I spent nearly 3 years in the self-publishing industry at Lulu.com as the Director of Online Marketing. During that time I not only managed all of the online marketing, which included all of the initiatives to increase organic traffic and paid search, but also was able to interact with a number of writers and help them understand the value of controlling their own content.

Nearly every writer wanted their book to look just like a book that can be found on the shelves at any Barnes & Noble or local bookstore. What many writers fail to see is that more money can be made by selling the same content in eBook format. Numerous writers who use Lulu will often have two versions of their books available; a print version and a downloadable eBook version. The royalties on the eBook version are much higher than with the printed copy enabling the author to make more money per sale. eBook versions are often priced a few dollars less as well, making this version more appealing to a reader who has no prior knowledge of the author and may not be willing to spend $15 on a book they might be wary of purchasing due to the “self-published” stigma attached.

One issue with eBooks is that many readers lack a decent eBook reader in which to consume the content. The format Lulu provides is easily readable on a computer (it is basically a pdf), but reading a long book on such a screen can be less than ideal. The Kindle, Nook and other readers are ideal for such content, but these devices are still gaining traction and many owners stick to best-sellers and only a few dive into non-mainstream content. Apple’s release of the iPad has put an eBook reader into the hands of 300,000 in one day. A better stat for writers is the fact that Apple announced that nearly 250,000 eBooks were downloaded on the same day. While many of these readers might stick to the best-seller list, the fact that such a huge number of people now have an eBook reader enables the chance to sell to more people.

Pricing an eBook correctly as a self-published author is vital and the key to driving sales. I have seen many self-published authors price their content way too high. As a reader who purchases about 5 books a month, I may not take a chance on an author that I don’t know unless the book is at a discount or priced lower than average books.

Check out Lulu’s iPad formatting here.