Of course, you can’t just plop an eBook onto your website and hope readers will find it. As with any type of book, eBooks require some marketing. Fortunately, that marketing needn’t cost you a penny. Your current website, an eNewsletter, free classifieds – even the signature you use in your email and on Internet forums – all help market eBooks.

How much money you make from eBooks depends entirely on your ability to target your audience. Really, it’s not much different from promoting traditionally published books.

A: You probably already have everything you need: A computer that’s connected to the Internet and some decent word processing software (like Microsoft Word). Anything else you might require can be had for free online.

A: The best format for eBooks is the .PDF file. Nearly everyone already has Adobe Reader (the software used to read .PDF files) on their computer, and if they don’t, it’s free and available from a reliable company website. Too, whether your readers use a Mac or a PC, they’ll be able to read .PDF files. You can’t say these things about other eBook formats!

Q:  Don’t I need special programming knowledge to accept payments and send readers my eBook?

A: Putting a shopping cart on your website is actually quite easy - and absolutely free. (The only cost comes when someone actually buys an eBook from you; then you’re charged a standard fee for accepting credit cards.)

There are two ways to go about sending readers your eBook. If you already check your email frequently, the easiest and cheapest way is simply to fire off a form email to anyone who buys your eBook. The .PDF eBook is sent as an attachment. But if you want your readers to be able to instantly download your eBook, this is easily done through one of the many Internet companies that do this for a small fee.

Q:  Isn’t it really easy for someone to steal my work if I publish an eBook?

A: It’s no easier to steal someone’s material from an eBook than it is to steal it from a website, magazine article, or print book. If someone really wants to do it, they will. But you’re protected by law as long as you file your eBook with the Copyright Office.

Back to

Or