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"Designing the PDF Sampler"
After recently signing a six ebook deal with Atlantic Bridge Publishing (www.atlanticbridge.net), I quickly realized promotion would be a whole different ball game. I was used to promoting my Lance Howard print westerns to certain areas, and, indeed, I would be able to adapt a number of techniques to ebooks: bookmarks, promocards, postcards, etc. Having a bit of experience with ebooks previously, however, I soon realized I would need a somewhat different mindset for the novels, which spanned the range from horror to ripper/western and YA series horror. Many avenues used for print wouldn't work as well and would have to be modified, with many new ideas instituted.
A Guide To AdSenseIf you're a regular internet user, you have undoubtedly used Google recently. And ..... The first of these new ides was the PDF Sampler.
After a little thought, I decided why not take a print technique I'd used, that of printing out a number of pages and binding them together with a color copy of the cover as a give away, and transpose it for online promotion.
To make your PDF Sampler, you will need either your word processor or Powerpoint, or some program that allows you to use text and graphics together. The sampler will be nothing too complicated or fancy so MS Word will do, if you are comfortable using that.
The Sampler should be short, to the point and snappy enough to attract attention to your new ebook release. My short story horror anthology DARK HARBORS had what I considered the most eye-catching cover, so I chose that book. I used the cover for the first page.(In Word use insert picture from file) On the second page I wanted a teaser, something short and mysterious to go along with the tone of the book, something that would encourage a reader to keep going. I came up with the phrase: "Where the sins of the past are never buried..." and gave it a page of its own. On the next page I listed the publisher url, then on the next the title and author.
The meat of the Sampler came next. I used a excerpt from one of the stories in the book, just a short few- page passage to whet the appetite of potential horror readers. By that point, ......
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