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The eBook Business
How My eBook "Failures" Became Successes in a Different Form
by Jonni Good
If you've spent any time at all surfing the web, you've seen countless ads telling you that you can make millions if you just write an ebook. It's easy, they say.
And you've also seen the suggestion that you should write about the subjects that you love.
Well, I don't mind telling you that I've written 5 ebooks, and I haven't made my first million yet. I haven't even quit my day job. In fact, two of my ebooks have made me less than $50.00 - combined! But those are the two ebooks that I had the most fun with, and I don't regret my "failures" for a second.
My very first Internet project was a free site for kids. It was really just a way to share some of the silly games and animations that I built while learning the Macromedia Flash program. I remember how excited I got when Yahooligans accepted the site and I started to receive over 400 visitors a day. Most of my visitors logged on during school hours, so I suspect that kids were playing on their school computers. The animal theme and mildly educational games made the site acceptable to teachers and fun for kids.
It was natural for me to think I could recreate that success with another kid's site. I wanted to make some money for a charity that I feel very strongly about, and hate begging for money. The perfect answer (or so I thought), was an ebook for kids.
I spent several months creating a drawing book that taught kids to draw the mythological animals from the Harry Potter books. How could it lose? I was able to sneak in a few paragraphs on each page about the history of each beast, in hopes of getting kids excited about Greek mythology. And I had the pleasure of writing about a subject - drawing animals - that I loved as much as any of my future readers. I bought a special program for turning my document into an ebook, and put my new creation on the Internet. Then I sat back and waited for the money to roll in for the charity.
I made about $37.00.
Tons of visitors came to my new site. They wanted the ebook. Children from all over the world sent me emails asking me to give them the book for free, because they couldn't afford the $7.00 price. After I received an email from a little girl in the Republic of Georgia, I finally got the point. Kids don't have credit cards.
The ebook is now available for free, in it's entirety, at http://www.drawfluffy.com
Was I disappointed in my first ebook adventure? Absolutely not! For one thing, the website pays for itself with the ads (but just barely), and I still get an occasional email form children and young adults who tell me how much they appreciate my site. I had the opportunity to share information with kids about a subject that really excites me, but which has nothing whatsoever to do with my day job. It was a financial failure, but an emotional success.
And this little adventure, even though it was a "failure," got me excited about the ebook business. I now have three ebooks that I created with my daughter, Jessie Good, a medical illustrator. I learned my lesson (almost) and now concentrate on writing books for adults - the big people with credit cards in their pockets.
But after three true successes in the ebook business, I still managed to come up with another "failure."
I turned this ebook into a website, too, and you can see it at http:www.Older-Dog.com
If you write only because you want to make money, you may feel bad when you get no sales. But if you write because you really want to tell people something, you can feel truly good about your efforts, even if you end up giving your information away for free.
If you're interested in the ebook business, I've written a 14-page ebook (a free ebook - on purpose this time). You can download it here:
Directions for Downloading:
Please right-click on the following link.
eBook-Business (pdf)
259 K, about 55 seconds on a 56 K modem.
When you right-click on the link, a box similar to this one will pop up on your screen. Choose "Save Target As.." and pick the folder you would like to save your file to. Saving to your desktop makes it easiest to find.
Want more free stuff? Check out these great resources:
A+ Free Stuff
- Tired of junky freebies? Then visit A+ Free Stuff, top quality offers added daily!
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Please visit my other websites:
Learn about the characteristics and temperments of different dog breeds.
Read hundreds of original articles on weight loss, and learn how to kick the sugar habit. Or create your own home cooked diet meals.
Find real estate in Mexico, with this full list of local real estate company contacts in Baha, Cancun, Guadalajara, and Yucatan.
A great website for kids who love to draw and love Harry Potter.
And my newest blog that documents my efforts to build a sustainable, wildlife-friendly garden and making a living online at smallcityfarm.info
Please also visit my newest site - learn how I managed to find and buy an affordable house with cash only 5 years after a divorce left me flat broke. New report shows exactly how it was done, and how many people are now eliminating their mortgage and buying their own homes with cash. http://www.buyahousewithcash.com/
the-healthy-family.com
© 2003 - 2006 Jonni Good