These revolutionary cards allow publishers and authors alike to sell e-books — digital downloads — at in-person events that include book launch celebrations and speaking engagements. You simply purchase a batch of download codes from Enthrill, print them on cards — or anything else — and sell them.

“One cookbook author printed them on wooden spoons and sold them for $10 each,” says Kevin Franco, co-founder and chief executive officer of Enthrill of Calgary, Alberta.

Enthrill’s e-book delivery technology makes it possible for anyone to buy a book in its catalog, regardless of the type of device used. The company currently offers books from indies plus a wide range of recognized publishers. It also sells e-book gift cards at Walmart stores in Canada.

Cards are redeemed online.

Here’s how it works

After the publisher or author uploads the book’s cover, metadata, and ePub file to Enthrill’s “warehouse,” the company provides download codes that can be printed on cards or distributed electronically. Authors must purchase a minimum of 100 download codes for $1.50 each — a total investment of $150.

Pricing for publishers is different. They pay 5 percent of the digital list price per download code, with a minimum charge of $.25 and a maximum of $1.50.

Books get added to Enthrill’s online “catalog” — which is also where they’re redeemed.

For an additional charge, Enthrill will print cards with your codes, or you can take care of that yourself (remember: each card needs a different code so you’ll need a vendor with that capability).

You can also distribute the codes one at a time via e-mail, making this an option for a free giveaway redemption or as a way to provide review copies without worrying about what device the reader will read it on — and, therefore, which format to send.

Get started

Enthrill plans to have an automated system for authors in place by the middle of 2016 but until then, the process requires human contact (not a bad thing, right?). There is no information about this author purchase option on the company website at the moment, but don’t let that deter you. That will change when the automated system is in place.

In the meantime, to order your download codes, you must contact the company by phone or email. They’re ready, willing, and able to work with individuals as well as companies.

“We started as a publishing house and love working with authors,” says Franco. “What I like most about working with authors is that they’re  extremely passionate about their work. It’s not often you get to work with people who have so much passion about what they do.”

What creative ways can you imagine for using download codes for your e-books?

In the first chapter, author Dan Zarrella, a social media strategist at Hubspot.com, summarizes his research regarding consumer e-book preferences. He surveyed more than 1,000 American adults who own a computer or e-reader and have a job paying $70,000 or more a year.

I’m sharing just a few gems from that research here. I think it’s useful to authors even if the people surveyed don’t exactly fit your reader demographics. I recommend buying the book so you can get even more information on e-book readers, but also so that you can read Zarrella’s interpretation of the data.

Most of the book, though, is about what, how, and when to share information on social media platforms.

What do they read?

While Zarrella was primarily interested in business book readers, he uncovered other useful information:

• About 65 percent said they read e-books at least once a month.
• Less than half said they read business books (Zarrella was doing the research with business e-books in mind).
• Nearly half said they read fiction e-books.
• Women were more likely to read fiction e-books than men, while men were more likely to read business e-books than women.
• Both men and women were less likely to read entertainment e-books than the other three categories – business, fiction, and current events.

How did they hear about the e-books they read?

Zarrella also asked people how they heard about e-books they read. He learned that:

• 45 percent learned about them directly from Amazon (more women than men).
• About 35 percent said “recommendations from friends” (more women than men).
• The third most common way readers heard about e-books was through search engines (more men than women).

Lessons from the data

What can you learn from Zarrella’s research into e-book reading and buying habits? These are my conclusions from his content on e-books as well as the rest of the book:

• You need  to make sure your book is available in an e-book format because people are reading e-books.
• While you want your book available for sale in as many outlets as possible, Amazon rules, so make sure it’s available there.
• Word-of-mouth marketing is essential. Help that along by making sure you use social sharing toolbars and icons on your blog, by creating blog posts and tweets and images that are shareable, and by asking friends for support.
• Search engine optimization – SEO – is important to getting discovered online, especially if your audience is men.

I took a lot of notes when reading The Science of Marketing. It’s not for entry-level social media users, but if you already understand Twitter and Facebook basics, I highly recommend it. As you can see, just the information in the first chapter on e-book buyers could be worth the price of the book.

Where is your e-book selling the best? Amazon? B&N? The Kobo store?