For those of you who missed yesterday’s FWJ Radio show, I was talking with Deb and Jodee of FreelanceWritingGigs.com about writing and marketing e-books. Check it out in the archives if you haven’t yet – it was a fun chat.

Today I’d like to follow-up on the topic of e-books; not on writing them, but on what comes after. More specifically, I’m going to share my new favorite PDF conversion tool, and we’ll chat about bonuses (for e-books you plan to sell). I hope you’ll share some of your own thoughts and experiences with e-book writing, publishing, and marketing!

PDF Conversion

We’ve talked about “types” of e-books before (from the benefits of .pdf e-books to software to help with .pdf conversions). I heavily favor the .pdf format due to its simplicity and versatility (unlike .exe e-books, you don’t have to worry about thing like whether or not Mac users can access it). In one of those previous posts, I suggested two free tools to convert a .doc file to a .pdf e-book: OpenOffice (you can do a conversion through Writer – especially easy if that’s your primary word processor where you created the original file) and the free online version of PrimoPDF (the only free online conversion tool I’ve found that keeps live links for you).

My new e-book had just been proofread, and I needed to do the conversion. I went to my trusted tools (the two above, as well as Acrobat). Not a single one worked for me. It was the first time I ever had a problem. It seems my odd margins in parts of the document were causing issues, and it was extending the e-book by around seven pages each time (not to mention screwing with my page breaks).

After mildly panicking and trying just about every .pdf conversion tool on the planet to see if one would keep my formatting and links (they seemed to want to do one or the other), I finally found one.

Tied to PrimoPDF is a more comprehensive paid package called NitroPDF. As a last ditch effort I decided to give their trial a whirl (since Acrobat itself couldn’t handle it, I really wasn’t expecting much). It worked perfectly – well nearly. My margins were maintained. My links were active. The only minor issue was that one image re-used at the end of each section seems to have been affected with a lower resolution. Given that the image is just a marker of sorts (to let the reader know where there’s an action step) I’ve decided that’s a very small price to pay for a workable copy.

So I have a new favorite PDF conversion tool – NitroPDF. I was considering upgrading my Acrobat, but it’s far more likely now that I’ll just invest in Nitro as a replacement (at $99 it’s pretty affordable compared to Acrobat as well, for anyone looking for a new solution).

That said, I strongly suggest trying the free tools I mentioned first. In the vast majority of cases, they have perfect output (or at least they have for me), so you certainly don’t need to invest in something more comprehensive if they get the job done for you.

Bonuses

So you finally have your e-book written. You’ve gathered feedback. You’ve edited it. You’ve converted it to .pdf format. That must mean it’s ready to price it and sell it, right? Not quite.

There are several factors in e-book pricing. For example, if it’s time-sensitive material, you can often charge more given the short shelf life and the higher demand for timely material – this is a part of the instant gratification desire in buyers on the Web. Another factor is that, if you’re already an authority source, people are more likely to pay a higher price to see what you have to say. On top of that you have to consider the length and whether the e-book teaches the reader how to earn money or not (for example, you may be able to charge around $50 for an e-book that teaches the reader to start a new career or earn back their money in a short period of time, whereas an e-book on a non-money-making topic may not be able to command the same prices).

Those things aren’t all – something else you need to consider are what bonuses you’re including. With e-books, there are two approaches to bonuses:

1. They should be freebies (in many cases this involves getting free e-books, PLR e-books, or e-books with resell rights, and including them with your e-book – you don’t directly consider them in the pricing).

2. They should add value (this may mean a product you created yourself that carries its own value to be included in the price, or it could be a product created by someone else, with a known value attached to it).

Personally, I’m of the mind that you should create your own bonuses. When I buy an e-book, I actually get rather pissed off when I see it lumped with cheap content like e-books I could have gotten somewhere else for free or at minimal cost. You’re not really adding any value for me. Instead, put together you own unique bonuses – if they’re exclusive to your site or this e-book sale, it gives the buyer an extra motivating factor to purchase the e-book (which essentially becomes a whole “package” of products).

For example, my new e-book is about teaching new Web writers how to launch their career without making mistakes like underpricing themselves early on. It covers everything from choosing a specialty to some basic marketing tips to get them started. I’m creating my own bonuses, all related to that specific audience and the topic at hand – a 30-day get-started guide, a 12-month marketing calendar, and a Web writer’s “cheat sheet” which will include things like tips on writing for the Web and some of the most common HTML elements a Web writer may need to know when working on a client project. The idea is to keep it relevant to the actual content of the e-book itself. That’s something you need to keep in mind whether or not you’re creating your own e-book bonuses – don’t just throw in any old thing you find.

Do you have any favorite tools to share? Any thoughts on adding value through bonuses? What’s worked in your experience?