Binh Nguyen's Blog: Writing eBooks For Profit

Over the years it's been clear that I've had a propensity for writing. What hasn't been so clear was how to monetise this. Recent research has indicated that if you're a writer it isn't as difficult as you think. If you work with standard word processors and office suites then it becomes clear that it's possible basically to just type things up, export to PDF, and then publish this.

- a good example of this are the 'Building a Cloud Computing Service', 'Convergence Effect', and 'Cloud and Internet Security' (has been cleared by Australian Intelligence Services for sensitive material so it's not a problem if you're curious) reports which are now available via Amazon and Google Play Book stores for 5 USD each (pretty decent content and research for the price to be honest. Will be curious to see how this experiment goes...)

https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Binh+Nguyen
http://www.amazon.com/mn/search/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&field-author=Binh%20Nguyen&linkCode=ur2&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank&tag=bnsb-20&linkId=3BWQJUK2RCDNUGFY

CLOUD AND INTERNET SECURITY: SECURITY MATTERS [Kindle Edition]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKU2B4I/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00PKU2B4I&linkCode=as2&tag=bnsb-20&linkId=CELT4LN4FINTOIEE

Building a Cloud Computing Service: An Introduction to the Cloud [Kindle Edition]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKOZ8GM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00PKOZ8GM&linkCode=as2&tag=bnsb-20&linkId=LDVSS3FSJBYKXHWX

CONVERGENCE EFFECT: ACCUMULATING CLOUD SYSTEMS [Kindle Edition]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PKVPJU0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00PKVPJU0&linkCode=as2&tag=bnsb-20&linkId=IVWXNS67IHG3QGQS

For those who are curious here are some interesting notes:

- there are some plugins and standalone applications which will allow for this but at the end of the day you need to be able to run your book through the automated checkers to be able to get anything actually posted on to the online store

http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center/elaix

http://extensions.libreoffice.org/extension-center/writer2xhtml

http://soft.alkinea.net/

https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/EPUB/Converting_ODF_to_EPUB

http://calibre-ebook.com/

http://www.ilearnthings.com/2013/10/17/episode-12-create-epub-documents-in-libreoffice/

http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Off-the-Beat-Bruce-Byfield-s-Blog/From-LibreOffice-to-ePub

http://connect.lulu.com/t5/eBooks/bd-p/ebook_formatting

- another option could be paying someone to manually convert your chosen file. The problem is that you never know the quality of the work that you're going to get so I suggest going on your own

- most if not all stores will take a cut of what you sell

https://kdp.amazon.com/

https://www.apple.com/itunes/

https://play.google.com/books

https://play.google.com/books/publish/
- though there are other options out there if you want to sell in a different way

https://selz.com/

https://www.lulu.com/

https://www.createspace.com/

http://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-self-publish-an-ebook/

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/10/08/should-you-sell-your-ebook-on-amazon-or-your-blog/

- some sites will ask for ISBN details while others will supply them for you for free

http://www.isbn.org/about_ISBN_standard

http://www.isbn.org/

http://www.nla.gov.au/the-australian-isbn-agency

- it's useful to know some details about how how to categorise the book in question so that you can target the right audience in the book store

http://www.loc.gov/standards/sourcelist/subject-category.html

http://www.bic.org.uk/7/BIC-Standard-Subject-Categories/
http://editeur.dyndns.org/bic_categories/344

- use proper file converters if if you can not extract properly

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/pdf-to-word-doc-converter.html

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/word-to-pdf-converter.html

https://www.acrobat.com/en_us/free-trial-download.html?trackingid=KLARA

- depending on your status you may need to sign up to have a Tax File Number in the United States. There are often taxation agreements with more developed countries though

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Taxpayer-Identification-Numbers-%28TIN%29

http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/2013-ITIN-Updated-Procedures-Frequently-Asked-Questions

https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/working-itunes/sell-content/music-faq.html

https://sa.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/please-tell.jsp

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Where-to-File-Your-Taxes--(for-Form-SS-4)

https://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/working-itunes/sell-content/books/book-faq.html

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/How-to-Apply-for-an-EIN

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed

- many book stores will require you to use specific file formats or applications

https://itunesconnect.apple.com/docs/UsingiTunesProducerPaidBooks.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBooks

https://www.apple.com/itunes/working-itunes/sell-content/books/book-faq.html