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Nathan, I finished v1 of my ebook from a post that did really well on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3837264 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38372

by robbiea 14y ago

Nathan, I finished v1 of my ebook from a post that did really well on HN: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3837264 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3837264 I have been really looking into distribution of the eBook and this is such a timely post for me. Did you think about publishing the book on amazon / other eBook sites? Did you ever think about making this into a real book or using kickstarter to get funding? Thanks for this post. Seriously Awesome.

nathanbarry 14y ago
There are three reasons I sold exclusively through my own site: - Stores like Amazon and iBooks limit the price you can charge. iBooks limits it to $15 for the book, Amazon radically changes the royalty payments if you go above $10 (or so). I want to charge premium prices, so those audiences wouldn't work. - Selling through another provider means that they aren't my customers. I don't have contact information for follow-ups, other sales offers, or anything else. Owning the customer list is really important to building a sustainable business. - When I sell through my own site I keep about 95% from every sale. If I sold through the iBooks store I would only get 70%. I would be willing to accept a lower percentage if it meant I was able to build my customer lists. A final thought is that I've seen people put all their effort into creating the product (whether it is an app or an eBook) then put it up on the store, just expecting it to take off and organically get sales. By selling through my own site I was forced to do all the marketing and promotion myself. Since that is a skill I am still developing, it was important to me. Good luck!
- robbiea 14y ago
  great, thank you.
nathanbarry 14y ago
By the way, I love the post! Excited to hear more about the book. Email me, nathan@thinklegend.com, if you have more questions.

by robbiea 14y ago

nathanbarry 14y ago

There are three reasons I sold exclusively through my own site: - Stores like Amazon and iBooks limit the price you can charge. iBooks limits it to $15 for the book, Amazon radically changes the royalty payments if you go above $10 (or so). I want to charge premium prices, so those audiences wouldn't work. - Selling through another provider means that they aren't my customers. I don't have contact information for follow-ups, other sales offers, or anything else. Owning the customer list is really important to building a sustainable business. - When I sell through my own site I keep about 95% from every sale. If I sold through the iBooks store I would only get 70%. I would be willing to accept a lower percentage if it meant I was able to build my customer lists. A final thought is that I've seen people put all their effort into creating the product (whether it is an app or an eBook) then put it up on the store, just expecting it to take off and organically get sales. By selling through my own site I was forced to do all the marketing and promotion myself. Since that is a skill I am still developing, it was important to me. Good luck!

robbiea 14y ago
great, thank you.

nathanbarry 14y ago

By the way, I love the post! Excited to hear more about the book. Email me, nathan@thinklegend.com, if you have more questions.