Seeking Advice, Counsel, Info on e-publishing.

I have two new manuscripts I’m looking forward to putting out there this summer. One is for a client (can’t say, but it’ll be cool and very useful). And the other is a personal work, for which this is the cover. I’ve been working on it since 1992 and am finally ready to market it.

I’m hoping to e-publish both sometime this summer and I’ve been doing tons of research on how format, how to launch, and how to market ebooks. But I still feel like I know close to nuthin’.

Anyway, a great place to start will be  SXSW Interactive here in Austin next week. I’ll be there soaking up as much as I can, beginning my trek at a gathering — “Books & Bytes” — hosted by Cave Henricks Communications and Shelton Interactive.

I’m reading as much as I can. Particularly enjoyed a book titled Plug Your Book by Steve Weber. But I am looking for more. Not just more, but the best, most concise, most helpful information out there. That’s why I’m turning to the crowd in the cloud.

What are the best 3 books to read to learn about launching/marketing a non-fiction ebook?

What are the best three blogs?

Who are the smartest people in this area for me to Friend or Follow?

Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.

20 Comments

  1. Good for you Luke.

    I am about two months away from publishing a book along with some folks at Bewildering Stories. Steampunk Tales will be sixteen original and previously published science fiction stories that I still own the rights to, with original illustrations by Shaun Venish.

    I will also be at Books & Bytes. See you there. I wonder if you have chosen a formatting company yet. We are probably going with Lulu.com.

    Reply
    • So Lulu.com can give you a format that you can then use on, say, the iPad’s iBooks, as well as on amazon? Am hoping there is one format that can go on everything from iPhone to iPad to amazon to Nook to Sony’s ereader. Any info there on what the best all-platform platform might be? Or IS there such a thing? Thanks for writing.

      Reply
  2. Howdy from Boston, Luke.
    I’ve done the self-publishing thing twice before with Blurb.com. The books were idiotic, but the quality was outstanding. I’ve done both full color with premium paper and black/white on lousy paper. Both were incredible. Price points are pretty nuts for the color but b&w is very reasonable. Turnaround was under two weeks each time I’ve reordered copies. Haven’t used Lulu but the prices seem competative.
    Also, I replied to your tweet with a few links I stumbled upon the other day. They’re all e-booky and stuff:
    Apparently Amazon is pretty great. Check this http://amzn.to/P127M and a reference story on Gizmodo http://gizmo.do/eHEXUk
    Take care, sir.
    Best,
    joe

    Reply
  3. Three things:
    1. I can’t answer your questions but:
    2. If you self-publish as an ebook, consider how that might effect it getting picked up by a traditional publisher, who will want ebook rights for kindle, nook, etc.
    3. I’d love to see this published, via pixels or paper.

    Reply
  4. Luke, are you using Quora? It’s set up to allow you to ask questions of knowledgeable people and follow streams of their answers and that of their followers. It’s an excellent way to get good advice. http://www.quora.com

    Reply
    • Hey Diane: yeah, just signed up for quora. Used it only once but it’s purdy cool. And thanks for the advice. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Shoot, I just went on the Quora site and see that you’re following me. As usual, you’re one step ahead.

    Reply
  6. Unfortunately, I’m of no use until said book is published at which point I will buy it. Good luck.

    Reply
    • Thx Taylor. Am hoping for mid-summer.

      Reply
  7. Luke,

    I’d love to hear your thoughts on writing to sell something (advertising) versus writing content (books, screenplays, etc.) Especially since you obviously dabbled in book writing and stand up comedy.

    I think a lot of creatives (myself included) aspire to create content people seek out, rather than working on promoting whatever brand their agency is pitching. But they don’t for some reason.

    While creating great advertising can be fun, there’s something unrewarding about spending weeks developing something that, by its very nature, is designed to interrupt someone’s favorite TV sitcom, radio show or get in the way while they’re reading a magazine story.

    Wouldn’t we all rather be creating the art that people want to consume, rather than the advertising that supports it?

    Anyway, I’m looking forward to hearing what other have to say about e-publishing, and reading the books you have in the pipeline. I read Whipple a few times when I was getting into the business (I missed working with you by a few years at WestWayne).

    I’m a copywriter and I’m currently writing my first book. Writing at the end of a long day of writing advertising copy is tough, but it’s nice to be my own client.

    Best of luck.

    Reply
    • Yo Davem: Sorry our ships passed at WW. And thanks for the interest. Good luck with your afterhours book.

      Reply
  8. Hi Luke,

    Long time reader, first time commenter. Big fan of your blog. Read your book twice since I received it at Christmas, good fun learning!

    On to how I might help you… Not sure what your familiarity/relationship is with Seth Godin, but he’s helping to launching a new self publishing style platform that may be of interest, or at least give you some starting points. http://www.thedominoproject.com/

    Hope it helps!

    Reply
    • Hey Christopher: thanks for the heads up on Seth. Just starting to study his page on publishing. Appreesh.

      Reply
  9. Hey Luke,

    Check out createspace, Amazon’s self-publishing group. I’m looking at some of the others mentioned on here too, but joined createspace’s group on FB and they keep hitting me with helpful nuggets of self-publishing wisdom. I appreciate getting these. Also, check this article out: http://reviews.cnet.com/self-publishing/

    Saw you speak in Denver in Feb. Thanks for the wisdom.

    Reply
    • Hey Chris, this is really helpful. thanx so much.

      Reply
  10. Luke, my dad just self published through BookSurge, an Amazon company which has now been renamed CreateSpace. It appears the royalty ratio is even better on the Kindle books than it is on the printed ones. I don’t know a lot more specifics, but if I can gather more, I will.

    Reply
    • Hey Stephen, this for the advice. Appreesh.

      Reply
      • I meant THANKS for the advice. :-/

        Reply

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Luke Sullivan

Author, speaker, and ad veteran available to recharge, reinvigorate, and refocus marketing, advertising, and branding firms.

I give a hugely energetic series of presentations on innovation, creativity, branding, and marketing. I spent 32 years in the trenches of advertising (at agencies like Martin, GSD&M, and Fallon) and I’ve put everything I learned into my book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This. But for me nothing beats taking the message out and speaking to living breathing audiences at clients, agencies, and conferences. You can book me on the button below.

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