- You are responsible for marketing these books. While the writing may have been fun, for many authors the sales and PR aspects feel about as comfortable as going bear hunting with a switch. There are ways around this where you can still promote and be comfortable. (Just not enough time/space to go into them here.) You can hook up with distributors that will place your books in the chains and independent bookstores.
An interesting fact, however, is that 52% of all books are NOT sold in bookstores. They are merchandised via other venues such as the Internet, direct mail, in catalogs, through bulk premium sales to companies, via speaking engagements, to specialty retail outlets, etc. These ways of selling books can be very lucrative and are covered in our Jump Start Your Book Sales.
- So what kind of money can you anticipate making? That depends a great deal on you. If your book is of general consumer interest and you are good at radio "phoners," for instance, you can make a bundle. The bottom line is you must be assertive and tenacious in promoting your book. Follow up, follow up, follow up. The squeaky wheel gets the oil...and the sales. Our Complete Guide to Self-Publishing has been in print since 1978 when we first published it. Although we sold the rights to Writers Digest Books back in 1984, we are tireless promoters and the book continues to sell year after year.
You will start making the good money when you go back to press after the first print run. Now your editing, cover design, and typesetting costs are behind you. All you're paying for is the printing and whatever discounts you must give to middlemen. Some self-publishers make 80% of the retail price of the book.
- How do you determine if your book SHOULD be published? Check out the competition. Go to Amazon.com, enter your subject area, and spend a couple of days reviewing what's available. Now go to a good independent bookstore where they know and love books. Talk to the owner or buyer and ask what are the three best books in your topic area. Buy them. Read them. Study them.
Now think about how to "position" your book to be better. What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? Make your book longer, shorter, funnier, more reader-friendly, organized differently, or more complete. You could add stories to illustrate the points, sidebars of useful references, Internet links, a glossary, an appendix; your only limitation is your creativity. Think about your end user and develop the manuscript to aid that one person.
Self-publishing is an exciting adventure. I see it mushrooming as the New York publishers continue to focus primarily on their best-selling stables of name authors. They are missing the cutting edge content, the promising new authors, the veterans who know the game and can play it to the hilt.
This is an avenue into print that can be worked both ways: Self-publish your book, make it a success, then approach the biggies with your proven product. You've removed the risk and placed yourself in a position of power where you can leverage your clout to negotiate contracts in your best interest. Go for it and happy publishing!
Q&A Interview with Marilyn and Tom Ross that appeared on FreelanceWriting.com
As the authors of "The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing" and your newest book, "Jump Start Your Book Sales," can you share with us how you first got started in self-publishing?
I (Marilyn) was the director of marketing for the west coast's largest vocational schools and decided I wanted to do my own thing. So I launched a small PR advertising firm back in 1978 and also started working on a book called "Creative Loafing." Tom and I met about that time and he would edit the manuscript nights after his day job.
We decided to pull out all the stops (nothing like that entrepreneurial spirit) and put me on a nationwide author tour... so we took out a second mortgage on the house, he traded his engineering job to become our marketing manager, and we put together a series of self-sponsored seminars on writing and publishing to fund our scampering all over the U.S. It was a wild time! I was on seven shows one Tuesday in Phoenix and wasn't even sure what my name was by the end of the day.
We sold out the book and people loved our seminars. Some of them asked us to help them with their projects. But we said "no," feeling we should stick with our own books. Such infinite wisdom!
Eventually, when people kept asking for help, it dawned on us that here was an unserved niche. So we launched About Books, Inc. Over the last 27 years, we've had the honor of helping thousands of authors and professionals with specialized knowledge produce and sell millions of books.
In your book, "Jump Start Your Book Sales," you show readers how to harness the Internet to increase their book sales; out of these strategies, can you share with us what has worked best for you?
Getting links for related sites can be very powerful. And remember than on the Internet CONTENT is king. Include a chapter from your book, a quiz, trivia, or industry information so your site offers something of value to those who visit.
Also take advantage of all the things amazon.com allows you to put up about your book. Add the table of contents, an introduction or sample, reviews that have appeared, embellish it with author and publisher comments, etc. You can do all this for free by following their guidelines. Also encourage readers who like your book to go to it on amazon.com and write a 5-star review. Our newest book was only out a few months when we already had 13 reviews and a 5-star rating. (That's a blatant hint to those of you who enjoy our books! ;-) )
What precautions can you give to aspiring writers who are thinking about self-publishing their own books?
Do your research! Read about self-publishing and ground yourself in what this business is all about. It is a business, not a hobby. Check out the competition for a book you intend to publish. And be sure you publish for others,; not yourself. Your life's story, for instance, may be fascinating for you and your friends and relatives, but chances are few book buyers will give a darn.
Besides being self-publishers and regular keynote speakers at events, what other money-making venues do you regularly pursue in order to increase your book sales?
We sell a select few other related titles. This gives us more of a "bookstore" feel when we go out and speak and allows us to make additional upselling suggestions when people call and order our title. I'm also a strong advocate for getting your book in catalogs. Once you convince them to carry your title, you'll likely sell to them year after year.
What has been your most favorable marketing strategy to get the word out about a new book quickly and with the best results?
Sending complimentary review copies and news releases. We sent out 463 free copies of Jump Start You Book Sales. Major publishers don't do this so it gives self-publishers a real advantage. Nothing sells the book to reviewers, chains, and wholesalers like the book itself, of course.
What changes do you feel have taken place in the self-publishing market? Is it more difficult or less difficult to self-publish a book these days?
It is easier technically, but more competitive. Many authors are discovering self-publishing. Print on Demand plays a role and e-books are starting to penetrate the scene.
Can you share some "inside secrets" on how a self-publisher can effectively pitch his/her book to a distributor?
The key is promotion and publicity. (Once again, assuming you've created a superior product.) Distributors want to know you will drive traffic into the stores with reviews, author interviews, feature stories, etc. If you convince them you will be an aggressive marketer of this product, they will probably give you a chance.
In your book, "Jump Start You Book Sales," you emphasize many techniques on how publishers can generate free publicity. Can you touch on one of these techniques here?
Tie your book to a special, day, week, or month. If you look in Chase's Annual Events you'll find lots of possibilities to link with an event to gain publicity. This gives you infinite possibilities to do PR virtually forever. And that's an important goal. Our Complete Guide to Self-Publishing has been in print since 1979! The reason is we are relentless marketers. You need to be too.
In the next five to ten years, you do you see the Internet changing the way self-publishers publish and market their books?
The Internet will level the playing field for small publishers. We can appear as impressive as any of the big guys if our site is rich and well planned. We can cut out the middleman and get orders direct from consumers, thus selling at full retail price if we're clever.
I see many strategic alliances being formed on the Net where businesses help each other and traffic flows from one site to another within the same interest area. On another front, research for writing books will be so much easier. A click of a key and the world is at your monitor. We're standing on the threshold of an incredible new era. May your publishing endeavors be blessed with much success!
Copyright 2000 Brian S. Konradt
For more Frequently Asked Questions, see:
Interview with Kelly Milner Halls and Marilyn Ross
Interview with Marilyn Ross from Go-Publish-Yourself and reprinted by about.com
Marilyn Ross Bio:
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Award-winning author of 13 books, including The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, Jump Start Your Book Sales, and Shameless Marketing for Brazen Hussies. (While all these were originally self-published, five were ultimately sold to major trade publishers.) Have written hundreds of articles, a monthly newsletter, e-zines, and marketing collateral materials. |
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Co-founder of About Books, Inc. (recently sold) and the Small Publishers Association of North America (SPAN), which grew to become the world's second largest nonprofit association for self-publishers, small presses, and authors. |
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Called a "Trend Tracker" by Entrepreneur magazine, featured in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Publishers Weekly, U.S. News & World Report and dozens of other magazines, newspapers, TV shows, radio programs, and on the Internet. Admitted to the Guerilla Marketing Hall of Fame in 2000. |
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Considered by many "the guru" of self-publishing. She (and previous husband and business partner) have helped thousands of authors and self-publishers produce and sell millions of books. Although technically "retired" (you can take the Type A out of the workplace, but you can't take the Type A out of the person), Marilyn currently does hourly consulting and ongoing coaching/mentoring for a few select book clients who want to take their careers to a new, more profitable level. She also speaks across North America on writing, publishing, marketing, and entrepreneurship. Reach her at Sue@SelfPublishingResources.com, call 720-344-4388, or visit Self Publishing Resources .com |
