E-book or Print?

Shadow_Ferret · Dec 12, 2006

Get an agent and let them worry about it?

Maryn · Dec 12, 2006

I'll just keep the reply box warm until someone with more experience comes along.

My understanding is that publishers earn the most per book sale from hardbounds retailing at $25 or $30. Authors who can sell hardbounds are fewer than those who can sell in paperback, because more people are willing to shell out $6 or $8, so the larger number of sales is in paper, but with less profit per sale. Lowest in sales is ebooks. Many people who are fully comfortable with computers won't read ebooks, for a variety of reasons.

So if I were trying for publication right now, I'd aim high first (hardbound publishers), then go for trade paperback, mass market paperback, and last, ebooks. Naturally, if you get an agent, he or she will market your work to the best publisher(s) for it, regardless of what kind of book they produce.

I intend no offense to anybody whose main market is ebooks, of course.

Maryn, who rarely intends to offend anybody

PeeDee · Dec 12, 2006

I guess I'm just crustily (adverb! ACK!) stuck in the past, but I still sort of view e-books as "doesn't quite count."

Even though I know they do, somewhere deep down.

I've just about accepted e-print magazines. give me time.

icerose · Dec 12, 2006

E-book sales are extremely low. Vein, where are you? This is your spot, she can explain better because she is doing it.

The answer is it depends. What is the subject matter, does it have a wide audience? What are your goals, what do you wish to accomplish with your publication?

From what I've seen books are first released in paperback unless you are a bestselling author or a celeb and if they sell really well then are later released as hardback.

janetbellinger · Dec 12, 2006

Plus you can't lean back in a recliner while reading off a computer screen.

icerose · Dec 12, 2006

SouthernWriter1978 said:
I do not prefer ebook, but just want to know the take on it by others in the profession and why. I personally do not like reading them, they hurt my head and it's hard to follow. I'm old fashioned about it, I like running my finger over the page, dog ear it, highlight when I want...hard to do in pdf.

Then you know the route you want to go, which is paper print.

veinglory · Dec 12, 2006

Whichever will sell more?

For my first books (erotic, novella length, homosexual) this was probably ebook. I would make a short list based on suitability for your book, order it by your best estimate of sales and start at the top.

But, hypocrite that I am, I just picked some small publishers I like and respect and did it that way instead. Other people would rather have a book in hand than sell twice as many copies, go figure. Just look at suitable publishers, get an idea what they can do and what they are like and go with whatever is most important to you.

blacbird · Dec 12, 2006

SouthernWriter1978 said:
I like running my finger over the page, dog ear it, highlight when I want...hard to do in pdf.

Copy it to a floppy disk.

caw

NeuroFizz · Dec 12, 2006

Go for print, but realize that for some niches, and for some genres, e-books are descent sellers. Consider all opportunities that come your way, but always aim high. I've taken a less direct tack for personal strategic reasons, but I've had some good opportunities come along and I took them. Time will tell how it all serves me.

veinglory · Dec 12, 2006

janetbellinger said:
Plus you can't lean back in a recliner while reading off a computer screen.

That's what laptops are for

J.S Greer · Dec 12, 2006

PeeDee said:
I guess I'm just crustily (adverb! ACK!) stuck in the past, but I still sort of view e-books as "doesn't quite count."

Even though I know they do, somewhere deep down.

I've just about accepted e-print magazines. give me time.

Same here. There is nothing like holding a book in your hands as you read. Sitting in front of a monitor, or printing an e-book out on 7x11 paper just doesnt equate to the same thing for me.

JanDarby · Dec 12, 2006

It depends on what you want to accomplish. It also depends on your genre. For example, it's extremely rare for a first-time romance author (and, I believe, although I have less experience there, a first-time SF/F author) to be published initially in hardcover. Conversely (at least as I understand it, b/c, again, it's outside my genre), it's rare for a literary author to be published initially in paperback (of the standard size; trade size might be a different story, not sure).

Also, it's not really an either-or situation. Most of the major publishers also release their authors' books (at least the major ones) in assorted formats, from hardcover to audio to e-book and paperback (although some formats are delayed to encourage people to spend the extra money on the hardcover), is if you go through a major publisher, you might well end up being paper-published, e-published, cd-published (audio) and who knows what other format, as technology changes.

JD, epublished only, as of now

JulesJones · Dec 12, 2006

I'm published by an epublisher, and *I* don't read ebooks. I think they are a marvellous idea, but they simply don't work for me - between the RSI, the poor eyesight, and the short term memory problems, it's much harder work for me to read an ebook than a print book. Which sucks, because a lot of the books I'd like to read are e-only.

In most genres, go for a print publisher first (subject to the usual caveat about making sure that they are not scammers or incompetents

. Epublishing still reaches a small minority of readers (other than special cases like Baen), and I happen to write in one of the few genres where a good epublisher sells well. Even so, my sales numbers are still small press level.

But I'd also echo the advice given above -- get an agent, and let them worry about it. Yes, I know, easier said than done.

Gillhoughly · Dec 12, 2006

Print. Always print.

Print = Payment. You WANT payment.

Payment = advance check, pro status, you're allowed to play with the big kids and they're nice to you.

Print = having a book in a real bookstore, doing signings, cable TV shows, selling 1000's of copies, not just a hundred or so, wearing better clothes, looking and acting like you know what the heck is going on--all of which are really, really nice.

E-book = kind of hard for a proud mom to wave one of those under the nose of a snooty neighbor.

J.S Greer · Dec 12, 2006

Gillhoughly said:
Print. Always print.

Print = Payment. You WANT payment.

Payment = advance check, pro status, you're allowed to play with the big kids and they're nice to you.

Print = having a book in a real bookstore, doing signings, cable TV shows, selling 1000's of copies, not just a hundred or so, wearing better clothes, looking and acting like you know what the heck is going on--all of which are really, really nice.

E-book = kind of hard for a proud mom to wave one of those under the nose of a snooty neighbor.

Quoted for truth.

maddythemad · Dec 12, 2006

I personally like printed books, because you can curl up with them, unlike an e-book. Also, there's something nice about being able to hold the book in your hands, IMO. As for sales... I haven't the foggiest idea how e-books do.

Ken Schneider · Dec 12, 2006

Shoot for the top. Biggest best print pub you can find, or an agent to find for you, first, then work your way down to e-print and self-pub.

How many complete novels have you written? 80,000- 100,000 words.

Have you let your work sit for a time, two-three months before doing any red pencil corrections, or rewrites.

Don't get the , "I want printed fever." Make your work the best you can make it, send it around, and start writing another book.

JulesJones · Dec 12, 2006

You want numbers for epub? Mine have all sold several hundred, and my main promo efforts involve writing the next book. That's perfectly respectable for small press, but it's nothing compared to the tens of thousands even a mid-list print book will sell. There are ebooks that have sold several thousand, but you really do have to be published with one of the big epublishers to have much hope of seeing that, and they're just as selective as the print publishers. If they weren't, they wouldn't be selling in that quantity.

PVish · Dec 26, 2006

I'm toying with the idea of having my self-pubbed novel in ebook form. It's sold about 1700 copies (two offset press runs of 1,000 each), gotten good local and regional reviews, and made a nice profit. The novel has been out since mid-2001. I think I've maxed out the local market, though it continues to sell at the only bookstore in the county and at a couple area giftshops. Now some questions:

Is this something I should do? Or would it be a waste of my time?
How do I find a reputable ebook publisher for a novel?
Do ebooks, as a rule, make money?

NeuroFizz · Dec 26, 2006

You most likely won't match your current total sales since you have probably saturated your most immediate market. Hold out and see if you can get one of the major print publishers interested. If not, either move on to something else or go e-book. Keep your expectations realistic, though.

blacbird · Dec 26, 2006

Shadow_Ferret said:
Get an agent and let them worry about it?

Yep. Run right down to Wal-Mart and get you one. They're located next to Hardware.

caw

PVish · Dec 26, 2006

NeuroFizz said:
You most likely won't match your current total sales since you have probably saturated your most immediate market. Hold out and see if you can get one of the major print publishers interested. If not, either move on to something else or go e-book. Keep your expectations realistic, though.

Yep, I have saturated the local market for this book. That's why I was thinking of e-books. Odds are good that I'm not going to get a major print publisher interested in picking up a self-pubbed novel that has sold less than 2,000 books in 5 years.

I figure an e-book version could keep the book alive for a few more years and make it available for anyone not in the local market who might want to read it. (This novel, whose first press run was partially underwritten by an arts council, got good local reviews, was studied by several book clubs, got me into several bookfests, etc. But it isn't available on amazon.com or from any other online retailers.)

So, should I try to get this book out as an e-book? Or just forget it? I already have a couple of other manuscripts circulating among publishers, so it isn't my only project.

If I should try for an e-book, who are some reputable e-book publishers?

Thomma Lyn · Dec 26, 2006

JulesJones said:
I'm published by an epublisher, and *I* don't read ebooks. I think they are a marvellous idea, but they simply don't work for me...

Ha! You sound like me. I have a romance novella published by an e-publisher, but for my recently completed and polished novel, I'm shooting for print publication and querying agents. And I've never read an e-book in my life (other than mine).

veinglory · Dec 26, 2006

The best epublisher to choose depends a lot on the genre.

E-book or Print?

practical experience, FTW

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