This is definitely a generational issue. Don't you think?

My dad would never read a book on a computer. Nor would he print it and read page by page.

I admit to having done it, but I didn't like it one little bit. I had a stack of papers to read that couldn't be held at the same time. It was awkward. They stack I wasn't reading slid off the ottoman and went all over the hardwood floor. Now I still have the stack of ugly white paper and how do I put that on my book shelf?

However, it's an option for the younger generation. It's new, fun, trendy, and easier for them because they live attached to their lap tops.

Donna, your comments about your childrens book is a great example of why an ebook would do well in your case.

For one thing, if your pictures are in color, publishing with color pixs is very expensive. I don't know of any POD publishers who publish with color interior pixs. And even traditional publishers dont do much of it as far as I know.

And as you said, kids nowadays are used to computers and working with them.

If you do want to offer your book as an ebook, you already have the main thing that you need for it...the PDF file. All you need to do is to add the front cover to the file before the text begins and you have a PDF ebook. Or if you don't want to do a cover, then there is nothing stating you have to. Be sure to code your PDF file so that it can only be printed and not copied or changed.

You can even pub it yourself if you want to. You can sell it as a download from your site and you won't even need an ISBN. YOu can go through PayPal for a way to get paid for your book. Works like a charm.

quote:

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Originally posted by DonnaJ:
I'm very interested in this topic. I have a children's book that a friend of mine who's an illustrator fixed up in a .pdf file just this week. The illustrations are great! I'm very excited, but thinking...now what? I was thinking of offering it as an e-book. Kids are used to looking at the computer.

I'll check out your ebooks. Thanks!

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Thanks Kristie, I was wondering about that. So if I wanted to put out my poetry into an e-book, then all I have to do is make a pdf file? (I say "all" -- I have absolutely no idea how to do this.) The books are already self-published in print editions.

So then someone would have to go to my site to download? Are there e-book sites where people can list their books?

Sorry if someone answered this in a previous thread. Until 15 minutes ago, I hadn't thought about this at all.

I should add that I have no money for publishing whatsoever, but would be interested in sites that charge a percentage of downloaded books.

Just a thought.

Hello,

Just wanted to add my two cents to this discussion. I published my first book in softcover and as an e-book. About 10% of my sales are e-books. They're cheap and so many of us spend half our lives online or on the computer that we're used to reading things on the screen.

Personally, I have never bought an e-book and probably never will although I have been tempted by the price. After my long day of writing on the computer, I just want to get off the machine and sit down with a good movie or a book in print. I'm old fashioned that way :-)

I think it's great that you offer both options. I'm planning to publish my second book as a softcover and as an e-book. Those e-books definitely attract a different type of consumer.

Best of luck!
Sigrid

I wrote a children's story called "Topsy Turvy Land" that an illustrator (Kevin Collier) took on as a project transforming it into an ebook. What a joy to see my vision come to life!

I'd like to offer it on a website as a download using a portion of the proceeds for charity, and using the rest to publish in print form if there turns out to be a demand for it. Anyone got advice? I thought of submitting to ebook publishers, but there are so few of them. It's more advantageous to offer it myself from what I've learned. The book is in .pdf and ready to go. I just need to know the logistics of it all. I never thought I'd self-publish, but I'm very excited about doing this.

The cover art is on my Topsy Turvy Land site if you want to get a sneak peek:

www.donnashepherd.blogspot.com

Help! LOL!!

Merideth, yes you can self publish your book of poetry as an ebook and you won't even need an ISBN for it if you aren't planning on selling it anywher except from your site, and some places that let you sell your ebook at their sites don't require an ISBN either.

You can offer it as a PDF ebook only. You can get yourself an account at PayPal, if you don't already have one, and accept payment through them. They have a "Buy" button that you can code to place on your website for purchasing purposes. I have never had a problem with PayPal.

What you could do is to have it for payment through PayPal and when you receive notification that someone has purchased your ebook, you would send them an email with the ebook as an attachment.

There is a way for it to be put onto your site and automatically downloaded when someone buys it but I am not really up on that.

I have my Star ebooks set up to sell through PayLoadz (with PayPal for payment) and the uploaded ebook is at PayLoadz. When someone buys it, they automatically receive an email with a download link and I don't have to do anything.

There is a site called eBookAd.com where you can place your ebook for sale and not have to handle anything. But they take a percentage of your purchases for handling it. I used to use them but I had a major problem with them recently collecting my money.

I hope this helps.

There's also one I think called ebookonline. It's free but they take a percentage too. I was thinking of a poetry book myself that way.

Kristie, you said you don't need an ISBN number that way. I'm typesetting my book myself and I have a local printer who does POD. My group has used him for our anthologies. I was debating about the number thing. I'll be marketing the book mostly locally. Chances of it getting into bookstores are so small I don't think I need the number. If I go another route later on, I can always get one, can't I?

I also have a question. I've designed my own cover. As long as a photograph is one I've taken myself, can I use it even if it is a carousel in a well-known amusement park?
Louisa

Louisa, if you do not plan on trying to get your book into bookstores or to sell your book at the online bookstores but plan on selling it locally or from your website, then it is not absolutely necessary to get an ISBN for it.

Yes, you can always get one later if you decide that your book is selling well enough that you want to market it to bookstores and online bookstores.

The place to buy ISBN's is from Bowker. The minimum block that you can buy, as far as I know, is 10.

To follow the rules by the letter in assigning ISBN's to books, you have to have a different number for each version of your book: ie -- ebook in each different format needs a different ISBN for each version; the print book needs a different ISBN; etc.

If you took the photograph, you should own the rights to it. However, it might not be a bad idea to check with the amusement park to make sure they have no objections to you placing a photo of their carousel on the cover of your book. I use the CYA philosophy myself. Besides they may want to put your books for sale somewhere in their amusement park if they know the carousel in their park is on the cover.

Thanks, Kristie. I found one of my photos that I like that is not the whole carousel, just one horse. The colors are sharper and I like the photo better.

Louisa