The WMF Archives

By Kerrie McLoughlin



Carol Tice recently asked me some great questions about how I published my second e-book, "Get Published in Regional Parenting Magazines." I decided to answer them for all of you who are interested in self-publishing.


How did you get the book formatted and designed?
I did it all myself in PowerPoint, which was a huge pain. Next time I’ll try Word, as long as I don’t have photos and pretty formatting.


What about cover design — did you hire someone for that, or how did you do the design?
Except for the magazine cover photos, I did the design myself in PowerPoint, with a little help from a couple of friends. As for the magazine jpegs, I made sure I had permission from each magazine to use their cover on my e-book cover before I published it.


How did you decide what to charge?
I thought about what the e-book would go for if I went the traditional publishing route and came up with $25. When that wasn’t working, I lowered it to $15. About a month after that I lowered it to $9.99, and it started selling.


How did you decide on a shopping cart? Did it let you run promotions and put in discount codes?
I used Payloadz because I bought an e-book that way and found it very easy to use. Also, I don't have daily Internet access and wanted my buyers to receive the book ASAP and not have to wait for me to e-mail it to them. I’m not sure about the promotions and need to check into that. I can put in discount codes, but getting them to work with PayPal was not possible.


What method did you use for delivery — the payment sent them to a web site where the ebook lived, or it was a PDF download, or something else?
I needed a site that would take money for me and also get the e-book download information to the customer, so I chose Payloadz.com. Payments go through PayPal, and I pay Payloadz based on how many e-books I’m selling. I used to only pay $5 per month, but now I’m selling more and have to pay $15 per month.


How did you guard against the work being circulated without payment?
I've read up on this topic and have come to the conclusion that there is no 100% effective way to do this, so I am naively trusting my buyers to not share. Also, I hope the low price discourages sharing. I've read that zipping the file helps, but I don't see how. I don't want to make the process difficult for my buyers by making them learn a password to get into the e-book every time. I'd be interested in your views on this, Carol and Readers of The WM Freelance Connection.


How long ago did you put it out, and how much have you made from it? What turned out to be the best place to promote it?
I published it the end of July 2009. I’ve sold 43 copies and have grossed about $500 (PayPal and Payloadz fees not taken into account). It doesn’t sound like much, but it wasn’t selling at the higher price of $25, so I adjusted accordingly. It will stay at $9.99.  I haven't really promoted it much ... I rely on referrals from purchasers until I can get the next edition out.  See the next question on marketing ...

Also, I plan to approach some online writing course teachers to recommend it. I'm hoping for high sales from the 2nd edition because it’s a much better product (more user-friendly, smaller font for printing, more compact with fewer pages, more e-mail addresses and pay information, double the bonus online and/or national publications).


How did you market the book?
On my main blog, my writing blog, here, on Twitter and Facebook. I gave copies away to bloggers with many followers so they could review it (should’ve done a giveaway instead). I signed up at AuthorsDen and LinkedIn. I advertised it in my outgoing e-mail signature line. I had business cards made that tout the e-book title. I have much to learn about marketing and need to spend some time reading up on it here. Would love to hear your ideas, Carol and Commenters!


Did you run promotions, and if so which worked best?
Just a couple of giveaways, but those didn’t get a lot of traffic. With the second edition, I plan to try out something like a Facebook ad and maybe Adsense.


Did you build a marketing list that you sold the book to, or how did you get
leads?
No, but as orders come in I am keeping track of e-mail addresses so I can send the second edition out for free and send updates as I am made aware of them. I also sent out an e-mail to everyone who bought the book asking what they might like to see in the second edition. Also, I think it’s important to keep them in case I write a similar e-book.


Did you do any in-person events and if so where, and did that work?
I’ve done no in-person events simply because I’ve either been pregnant or recovering since I wrote the e-book. Finding a sitter for 4 little ones while I run off to breastfeed at a writer’s group didn’t sound very appealing, either. Plus, I blush.


Have you put it on Booklocker or any other similar online site besides your own?
I finally got smart and started a site dedicated to the e-book. I have a list of other places to list it, but so many of them are clearly not professional, want me to offer it for free, or charge too much to list it. I'm checking out Booklocker as we speak!


Have you done affiliate deals with other writers or sites, and if so did that bring you some sales? How much did you offer affiliates as their cut?
It’s easy for affiliates to sign up on Payloadz (go to the book description and go from there), but I haven't sold any books through the affiliates yet. When I was offering the e-book for $25 originally, I was offering affiliates $7 as their cut. I need to make sure the teachers of online writing courses that I plan to approach know to sign up to be an affiliate so they can make a cut. I'll probably offer $1.00 per sale to affiliates.


At what point in the process did you copyright the work?
It's copyrighted as soon as I write it. The second page of the e-book states, “Copyright 2010 Kerrie McLoughlin, Second Edition. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the express written permission of the author/publisher.” I'd like to see someone else pull all the files off their computer and out of their desk drawers to show all the work they've done on my specific e-book. It would be easy to prove it to be stolen if push came to shove.


Next Sunday … I’ll share with you the lessons I learned when I published my e-books, including a little legal trouble I got myself into by not doing an Internet search for my book title first.


And a special bonus link to my blog, which includes a blog interview with Christina Katz about her new e-book "Author Mama" ... where she answers questions about why she's e-booking it after 2 traditionally published books and how SHE keeps people from stealing her e-book.

E-book Publishing Questions Answered