Books On Selling Ebooks... Any Good Ones?

[TattooedWriter]

Having read and enjoyed John Locke's "How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months", I was wondering if there are any other good reads in this vein. I found a couple of gems in Locke's book.

I found these other titles and wondered it anyone has read them or could recommend anything similar?

How I Sold 200,000 E-Books http://www.amazon.com/Books-Guide-Published-Author-ebook/dp/B005FM7P7E/

$1,000 A Day Writer http://www.amazon.com/000-Day-Writer-ebook/dp/B006LAXTF6/

Dollars & Sense http://www.amazon.com/Dollars-Sense-Definitive-Self-publishing-ebook/dp/B00584MJF2/

Smart Self-Publishing http://www.amazon.com/Smart-Self-Publishing-Becoming-Author-ebook/dp/B004AYD90U/


Good...bad...just hype?

[WilliamKing.me]

I found the HP Mallory and Dollars and Sense very helpful, although in the latter there were references to sections that did not seem to appear in the book which confused me a bit. I have not read the others on your list so I will probably take a look at them. (I am a sucker for any book on writing or the business of writing!) I can also recommend David Gaughran's Let's Get Digital. For me, the best book about actually being an indie writer is Scott Nicholson's The Indie Journey. It's also a wise and helpful book about the writing life in general.

Hope that is some help.

All the best,

Bill

[Bakari]

1. A lot of authors seem to like Zoe Winter's Smart Self-Publishing: Becoming an Indie Author.

2. It would be considered 'bad form' to mention my book, so I will only list what a reviewer said about my book (hint: it's in my signature).

"Review by: Ruth Ann Nordin (editor of Self Published Author's Lounge) on April 13, 2011 : 5 stars
         
There is a lot of great advice in here. I won't go over them all, but being passionate about what you're writing, keep on writing and publishing when sales drop, and why top profiled books prevail are right on from what I've experienced.

He uses his personal experience to back up what he's saying, which I also liked. Some other things that I think are useful are his tips on making a writing schedule, and I liked seeing his and how the numbers can add up fast for writing and publishing books. So if you're struggling with finishing books, I think you'll find his tips helpful.

Other topics covered in this book include why finding a niche is important, limiting your marketing time so you have more time to write, and the importance of shelf space.

Anyway, from my experience what he says in this book is accurate, so I do suggest taking the time to read it.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)"

[ETS PRESS]

Do you want general books on self-publishing or books on marketing your book? There is a difference.

[Dara England]

I was going to suggest Let's Get Digital but I see somebody already beat me to it. 

[Selina Fenech]

Zoe Winters book is great, basically talked me through the whole process to self publish. But it's really more about setting up rather than ongoing marketing.
Did you find Locke's book had good practical tips for marketing? I might have to check it out.

[E. S. Lark]

I was looking into Zoe's book today actually. However, it seems it's more about self-publishing than marketing. I've been looking at the one by John Locke, but feel it might be hype.

How was it? Did you find it useful for little writers like us?

[EthanRussellErway]

I am currently reading Let's Get Digital and am really enjoying it, so there's one more vote for that one.   I'm a big fan of Seth Godin's books as well.  They deal with general marketing, and should give you some great ideas if you choose to check them out.  Purple Cow and Meatball Sunday are two of my favorites.

[Bakari]

Ethan,

You are right about Godin. Especially his older books Super Ideavirus, The Dip and his new ones, Poke the Box and We are all Weird.

[RuthMadison]

Dollars and Sense was very good.

[BrianKittrell]

Zoe Winters book is great, basically talked me through the whole process to self publish. But it's really more about setting up rather than ongoing marketing.
Did you find Locke's book had good practical tips for marketing? I might have to check it out.

I'll save you the $5. Get on Twitter, make connections, get those connections to be readers, get those readers to be reviewers. Rinse, repeat. I found it useful and informative, but there's a bit of fluff to sort through and it didn't contain much that couldn't be discovered for free elsewhere (but, that's lots of how-to books).

[TattooedWriter]

Thanks for the sugestions, everyone. I found that Locke thought outside the box and I'm all about experimentation when it comes to marketing and promotion.

I suppose I'm looking for something that's a fun, interesting read from someone who is 'in the same boat' as me (i.e. a self-published author)

I forgot our own David Gaughran had a book out. I'll check it out. (and yours, Bakari )

I know what you mean about how-to books, Brian... but I still enjoy reading them.

[TattooedWriter]

I went ahead and grabbed a couple of the books. Now to sit down with a  coffee in front of  the fire and read them.

[BrianKittrell]

I know what you mean about how-to books, Brian... but I still enjoy reading them.

Oh, certainly, and I speak from experience. I don't know why, but I do the same thing. I'm sick like that.

[scl]

It's not ebooks, but E Haldeman Julius's The First Hundred Million tells how he sold
100 million plus Little Blue Books in the 1930's.  It's loaded with good marketing info from
back before computers.   I got it by interlibrary loan 30 or so years ago, but today you
can get it free online.   Fascinating stuff, although probably not directly applicable to ebooks.