Writing an Successful Ebook has a lot more to do with your marketing skills than your writing skills. As soon as you write or type the last word, the real work begins.

At the very least you want to set up a Sales Platform with a Sales Page, create a Payment Processor, and then consider creating an Opt-in Form. To take the first smallest step to setting up your Sales Platform, sign up here for your domain name and hosting with Hostgator or Godaddy.

And don’t stop writing – but now focus your writing on your Sales Page, and Ezine Articles.

Decision 1: Own E-Book Platform or Amazon Platform?

Your main two options are:
Option 1: Own E-Book Platform
Domain Name $10
Hosting $60/year
Squeeze Page $75 (Sales copy required)
E-Cover $35
Istock Images $25 (for E-cover)
Total: $205 + Editing & E-Banner (optional)*
Editing $12.99/10 pages
E-Banner $15
Optional (author must apply directly)
ISBN Free in Canada, $250/10 in US
ISBN Bar Code $10
(The prices are approximate).

The advantage of having your own E-book platform is simply more control.

One trick that some E-book authors are doing is to offer the first book on their Squeeze Page for free. They then put a link at the end for the first two chapters of the second e-book for free. And then they ask you to pay for the rest of the 2nd book. The idea is to create buy-in and to collect e-mail addresses.

Another trick is that they offer the E-book for free but they put in advertising spots. For example, you make reference to a tea shop, and then you put in the advert for the tea shop. This involves a fair bit of effort and is best if you’re writing an e-book about a product or service.

Option 2: Amazon Platform
Advantage account $29.95/year
E-Cover $35
Istock Images $25 (for E-cover)
Total: $90 + Editing & E-Banner (optional)*
Editing $12.99/10 pages
E-Banner $15
Prerequisite (author must apply directly)
ISBN Free in Canada, $250/10 in US
ISBN Bar Code $10
(The prices are approximate).

Decision 2: How Involved do You Want to Be in the Editing Process?
You want to decide:
a- How interested you are in having your writing edited?
b- How involved or hands-off you want to be?

Some writers just want a finished product and don’t really care about the changes and nuances. If you’re like me, and you like using your own words, then know that the best editing takes a little time. This is quite simply because editing often creates a sort of ping-pong effect. For example, an editor will make a change, and then maybe you won’t like it, and then you’ll change what the editor has changed… etc. If you have your writing in chapters, you want to start getting serious feedback on each chapter now versus handing over a 500-page manuscript. The editing will be different. And also it’s likely to keep you focused on your goal, as you’re likely to get some good feedback.

Decision 3: How Involved do You Want to Be in Designing the (E-)Cover?
When I had my E-Covers designed, I found images that I liked on this website.
Click here to go to istockphoto.com
You pay a modest fee for the image. As with your writing, this takes time. The best approach is to dedicate 30 minutes to 1 hour every week to your search, for approximately one month. Trying to find the right image to match what you’ve written isn’t going to happen on the first click.
You also want to think about colors – even something as simple as your favorite colors. The more precise you are, the more you will have an e-cover designed to your liking.
Click here to go to colourlovers.com

Micro-publish. Or to use the apt phrase of Chris Anderson at Wired: Mining the Long Tail, a place where the little that sells a lot is equaled by a lot that sells a little.

The no. 1 reason for wanting to get your book onto Amazon is that it’s one of the top destinations, if not the no. 1 top destination, for online book buyers.

Selling on Amazon is reasonably inexpensive.
It will cost you approximately $200 to get your book up and selling on Amazon. Here’s the cost break-down:
ISBN, $125
ISBN Bar Code, $10
Amazon Advantage account, $29.95/year

http://www.ehow.com/how_2034753_sell-book-amazon.html

An overlooked bonus of being on Amazon is that your e-book may be listed as a “Similar Book”. This means when an Amazon buyer shops for a particular book by another author, your book may pop up as being among “similar books”. This increases your chances of being seen and ordered.

Keep in mind that you can affiliate market your book on Amazon.

To sell your book on Amazon means that you need an ISBN barcode, along with distribution rights. If you are an unknown entity, you might not want to invest in getting a ISBN barcode, as the cheapest bundle of codes will still put you back about $200.  The alternative to being published on Amazon is to become an Amazon Associate. This involves promoting the books of other authors selling on Amazon, on your own website. So instead of just trying to sell your own e-book, you’d now be trying to sell a selection of Amazon Books that address the same niche market as your own book. This may sound like second-best, and even counterproductive if you are trying to sell your own e-book.

Tip 1. Gain a Fan-Club of Readers Who Want to Read What You’re Reading: The trick here is to target a very specific market niche and to be selective about the books you promote. If you do this, you’re likely to have repeat visitors to your website. For example, I often check out what Paul L. posts on his website as good reads in sales and marketing. It goes without saying, that one day these readers will likely get curious about what you’ve written as well.

Tip 2. Earn an Amazon Commission : If you are a writer, you’re likely to be an avid reader yourself. If nothing else, the commission (approx. 4% per sale) will help you keep your own bookself stocked.

Tip 3. Read to Be Inspired, and Inspire: I find the more time I spend in any bookstore, the more likely I will leave, feeling guilty that I have just splurge on 2 or 3 new books. Later, I remember, though, that reading is inspirational, and it helps keep me on my better path.

For any website owner, it’s not about the product they are selling on your website, and it’s all about the ways you go about trying to get yourself notice.

Here are 3 Get-Me-noticed Tips:

Tip 1. Submit your site to Google
Go to http://www.google.com/submityourcontent/index.html. Submit the URL (website address) of your website.
List your business in the Google business directory.

Tip 2. Set up a Facebook Page for your Business
Use the ‘pages’ feature. This allows you to invite people to become ‘fans’ of your business and automatically be updated when you post comments, news, photos or any other relevant information to your business page.

Tip 3. SEO
Either take a course on SEO or hire a SEO professional.

It goes without saying that you also want to include your company name and website address in your email signature.