Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it?

Jeremy James · 09-30-2009, 06:02 PM

A friend of mine has written a book that he has just started to sell on Amazon. It has officially been published/printed. He is looking for new ways to market it, and, indeed, he has been semi-plastering it all over the only outlet he has, which is Facebook. Anyway, I had thought of seeing if I could just get a copy of the book, type it all out, and then, sell it as an E-book. It's a VERY TIGHT micro-mini niche, but, I think it could grow. He is a missionary in a very interesting place, and, he this is his second book on the subject. He is hoping to use the funds necessary to fund some works that he is doing in his country.

Anyway, onto selling it as an E-Book. The published price is $14.99. I am guessing, though not sure, that he gets $3 or so per book. I haven't actually had a chance to talk to him yet. I had thought of suggesting we could sell it as an E-Book for $10, with $1.50 coming to me for my administrative and marketing fees. I could use my knowledge of IM to really get a lot of traffic and sales.

Any thoughts? Any ideas? What issues would I run into from it?

Any ideas on ways that I could grow this idea any more, and make it more profitable for me/him?

Thanks.

Jeremy James

Troy_Phillips · 09-30-2009, 08:27 PM

An ebook hyping the book with your affiliate link in it maybe .

Wouldn't an ebook that is an exact copy of the actual book lower the perceived value of the book?

Jeremy James · 10-01-2009, 01:29 PM

Well, I have heard some studies that say that "free" promotes sales. For instance, Seth Godin, a marketing guru, gave out his book as an E-Book for free, but, several months later, listed it as a $24.99 printed book. It apparently flew off of the shelves.

Just trying to come up with some ideas to promote it, yet, help me get a small residual as well.

Alexa Smith · 10-01-2009, 01:43 PM

Who's the publisher, Jeremy?

(Amazon is a distributor, not a publisher. They do own Create-Space, though, and I'm wondering if that's the publisher, as is often the case? The reason I ask is that if it is Create-Space, then (a) he'll be making quite a bit more than $3 per copy, and (b) he has an in-house e-book/digital download service available through Amazon anyway, which might be something for you to take into account).

ForeignProfessor · 10-01-2009, 01:57 PM

Is the publisher OK with him making an ebook? If it is actually published by a bricks-and-mortar-real-publisher then they probably have the digital rights to the book as well. If it's self-published then you'll probably be cool though.

Jeremy James · 10-01-2009, 03:00 PM

It's been published by Xulon Press, not Amazon. It's like 8,300 in book rank, and has only been out about 3 weeks.

Through Amazon, I can only score like 4%, right?

Alexa Smith · 10-01-2009, 03:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremy James

Through Amazon, I can only score like 4%, right?

Yes, I believe you can make only some tiny amount that way, not worth talking about.

You need to find out exactly what rights Xulon have over the material, then. It's obviously selling well - interesting idea.

Jeremy James · 10-01-2009, 08:24 PM

Well, I submitted a proposal to him, pending Xulon letting him to this, and, if he accepts, we'll sell it as an E-Book download for $10 per download, with $1.5 going to me, and $8.5 going to him.
I found out that Xulon is a self-publishing company, so, I don't imagine that his profit margin is too high, based on a $14.99 book. I could be wrong.

I have pretty well known author (at least, in this same niche) that I am going to talk to in January. He is a head over a pretty decent sized organization, and, I think they have 10 books out together now, altogether. That organization is consistently getting further and further exposure, and, I think that their books would do very well in it. So, we'll see what happens.

09-30-2009, 06:02 PM	#1
Jeremy James Advanced Warrior Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 743 Thanks: 12 Thanked 35 Times in 26 Posts	Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it? A friend of mine has written a book that he has just started to sell on Amazon. It has officially been published/printed. He is looking for new ways to market it, and, indeed, he has been semi-plastering it all over the only outlet he has, which is Facebook. Anyway, I had thought of seeing if I could just get a copy of the book, type it all out, and then, sell it as an E-book. It's a VERY TIGHT micro-mini niche, but, I think it could grow. He is a missionary in a very interesting place, and, he this is his second book on the subject. He is hoping to use the funds necessary to fund some works that he is doing in his country. Anyway, onto selling it as an E-Book. The published price is $14.99. I am guessing, though not sure, that he gets $3 or so per book. I haven't actually had a chance to talk to him yet. I had thought of suggesting we could sell it as an E-Book for $10, with $1.50 coming to me for my administrative and marketing fees. I could use my knowledge of IM to really get a lot of traffic and sales. Any thoughts? Any ideas? What issues would I run into from it? Any ideas on ways that I could grow this idea any more, and make it more profitable for me/him? Thanks. Jeremy James
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09-30-2009, 08:27 PM	#2
Troy_Phillips Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: North Ga. Posts: 1,676 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 947 Thanked 505 Times in 325 Posts Social Networking	Re: Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it? An ebook hyping the book with your affiliate link in it maybe . Wouldn't an ebook that is an exact copy of the actual book lower the perceived value of the book?
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10-01-2009, 01:29 PM	#3
Jeremy James Advanced Warrior Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 743 Thanks: 12 Thanked 35 Times in 26 Posts	Re: Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it? Well, I have heard some studies that say that "free" promotes sales. For instance, Seth Godin, a marketing guru, gave out his book as an E-Book for free, but, several months later, listed it as a $24.99 printed book. It apparently flew off of the shelves. Just trying to come up with some ideas to promote it, yet, help me get a small residual as well.
	Articles written at reasonable prices! Give me the opportunity to serve you. It would be my pleasure to assist you. I offer bulk discounting and quick, friendly service. PM me for a quote.

10-01-2009, 01:43 PM	#4
Alexa Smith Wordsmith (& Skepchick) War Room Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 13,646 Thanks: 7,509 Thanked 9,548 Times in 4,948 Posts	Re: Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it? Who's the publisher, Jeremy? (Amazon is a distributor, not a publisher. They do own Create-Space, though, and I'm wondering if that's the publisher, as is often the case? The reason I ask is that if it is Create-Space, then (a) he'll be making quite a bit more than $3 per copy, and (b) he has an in-house e-book/digital download service available through Amazon anyway, which might be something for you to take into account).
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10-01-2009, 01:57 PM	#5
ForeignProfessor David War Room Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 131 Thanks: 21 Thanked 28 Times in 20 Posts	Re: Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it? Is the publisher OK with him making an ebook? If it is actually published by a bricks-and-mortar-real-publisher then they probably have the digital rights to the book as well. If it's self-published then you'll probably be cool though.

10-01-2009, 03:00 PM	#6
Jeremy James Advanced Warrior Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 743 Thanks: 12 Thanked 35 Times in 26 Posts	Re: Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it? It's been published by Xulon Press, not Amazon. It's like 8,300 in book rank, and has only been out about 3 weeks. Through Amazon, I can only score like 4%, right?
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10-01-2009, 08:24 PM	#8
Jeremy James Advanced Warrior Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: , , . Posts: 743 Thanks: 12 Thanked 35 Times in 26 Posts	Re: Anyone have success with that? Are there issues with it? Well, I submitted a proposal to him, pending Xulon letting him to this, and, if he accepts, we'll sell it as an E-Book download for $10 per download, with $1.5 going to me, and $8.5 going to him. I found out that Xulon is a self-publishing company, so, I don't imagine that his profit margin is too high, based on a $14.99 book. I could be wrong. I have pretty well known author (at least, in this same niche) that I am going to talk to in January. He is a head over a pretty decent sized organization, and, I think they have 10 books out together now, altogether. That organization is consistently getting further and further exposure, and, I think that their books would do very well in it. So, we'll see what happens.
	Articles written at reasonable prices! Give me the opportunity to serve you. It would be my pleasure to assist you. I offer bulk discounting and quick, friendly service. PM me for a quote.