How To Publish Your Book For 20 Cents A Copy

    With the high printing  and  distribution  costs involved in the
    self-publishing of books,  there is another alternative that  is
    beginning  to  emerge  and  is  worthy  of investigation.   That
    alternative is virtual books.  They are sometimes referred to as
    electronic books or disk-based books.

    Because of the ever-increasing use  of computers in the home for
    business and personal use,  and because of the  costs  mentioned
    above,   the  writing  and  publishing  of  electronic  books is
    becoming more practical for many applications.

    So,   what  is  an  electronic,   or  virtual  book?    A simple
    explanation would be  to  say  that  an  electronic  book  is  a
    computer  floppy  disk  on  which  is  contained  a disk-reading
    program and a text  file  (  the  actual  contents of the book).
    Depending on the type of disk-reader used,  the  person  reading
    the "book" can start at the beginning,  the middle,  the end, or
    any other place, page, chapter, section, etc.

    Disk-reading  programs  are  also called text organizers or file
    viewers.

    Depending, again, on the type and complexity of the disk-reading
    program used,  the  author  can  present  to  the reader a table
    ofcontents or list of topics from which the reader  can  select,
    with  just  a  few keystrokes,  and instantly access the desired
    material.

    The slow alternative to reading a  long text file without a good
    file viewer is to scroll through the text from start to  finish.
    At  best  you can jump ahead or back one page of text at a time,
    but youwill have  no  capability  to  pre-select a certain page,
    word, line, topic, or any other unique location.
	
    So how is it done?   Easily!  The book or other work is composed
    in"ASCII" on a text  editor  rather  than  a  "full-blown"  word
    processor.Some  book  processors  require the author to insert a
    few simple hidden  commands  in  the  text  to guide the program
    (IRIS), and some do not (Writer's Dream).
	
    A variety of text organizers  or file viewers,  and text editors
    for composing the work,  are available  from  computer  software
    dealers  who  distribute  "shareware".    Shareware is a form of
    software marketing whereby the user  is allowed to try a program
    beforebuying it.    These  shareware  programs  are  copyrighted
    material  andthe  user  is obligated to pay for it if he uses it
    beyond a reasonable evaluation period.

    The cost of "registering" or paying for these file  viewing  and
    text editing programs ranges from $8 to $100.


    The  retail  version  of  the Writer's Dream software is $29.95.
    That's just about the total cost to get started because Writer's
    Dream can  be  distributed  with  your  electronic book "royalty
    free".   That means you  may  write  an  electronic  book  using
    Writer's  Dream as the viewer,  sell the book at any price,  and
    not have to pay any royalty to the author of Writer's Dream.

    Here's a  few  reasons  why  publishing  electronic  books makes
    sense:

    1. Less expensive  than  conventional  publishing.    To get the
    price of any printed book below $1.00 you  would  have  to  have
    five  to  ten  thousand  printed.    The  price  of  your  first
    electronic  book  can be less than $10.00,  counting the cost of
    purchasing a file viewer.    After  that,  your only expense per
    copy is the cost of the floppy disks.   Mail order supply houses
    sell them for as little as 21 cents apiece for 5.25" DSDD  disks
    in  lots of 500 or 1000.If you only buy 100,  the cost may be 25
    cents apiece.

    2. You can edit or change  the  contents of your unsold books at
    any time!   New information can be added or obsolete data can be
    removed using the text editor.   You would,  of course,  have to
    copy the edited version of your work to the other disks.

    3. Produce only the books you need.   Assemble  each  book  only
    when  an  order  comes  in for that book!   It only takes 2 or 3
    minutes.   This also solves the editing problem mentioned above.
    By having only a "master" book,  you only have to make additions
    or deletions of text to one book.

    4.  If  large  quantities are needed for any reason,  commercial
    disk duplicating companies can  churn  out large numbers of your
    book  at  a  very  reasonable  cost.    Still  far   less   than
    conventional printing.

    5.  There are several disk-book libraries and publishers to help
    you find a  market  for  your  book.    Dealers of shareware and
    retail programs are now including sections in their catalogs for
    disk-based books.

    6. Mailing costs are greatly reduced.   Your book on a 5.25 inch
    disk can be mailed alone in a  6 x 9 inch envelope for one first
    class stamp.   It is usually more practical,  however,  to use a
    protective disk mailer, and to include associated documents with
    your disk.   The disk mailer provides much more  protection  for
    your disk-book, but raises the weight to the next postage level.


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