Manfred Macx Reinvents the Way You Self Publish Your Book

Aug 17, 10 • news, writing tools • 2 Comments • Read More »

With more people buying Ebook Readers (e.g. Amazon Kindle, Sony Nook, Apple iPad, etc.), there is more demand for books to be in electronic format. Even if you don’t have an ebook reader, but you have a smartphone, like an iPhone or Android, you can quickly download a free app, like the Kindle app, that allows you to read books via your phone. With the popularity of internet marketing, social media, and self publishing, we are increasingly seeing people opting to self publish their books instead of going to a publishing house. Therefore, if you are a Writer and are one of those people wanting to self publish, finding a self-publishing service that focuses on ebooks is extremely beneficial.

When you use one of the self-publishing services, they will assist you in creating and being able to provide your readers with a printed version or electronic copy of your book for a percentage of the book price, which is something that you set. However, you are responsible for editing and promoting your own book. This is different than going to a publishing house that will usually help you in doing those two things. This is what makes self publishing so attractive to many writers. It is easy and accessible to everyone. It is a lot of work though because you have to find something of value that will make the reader want to invest their money in your book. Now, there is a self publisher that is making it easier than ever for you to do that.

Last week, I interviewed Manfred Macx founder Jon Renaut. I was really excited to interview him. There were two reasons for my excitement: 1. Manfred Macx is a new self-publishing service that is revolutionizing the way self publishing works and 2. It is a Washington-DC based startup company. It is always refreshing to have your local startup companies doing something unexpected and innovative. I talked to Jon on the phone, and he talked about his new self-publishing service.

Shevonne Polastre: Why did you decide to start Manfred Macx?

Jon Renaut: I began a blog discussing ebooks and ebooks readers. The more I started looking into ebooks and ebook Readers, the more I started thinking that there was more interesting opportunities than blogging about it. The model that my (self-publishing) site uses is the way that I wish my favorite authors worked. I’m kind of done reading paper books. It’s a pain to be carrying them around all the time.The last couple of books that I have read, I have read through my phone.

SP: You’re using the Kindle?

JR: No, I’m not. I have a Motorola Droid. The screen is a little small, but I have it with me all the time. If I have five minutes, here or there, I can pick up the book whenever I want to. It’s not ideal, but until there is a better technological solution, it’s working ok.

SP: Whatever works to get some reading done, right?

JR: Right.

SP: I thought the business model for Manfred Macx was interesting. Can you elaborate on that?

JR: The business model is not one of my own creation. It has been hitting the music industry first. The music industry kinda went digital a little before the publishing industry did. The publishing industry is just now getting into “What do we do now that everything is digital?” There are still lot more paper books than ebooks. Amazon’s big announcement that they are now selling more Kindle books than hardcovers. The market is moving pretty fast in that direction.

The idea is if you are going to be distributing digitally, there is no cost to you for each instance. The marginal cost for raising one more unit is zero. In a competitive market, the price goes to zero. But, you still want authors and musicians to make a living, so you have to look at “if my content is available to everyone, how do I still make money?” It’s kinda easier for (music) bands because they still have the performance. It’s how most of them make their money anyway. However, it’s pretty rare for an author to make a living doing public performances of their novels. I guess some of them could, but it’s not going to work for most of them. You have to look a little harder for things that fans would be interested in and would be willing to pay for. That’s what we’re trying to do.

The general idea is you set a goal of how much money you want to raise with your book. Then, you list whatever you want to sell. Once you reach that goal, the ebook is free to everyone. You can come to the web site and download it, or put it on a file-sharing service, like BitTorrent. Then, the author will still have the items for sale. If you see this free ebook, and you check it out and love it, you can come back to the site and support the author. I already have the ebook, but I would love to meet the author for a drink, or whatever the author is selling.

SP: Do you have an example of how Manfred Macx works?

JR: I have a book I self published, and I sold a bunch of stickers advertising the web site. All the proceeds go to a charity I chose.

SP: So there is a way of people to set it up so the proceeds go to charity or another third-party?

JR: Yeah, sure.

SP: Will Manfred Macx be publishing paper formats as well?

JR: We will be doing paper books too since plenty of people are reading them on paper and will be for awhile, I think.

SP: Are you distributing to all the formats out there? Like Kindle, Nook, and iPad?

JR: That’s the plan. I personally prefer the .epub format because it’s open and there a lot of things that can read it. But, being a technical guy, if I have a book that is in the wrong format, I can get around that. Lots of people wouldn’t know how to convert .epub to something like the Kindle format or anything else. Yes, I would like to make the books available in as many formats as possible.

SP: There are probably lots of authors out there who aren’t the most savvy when it comes to promoting their books. Do you have an additional service that can help authors with book promotions, especially online?

JR: That’s planned. Right now, the funding is all coming from my personal savings account. I’m hoping that it can kind of build up slowly, and when Manfred Macx starts to bring in more money, we can start expanding the services.

SP: I know that you are just launching the service. Are you ready for writers to start using it?

JR: Yes, we are ready to go!

Check out Manfred Macx if you want to self publish your book today. It is very innovative how they have taken the business model that the music industry is using and applied it to the publishing industry.