Since the world of eBooks for some still remains an unexplored territory shrouded with mystery and clouded by misunderstanding, despite their ever growing popularity and presence on the market, we decided to tackle and debunk some of the most prominent and often heard myths about eBook publishing.
Myth #1 – eBooks are for low quality works
Nothing could be further from the truth. Some of the most iconic and genre defining authors like Ernest Hemingway, Jane Austen and Virginia Woolf have all decided to take the self-publishing route at some point of their life. The same goes for the new and aspiring authors of today whose works are too bold and rule-bending for traditional publishers. A book deal with a large and established publishing house is no guarantee of success because the readers are the ones who ultimately have the final say and they usually care most about the book itself and its author rather than the publisher.
Not every work is perfect, and spelling, orthographical or even grammatical mistakes are bound to happen when choosing to an eBook. However, eBook publishing services like Bookish Fellow offer review and editorial support to make sure that no mistakes slip unnoticed. That way, your dream book will be the best that it can be.
Myth #2 – Publishing an eBook is reserved only for the lucky few
With self-publishing’s meteoric rise in popularity over the past couple of years, more and more emerging authors are choosing this path when it comes to publishing their work. You probably didn’t even know, but anyone, including you, can publish an eBook in just a couple of simple steps. The only thing that you need is a manuscript written in Microsoft Word format and a few hundred dollars, and your dream book can come to life in just two or three weeks’ time.
That is probably one of the biggest advantages eBook publishing has over traditional publishing because new and unknown authors no longer have to run around from publisher to publisher and from agent to agent to get their work seen by the whole world. Save all that legwork and cut the middleman with just a couple of clicks.
Myth #3 – Publishing an eBook is expensive
Some people still believe that publishing an eBook is as expensive as publishing a paperback which is false; eBook publishing can be up to ten times cheaper. If you are planning on publishing a paperback version of your book, be prepared to shell out at least two thousand dollars, if not more. Don’t even think about a book deal by some established publisher because with the shifting economics of the global book industry, they only offer money in advance to well-known and massively popular authors like Stephen King or E.L. James who have the following of at least tens of thousands of readers ready to buy their new book as soon as it is off the press.
If you decide to publish an eBook, as we have already said, the cost is much more reasonable, just a few hundred dollars, because eBook publishers like Bookish Fellow strongly believe that you should not pay a small fortune in order to realize your dreams.
Myth #4 – eBooks can only be read on special eReaders
You want to publish an eBook but you are afraid that most of your friends won’t get a chance to read it because they do not have eReaders.
It is one of the most common misconceptions that eBooks can only be read on special devices called eReaders. On the contrary, anyone who has a smartphone, tablet, computer or a laptop will be able to read your eBook. The only requisite is that they download one of the free apps for reading eBooks, and they are good to go!
Myth #5 – eBooks can be stolen easily
A sellable eBook is not just some Word file converted into a PDF file for the simple reason that it can be copied and distributed without author’s knowledge. That is why many eBooks are encoded with Digital Rights Management (DRM) software that provides copyright protection.
Even though the DRM software makes it challenging for people to share their eBooks, the eBook publishing industry is still rather young and evolving on a daily basis which means that a possible solution may be proposed in the very near future.
Myth #6 – Not too many eBooks on the market
Based on search results on Amazon, there are over 2 million eBooks currently on offer. Even though that is only a fraction of the paperbacks available around the world, the number of eBooks is more than respectable.
Although eBook sales constituted only 12.3% of total book sales worldwide, it brought $14.5bn in revenue with 28.9m global eBook reader shipments worldwide, according to Statista.
Myth #7 – eBook authors don’t make money
To be honest, the career of an author is definitely not a lucrative one, and only the most talented and lucky few get to provide for themselves and their families only by writing books. Even though traditionally published authors earn more money than self-published ones, the money gap is not as wide as many would believe.
One of the main reasons behind this is royalty payment. While most of the traditionally published authors receive only a 10-15% royalty, if you decide to publish an eBook with Bookish Fellow, you will get as much as a 50% royalty. That is why more and more people are opting for publish an eBook.
Aarti