Proving that eBooks are here to stay, the very rich and very famous writer and creator of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling will be publishing the original Harry Potter series herself in eBook form on her hew website called Pottermore. The new eBooks are slated to be released beginning in October and will add mega bucks to her already overflowing account book. Since this blog is also about ways to make some extra money, this is big, big news for some of you also wanting to make extra cash.
A few months ago I told you the story of one prolific eBook writer that was making hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling eBooks online. Selling for up to $2.99, her books were pretty cheap, but what she lacked in pricing, she made up for in volume, selling hundreds and hundreds of eBooks every single month. Now that J.K. Rowling is jumping into the fray, I’m sure that many more people will follow.
Although the Pottermore site doesn’t officially launch until October, users can view a beta version of the site beginning on Harry Potter’s birthday, July 31. Published reports said that the site has already been crashed by the overwhelming demands of fans. I suspect that it will be worse when the final Harry Potter film is released. But J.K. Rowling isn’t the only one getting in on the eBook craze. Long time romance novel publisher, Harlequin is now selling their novels in eBook form. I think that it’s a smashing idea. For those of you romance novel readers, when have you not been embarrassed by the cover of the book? This way you can download the book and read as much as you’d like and no one would know that you are reading about his bulging biceps or her heaving chest.
So, if you have a good story or a decent idea for an eBook and can string a couple of words together, consider writing one! J.K. Rowling will be avoiding all the major eBook publishers like Apple and Amazon and will instead publish her books using e-Pub, an open-source format which is compatible with eBook readers. Seeing as how she is also selling the eBook directly on her site, she is poised to keep a larger chunk of each sale herself. Can we say ka-ching?!