Source: http://www.liberalartscolleges.org/blog/2010/10-reasons-why-a-paperback-is-better-than-an-e-reader/

Until recently, nothing has challenged traditional reading quite as much as the introduction of the e-reader, an electronic reading device that displays books in a digital format. E-readers have catered to the changing times and rise of technology with lightweight designs, Internet access and having your own personal electronic library on the go. What e-readers don’t have is the longevity and simplicity of paperbacks that can be read anywhere, anytime. It’s truly hard to replace the feel, smell and beauty of a bound book, but it’s up to the readers to determine the fate of paperback books. Here are 10 reasons why a paperback is better than an e-reader:

* No Wi-Fi needed

With paperbacks, you don’t have to worry about connecting to the Internet to read your favorite romance novel, or download the latest New York Times best sellers. With ebooks, you’ll need a wireless hookup to browse the online libraries and buy or download books. For older e-reader versions, you have to connect to a computer to download ebooks on the Internet, which means more hassle and more reading time taken away for technology purposes.

* No charging necessary

Paperbacks are fully charged and fully functional all the time. There’s no battery included, no charging required and they have an unlimited shelf life. With e-readers, you may have a battery life of two weeks or less before they go kaput during a road trip when you’re halfway through a book. Not to mention, the life span of an e-reader is probably only a couple years.

* Inexpensive

Paperback books are far more economical than e-readers, which can put you out upwards of $400 to $500, not including the cost of downloading ebooks and additional gadgets. Depending on where you shop, you may spend a few dollars or $20 dollars on a book that can be passed on to friends, bought back by a bookstore or donated. Also, there’s always the option of checking out books from the library at no cost to you.

* Travels easily

Traveling with e-readers can be a huge hassle, especially in airports, because you have to remove your device from its case and send it through the security check separately. A book takes no time to scan and can be left in your bag because it doesn’t require a separate check. E-readers can’t be used on the plane when the captain tells passengers to turn off all electronic devices, but paperbacks can be read during any flight time.

* You can recycle, donate and sell back books

Paperbacks can be recycled, donated or sold to a bookstore, resale shop, school, church and anywhere else books are needed. You can sell back books and get more than half of your money back in online marketplaces, bookstores or book sales. Because electronic reading devices are so new and expensive, they won’t be donated or recycled any time soon.

* Read whenever, wherever

Whether you’re in a park, on the subway or floating in a swimming pool, you can safely read a paperback book, without worrying that you’ll be $400 down the drain. The portability of paperbacks far exceeds the portability of ebooks because they are battery-free, durable and don’t require Internet access. Paperbacks can survive coffee spills, days at the beach and being dropped in a puddle, whereas the electronic competitor would be a goner in no time.

* No eye strain or blinding glare

You won’t have to worry about eye strain after reading a paperback, nor will you have a LCD screen blinding you. Sure, you can adjust the brightness of the e-reader’s screen, but there is no backlight included for reading in the dark.

* No technical problems

E-readers can be defective and have annoying software problems that disrupt your reading. Paperbacks don’t experience technical problems, software bugs or crashes. Paperback books are simple and technology-free, which makes them user-friendly for any age.

* Illustrations

Illustrations have an important role in children’s books, cookbooks and how-to books to guide the reader and aid in storytelling. Book illustrations provide a visual representation of what’s happening in the story and it breaks up the monotony of text. Some ebooks don’t contain illustrations or omit images that aren’t referred to at great length in the text. E-readers just don’t have the same artistic elements that books have.

* Unlimited borrowing and lending

Depending on your personal lending policy, there is usually no limit to how long you let a friend borrow your book. With many e-readers, you have a maximum amount of days you can borrow a book before it goes back to its rightful owner or has to be check out again. The ease of borrowing and checking out books from the library makes paperbacks a more convenient process.

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Source: http://www.sellingbooks.com/income-streams-for-authors

by Irene Watson

New authors often have the misconception that they will sell a million books and be wealthy for the rest of their lives. But the book is just the beginning; authors shouldn’t put all their eggs in one basket—better to use the egg to hatch more golden egg-laying geese. One book can lead to a product line and multiple streams of residual income.

The author who gets rich on just one book, or even has the luxury just to stay home and do nothing but write books, is a myth, especially today, but in truth it always has been. It is the rare author throughout history who only had one book, one golden egg. Even authors who became famous and wealthy based on one book did not solely become famous because of the book.

Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind, is a perfect example. She only wrote one novel, but she leveraged it into income not only from book sales but also movie rights and foreign book rights. Today J.K. Rowling does not make money solely off one Harry Potter book. She used the first book to build a series of novels, which also resulted in a film franchise and countless other merchandise products including wrist watches, lunchboxes, book lights, and board and video games. In addition, she gets paid for book signings and speaking engagements.

You may never reach the fame level of J.K. Rowling, but it doesn’t hurt to aspire to it, and more importantly, like Rowling and Mitchell, you can create multiple streams of income. The book is just the beginning—it is the lead-generation tool to plenty of other work, income, and success coming your way.

A successful author is also a successful businessperson. He might begin with a book, but he uses that book to become an expert so he can offer many services or products that will be in demand. For example, once an author publishes a book, other people who want to publish books come out of the woodwork—they want to know how he did it; they want him to help them with their books. The author thought everyone would want to talk about his book—his novel, his characters, his ideas. Instead, he gets asked to talk about how to get published. If he’s smart, soon he branches into offering seminars on publishing, writing books on the publishing industry, and leveraging his experience to create income for him—he might also sell some of his books for additional income. Different authors may similarly choose some other avenue of the publishing world to provide income. They become publishing coaches, literary agents, editors, book reviewers, printers, cover design artists, magazine columnists—often they become several of these, wearing multiple hats. The book was not the golden egg. It was the goose that laid all these golden eggs.

But publishing may be just one basket. Put your eggs in several baskets. Multiple streams of income that have little to do with books are possible for authors. The people above love books—they always wanted to be writers. But there are authors who don’t even like writing. These authors wrote their books to prove they were experts in their fields. Many one-book authors are life coaches, public speakers, doctors, personal trainers, investment coaches, or politicians. They wrote their books so they could get their messages out and so they would gain credibility. Think about it—if you’re planning an event and have an option between a speaker who has published a book and one who hasn’t, chances are you’ll hire the author because that person appears more talented, knowledgeable, credible, and professional—all qualities you want in a keynote speaker.

Often one book is enough. You might create multiple incomes by writing multiple books, but you could use that one book to give you the edge you want in other ways. Your book can get your foot in the door to generate income through teaching workshops, speaking engagements, business consulting, or a variety of other opportunities. People also want current books, but rather than constantly producing new books, you can capitalize on the credibility a book gives simply by coming out with a second, third, fourth or revised edition, updating the information, adding a new chapter, giving the book a new look. Then the book is new and you did little work to make it so.

Remember that many formats are available for publishing one book. Most books published are paperbacks, but don’t overlook those customers who like hardcover books. Print a number of hardcovers so your customers have an option—they may only buy a paperback for themselves, but they will be willing to spend money on a nice looking hardcover to give as a gift. You could even come out with special limited collectible editions and charge quadruple prices for them if you think the market will bear it.

And what about e-books? There are multiple e-book formats out there. Yes, you might make more money on your print copies—but it depends on how you sell them. If you’re selling through a book distributor, you might only get 5-10% off your cover price for each book sold. But with e-books, you may collect 50%. The income from a print book at 10% versus an e-book at 50% may be equal—the e-book might even provide you greater profit. And don’t forget the value of your time. Print books require time spent working with printers, delivering, mailing, and storing books. Once set up, e-books require nothing more than collecting your income—residual income. Nothing is better than money that keeps coming in that you don’t have to labor for (other than initially having written the book of course).

Create products that complement your book. Why not sell your self-help book with special affirmation cards that can be purchased separately or packaged with your book? Provide a free copy of your book with ten hours of coaching sessions. Create a workbook to go with your book. Create coloring books or paper dolls to go with your children’s book. How about a trivia game to go with your history book? Any product that helps generate continued interest in your book is fair game. Brainstorm the possibilities. Your book is a lead-generating tool to more and more income, more and more opportunities to get your message out there, and more and more chances to live the author lifestyle you always dreamed of living. I guarantee it won’t be exactly how you dreamt it—it may not be as grand—but it will still be fun and exciting.

Your book is a goose. It can lay golden eggs for you. Just don’t put all your eggs in one basket, and let some of those eggs hatch to create more geese to produce yet more eggs.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

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Success in the self-publishing industry involves a lot of getting ahead of the game. Your punctuality speaks on how much you are committed to your career. How you plan and prepare shows how serious you just are.

After working hard during the wee hours of the night in completing your book, you finally arrive at the point of getting your book ready for its launching. Whether it may be a lavish launching or not, a book launching is the best time to introduce your book to the market. It’s an excellent opportunity to meet and greet prospective readers and give them the opportunity to buy a copy.

Here are some ideas for your book launch to become a success.

Get the Right and Real Figures

Come up with a budget. Carefully assess what you really need for the event. The budget can basically include the place, a sound system, tables, chairs, food, and promotional materials such as posters, brochures, flyers, tarpaulins, and the like. Seriously consider how much you are willing to spend for your book’s launch. Remember that the event is only the beginning of your official book marketing campaign.

A book’s launch doesn’t have to be that grand. A book marketing campaign can go all the way from 6 months to a year, so you better spend your budget on what’s worth for the long term. You can host the book launch at your own house or ask a bookstore near you where you can possibly hold the event. Better yet, hold your book launch at a university’s library, preferably your alma mater.

Send Out of the Box and Cost-Free Invitations

Reserve your bookmarks, brochures, and flyers during your book launch. Take advantage of social networking sites to spread the news about your upcoming event. For example, Facebook allows you to create automated event invitations through your profile where recipients can ‘RSVP’. This way, you can estimate the number of guests that are attending. Moreover, you can announce your event through status updates.

Inform the Media

You can send out a press release to different media organizations through fax or through the internet but don’t forget to inform your local media about your launch since you are a part of the community that they cover. Proximity has greater chances of being published. You can visit radio stations in your area and announce your book’s release. And if they request for an interview, be ready to talk on air. Do some research and list the names of the right people in the media who can help promote your book. The media likes to be pampered. So it’s better if you send them personalized invitations for your event.

It’s also important to hand out press kits to the media right after your book launch. That way, they won’t miss out on the important details about you and your book.

Initiate Conversation

You are in charge of telling the story behind your manuscript. Prepare and write your speech for your book launch from the heart. Be careful not to keep your talk too long or too short. Be creative to keep their ears listening to what you are actually saying.

Create Promos and Specials

Give out freebies and treats. It can be through bookmarks, button pins, cards, candies, pens, and the like. You can also offer promos or discounted rates when they buy your book. Make your attendees feel extra special. This is a way of saying “thank you” to everyone who has expressed support by attending your book launch.

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Easy Ways to Online Book Marketing for Pleasure & Profit

By: Dave Robus

The best way to look at online book marketing is to think about creating relationships. This is an integral part of authoring books of any type and it is not really enough to be simply an expert writer.

Marketing of books is all about creating attention to them, to try and convince prospective readers to buy. Put simply, the basic truth about marketing a poorly written and edited book is that it can be embarrassing, causing returns and refund requests.

You would be advised to use a well written sales letter type of website for either your own ebook or as an affiliate book marketer.

Books, whether they might be Old Books or New Books of any type have the ability to make us happy, sadden us, heal us or create inspiration in our brains and they can transport us in our minds to new and intriguing places and other imaginary worlds.

Books and ebooks basically are “materials of experience and dreams,” and you never know whether you’ll be happy with a particular book until you’ve actually spent time reading it.

Only when you have invested a little of your time can you decide whether or not a book is for you and indeed whether to complete your travel to the very last page. This will always be so, no matter if the book you are reading is an old book, new book, fiction book, biography, educational book or indeed any other creative writing work.

Online book marketing works far easier and much better than traditional book marketing. For individuals that have the motivation, and driven ability to sell their book it can really work extremely well.

Regular Marketing of your book can help to increase its sales for a greatly extended periods, which is an established and well proven fact.

Which leaves just the remaining question.

Do you want to take the plunge and get your book produced & marketed in an innovative, cash generating way. so that you call attention to your book, and convince prospective readers to buy it?

It is definitely possible for you to make masses of recurring income from your book for many years to come by carrying out one or more of the following.

1) Build a web page to establish an online presence, making your book available via a website.

2) Try to place your book for viewing in bookshops, libraries, supermarkets, etc.

3) Generate other spin off products from your book, then market those products as well.

As an example, if you write a book about keep fit training you can obtain partnerships with a local gym or health centre.Or maybe an International Training equipment manufacturer, to whom you can offer an affiliate commission for marketing and selling your book.

In return you will obtain an affiliate commission whenever their product is sold through a link in your book.

You should try to obtain partnerships with associations, organizations and businesses that are relevant to the marketing of your book and try to get those partnerships well known in the public domain.

Every time you add new chapters to and restructure your book, re market it to the public using the same methods that you used in your original book marketing strategies. Even before you write a single chapter, try to visualise a picture of your prospective target audience, and you will enjoy much more success in the promotion of your book.

Remember always try to create and foster good relationships with your prospective joint partners and affilaites. Also have a policy of creating a good relationship with your prospective purchasers, so that they build up a trust in you, possibly becoming a customer for many of your future products for life.

About the Author

Thirsty for more knowledge? Dave Robus provides information on how to profit from Public Domain books at Old Books Make Money where he covers ebook creation from old books in a simple step by step process. On his blog Dave also gives regular free hints and tips on Niche Market Research, to find the best selling idea’s for you to put into practice and achieve high income’s by taking Public Domain items for re-creation into high value products.

(ArticlesBase SC #822551)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Easy Ways to Online Book Marketing for Pleasure & Profit

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source: http://www.authorinsider.com/article.php?subaction=showfull&id=1150387574&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&

Congratulations, you’ve written a book and even gotten it published! Now, all you have to do is get people to buy it. Getting people to actually enter a bookstore with the purpose of buying your book is not easy because you’re not a “brand name” yet. But you do have a potent weapon at your command– the telephone. Use it.

Call the editor of the books section of your paper. Say you’d like to send a copy to him or her. Ask if he has a few minutes so you can briefly tell him about the book on the phone. After you send the book, give her a chance to read or at least glance at it, then call again.

If you can possibly tie the book to something in the news, that’s great. Let’s say you wrote Cooking with Chocolate and the health section of your paper has an article on the health benefits of chocolate. Call editors and reporters in the health, food and book sections.

If there’s a human interest reporter or columnist, call and then send them a copy of the book. Human interest reporters can usually write on anything that interests them. Try to interest them in you. What did you do before you wrote the book and why did you write it? Do you have eight children and wrote it at your kitchen table every morning between 2:00 and 5:00 am? Did you gain 20 pounds writing the book? Or, did you lose 20–proving that chocolate really isn’t fattening?

Call the assignment editors at television news programs. Frequently, if there’s an interesting hook, they will interview you. Track down book shows on radio and television and call the producers.

Don’t be afraid to make the phone calls and don’t believe someone when he says he’ll get back to you. He won’t. The person who has the most to gain (you, in this case) has to make the call. Too often people are afraid to call. Ask yourself what’s the worst that can happen. They’ll say no, right? Editors are not going to gather menacingly on your doorstep or come after you with garlic and torches. They’ll say no. Can you live with that? Of course, you can, so call.

Put on a comfortable pair of shoes, gather up copies of the book and hit the pavement. Stop in at every small bookstore and beg to leave copies. I assume you’ve already called the biggies. Offer to appear to talk about and read from your book or do a mini-seminar.

You’ve got to do things to create a buzz. The author of the aforementioned book on chocolate could give away chocolate bars with each copy. Or slices of cake she made (recipe in the book) during her appearance in the bookstore. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to drop off a cake with the book in the newsrooms.

Don’t forget retailers. They might agree to do a window around your book. I once got a prominent jeweler to do a window with diamonds falling out of toe shoes and copies of the book, written by a dancer, displayed.

By Miriam Silverberg

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