This is probably going to sound like an infomercial because I am so excited about this product, but I can assure you that not only do I not represent the company in any way, I paid for these myself and actually ordered five!

The product I am so excited about is Aquanotes and they have revolutionized my time and my writing!

I usually get my best writing ideas in the shower. What used to happen is that while I was in the shower, I would think of a great idea for a blog post or even a book and then the minute I got out, the kids would be calling me or fighting and all of the ideas would vanish, gone forever. This simple waterproof notepad has changed so much for me!

When I’m in the shower, I am by myself, which is about the only time of day that happens. I am also able to relax and think clearly without interruption.

Now, my shower time is productive time!  Not only do I think of great ideas, I am actually able to keep them.

I jot down whatever comes to mind. I have written as many as four note pages at a time and rough drafted entire blog posts and the outline of an ebook this way. Friends and family have been listening to me rave about these little waterproof notepads for weeks now! Some of them probably think I’m loony to be so excited about something seemingly so mundane, but I know how many great ideas were literally washed down the drain in that shower over the years. It goes without saying that my showers are longer now than they used to be!

It’s no secret that I am disorganized, a bit of a scatterbrain and am known to be forgetful. Aquanotes are perfect for me!

I tend to remember things that I forgot while in the shower such as phone calls I need to return or appointments I may have that day. I have begun to make my to-do lists while in the shower and they are so much more comprehensive and inclusive than the ones I used to make!

An added bonus to this already incredible writing tool is that The Husband and I use them to write cute notes back and forth to each other! You may notice that in that top picture, there is a note left on the notepad after I ripped the other pages off to take with me. That is a small bit of encouragement left behind for my awesome husband to find.

There really is no better way to start a day than to see this:

For those who don’t do their best thinking in the shower or for those who remember all their ideas, it may seem like I am overly enthusiastic about a waterproof notepad and pencil that stick to my shower, but those of you who have also experienced the repeated frustration of your best ideas vanishing with the water stream, you may understand. This thing has revolutionized my writing!

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At the end of last year, I launched an eBook, Shield: A Framework of Self-Care for Foster and Adoptive Families and a month later, my book, That These Two Will Live, an Adoption Memoir was published.  Given my experience of both titles launching within weeks of each other, many have asked my opinion about which was a better experience or which I would choose to do next time.

The next time I write a book, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, I will choose to publish it as an eBook.  I will not pursue publishing again.  This is my experience and opinion only and I cannot say what is right for others, but I will share why I preferred the experience of launching an eBook over that of publishing a book.  (It does get a bit confusing as both books are available as eBooks, but for your reference, only the adoption memoir is available also as a print book.)

Earnings

My adoption memoir (print version) sells on Amazon for $17.99 and in bookstores for anywhere between $15 and $19.  Of that, I get to keep between $1 and $2!  Yes, you read that right!  If 100 sell, I make less than $150.  I will not be getting rich anytime soon!  For the Kindle version of the adoption memoir, which sells for $8.99, I keep about $3.  If 100 sell, I make approximately $300.

By contrast, my eBook was priced at $5.99 (until today) and of that, I was able to keep $4.18 on the Kindle sales and the full $5.99 on the pdf sales.  If 100 Kindles sell, I make $418 and if 100 pdf eBooks sell, I make $599.  That is a fairly stark contrast from what I make on my published book, especially considering that the print book is priced so high in comparison.  Even now that I have temporarily cut my price on the eBook in half, my earnings will still come in much higher than they will be on print sales of the adoption memoir.

Control over pricing

This is a big one for me.  For my published book, I had no say in the final price of the book.  I may or may not think that it is worth charging between $15 and $19 for.  I can say that I feel that far more copies would sell and therefore, many more people would have the opportunity to be touched by our adoption story if it were in the $10 – $15 range for the print version.  I also had no say in how much the Kindle version sells for and therefore, I cannot look at other similar titles and try to make mine priced competitively.

For my eBook, I chose the price.  And more importantly, I can change the price at any time.  As an example, I decided that to prove just that point, I would create a sale and changed the pricing to $2.99 today on Kindle.  For those wishing to purchase it as a pdf, they can use the code summer to get 50% off.  As easy as that, I can create a sale, potentially sell more copies and propel the title higher up in the Amazon ranks, therefore generating even more sales.  It’s a strategy that works and makes sense, but it’s not one that I can use with my other book.

Design control

I love the cover of my adoption memoir, love it! My brother Matt and his design team over at Pure Vision Inc. created it and I fell in love with it. I got to be in on the process of choosing what I wanted, of seeing my vision come to life. Isn’t it awesome?!

When I went to my publisher with it, they were less than enthused. I had to FIGHT to get that cover. The Husband is convinced to this day that the reason they fought me so much on it is because black is more expensive to print. Their version was that books with black covers don’t sell as well. I’m not totally convinced. Either way, it was stressful to get what I wanted and there were other compromises I had to make to my vision such as the photos in the book being in black and white and not glorious colour as I wanted them to be. Incidentally, I have had nothing but positive comments on the cover design.

For my eBook, I worked with Erin at Design by Insight and got the chance to consult with her in choosing the colour scheme that I wanted and had final say about the cover she designed. She was great to work with and I’m really happy with the finished product. The experience was painless and I didn’t have to fight to get what I wanted.

Future editions

When going the publishing route, the product you end up with is what it is (even if the publisher left a paragraph out of your acknowledgements or the editor missed some grammatical errors). Unless there is another print run in the future and I become much more assertive, things are what they are. With an eBook, I can make updates or changes to the content and re-launch it anytime I want to. This is especially important when it comes to writing on a topic where the information can become outdated.

Affiliates

When self-publishing an eBook, you have the option of setting up an affiliate program. The way this works is that people (generally bloggers) can sign up as an affiliate and then  advertise your eBook on their site or through e-mail or on social media and they get a portion of the sales. This is a win-win scenario in my opinion. It provides the affiliate the opportunity to make some extra income by promoting a product that they already stand behind and it promotes the eBook to people who may not normally be reached by the author. The only negative for affiliate programs is that they only work on the pdf versions, not the Kindles. I could see no downside to having an affiliate program and have always had an affiliate program for my eBook.

With a print book through a publisher, there is no opportunity for an affiliate program and therefore, a lot of marketing potential is being missed out on.

Acceptance of the times

I am a book lover. I love the feel of turning the pages. I love the smell of a book. I love holding it in my hands. I even like the thought of others holding that same book after me and enjoying it or of wondering what the person who held it before me thought of it. I am a diehard when it comes to print books. I don’t own a Kindle, though I do have the app on my phone and occasionally download eBooks for the kids to look at. I like to think that I will never own a Kindle (The Husband owns one, as do our two oldest boys and they all love them!) but I know that chances are, eventually I will own one too because that is the way that the publishing industry is going. More and more mainstream authors are choosing to go the eBook route instead of, not in addition to, print editions.  It is the way of the future and I know that it is best to get on board now instead of resisting and being left behind.

Getting published

It is becoming more and more difficult to get published. Even some of the big publishing houses have gone under in recent years and those that are left are churning out (and selling) less books in general than they have in years past. It can become a full time job to even try to have your manuscript seen and after my experience with going both ways, I feel that time is better spent on formatting, editing, and marketing an eBook that is guaranteed to be put out there and be read.

Considerations

If you are considering having your work published, there are some questions you need to consider before deciding which route is best for you and for your book. One of them should be, “Why do I want to publish a print book?”

I had three answers to that question when it came to my adoption memoir:

1. I wanted to have it in physical form so that my kids would always have it as a reminder of how hard we fought to bring them home and how much they are loved.

2. I wanted to share a message of God’s faithfulness and advocate for adoption and spread awareness of the orphan crisis and reach as many people as possible.

3. I thought that a book is only really a book when it is in print and therefore, I would only be an author when I had a published book on bookstore shelves.

I am glad that my kids will always have copies of the book, I am glad that people have been inspired by the message and that some of the book sales have been able to fundraise for adoptive families, but I have come to realize that a print book does not make an author.  I have come to read some phenomenal eBooks in the time since I published and now see those as “real” books and their writers as “real” authors.

Writing an eBook

If you are interested on specific information about how I went about writing, marketing and publishing my eBook and what I learned from that process, I wrote about my experience writing an eBook.

I am happy to share my experience of publishing using these two different formats and could say much more in terms of marketing, reach, and recognition, but as this is becoming quite long, I want to open discussion in the comment section.  What questions would you like answered in a future post about my writing and/or publishing experience?

(this post may contain affiliate links)

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