Digital books, or eBooks are as hot as volcanic lava these days and for good reason. With platforms such as Amazon’s Kindle, the iPad and eReaders by Sony and Barnes & Noble, books are more accessible and portable than ever before.
But here’s a missing piece with ebooks you don’t hear much about: almost all of the books were published first as, or in tandem with, a physical book. I’ve written here before about the expense of producing a book. I’ve even recommended doing anthologies where authors can pool their resources. (See the current project for which we’re seeking authors at www.PublishingShortcut.com.)
But what if you could cut out the physical part entirely? What if you could create a real life, professionally designed book and have it distributed to millions of readers for less than $500?
BookBaby.com has made it possible–and you can do it right now. This new service is coming from CDBaby.com, the company that revolutionized the music industry by giving bands and singer-songwriters an easy way to promote and sell their music online. The result: over $160 million in sales paid out to artists worldwide.
BookBaby digitally distributes the works of independent authors, poets, memoirists, and publishers, making their eBooks available to digital retailers like Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble.com, Sony’s Reader Store and Amazon.com.
I first heard about BookBaby from my husband Darryl Gregory, who has sold his music on CDBaby.com for years. At first I thought I would submit books I’ve done that don’t have digital versions such as my Doing Business By the Book. But once I explored BookBaby’s site, I realized an author can do so much more!
You can do your whole book, soup-to-nuts, on BookBaby and put it into digital distribution without ever producing a physical copy! They provide cover design, formatting and even ISBN’s. This means your book can be seriously published for less than $500. (This includes paying for extras like cover design!)
If you’re a business person you can already see the tremendous advantage here: You can use this publishing format as a testing ground for new ideas. If something sells well, you can always produce a physical version of the book later. In the digital world you can have a book done practically at light speed. Of course you still have to write it. If you need help with that, I’m available for book coaching or you can still join our Business Book Bootcamp. If you ever needed an incentive to finish your book, this may be what you’re looking for. So check out BookBaby. It could be the greatest thing for authors since the typewriter.
Sophfronia Scott is Executive Editor of the Done For You Writing & Publishing Company. Learn what a difference being a published author can make for your business. Get your FREE audio CD, “How to Succeed in Business By Becoming a Bestselling Author” and your FREE online writing and book publishing tips at http://www.DoneForYouWriting.com.
