Tag Archives: Book Marketing

Read it and Weep: half of self-published authors earn less than $500! But there is hope . . .

It’s a Reality Check, folks.

No matter which path you ultimately follow as a writer — the traditional one, where you pursue a publisher to take your book and launch it to the world — or self-publishing, where you launch it upon the world yourself — one should always do this with lots of preparation and eyes wide open.

And that “eyes wide open” thing means you accept the reality that most writers do not become rich and famous, selling gazillions of books, and most cannot support themselves by their book writing alone.

It’s like that in all the arts, always has been. Here’s some good information from The Guardian. First of all, like you’d imagine, most of the spoils in self-publishing go to the superstars, like Amanda Hocking and EL James. Like the headline says, half of all self-published authors earn less than $500 on their books. But, that also means that half earn more than that.

And, regarding genre: most successful is romance (like in traditional publishing), followed by science fiction and fantasy. It also helps to be female and it helps to be educated. Well, then, what if you’re a man and you’re writing literary fiction? It’s just more of a challenge to break out of the pack.
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And, I can’t emphasize enough, it really helps to have a professional looking product (from the report):

“Authors who tick none of these boxes would be well advised to spend time and money on making a title look professional, the survey found: self-publishers who received help (paid or unpaid) with story editing, copy editing and proofreading made 13% more than the average; help with cover design upped earnings by a further 34%.”

** For a description of the editorial and marketing services I offer to self-published authors, which include copyediting and proofreading, please click here.

Self-Publishing Definitions

Here’s a quick definition of ten terms found in the self-publishing business put through the unique filter of Jim Arnold Communications.

Print-on-Demand or P.O.D.

Simple definition: A method of book printing where digital files are accessed at the time when a book is ordered and paid for and the copy is printed then and only then.

Pro/Con: This method frees the seller of a book, whether it’s an individual or a company, from having to have masses of inventory on hand, thereby making the printing process less expensive. It also greatly simplifies making changes to the book copy.

E-book

Simple Definition: Any way of manipulating the text of a book so that it can be transferred digitally to some kind of reading device other than a traditional paper-bound book. This includes your computer screen, e-book readers such as Kindle or Nook, and mobile devices like your smart phone.

Pro/Con: The popularity of e-books is growing at leaps and bounds. The technology makes the time to publication and cost of distribution almost zero, after initial formatting and piracy protection.

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Why Project Based Fees?

photo: epSos.de

People frequently ask me how I structure fees for self-publishing book marketing, as well as for freelance copywriting.

In my prior years as a public relations consultant and writer, or as a buyer of those services while working for larger companies, vendors usually used one of two models:

a monthly retainer
an hourly rate

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Retainers: for most PR/Communications companies, you would get a guaranteed number of hours worked on your account for X dollars (say for $1,000 per month you’d get 10 hours of the consultant’s time, etc.). Some companies would say there was no limit of hours per retainer, and that it always evened out in the end, one slow month would balance a busy month, etc., but this was rare.

This method can and does work well for companies handling a number of ongoing projects which need attention over a medium to long period of time. It’s an efficient way of developing a relationship with a company and its publics and the success that comes with familiarity.

For most self-publishers, this model is not an economic feasibility. It’s possible it would make sense for a shorter term, say six months, where a number of marketing tasks were scheduled with tightly defined parameters – and even then, it would be very similar to breaking up project fees over several months to a more even payment plan.

Hourly Rate: Sometimes a Communications professional or freelance copywriter will get a task, such as writing some collateral material for a brochure or press release, and the payment terms will be based on an hourly rate. These tasks can be estimated as to time involved, but many variables may change an initial estimate. Again, if a task takes twice as long to complete (thereby, costing twice as much) a company can absorb this cost better than an individual – the majority of self-publishers.

It’s my position as a self-employed individual that most communication tasks for authors and freelance copywriting assignments for businesses can be based on a Project Fee, which lets the author or client (you) know exactly how much a certain deliverable will cost, and gives the vendor (me) a way to reliably predict revenue on consulting arrangements.

For a current sample list of my project fees, please shoot me an email at jim@jimarnoldcommunications.com.

The Skinny on Author Advances

Irene Watson’s (Reader Views) post on author advances is worthy of your study.
Irene lays it out in terms easy to comprehend, exactly what the definitions are of the traditional publishing writer’s advance model, giving a look into the real story of the “myth” of the wealthy fiction writer (unless, as she suggests, your last name is King. or Rowling. or Grisham, etc).
Traditional publishing houses have less and less to spend on marketing budgets, hence the author is expected to kick in their own bucks – whether from the advance itself or from elsewhere – to pay for publicity, tours and so forth.

So the takeaway is – you will do a large part of the marketing yourself, whether you are a self-published author or are published traditionally with an advance – and, so, of course, don’t quit that day job. At least not yet.

Oh, and speaking of day jobs, I’ve always loved this quote from Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way: Continue reading →