eBooks.)

34. About
Our specialty is helping authors, publishers and
businesses publish and market eBooks and
other digital media products.
 eBook development, conversion, publishing
 eBook strategy and product planning
 Internet marketing & digital media business
development
For more information and to stay in touch visit
sellbox.com and connect on Linkedin:
www.linkedin.com/in/wogahn
David Wogahn | david@sellbox.com
760-942-4227 | www.sellbox.com