@punkcash
I get the contract back when the work is fineshed. Browse through the categories, look at the best selling books of the categories, find similarities in the topics (eg. you see that there are 10 books of vampires in romamce top 100) but also compare prices, cover layouts, books descriptions, popularity of the authors, formttings etc. - do what the best are doing.
@dayspring
If you publish a cs version first and let Amazon convert it to an ebook out of cs your ebook will have a fixed layout, no clickable toc/links etc. I never tried it but that's the information that I have.
For fiction:
- I publish ebooks with 10k-15k. That's not enough for a paperback (too thin) so I don't publish a cs version of every book. I make no money with fiction paperbacks. It's just a nice marketing strategie to look more professional with the pen name (and sell more ebooks). Sure you CAN publish a paperback of your 10k words books just for the marketing-effect BUT if a customer buys such a thin book he would be very disappointed. And that's totally against (my personal) business mindset. I publish my ebooks, collect them until I have enough and format + publish all in one day. Cs formatting is really easy for fiction books.
Non fiction books:
Same workflow like fiction books. People buying non fiction paperbacks but a book with less than 100 pages is a shame because it doesn't feel like a book (too thin). The big difference is: The formatting of a non fiction paperback takes much more effort because you should create a professional layout (eg. backgrounds etc.). Look at similar non fiction books in your bookshelf - it's never just a floating text. So you can create an outstanding non fiction paperback with your layout. But it's a very creative process so it's not cheap if you want to outsource it. BUT: The strategy is to publish less non fiction books with an outstanding quality. So it's no regular investment.
Own experience/stats:
I have some really successful fiction ebooks. Some of them making up to $600/month. But I don't sell any fiction paperbacks even if I try to sell them for $4,99. It's just for the marketing. On the other hand: I have successful non fiction ebooks too but the paperbacks making more money than the ebooks! Not only because people like non fiction paperbacks more ...you can sell it for a much higher price up to $20, $20 if you deliver the quality. And quality doesn't mean only good content. A professional layout is necessary too.
Concrete example:
I have a non fiction book for $6,99 and make about $1000/month with this ebook. I can't raise the price in my niche. I sell the paperback of this book for $12,99 and make about $2500 with this paperback. I plan to publish one book more in my niche. I'll do everything(!) to make this book perfect. More content, more profession layout, I payed two photographers and so on. My goal is to publish a more professional than the big publishing houses in my niche because I want to sell this book for $19,99 or more.
And NOW I'll explain to you what's the difference between me an other unsuccessful publishers:
Most of the people just follow a step by step guide (that every housewive is following) and they wonder why they have no success. But if you do what everyone is doing you'll just get what everyone is getting = guaranteed NO success. It's NOT working hard and publish tons shitty books. You have to learn, you have to think, you have to be creative, you have to connect/talk with others, you have to try, you have to fail etc.
- I hired two well known photographers in my business
- I insert eg. exercises or checklists in my non fiction books to give my customers a reason to buy my paperbacks
- I connect to the multi million dollar companies in my business and sell them advertising space inside of my books
- I rent my business structure to some friends of me
- etc.
These were just a few examples. You'll never find such ideas in tutorials. But it doesn't mean that my ideas are working for everyone. These are just possibilities and maybe someone else has better ideas. People who asking stuff like "what's the best price", "how to analyse a niche" and so on (= who are not able to read a thread or follow a simple tutorial) will fail ...with every business! You have to be smart to get rich. Everyone has the same basic tutorials/information. The only variable is our mindset and this is something you can learn/train. That's why some people become millionaires (and it's definitely possible with books within a short time; I give it 2 or 3 years but I also know people who started with me last year and have way more success than me) and other people who fail their whole life. Success is just a decision based on your mindset.
Okay last part was not against specific persons. Just for motivation and inspiration. Hope I could help someone.
PS: And I bet now there are "experts" xd who will copying my ideas and tell me one month later that it doesn't work. ...and even if I've written this now... they will come.
And even if I've written this now that I know that they'll come ...they'll still come.
Ok, bye
