Starting An Internet e-Publishing Business Was Not Easy

I sent out paperback review copies and obtained satisfactory book reviews from dreamwater.com, allreaders.com, storyweaver.com, northwest book review, and my hometown newspapers, but still I wasnt selling any e-books. All in all I sent out over a hundred review copies at an expense of over two thousand dollars, and I was on the edge of insanity when I noticed that no tangible results were occurring from all of my vigorous, enthusiastic promotions. Perhaps I am being a complete fool thinking that I can compete with the powerful traditional book industry! I suspected.

I quickly realized that I needed allies to help me sell my e-books on the Internet. I teamed up with ebookpalace.com, authorsden.com and ebookstand.com to promote my books. In the first six months, those three sites generated over fifty thousand hits for Jay Dubya, but out of fifty thousand hits, I had sold less than a dozen books. What is wrong here? I wondered.

The answer to my quandary was CREDIBILITY. Jay Dubya had none as an author. My big break came in February of 2002 when cyberread.com of Seattle, Washington signed contracts for e-book distribution with Amazon.com, Borders, Barnes and Noble, Bookbooters, Powells Books, e-Novel and finally Books-A-Million. My e-books were now being displayed online in lists alongside famous authors whose books were in hardback, paperback, audiocassette and also e-book formats. A month later in March, of 02 Black Leather and Blue Denim soared to 2,300 on Amazon.com after it was placed ALONGSIDE the works of James Patterson (Violets are Blue) and Ian Rankin (Black and Blue). Amazon.com gave my twelve books parity and instant credibility on various web pages and after that had happened my chemical reaction strategy then started working. I still cant believe that by typing in "Eight" at Amazon Germany will yield my Pieces of Eight and Pieces of Eight, Part II (at this moment) Sales Ranked ahead of Hard Eight by Janet Evanovich, which has been heavily promoted by a huge New York publisher.

E-books are alive and selling, and in some cases they are outselling printed books. They are about one-fourth as expensive as hard bound copies, with my e-books selling from $4.95-$6.95. E-books save trees and are environmentally friendly. An electronic book is conveniently obtained because the product can be downloaded from the Internet in less than fifteen minutes. Also, the print is large and can be adjusted in both Abobe Reader and Microsoft Reader digital encryption versions.

E-books are a definite threat to the standard publishing industry. Up until recently, a hundred big New York publishers and about five hundred agents acted as a giant filter deciding what the general public should or should not read. E-books will eventually change all that and swing power to the reading public, giving the people the right to decide what they want to read and dont want to read.

I want to be a part of this revolution. I dont think it is right that an author should receive only 15% of a retail book price and surrender his subsidiary rights to a print-publisher. I am now a partner with Amazon.com and its U.K., German and Japanese subsidiaries, Mobipocket, Barnes and Noble.com and cyberread.com and make 40-50% of retail e-book sales. And I still retain all rights to my books. But on the downside, my e-books are not presently sold in bookstores or distributed to standard libraries as printed books are.

Nothing gives me more satisfaction than to type in "Black and Blue" at Amazon.co.uk and seeing my Black Leather and Blue Denim novel often Sales Ranked above Black and Blue by Anna Quindlen, a book and author promoted by Oprahs Book Club. I did it mostly on my own without any super-publishers or promoters helping me, and if it werent for the Internet, cyberread.com, Amazon.com and a bit of serendipity, my career as an author would have never blossomed.

So contrary to popular opinion, e-commerce is not dead. E-books in Adobe Reader and Microsoft Reader downloading formats are catching on. I think that within the next several years there will be a resurgence of .com mania and more and more people will be purchasing e-books.

JohnWiessner2001@yahoo.com
Jay Dubya (author)
Hammonton Gazette Column
October 2, 2002