how to promote an new ibook?

i saw this question soon after you posted it but decided not to reply. i took another look and i see 38 views and still no reply. so i will reply because at the least you deserve for somebody to care.

i thought i would start off funny and say now that mom and dad both bought a copy, you are wondering what to do. but felt that it would be taken as mean, so i will keep the discussion on a professional level, as best as this self admitted clown can.

1. i wrote two real books in my life. the first one was many decades ago, circa 1969/1970 and published in the very early 80's. i don't know how many sold and the publisher skipped town without paying me a dime or giving me any information. they had a fairly high reputation in a business known for lowlifes. so they were at the top of a notoriously bad totem pole. i saw many years later (from the internet) some copies of the book were in libraries and one copy was said to be at a major oil company in canada. i had a night teaching job in an unrelated field at nyu and got the courage up to order three copies of my book for my class. it raised some eyebrows with the admin, but they ok'ed it. i saw them there on a visit to the book store and on a subsequent visit they were gone so i assumed they were sold. i can't imagine that any of my students would have bought it, being not related in any way to what i was teaching them. any one who did and told me would have secured an automatic a+. the reason why i mention this is to suggest that one way to sell a book is to make it required reading in a course that you teach, hopefully at a large university in a required course for all incoming freshman. many professors do this, of course and make a lo0t of money from the sales. i know of two famous brothers who co-wrote a book and sell it free. you pay just shipping and handling fees, likely to be steep. they have a successful business and probably make a decent penny from this gimmick, as the book ties into their business

2. the second hard copy book i wrote was after retirement. i felt it had to be written whether it sold any copies or not. i bought a few copies myself. One relative bought a copy (i have many relatives but no others were supportive). My first best friend, who i had recently connected with over 50 years later, at the time the book was being written bought a copyIt was based on an idea that i thought was interesting. a lawyer, who was out to discredit me bought a copy in hopes that he could gain information about me from the book to use in a legal case i was involved in, bought a copy. i'm not sure whether any other copies were sold. i don't think so, but i don't trust this publisher either. i have the entire computer source that i used to create the book, unlike my first book which was type set. the reason why i mention this is that i later realized that i could have made a stronger case in my sales pitch. i plan to add a chapter to make a stronger sales pitch and sell it as an ebook. i don't know what your book is about, but if it is a general interest book, you definitely need the book to be unique and you need a good sells pitch. a good sales pitch is not necessarily something that is not true. i rewrote my first hardcopy book and sold it as an ebook. dismal sales but i learned a lot. i am on my fourth book now which will be published soon and i have taken that experience and applied it to the fourth book. i am optimistic and if it sells well, i will reveal those features that i think had an impact, as well as some others. i've been optimistic before though with poor results. if it does not, it could mean that i am near the end of my authoring career. That's not a big deal as i am near the end of life in any case. not sure which one will come first.

3. my third suggestion is to become a paid expert on one of the cable news shows and spin your book there as part of every news story. i'm not going to mention any names but most of these people are plugging their books. you know them all too well. or better, get a job as an anchor and plug your book. name your book killing russell444 or something like that.

4. sell it as cheap as you can. millions of sell of a cheap book generates more money than a few copies of an expensive book.

the bottom line is most books don't sell. it is a reality. having a book published could help your career otherwise. that's a plus. you didn't mention the name of your book in your post. perhaps if you did, i would have bought a copy. be on the lookout of pirates, who copy your book and put it up on a general website. it's happening as we speak.

here are some things that i don't think works.

1. pay per click. i tried this once on an internet pay per view site. it's like throwing money down the toilet.

2. i get emails every day from an organization that promises to help me sell my book. it is my opinion that no matter how well intentioned they might be, it is just a way to separate you from your money. ask them to provide the service free and you would be willing to pay them a % of your profit generated over a certain number of months. that will turn the tables on them and you will see how strong they believe in their service.

i don't mean to be a debbie downer. good luck and if you become the next spielberg, remember me, find my grave, locate my daughter and give her a no show job.

owners of the point giveaway here. feed me seymour.