Nine Uneasy Steps to launching your ebook

Over the next two months or so [January - April, 2023] I will post brief, weekly Steps for launching an ebook, based on my recent experiences launching three of my fantasy books as ebooks. Look for the posting of each Step here; I'll also post a link on facebook.

These Steps are for non-illustrated fiction using a PC, and only show one way of launching the ebook. If you are thinking about launching your own ebook, Uneasy Steps may give you some ideas, but you’ll still have to do your own researching and adaptations.

Why did I start with ebooks, instead of paperbacks? Because they are easier, faster and cheaper to launch. I also think that more and more readers prefer ebooks over paperbacks.

Why do I call this “Uneasy Steps”? Because a fair amount of the work was tedious and time consuming, when I’d rather have been writing something new. And some of it was difficult or confusing because I’m definitely not techie. But don’t let the title discourage you! If you keep at it you will get your own ebook launched.

Links to the Steps: (Click the Step to go to it)

Step One: Preparations

Step Two: Create The eBook Cover

Step Three: Copyrighting

Step Four: Create The epub File

Step Five: Obtain An ISBN (or not)

Step Six: KDP Launch

Step Seven: Other Launches

Step Eight: Promotion

Step Nine: Keep On Goin'

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Step 1 – Preparations

Step One is about basic preparation, in five (fairly) short parts:

MS Word
Give-To-Get Critique
Try Traditional
Author Website
Organizing – Keep It Simple

MS Word (not an ad)

I used MS Word on a PC Windows computer to generate the book’s text file. Other operating systems and wordprocessing software are probably just as good or better, but that is not something I know about. I’m mentioning this now because in later Steps I’ll be talking about converting files from MS Word to epub or pdf. So if you don’t use MS Word, just keep in mind that your setup for converting files will be a little different.

Give-To-Get Critique

I wrote my stories as well as I could, and I self-edited again and again. But I still needed other writers to show me things about my writing that I just couldn’t see.

Editing and critique is something you can pay for, but these services are not cheap. So I looked for some kind of ‘You give, you get’ arrangement, such as a local or online writers group.

I found and joined critters.org, an online site mainly for scifi, fantasy and horror writers. It was founded 25 years ago by Andrew Burt (thanks, Andrew!), and provides a way for writers to critique each others’ work. You put a sample of your work (say, the first two chapters of your manuscript, or a short story) into the queue for critique. Each week the ones at the top of the queue are posted for critique by others. It takes a month or so for your work to advance to the top of the queue. While you are waiting for your work to reach the top and be posted, you earn your ‘right’ to receive a critique by doing at least one critique weekly. You give, you get.

When my work reached the top of the queue, I received critiques from six or so other writers, and they were all helpful. But I actually learned more from the weekly critiques that I did for the other writers, because I had to figure out why each work was succeeding, or wasn’t succeeding. This made me look at my own work with a more analytical, and fresher, eye.

Try Traditional

Once I had my manuscript ready (or at least closer to being ready), it was time to decide whether to try for a traditional publisher, or to go directly to self publish. I thought it was worth a try to find a traditional publisher for the first book in my pipeline, Sliver Of Evil.

I sent about two dozen digital queries to publishers and literary agents, either by email or through a submission portal such as Query Manager. I queried a few publishers or agents at a time, staggering the queries over a three month period. I didn’t get any bites, but overall it was time well spent. I learned a lot about the types of fantasy books that are getting published by traditional publishers. I also developed a fairly good ‘pitch’ for my book, including a good book description (about one paragraph), and a few sentences to show I knew something about where my book fit in the fantasy book market.

My ‘pitch’ – particularly the book description – was very useful in the later Steps of my first ebook launch.

I should mention here that whenever you send out queries to publishers or literary agents, you should always include a copyright notice: “Copyright [author name] [year]”. (More about copyrighting later, in Step Three.)

Author Website

While I was trying for a traditional publisher, I created an author website. At the time I didn’t really understand how useful it was going to be. But I learned: it is a central location that I control, where readers interested in knowing more about my books can go, and it can include convenience links to where each book is available for purchase.

At first my website was very simple: just a ‘home page’ that is the first thing someone sees when they visit the site, with a short author bio. Later as each ebook was launched, I created separate ‘pages’ or 'sections' for them.

A number of companies offer these websites; I tried both WordPress and Wix. Both have free versions that you can use to create your website, with templates for adding your own photos, graphics and text.

Both sites want you to pay monthly fees for their more robust versions. So far I’m still with the free Wix version.

It’s important to fully check the mobile view, as well as the computer-monitor view, whenever you make changes. For example, in Wix, if a text box is shifted slightly outside of certain guidelines, then the text won’t view properly on smartphones, until the problem is fixed.

Organizing – Keep It Simple

At first I had only one type of file: the MS Word document for each book. Then I joined critters.org; I created a separate folder for those files. Then I queried publishers and agents, so that was a new folder with wordprocessing files, some pdf files, and a tracking file to log the queries and responses. In the next Steps that followed, the folders, subfolders and types of files proliferated. I had to keep going through it all to reorganize things.

One thing that works for me, is to put prior versions of files in separate ‘Older files’ folders, so that they don’t clutter up the folders with the currently used files in them. In later Steps when you want to grab your front cover jpg to upload it, you don’t want to accidentally upload an earlier version!

The basic rule is Keep It Simple, and that includes having a simple plan for keeping files backed up. I keep an eye on what the really important files are, that would be difficult or impossible to replace. I back them up currently, on something (or somewhere) that’s accessible even if my computer fails, or my house burns down with my computer in it. (Visualize budding author running out of burning house with computer clutched to chest, cables trailing. Avoid that possible nightmare!)

I'm not techie enough to rely on cloud storage to fully back up my computer files. I save new files, and new versions of older files, both on my computer and on a flash drive. I also periodically (usually monthly) back up all of my files on a portable hard drive that I store at a different address. When I create important files in-between the monthly back ups, in addition to saving them on the computer and a flash drive, I’ll attach them to an email that I send to myself, for an added layer of assurance. Those emailed files, as I understand it, are in cloud storage, and I can retrieve them from there in a worst case scenario, if all else fails.

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I hope you enjoyed this first Step, getting various preliminaries out of the way. The next step is about creating the ebook’s front cover, which will put you much closer to launch!

Step 2 – The ebook Cover

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Nowadays an author can design a book cover without much if any trouble or expense. There’s free basic software available, that is not difficult to use. And if you don’t like your results, you can always go up a notch or two, or look into hiring a book cover designer.

The Book’s Title
You’ll want to pick a title for your book that is unique, so that it won’t be confused with other books, entities or games. Besides checking online for the same or similar titles, you can also search for the title among copyrighted works at http://cocatalog.loc.gov (Library of Congress search)

A Few Design Principles
You’ll find a lot of good design advice online; here is what I would add to that. Use your eyes, and put some thought into it.

Use your eyes to learn why some book covers are more interesting, or enticing, than others. When you see a rack of books, or a computer screen full of book covers, which ones get your attention? Figure out what draws you to those books, and that will help you design your own book’s cover. Also analyze the sizing and placement for the book’s title and other key text.

Put some thought into relating your book’s content to its cover, and coming up with a conveying image – usually photograph(s), scan(s) or graphic(s). If your book fits neatly into a specific genre, study other book covers in that genre and decide how similar and dissimilar you want yours to be: similar enough that the genre’s readers will quickly identify your book type by its cover; dissimilar enough that your book will stand out in the crowd.

Images
Often your cover’s image is going to be a photograph, because photos are usually the easiest free image to obtain. Most of us can use a camera or our smartphones to take an effective photo. And if you have a color scanner, you might experiment with scanning various objects. Scans are essentially photos, for edit and use purposes.

If you want to photograph a person or object and then put the image in a different background, try using a ‘green screen’ backdrop for some of the shots. A backdrop is simply a cloth that’s hung, draped or stretched behind the person or object; the intense green color is easy to digitally remove from the image. A green screen cloth can cost less than $10 if you shop around online. Be sure to arrange your lighting so that shadows are not projected onto the backdrop.

You can find copyright-free photos and graphics on line, but be certain you understand and comply with requirements for use. And when you are taking your own photographs of objects or people, be aware that there may be legal requirements or restrictions. For example, if your brother posed for your photo, get his written permission before using his image (you can find release forms online). And don’t use photos of branded or trademarked items without permission from the brand or trademark owner.

Feeling hampered by these restrictions on using your own photographs? In some cases, you might be able to use photo edit software, to ‘erase’ name brands, or to blur/alter the features of a stranger, such as someone on the sidewalk in one of your cityscape photos. Just understand the rules, use common sense and be risk-averse.

Photo edit software can correct the exposure, and can also apply different colors or special effects. A quick search online will give you a list of free photo edit software, with reviews and feature comparisons. Until recently, I used software that came with a camera I owned.

I save a copy of the photo with a different file name before making permanent changes, so that I can always go back to the original if I want to start over again with a different design idea.

Book Cover Design Software
Broadly, there are three levels, from basic to professional. It is easy to find out more about each on the internet. The basic level is the free versions of book cover software, such as Canva, which generally provide templates and some stock photographs, but you can upload your own photographs. As long as you don’t stray too far from the templates, the results may be all you’ll need for your ebook cover.

Amazon’s KDP and some other large book sellers imbed template programs for book cover design in their book production process, but book covers you make on one site may not be usable on other book production sites. So I think it would be better to avoid the transferability issue by using 3rd party software.

The colors used in basic template programs are fine for creating ebook covers, which are viewed onscreen, but the programs may not convert color reliably for printing the paperback (printed) version of your book. It has to do with different color profiles: RGB for onscreen, CMYK for printing. Some printers can reliably convert sRGB (a certain standardized RGB) to CMYK. Most free software programs support RGB or sRGB, but conversion to CMYK may be lacking or uneven.

The next notch up from free template programs, is free illustration software programs, such as Inkscape. Instead of templates, these programs have tools for building your design from scratch. There is a learning curve, and sometimes it’s not easy to learn how to get the results you want. But with online tutorials and some patience, you’ll have more flexibility for designing your book covers, than with templates. I used Inkscape for several years, but I began to have technical problems with its color conversion for paperback covers.

So I moved up a notch to a set of professional programs, which unfortunately are not free, and they also have their own learning curve. I tried a few programs that offered trial versions and chose one – Affinity’s 3-piece Publish, Designer and Photo -- that is at present surprisingly low cost (just under $100), perhaps because Affinity may be seeking market share. This seems to have solved the color conversion problem for the paperback covers, so going forward I plan to use it for both ebook and paperback covers.

Leave A Trail Of Pebbles . . . Keeping Track
I recommend making notes as you go through the process of creating the book cover: page and object dimensions, placement of images and text, the type and size of fonts, etc. You’ll be surprised how often you’ll refer back to this information, and it will help you re-create the cover if that becomes necessary. Also keep track of the original photo(s) or graphics, and various versions of files, so that you can easily find them.

Technicalities
Even though you only need the front cover to launch your ebook, I think it’s a good idea to keep the design of back cover and the spine in mind, towards when you will need your full cover (front, spine and back) for your paperback or hardback book. Often you will use a background photo that extends from the front cover, across the spine, and onto the back cover.

I use U.S. Tradebook size 6x9 inches for my paperback books; 6x9 inches is the same as 1800x2700 pixels, which is close to an ‘ideal’ display size for ebook covers of 1600(wide)x2560(high) pixels.

You’ll want your photos or graphics to be between 300 and 600 dpi resolution, at the size you need them for your book cover. That resolution shouldn’t be difficult to get with most cameras and smartphones.

First I set up a “document” size in the illustration/design software for the full cover plus a ‘bleed’ amount (.125 inches all round). The ‘bleed’ causes the background photos or graphics to extend a little beyond the trim size of the printed book, so that you don’t end up with uneven white lines around the outer edges of your book’s cover. The spine width can be computed by dividing the number of interior pages by 444 and adding .06 inch. (For purposes of calculating spine width, my Word file was formatted for a 6x9 inch page, with page numbering, and included title and copyright pages.)

Once I designed the full cover, I made a separate file for the ebook (front cover only). It doesn’t matter if some of the photos or graphics extend beyond the document edges: when the file is exported everything outside of the document edges is excluded.

The illustration with this Step shows three of the stages (left to right) in developing my cover for Dream On, Brother. Dream On: the photo I started with, a step in isolating the image, and the final front cover.

Exporting
When you have your front cover ready, you’ll need to export it from the creation software into a file type that the ebook sites accept. A jpg file will be accepted by many of them, such as Amazon KDP, Barnes&Noble Press, Kobo and Google Books.

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Now you’ve got your book’s text and the cover for its ebook version. If you don’t already have a good book description ready (see “Try Traditional” in Step One), also get that ready. The next step – copyrighting – will only involve your book’s inside content – the interior of your book. So the Copyrighting step is a bit of a breather for your cover and your book description – time away from them to get some distance, to see if you will want to tweak them, or possibly radically change them.

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Step 3 - Copyrighting

You can find a lot of information online about a book’s copyright, so I will just hit a few high spots and briefly describe the copyright registration process. Disclosures/disclaimers: This is not legal advice; I am not an expert on copyright law; and this Step is limited to U.S. copyright information. This Step also assumes that you want to protect your copyright in your book, as opposed to letting it go copyright-free into the public domain. As with all of the Steps, this Step may give you some useful ideas, but you’ll still have to do your own researching and adaptations.
It's a general rule to put a Copyright Notice in your book, after the title page. There is plenty of online advice about Notice content and formatting. But it is essential to understand that a Copyright Notice is not the same thing as registering the copyright.
At this point you’ve got your book’s content ready to publish in final form, and you’ve got a title for your book. You already own the copyright in your book: you’ve owned it ever since you wrote the words. But that won’t do you much good if someone actually steals your work. You have to register your copyright with the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress, within three months of “publication”, to be able to take legal action against an infringer and, if the matter goes to court, to be awarded statutory damages and attorney’s fees, and perhaps additional compensation.
“Publication” is a term defined in copyright law. In very basic, non-legal terms it is when copies of the book are first available to the public for sale or as giveaways. If you decide to publish your book as an ebook before having it printed as a paperback or hardback, then when you put your ebook on a selling or giveaway site (such as Amazon), that is publication of your book.
Even though you have a 3-month ‘window’ for registering the copyright, in this digital age authors generally feel safer registering the copyright before the publication of the book. That’s why copyrighting is Step Three, rather than a later step. It could be switched with Step Four (Create The epub File) or Step Five (Obtain An ISBN), but either way I think it should be done before publication.
The registration process is online and fairly straightforward, and requires the payment of a $65 fee. Before you begin it, have your book’s content finalized (title page, copyright page and all other interior book content, formatted for a print book) and saved as a pdf, and also have your bank information ready for paying the $65 fee.
You create an online account with the U.S. Copyright Office and use its Electronic Copyright Office to sign in and complete a Standard Application for copyright registration of a literary work. You complete the Application as the book’s author, indicating that you are both the creator of the work and the claimant, with no limitation of claim. You provide your name and contact information for everything: Rights and Permissions, Correspondence, and for mailing the registration certificate.
After reviewing your Application you follow the prompts to pay the $65 online. I suggest making a ‘Snip’ of the onscreen receipt and saving it in a Copyright folder on your computer. Then follow the prompts to upload your book’s pdf, and click to Complete the Submission. (The pdf upload must be done within 5 days of the payment, but I suggest uploading it right after payment.)
I suggest saving the pdf in a Copyright folder on your computer, with the words ‘registered copyright’ included in the file name. I also recommend that you save, in the same folder, a copy of the email Acknowledgement of Uploaded Deposit (by selecting Print To File).
The Copyright Office will review your Application, and you will receive an email from it if any clarification is needed, so watch for an email and reply promptly if you receive one.
It could take months to receive the Certificate of Registration in the mail, but it can be quicker for an uncomplicated Application. You don’t have to wait until you receive the Certificate to proceed with publishing your ebook. The effective date of the Certification will usually be the date that the submission of your Application was completed.
When you receive the Certificate, you’ll have in your hand a very important document. The copyright term for a new work is the life of the author plus 70 years. Scan the Certificate and save the scan as a pdf in the Copyright folder on your computer. Store the paper Certificate and the digital files in the Copyright folder carefully, in a safe place. Also store a photocopy of the certificate and digital copies of the Copyright folder files as backup at another physical address.

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Step 4 - Create The epub File

This Step describes the process using an MS Word file on a PC Windows computer. If you use a MAC or different wordprocessing software on a PC, you will have to adapt this to work with your own system and software.

To build your ebook you will need two files: a front cover file (usually a jpg file; see Step Two), and an epub file for the interior of your book.

At this point your Word file for the interior of your book already has various formatting for margins, line spacing, page numbering, indenting, etc. To create an epub file for your ebook, you’ll make a Word file that follows specific formatting rules for ebook publication.

Start by saving a new copy of your Word file with the book’s title and ‘epub’ in the filename. Apply the simplified, standardized formatting to the new file, to prepare it for conversion into an epub file.

You can find detailed formatting steps online: they include single spacing and removal of headers and footers (including page numbering). All paragraphs of body text should be formatted using a set first line indent, such as .25 inch. (No indents using Tabs or 3-5 spacebar taps!)

Typically, your Title should have Heading 1 Style; each major section 'title' – i.e., Chapter 1, 2 etc., and any Prologue or Afterword — should have Heading 2 Style; any major chapter subpart 'titles' should have Heading 3 Style.

Following online guidance, you create a hyperlink Table of Contents from these Headings.

Once you’ve formatted the file and saved it, there are various online sites that offer file conversion to epub. I used the converter found at: https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/word-to-epub-converter/9NR7RM5FV3SX?hl=en-au&gl=au (Word to ePub Converter)

At this address I clicked on the blue rectangle with “Get in Store app”in white letters. I followed the prompts to convert the Word file, and saved the new epub file to a folder on my computer.

Download a free epub reader: I use FBReader (Favorite Book Reader). Open your epub file and review it for major formatting glitches and make adjustments, following the process outlined above to revise the Word file and convert it to a new epub file.

You may wonder why this Step is here, instead of later as part of Step Six. For one thing, it is useful to know the size of the epub file before the next Step -- Step 5 – Obtain An ISBN (or not): the combined size of the front cover jpg file, and the epub file, is an important bit of ISBN metadata for you ebook. I also think it helps to have individual parts, such as the front cover and the epub file, prepared in advance of your first upload on a seller’s site. You may have to make some adjustments to the files later on, but at least you will have already done the bulk of the work on them.

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Step 5 - Obtain An ISBN (or not)

An ISBN is an International Standard Book Number -- a unique identification number for each version of a U.S. book, such as ebook, paperback and hardback. ISBNs are sold exclusively by Bowker at myidentifiers.com; ISBN information (metadata) is listed in Bowker’s Books In Print, a major database of book titles which is used in the search for books.
An author who only wants to sell an ebook through certain sellers/distribution networks can get by without an ISBN: sellers such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Barnes & Noble Press, Apple iBooks, and Kobo Books will publish an ebook without an ISBN.
But I think it’s good to get your own ISBN, even for an ebook, because when you have an ISBN you are the registered publisher of the ebook, and the book’s metadata is included in the Books In Print database.
A single ISBN is very expensive -- $125, but the next step up is a block of ten, which costs about $30 for each ISBN (about $300). (Bowker also sells various ‘packages’ including barcodes (non-ebook) and copyrighting service, but I would suggest sticking to the ISBN-only choices.)
When you set up an account to buy your own ISBNs, you provide Profile Data about yourself and your “company”, which can be your own name as publisher, or a publishing company you form. You should also provide a link to your author website at this data level.
Once you buy one or more ISBNs, they are listed in your account’s Inventory as Unassigned. To assign one of your ISBNs to your ebook, you complete an online form which has four parts: Title & Cover, Contributors, Format & Sizing, Sales & Pricing. Use the expanded ‘view’ of the form and complete the form fully and carefully. According to Bowker, “[M]any book retailers use this information in their product descriptions about your book. [It] is an important sales tool in helping a potential customer select your title.”
Be sure to include a front cover jpg, a good description of your book, and a good author bio (including a link to your author website). Choose Subjects and Genres carefully because this will help categorize your ebook. Your ebook’s file size is the sum of the file size for the front cover and for the epub file. .740 MB (740 kb) should be entered as “740”.
Save your work on the form as you go along; once you submit the form, it enters a short “Pending” phase; then in your account’s Inventory, the ISBN’s status becomes “Assigned”.
You can and should keep your account metadata and the metadata for each assigned ISBN current. Most of the metadata can be changed by you as the Account holder and publisher; a few items of ISBN metadata require Bowker review and approval. However, you can’t re-assign an ISBN: once you’ve assigned it to your ebook, it is final.

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Step 6 - KDP Launch

KDP is Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s not a bad place to start because, according to some estimates, Amazon is the largest ebook ‘store’ on the internet, and accounts for more than 80% of ebook purchases.

There is no fee for launching your ebook on Amazon, and for each ebook sale, you receive a 70% royalty, which is fairly standard for direct launches on major sites.

KDP provides clear guidance, and the site is fairly easy to use. Once your ebook is launched, it is not usually difficult to make changes, and there is no charge for changes. Want to replace the front cover, or fix a typo inside the ebook? Simply upload the new file(s). You can also change author and ‘book details’ without a lot of fuss.

So by now you should have everything ready, or close to ready for the launch. If you assigned an ISBN to your ebook (see Step 5), add that to the copyright page in your ebook’s MS Word file for epub conversion (see Step 4).

If you choose a KDP launch, set up a KDP account, and then start filling in a ‘form’ to create your ebook. Be sure to include your ISBN in the metadata, if you have one, even though KDP will assign its own ASIN to your ebook. Take some care choosing keywords and categories for your ebook, because this metadata affects how findable your ebook is. Then upload either your Word file created for epub formatting, or the epub file created in Step 4; see which one has fewer glitches.

I did not choose options like “KDP Select”, but some of that may suit you. Just make sure you understand the advantages and disadvantages, which are easy to look up online.

Save your work as you make your way through the online ‘form’. Once you upload your epub file, you will be able to preview the ebook. Review it and everything else carefully. Even though corrections are not difficult, it is better if you don't have to make changes.

Use KDP’s Author Central for your bio, so that interested readers will be able to see it, and can click to ‘follow’ you.

Once you click on “Publish”, your ebook goes into a KDP review queue. Not long thereafter, it will be LIVE on Amazon!

Wow, it’s really out there at last! Enjoy the moment! Then . . . plan on getting back to work, because there are still three more Steps . . .

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Step 7 - Other Launches

Three other ebook retailers that are ‘up there’ with KDP (Amazon) are Apple Books, Barnes & Noble Press, and Rakuten Kobo. You can launch your ebook on these sites and others (note, however, that launching directly on Apple Books requires a MAC computer). The royalty for the listed retailers would be the same as with KDP.

Carefully review each site's epub file before going final; there may be conversion differences to resolve.

After launching with the big 4 (or 3), you might want to consider launching with a book aggregator, primarily for two reasons. The first is that to sell to (most) libraries, you’ll have to use an aggregator. The second is that continuing to launch directly to ebook retailers can become very time consuming, especially if you want to do periodic updates to your author or book info.

Aggregators also permit you to reach retailers that you can’t reach directly. For instance, I couldn’t launch on Apple Books because I don’t use a MAC computer. But I was able to reach Apple Books through the aggregator I chose.

The downside of using an aggregator is that it adds a layer of cost: either a somewhat lower net royalty, or various fees and/or subscription charges.

You will have to do your own research to decide which aggregator offers you the best fit. After my research I selected Draft2Digital, primarily for ease of use and for helpful ‘extras’. The cost is a 10% reduction in my royalty (from 70% to 60%).

The D2D launch process is similar to that of ebook retailers. I set up an account with author and publisher (self) info; in an online ‘form’ I provided the ebook’s metadata and uploaded its front cover (jpg). I uploaded the MS Word file I created with the epub formatting (see Step 4). D2D creates an epub file that I can preview, and that should work smoothly with all of D2D’s customers. Here also, review the epub file carefully before going final.

In the Distribution section of the ‘form’ I was careful to not select retailers that I’ve launched with directly – in my case, KDP, B&N Press and Kobo.

Once you’ve launched with one or more major retailers and an aggregator, you should be proud of your accomplishment. You’ve written your book, created a front cover for it, and gotten it ‘out there’ for sale as an ebook.

Unfortunately, you’ll find that it is just one ebook in a great expanse of ebooks. Don’t let that diminish the ‘glow’, but start thinking about (if you haven’t already) how to connect your ebook with interested readers.

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Step 8 - Promotion

There is a TON of online advice on how to promote your ebook. The problem isn’t finding guidance – it’s wading through it. Some of it is basic and obvious, like ‘Write a great book’ and ‘Have a great cover’. Beyond that, you have to decide how much time you are willing to give to your ebook’s promotion, and how much money you are willing to spend on it.

Learn about how ebooks like yours are usually promoted. Then pick through the advice, statistics, etc. to make a plan that suits you.

Make sure it is easy for a potential buyer to become a real buyer. Your cover and the book description should do a good job ‘boosting’ your book. The “Look Inside” or "Sample" feature and the purchase links should work smoothly. Check the look and the links now and again, to make sure everything continues to work well.

The hard part is getting attention for your ebook, so that potential readers will know it exists, and will be interested in reading it. I use my author website, and social media like facebook, to get the word out, and I try to stay in the mix with readers and other authors.

Positive reviews can help boost sales, and authors are grateful for unsolicited reviews that are positive. But should you try to get a lot of reviews for your ebook, including some “editorial reviews” that will cost you money?

In my own case, the answer was no. I let my books ‘speak for themselves’ through the cover, description and the “Look Inside”.

I offer a percentage discount on my ebooks from time to time. Ebook retailers and aggregators make it fairly easy to offer these discounts. For example, through the aggregator Draft2Digital I offered 50% off two of my ebooks during Smashword’s promotion for Read An ebook Week, March 5-11.

Another D2D feature that I use is the Universal Links through Books2Read. These are central links for ebook sales links, including links for retailers that aren’t under D2D’s ‘umbrella’.

Don’t give up if your first efforts are not as successful as you’d hoped. Keep trying new ways to connect readers with your books. View promotion as a steady, long-term undertaking. For most independent authors, it's the tortoise, not the hare, that will win the race.

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Step 9 - Keep On Goin'

This last step has a just a few brief comments about going beyond the launch of your first ebook.

Keep on writing! – That’s the most important thing you can do. Not too many authors get worse after their first book. You’ll get better, partly from confidence when you find out that your first book was not just a ‘flash in the pan’. You’ll put all you’ve learned to good use in the next books you write. Having several books available also attracts dedicated readers who will want to read all of your books.

Expand into other formats – paperback, audiobooks. Many readers still prefer a printed book, so consider issuing your book in paperback. Whether you choose to have some books in inventory, or use Print-On-Demand, be sure to get a proof copy of your paperback before going live with it. What you see onscreen is not necessarily what you will see when you hold a print copy of your book in your hand: there may be issues to resolve with text formatting, or with color rendering on the cover.

Another direction to go would be to create an audiobook: this is a rapidly expanding part of book publishing. If you’re not already familiar with it, you can start by listening to free audiobook downloads, preferably in the same genre as your book. Also check out some highly recommended listens in the genre as well.

Monitoring & Admin – Periodically check your site visits and sales reports; try to keep everything up to date and running smoothly. Keep track of expenses and sales so that you know how you’re doing, and can properly report on the business for tax purposes.

And that’s about it. It’s been a blast sharing these Steps, and I hope they’ll contribute to your own success with an ebook launch. Happy Spring!