January 5, 2006
Last August the New York Times announced that e-books were not selling. A reporter wrote, "The main advantage of electronic books appears to be that they gather no dust. Almost no one is buying. Publishers and online bookstores say only the very few best-selling electronic editions have sold more than a thousand copies, and most sell far fewer."
Is that true? I've learned to weigh everything the media tells us with more than a grain of salt. As the author of numerous traditionally published books, as well as the author of several popular e-books, I'm here to tell you that e-books are selling and selling far better, in many cases, than most traditional books. Here's just a little proof:
Corey Rudl made $400,000 from his e-works,
Stephan Mahaney made $800,000,
Michael Campbell made $10,000,
David Garfinkel made $35,000,
Larry Dotson made $5,000 in less than a month,
Allen Says made $15,000 on a Sunday,
Bob Gatchel made $30,000 in one weekend.
My own "Hypnotic" series of e-books, all published by Aesop Marketing, have broken sales records and left my printed books in the dust: "Hypnotic Writing" has sold in the tens of thousands—at $29.95 each—for more than two years now; My follow-up book "Advanced Hypnotic Writing," has sold well into the thousands; and the recent work by myself and Larry Dotson, "The Hypnotic Writing Swipe File," came out of the gate with a bang—selling at the whopping price of $197 a copy.
And keep in mind that these e-books have no printing or shipping costs associated with them. They are "invisible" books. You don't have to warehouse them, either. When they sell for $29.95 or $197, that's virtually all profit. (A very nice feeling.)
I don't blame you if you are skeptical. I was, too, at first. Mark Joyner, CEO of Aesop Marketing, begged me for two years—years!—to give him a work of mine that he could release as an e-book. I'm a book lover and never thought anyone would EVER buy an ebook. (So much for me being a futurist.)
But apparently there is an entire world out there—or ON line—that don't care for printed books or big bookstores, but instead love instant information delivered with a click. My "Hypnotic Writing" sold hundreds of copies within 24 hours. I'm now a believer in e-books. They've enabled me to live in the Texas Hill Country, drive a BMW Z3 hot-rod, own a pool, and travel as a I please.
My friend David Garfinkel grew up in the traditional publishing world and in fact worked for McGraw-Hill, the world's largest publisher of business information. He didn't give e-books much thought either until he published a couple of them himself. His most recent one is titled, "Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich." David told me, "I'm astonished by the results. I can honestly say my life has undergone quantum changes for the better in many ways since my first e-book hit the Internet a year and a half ago."
So what's with the New York Times? My hunch is that they are asking traditional publishers about their e-books sales. Well, traditional publishers don't know beans about marketing. Never have. They can't sell their printed books, so how can you expect them to sell their e-books?
To give you an example, one of my recent books is "There's A Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum's Secrets to Business Success." AMACOM, a division of the American Management Association, published it. I got national radio, print and TV coverage for that book. A&E Biography created a new special on the life of Barnum and at the end of it the host held up one book—and only one book—and basically urged people to get it to understand Barnum as a businessman.
That was MY book. Sales skyrocketed. My book became an overnight bestseller at amazon. Yet what did my publisher do? They let the book go out of print. I bought their leftover inventory. The books are in my garage. I never received one single royalty check. You can now only get the printed book through me—though, ironically, the e-book version of it remains for sale online.
There's more. My most recent book is titled "Spiritual Marketing." I released it as an e-book through www.1stbooks.com, as well as in paperback and hardcover formats through www.amazon.com. Which sells the best? The e-book version! (Paper is second and hardcover last.)
Again, what is the media trying to tell us when they forecast gloom for ebooks? Remember that the media focuses on the negative. Good news isn't generally considered news-worthy, to them.
Finally, here's the moral of this story: Don't let the media talk you out of releasing your own e-book. As long as you have solid information that a specific group of people would enjoy, you can write an ebook and let that target group know about it. Even if you only sold a few hundred copies, you would receive PURE PASSIVE INCOME—which no traditional publisher—including the New York Times—can promise or deliver.
HypnoticLibrary.com
By Joe Vitale
This is a complete collection of Joe's most popular products.
HypnoticMarketing.com
By Joe Vitale,
This ebook book shows you techniques on how to make your publicity, emails and websites hypnotic. It also includes Joe Vitale's 3-step marketing strategy called "Guaranteed Outcome Marketing," which can increase your business by 70% — in less than 90 days
HypnoticWriting.com
By Joe Vitale
This course, by Joe Vitale (recognized by many as the best copywriter in the U.S.), shows you how to use "hypnotic" tricks in your writing to get people to more easily agree with you. A must for anyone who wants to write persuasively.
AdvancedHypnoticWriting.com
By Joe Vitale
This ebook is the unparalleled sequel to Joe Vitale's blockbuster "Hypnotic Writing." It reveals how to use the phenomenon of hypnotic suggestion to turn your words into cash.
HowToWriteHypnoticArticles.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
This ebook tells you how to get free publicity by writing hypnotic articles for e-zines and Web sites — in 7 minutes or less.
HowToWriteHypnoticEndorsements.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
This ebook shows you how to write persuasive endorsements that can help you increase sales.
HowToWriteHypnoticJointVentureProposals.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
An ebook that tells you how to get free advertising for your business by writing hypnotic joint venture proposals.
HypnoticSellingTools.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
Learn how to influence your prospects' subconscious minds with these 1739 hypnotic words, phrases and sentences.
HypnoticWritingSwipeFile.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
This is a collection of over 1,550 copywriting gems that took Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson years to compile. This is their personal swipe file that they use to create world famous sales letters responsible for generating millions and millions of dollars of revenue.
ImpulseInternetMarketing.com
By Joe Vitale and Dr. Scott Lewis
This ebook tells you how to use 49 psychological tricks Las Vegas casinos use, to make your business pay off like a slot machine.
SubconsciousInternetMarketing.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
Learn how to bypass your prospects' unconscious minds and get them to buy anything you sell
CreateAdvertisingThatSells.com
By Joe Vitale
An interactive online video advertising course featuring book, workbook, and video instruction that has been one of our bestsellers. And since we can all learn from the masters, it also features several reproductions of hugely successful ad campaigns.
HypnoticTrafficTools.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
Hypnotic SellingTools.com
By Joe Vitale and Larry Dotson
Filed under Heroes Copywriter Joe Vitale