Coming in 2010: The Making of an eBook
Small, independent and nonprofit presses have perhaps the most to gain from the eBook revolution: eBooks enable small publishers to turn small print runs into infinite editions of books that may yet find unimagined niche audiences. But those presses don’t have the resources that Random House does–they can’t open up an in-house digital division and devote millions to digitizing backlist titles. So how is a small press able to take advantage of eBooks? eBookNewser wants to know.
Alongside reportage on the eBook goings-on throughout the small press community, in January 2010, eBookNewser will launch a new weekly series, The Making of an eBook, in which the blog will follow the process one small press goes through to digitize one book and get it up for sale.
What book? you ask. Well, turns out that in his other life, this blogger writes poetry and short fiction published by a small press. Turns out he’s got a book of fiction coming out in May, and his publisher, BOA Editions, Ltd. was contemplating in the fall whether and how to do a Kindle edition of his book.
So, by following the process of turning this blogger’s book into an eBook, eBookNewser will seek answers for a number of burning questions, like these: What does it cost to produce an eBook? How long does it take? What kind of coding is involved? How can a publisher achieve maximum control over how the eBook looks on screen? What’s the right price for an eBook? What kind of profit can a small press expect? Are small press readers also eBook readers? How does a small press promote an eBook edition?
