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eBook or Print? Which is better?

I’d say that the TOP question I get asked by people looking to publish a book is:

“Should I publish an eBook or a paperback?”

That’s a great question! Here’s the quick and easy answer:

YES!

I’m a firm believer that you should publish your book in BOTH versions! And here’s why:

eBooks:

  • Lower cost to buy – People who are price resistant are more likely to buy it
  • Instantly available – If your book solves a pain, people don’t want to wait for their solution
  • Available anywhere – Print books though Amazon aren’t available in all countries (or its cost prohibitive to ship!) so an eBook solves that problem
  • Wave of the future – Just like postal mail, printed books are never going away but eBooks are the current technology
  • Highly portable – Big or small, your book weighs exactly the same as the eReader used to read it

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Printed Books:

  • They’re “real” – It’s hard to argue with the feeling of credibility that comes from holding a “real” book in your hands!
  • Offer an additional level of credibility – For the general reading population, a title offered in physical book can seem more credible than just an eBook
  • Physical product to sell or give away – Sure you can sell digital products from stage, but nothing beats being able to go to the back of the room, buy a book, watch it being signed and walk away with a THING in your hands!
  • Media opportunities – It’s hard to have a book signing without a book to sign! Retail locations still love having authors in for book signings
  • Write in it – Call me old-school but I still like to highlight, write in the margins, dog-ear pages, and use sticky notes in my business, reference, or non-fiction books
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There are very few books that I publish in only one or the other versions. A few examples are:

eBook Only:
Pamphlet-type books: If it’s really small sometimes it is better to do this as an eBook only

Print Only:
Workbooks: There’s just no easy way to translate these to an eBook-only platform
Lots of tables or charts: You CAN do these as eBooks but sometimes
Some reference books: There are some that just CAN’T be used as an eBook. An example is when I tried to buy an eBook version of a “501 Italian Verbs” book – it just didn’t’ work!

Leave me a comment below and let me know how you’ll be publishing your next book! And if you have questions about the publishing process, I’d love to chat with you!

 

Kim Galloway
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