[Writing Post] E-Books, Weighing the Possibilities

E-books and e-publishing are here. There’s no denying it. No one knows for sure what the impact is going to be in the future – but there will be an impact. Responsible writers (and I try to be one) should – if not embrace e-publishing – acknowledge it and use it to their advantage. Book sales are book sales regardless of format.

What comes next is the difficult part. How do we make that happen? For those writers with “Traditional Publishers” that question is mostly contractual for current titles. Many publishers are already converting titles to e-books. However, for those authors with independent projects and backlists, the options are more…complex. Do you do the conversions yourself or do you go with an e-book publisher/conversion service? This answer isn’t all that cut and dried. Personally – I’m in the middle of this debate now.

There are pros and cons to both sides of the equation.

Pros for going it alone and doing it yourself? You get to keep all the money that Amazon, SmashWords, etc. will pay you. You control everything. You reap the rewards. You do things on your timetable, your way.

Cons for going it alone and doing it yourself? You have to do all the work. You have to figure out the conversion, the cover (yes, this is still important), the content, and the submission processes. You have to buy the ISBNs for the sites requiring them. You have to do all the marketing. You have to do all the promotion/discounts/bundles. That’s all on you.

Pros for going with a company? Someone else does the tech work. Depending on the service/company – they will copyedit your book, create or help create a cover (and yes, the covers are still important), do the conversion, and submit to the sites. Depending on the company/service – ISBNs may be included. You don’t have to learn a new technology. You don’t have to take time out of your schedule to do conversions.

Cons for going with a company? You pay for the service whether through a shared royalty of each book sold through whichever site (i.e., 50/50 split of the Amazon payout royalty). Or you pay a flat fee for services rendered. You are at the mercy of someone else, their experience, and their mistakes.

And this is the dilemma I’m currently facing with my independent projects. Do I learn ONE MORE TECHNOLOGY or go with someone else? Do I badger my husband for more of his time because he is more technically savvy than me to get it done, or do I pay someone to do it for me?

I’m not the world’s most technically savvy person. I’m what I call “functionally literate”. I can do little more than basic things. I have not now – nor have I ever – been a programmer, html coder, or anything like that. I know enough html to get WordPress to look right. I’m terrified of screwing up a conversion and screwing up my project because it looks like crap.

So, for those who say, “Oh, it’s EASY!” Prove it to me. Walk me through what you do in 3rd grade language that makes it so easy. I’m frugal enough to take the money – *if* it doesn’t cost me hours upon hours to tinker with the files, an excessive amount of money to buy whatever ISBNs I might need for certain sellers, and doesn’t make me want to fling my possibly dying laptop through a window.

That’s where I stand. Challenge…yours.

Tags: Books, ebooks, epub, Writing