What are ebooks and Why Should You Write One?

Ebooks are digital books that are meant to be read from a computer screen or other digital reading device. Nothing is written on paper. A person generally purchases them online and then downloads the file to their computer.

Ebooks are primarily used to present information. Although some people are selling fiction in ebook format, they don’t sell very well. I read and write online all the time, but I am one of those people who likes to read my fiction on paper. I just don’t find reading off a computer screen relaxing or enjoyable. And most readers seem to agree with me. However, as the next generations grow up with computers, this might change. For right now, though, consider ebooks primarily as an information tool.

Why Should You Write an ebook?

As a writer, writing ebooks has a lot of advantages over traditional books. I have listed just a few here.

There is no publisher. When you publish an ebook, you are your own publisher. You don’t have to submit it to anyone for approval. You don’t have to worry about rejection letters. You don’t have to someone telling you to make changes to your book that you don’t want to make.

You can start selling an ebook so much more quickly. The time from start to publication can be less than a month. There can be up to a two-year wait time between the time a traditional book is accepted for publication and the time it appears on bookshelves. Even if they move quickly, you can expect it to take six months to a year.

Selling Ebooks allows you to keep earning money forever. Traditional books have a shelf life of four to six weeks before they are remaindered (sold at deep discount). You can keep selling your ebook forever. If necessary, you can update it periodically or produce a new version.

Selling ebooks requires little overhead. You don’t need to pay for printing, storage, or shipping costs; there are none. You will need to spend some money for website maintenance and some sites will charge you to place your book on their site. You will also need to pay for any marketing, but you would have to pay for that even if you were published by a conventional publisher.

You own the rights to your book. You can decide how and where to sell it. You decide how to market it. You decide when, if ever, you want to take it off the market. You can decide to turn it into a powerpoint presentation or a video download or an audio disc.

Selling ebooks allows you to keep more of the money your book earns. You will have a few expenses. You will need to pay to have a system to manage the payment collections, but you will probably end up keeping between 80 and 95% of your earnings. In a traditional book publishing contract, you may get between 5 and 10% of the sales price of the book.

You can learn more about writing ebooks by reading this book about writing ebooks. It was my first introduction to the world of ebooks.
Click Here!