Tips for Ebook Authors

I shared these tips recently on Twitter. I wrote them down as they came to me, based on the mistakes that I'm seeing people make. Please feel free to share your own tips in the comments section.

• Make sure your cover art is colorful and eye-catching, with big text. It needs to be readable as a thumbnail.
• Your product description should be interesting, punchy & error-free. Tell enough about the story to attract the reader.
• Don't price your book too high. Somewhere between $.99 and $2.99 is probably best. (You can charge more if you're an established author with a following. But if you're not, you can't.)
• Make sure your title is fairly short, appropriate to the book and spelled correctly.
• Find smart people who review ebooks like yours and ask politely if they want a free copy to review.
• There's a fine line between effective self-promotion and being an ass. Find it.
• It might go without saying that your book should be awesome. But I'm going to say it anyway. Your book should be awesome!
• Your spouse is a wonderful person -- but s/he's not a copy editor. Find a copy editor.
• If you can't afford a professional editor, at least get a couple smart writers to read your manuscript. If they're professional/published writers, so much the better.

Comments

[BradGeagley]

Great list, thank you!

[Martinjfranksonthewriter.wordpress.com]

I second that and its complete common sense but sometimes, common sense has to be spelt out. Thank you for posting this.

[Authortomadair.wordpress.com]

Good advice!