In order to achieve success with his newest e-book project, any writer must think about the business side of things before he starts creating. For finishing a quality ebook is not an easy or uncomplicated job. And assuming that he is not just into writing for the thrill of it, he must carefully take into account different royalty models before he goes on.

The general idea behind the concept of “royalties” is of course that it is a measure of the amount of money you might make from the sales of a certain product. However, when you are evaluating a royalties contract you should also weigh in other factors — factors that could be even more important for you to ponder. Such factors could be, for instance, your ability to end the contract prematurely, or the question of the exact time of the payments.

Here in this article, however, I will limit myself to an account of the total amount of royalties a writer can expect to generate when using different types of royalty deals. For brevity’s sake, I shall only list four royalties models, although there are other types of arrangements as well.

1. Publisher’s “List Price Percentage” Royalties

The first model that is seen at major publishing houses is the “List Price Percentage” model. This is probably the easiest one to calculate, since it only involves two factors: the list price and the author’s percentage. In such a model, the author typically gets between 10 and 20 percent of the e-book list price.

An illustration: An e-book sells for $20 and the contract says that the author will make 15 percent of the list price from the sale of every e-book. So the author can expect to be paid a royalty of $3 per ebook (0.15 x 20).

Big publishing houses such as Random House and Simon & Schuster have previously used this type of arrangement for contracts with ebook authors. Nowadays, however, these and other publishers are moving on to the second model, the “Net Receipts” model.

2. Publisher’s “Net Receipts Percentage” Royalties

Another type of arrangement is the “Net Receipts Percentage” model. Just like the previous one, this model is (or has been) used at many major publishing houses. This model is increasingly popular among publishers, and probably will be even more so in the future. As of now, Macmillan, Random House, and Simon & Schuster are using it.

In this royalties scenario, the net sales of the ebook is the chief number around which the calculation of the royalty amount revolves. The percentage number most frequently used in this type of arrangement is between 10 and 25 percent.

For example, assume that an ebook sells for a list price of $18. Also assume that the publisher arrives at the net sales figure as 60 percent of the net proceeds. If now the author has an arrangement where he gets 15 percent of the net sales, then he would, in this example, look at something like $1.62 per ebook (18 x 0.60 x 0.15).

3. Self-Publisher’s “Flex-Price Net Receipts Percentage” Royalties

The third option would be to publish your ebook all on your own, but nevertheless use one or several retailers and distributors to promote and sell it. For example, you could use distribution channels such as Lulu.com.

Here, the author should receive a certain percent of the net sale of the ebook, and in that way it is pretty similar to the second model. However, with the “Flex-Price Net Receipts Percentage” royalties system, the author’s percentage per book will be noticeably higher.

Another benefit for the author when comparing it to the second model, is that he might get more control over the product development. Not only will he be able to have more power of the editing and design, but he will also, most importantly, be able to set the list price himself.

4. Self-Publisher’s “Full List Price” Royalties

The fourth model is built on the idea that the author not only publishes the book himself, but also markets it himself. So in this particular model there are no external distribution channels or external retailers to worry about.

Even though there may be no distributors or external retailers to be concerned with, the author may here need more technology to set up some kind of e-business solution. Note, however, that the technical aspects of selling products online may not be as overwhelming as many think. Relatively simple-to-integrate payment processing solutions such as PayPal.com work well.

At any rate, the amount of royalties to be projected from this fourth arrangement is fairly easy to estimate, as you will keep all the proceeds for yourself. Naturally, though, depending on the particular solution you are using, you may wish to adjust the figures, in order to properly account for costs related to services such as the site or blog hosting or your payment processing, etc.

Conclusion

It may not be entirely easy to determine which scenario suits you the best. One issue is, for example, how interested you are in marketing. If you are very interested in promoting your own ebook or ebooks online, then royalty scenarios 3 and 4 may very well be good for you.

However, if you are mainly a writer, and not so keen on internet marketing, it might not be a bad idea to aim at the first and second royalty models. The downside with these two models is, unfortunately, that it is not so easy to get published; but if you don’t get lucky, you can always try models three and four as your plan B.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Johnny Jones is currently a contributor to the EbookBrothers.com website, where he shares his thoughts about ebook marketing, and on individual topics such as ebook royalty etc. For a free subscription to the EbookBrothers.com Newsletter (with free tips and articles on how you can succeed with your own e-book marketing), visit Ebook Brothers immediately, before the free offer expires.

One effective viral marketing tool is the use of email on the Internet. The messages that you send on people contain promotion of your company regarding the product or services that you offer.

An interactive marketing agency, Sharpe Partner shows on their research that 89% of those who uses internet in America, exchange idea, thoughts and information using e-mail. This is a great news for companies who uses computers as one of their tool to promote their products. It is way much cheaper and effective compare to other marketing strategy.

The study generated some interesting results regarding the type of content that is most often forwarded, as well. The most popular content is humorous material.

The second most popular category is news, followed by healthcare and medical information, religious and spiritual material, games, business and personal finance information and sports/hobbies in that order. So it is easy to see that humor is the best content for your viral e-mail campaign.

Cartoons, jokes and funny video clips are among the things that can be added to an e-mail to insure that it will go viral. People will want to pass along something that makes them laugh.

People are more motivated to pass/forward your email to their family and friends, once they find it interesting and enjoying rather than a plain and boring advertisement.

An example on how an email can be viral is when Disneyland uses viral email advertising to promote their theme park. They send an email to millions of people with a picture of the famous Donald Duck, lying prone in the faade of the well-known Cinderella Castle with a title “Bird Flu has hit Disneyland”. Many people laugh and enjoy it so they pass and forward it for others to see.

I’m sure that those people with computers have seen the picture of Donald Duck. Disneyland comes up with an idea of spreading their not so called advertisement since lots of people enjoy it. Instead of showing their customers a plain advertisement, they put some flavor on it so that people can’t see the true purpose of that email.

Keep in mind that people wants to share something that they know it can make others laugh. So instead of creating a boring and plain advertisement, think of a way for it to be unique and can be enjoy by your readers.

Research is the most important part of putting together a quality product. You will find a lot of information product creators slapping content together and selling it for high prices. When you take the time to research your topic, it shows. You can stand head and shoulders above those marketers that do the bare minimum and present a quality product that people will recommend to others.

S.I.T.E stands for :

S - SUPERCENTER I - INFORMATION hubs T - TARGETED search E - ENVIRONMENT

1. SUPERCENTER

Most people always go to “Google” every time they want to know a certain topic or research some information, simply because it is user friendly and all the things you want to know, Google can answer. It is now called the “supercenter” among the search engines. In addition to your keywords and keyphrases, you can also include “how to” and “ways to” related to your topic so that you can get exact information.

2. INFORMATION hubs.

By all means, use the first page of Google results to get a general idea of your topic. You can do the same with general information sites like Wikipedia, HowStuffWorks and eHow. These are great information hubs that will provide you with numerous ideas to get your creative juices flowing. These sites can help you get a snapshot view of the topic and give you some insight into the major concerns in the niche. But to make your product useful, you should dig a little deeper.

3. TARGETED search.

Look for information that is off the beaten path, but still relevant to your topic. Consider using some specialty search engines like Questia (http://www.questia.com/Index.jsp) to give depth to your topic. If you’re working on a health topic, you should look at medical journals and studies to make your product complete. By looking beyond the first page of results, you’ll be able to find information that the average searcher can’t find.

4. ENVIRONMENT

Try to search in the forums aside from the usual search engines and specialty search engines to gather data about your topic. Forums are a great community-style environment in searching numerous ideas. The people who visit forums have different ideas and information that might help you to complete your topic. By searching and reading in forums, you can have an insider’s view which is so important in writing. But if you don’t have that insider’s view, you can copy it in forums.

Don’t ever forget the library! Library is still the best means to gather information to your topic. As much as possible visit the library since there are some topics, like internet marketing that abruptly change. Thus perennial topics such as baby care, finance or gardening can greatly be improved through researching in books. So pack your things and spend some time studying at the library for more accurate information.

Plus the library and bookstores can just plain old be fun to go to. Grab a cup of java or tea, and pen and notebook, and have some fun. It may take lots of time to search in the library and bookstore, but it will be absolutely worth consuming your info product and most importantly your customer will be happy.

Viral marketing by email is widely use by people who promote their product. B2B providers are now using it. However they must look on some restrictions stated below:

1. The product or service has to add value for the sender, as well as, the receiver.

2. The offer has to be deliverable. You don’t want to offer a product that you can’t deliver if demand grows rapidly.

3. Transferring your offer to others can be easily done through the use of Email and Web pages.

4. The best viral marketing campaigns use existing networks to move the message along.

The basis of viral marketing has been around for a long time. The idea is that you incite your customers or referral sources to pass on something about your business to their network of colleagues and friends. Those that pass on your information get something in return. That something might be a gift or service related to your business.

Using e-mail makes it incredibly easy to pass information on to a friend or colleague, especially if it involves something fun or free. With millions using the Internet worldwide, the potential for exponential growth is tremendous. The great things about viral marketing are that it is free and works virtually by itself. Once you make a offer and provide the facility for referrals, viral marketing spreads like well a virusbut the good kind.

To implement viral marketing at your business; first, start with your customer base. Incite existing customers to refer new ones. Second, go to your referral sources. Service providers, your outside network and colleagues can be encouraged to provide referrals that lead to business.

If you have customers that was stressed business owners, offer them reward that will give them leisure and relaxation, like a weekend away or treat to a spa.

Remember that in order for your viral marketing to succeed you must offer your customer something that is more unique and contains fun.