Lessons Learned on Publishing an eBook (Also, Book Now Free for Amazon Prime Members)

After a month or so of having self published our first book, a few takeaways.  

1 – The most important is that, while expected, the vast majority of sales (90%) came through Amazon.  Realizing this, we are now moving the eBook exclusively to Amazon so that Prime Members can download the book for free (see below).

2 – The biggest complaint about the book is that it is short (about 60 normal pages).  This is funny since I literally spent months editing it down to that length.  I hate books being long for the sake of being long, but it seems like lots of people still equate length with value.  My first book was $50, and to reflect the shorter length of this one I reduced the price to $5, or roughly the cost of a latte.  But, people still complain that it is too short.

Along the same lines is the problem of producing a lot of free content.  Once you do this, people begin to expect it.  I have received a number of emails stating they thought the book should have been a free white paper (to which I offer to refund their $4.99).  Investors have no problems paying for loads and high fees often in the tens of thousands of dollars, but $5 for an eBook, the horror!

3 – The third takeaway is that lots of people still love physical books (myself included).  We uploaded a large CreateSpace book so that people can get the physical book for about $7.  I was shocked at how good it came out after having seen early CreateSpace books years ago – the quality is much improved.

 

How to Borrow a Book on Amazon for Free

You can borrow one book from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library each calendar month. You can deliver the book to other Kindle devices registered to your Amazon account.

    1.  From your device, open the Kindle Store.

 

    1.  Select All Categories, and then select Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.Eligible titles display the Prime badge.

 

    1.  When you’ve made your selection, select Borrow for Free.You can borrow only one book at a time. If you’ve already borrowed a book, you’ll be prompted to return it before you can borrow a different book.
      Note: Available titles may change each calendar month.

 

If your Amazon Prime account is disabled after you borrow a book, you will lose access to the book you borrowed.Your bookmarks, notes, and highlights within the book will be saved to your Amazon account. They are available if you borrow or purchase the book later.

 

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