Francine Craft

This is the final of three parts written by Shawn James, who does well with publishing his own e-books and helping others to publish.  You may reach him at sjsdirectamerica@gmail.com.

The day after Christmas is the biggest day of the year when it comes to e-book  sales.  When an e-book self-publisher is planning a presentation, he or she takes a heavy focus on one date.  December 26.  Why?  Christmas day many people get Kindles, Nooks, Kobos, ipods and ipads and TV shows.

From December 26 to mid-March is one of the biggest periods in the e-book market.  It’s the perfect time for a self-published author to launch a new title or promote an existing one.  With millions of people around the world looking to try out e-books on their new devices, it’s a great opportunity for an author to find an audience of readers for their title.

The second biggest period for e-book sales is the summer.  From late May to early September is the summer reading reason.  It’s the second biggest sales for e-books.  During this period lots of  people go on vacation and are looking for beach books for their e-readers,  It’s a great tine for a self-published author to launch a mystery or a romance novel.

In addition, school is out and lots of kids are looking for titles to read to prepare for the next grade.  So it’s a great time for an author to launch a Young Adult novel (teenagers) Independent reader (pages 7-14)  book or genre fiction like sci-fi or fantasy.

Leave the DRM (Digital Rights Management) off an e-book.  DRM software encryption that prevents readers from taking an e-book from one device to another.  Some authors authorize this software to prevent others from pirating their  e-books and sharing them on a filesharing site.

Customers hate this software because it ties their e-book to a single device.  Many a sale has been lost of an e-book because a title has DRM attached to it.  If an author is self-publishing e-books, they must understand that encoding an e-book with DRM could prevent them from reaching new readers who will refuse to buy the titles because they feature DRM encryption.

Most e-book readers want to be able to take their e-books from device to device like from their laptop to e-reader to their cell phones.  Moreover, they also want to share their e-books with other readers.  This sharing is how an author builds the word of mouth that allows them to build a large audience.

In self-publishing e-books, an author doesn’t have to worry about piracy.  Most customers would rather pay to own a legit copy of an e-book they got from a retailer like Amazon or  itunes than a copy they got from Rittorent or a filesharing site where they could get an e-book that may be a corrupted file.  With a little hard work and some online marketing through social media, authors can establish a platform where they can buuild an audience that anticipates their next title.

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Watch this space for additional information about e-books.  You’re always welcome back, and I invite your comments and appreciate them.

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