This is an interesting use-case interview with Angela Telford, a therapist teaching about visual reflexology and the owner of footreadingblog.com. She shares how she used Print My Blog (PMB) to create an ePub eBook from her membership site.
While membership sites have their place, Angela found herself doing a lot of technical support for members, rather than focusing on her passion of reflexology. (E.g., answering questions like “how do I reset my password?”, “where do I access the content?”, and “why can’t I access the content offline?”) Switching to instead have users download an eBook simplified their experience, while also providing them with quicker access to her content. Angela plans on publishing subsequent editions of her eBook, including a printed book.
Without further ado, let’s see what she has to say about the process.
Please introduce yourself personally:
I live in London with my son enjoying city life and cultural stuff. But I also have a holiday home in the mountains in the South of France where I spend a lot of time with my partner hiking, swimming in the rivers, eating lovely food and drinking too much wine. The perfect combination. I am very lucky!
Please introduce your profession, business, or organization:
I have been a reflexologist for over 30 years and have developed and currently teach an aspect of reflexology known as Visual Reflexology which – based on the premise that the feet reflect a microcosm of the body – shows how to read their appearance to give greater insight into the health of a person.
What is your intention in using Print My Blog?
I had a Visual Reflexology teaching blog with 32 very long posts and around 500 paying subscribers. I decided to consolidate the posts into an ebook because students didn’t like having to log in and manoeuvre through a content-heavy website to reference them. As for myself, I wanted to be able to monetize the blog without the cost and responsibility of running what had become a very large website.
How have you used Print My Blog?
My blog was written in WordPress on a Siteground-hosted website using Elementor. The PMB plugin allowed me to include the hundreds of photos, images, links and videos that were an integral part of it into an epub. It also let me design the optimal layout for e-readers. I had to arrange the structure of it myself with Elementor, but the PMB plugin made this possible and relatively simple. I used the kindle previewer and Calibre for PC app to ensure the ebook was as I wanted before publishing it. I am also checking out online publishers for the best option to turn the PMB-generated PDF into a physical book. The first section of the ebook can be accessed on Amazon Books under the title of ‘Visual Reflexology’
What is your favourite feature of Print My Blog?
The very simple-to-use coding for spacing images and paragraphs allowed me to choose the layout for photos, images, charts, etc., that best suits a teaching book. And it allows the inclusion of videos, both my own and from Youtube, and dozens of internal and external links.
Any advice you’d like to give to someone attempting something similar?
As soon as you start your blog, as an added selling point, advertise that once there are a certain amount of blog posts, subscribers will be entitled to a free or discounted ebook containing a compilation of them (you can do this via Payhip). You could also offer them a discount on ebooks including additional material at a later point.
I have been using Payhip ever since I published the ebook. It is very easy to use with great flexibilty and lots of additional features, including the all important DRM (Digital Rights Management). But the other big advantage is financial. Payhip’s pricing structure varies as does Amazon’s, but it is a way better deal.
Because I can target my market easily on social media I have sold hundreds of copies through Payhip. The ebook costs £29.99 per copy and I’ve made over £28 on each. Meanwhile on the enormous crowded market of Amazon it has sold precisely… 4 copies. On ebooks costing over £9.99 Amazon take 65% so I’ve made around £10 on each (even on cheaper books Amazon take around 30%.)
So I would strongly advise anyone who has a social media following, or indeed a real life community, to: 1. market the ebook themselves and 2. sell through Payhip. They can of course also market and sell it on Amazon, but will certainly keep more money per sale through Payhip, whatever the book cost.
(And personally, I think its always good to have competition to any massive corporation such as Amazon, but that’s an aside!)
If you’re interested in learning more about Angela’s work and eBook, please visit her website: footreadingblog.com.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below or contact Angela through her website.