12 June 2015

Special Guest Post by Tanisha Williams of ChatEbooks


“Congratulations for thinking outside of the box.” This is one of the many positive feedbacks I received while in the process of testing the market for my latest business venture, ChatEbooks. ChatEbooks is a social networking platform and a marketplace for buying and selling books online. The idea for ChatEbooks was inspired by several factors: (1) A desire to respond to the comments left on Amazon by individuals who had read my ebooks online; (2) A longing to connect with my readers to answer questions regarding the contents of my books; and (3) A desire to receive a higher percentage of my book revenues and to have immediate access my earnings.

As a self-published author of two non-profit ebooks 501c3 In 12-Steps and Simple Internal Controls, I am fully aware of the outstanding opportunity that the Internet has afforded. In the days before the digital revolution, self-publishing was somewhat frowned upon as a type of "vanity press", where authors sought to finance their own publishing efforts due to an implied lack of public interest in their book. Today, the advent of the Internet and e-reading devices has changed the entire landscape of the publishing industry, opening up doors for thousands of would-be authors to get their work into the marketplace for little to no cost.  In fact, any author wanting to self-publish a book can present his/her work to a potential audience of millions of people with only a few clicks of the mouse.

According to research conducted by Hugh Howie, a prolific and highly successful self-published author, the earnings of self-published authors have actually surpassed those of authors who have signed with the big five publishing houses. However, it is important to note that only a relatively small percentage of self-published authors earn the lion's share of the royalties by selling their books online. A survey of over 5,000 authors conducted by Digital Book World concluded that a mere 0.6% of self-published authors earned over $200,000 in 2013, and roughly one-fifth of the self-published authors surveyed earned nothing at all. While the number of extravagant success stories will always be in the minority, this does beg the question as to what may be the "missing ingredient" that keeps many self-published authors from achieving breakthrough success. 

This is where I believe ChatEbooks truly begins to stand out as a digital publishing platform. Although there are many publishing platforms that allow you to upload/sell your ebooks online and receive reviews from readers, there are none that offer anything in the way of establishing true connections with your readers through social interaction.  ChatEbooks is unique in that it offers not only the ability to self-publish your book, but it also leverages the power of social media to connect authors with their readers in an unprecedented manner.

If you are an avid ebook reader, other platforms may allow you to leave a detailed review of an author's book, but you won’t be able to provide feedback directly to the author, and then have that author respond in kind. This is the type of interaction that ChatEbooks provides to its users. ChatEbooks harnesses the strengths of social media to help authors and their readers engage and connect within the context of the selling/reading experience.  Having this kind of direct access to the authors whose work you have come to appreciate and support is nothing short of a book lover's dream. 

If you are aspiring author in search of a platform for selling your books online, you will definitely appreciate the benefits of using ChatEbooks. You’ll retain complete control over the pricing and distribution of your books, keep 100% of the revenues from your sales, and you’ll have immediate access to all of your earnings.  More importantly, the unique social media interactivity offered by ChatEbooks is a benefit that can pay great dividends in the form of referrals and recommendations. It’s no secret that word-of-mouth is still the most powerful form of advertising, and by offering your readers a personal connection to your work via ChatEbooks, you open the door for them to share your work with their network of friends. This can produce more fans of your books, and more revenues for you!

It is easy to see why ChatEbooks is the ebook publishing platform of choice for authors who are looking to expose their books online to a diverse audience.  With the myriad of advantages that ChatEbooks offers, it only makes sense to join and begin taking advantage of this powerful self-publishing platform.

Tanisha Williams
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About the Author

Tanisha Williams is a California native who currently works as an Audit Supervisor with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.  Her latest business venture, ChatEbooks, was launched in September 2014 to create a platform for connecting readers and authors.  For more information please see /www.chatebooks.com and find ChatEbooks on Facebook and Twitter @ChatEbooks.

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