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How to Revive Your Ebook Profits

© Manuel Viloria

You've probably missed a June article in this column and wondered if there's still any interest in ebooks. Add to that some articles (see E-Books Out of Print Already? by M. J. Rose) that have raised more questions than answers and you find yourself asking if it's time to move on.

There is still hope, particularly for those who want to publish short reports.

Jakob Nielsen, for example, says he sells about a million dollars a year from PDF downloads (see the June 6, 2001 entry on this page). The secret of his success? Two main factors:

• Deliver content that is needed instantly. (Does anyone need a novel-length book right away?)
• Use a simple format like PDF. (Are ebooks requiring passwords simple to use?)

I Want It Now

People who use computers and the Internet to get information want something right away -- as in yesterday.

They're on the go and rarely have time to read anything beyond 50 pages. They can't stand wasting time figuring out why their password worked on this computer but not on their laptop.

And neither will they forgive ebooks which can't be printed or those which gobble up the ink cartridges of their color printers.

The solution? Ebooks on demand. As in right now.

PDF - True Ebooks on Demand

While Jakob Nielsen offers some guidelines for using PDF, here are some of my thoughts on this:

• Use few dark lines in your PDF ebook -- it saves on your reader's printing costs. Some writers like to use horizontal lines to divide various sections of the ebook. You might wish to consider using blank lines or whitespace.

• Use a basic layout -- it encourages your reader to print out your 5 to 40 page book. Try a straightforward, just-the-facts-only kind of report. We're assuming here that your target market simply needs information right away and is not overly-concerned with aesthetic layouts.

• Use a large enough font, like Arial 11 -- it wouldn't be too far-fetched to imagine that people who can pay for your ebook don't like squinting at small text.

• Assume an 8.5" x 11" layout -- put in at least 1-inch margins around your text, and it should print fine in most printers around the world (even if they use A4-sized paper).

How To Easily Create PDF Files

First, you'll need your ebook either in Word or HTML form.

Then, you can have someone else convert your Word/HTML into PDF, for a fee. I haven't tried KDHBooks but their $20 convert-to-PDF fee sounds reasonable.

The copyright of the article How to Revive Your Ebook Profits in E-Book Publishing is owned by Manuel Viloria. Permission to republish How to Revive Your Ebook Profits in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.