Tag Archives: self-publishing

How Self-Publishing is Like the School Bully

images OK so a blog generator came up with this title for me. (Kind of fun, though I rolled my eyes initially.) Deep in the process of self-publishing novel #3, so I figured I’d play along:

He’s big — it does seem everyone has a book in them and is self-publishing it. Here’s a state of the industry report from the beginning of the year.
He’s an enigma. It’s very hard to know just what will find an audience (or “sell”) and what won’t. We know there are popular genres (like romance and fantasy) and one subject American readers never seem to tire of is vampires. So writing a vampire book for young women would seem to be a good strategy, for instance.
It’s possible to beat him. Like the stout bully tripped up by the nimble skinny nerd, there are the occasional insane stories of success. There are authors who wrote/write things like the above-mentioned vampire novel, price them cheaply and reap a huge profit on volume sales. Then, of course, everyone copies the model and it doesn’t work again.
If you get creamed, you still have to go down the hall. In my opinion, this process still beats the traditional model of finding an agent or a publisher and going that route. Plus, if you’ve self-published and have had less than humongously successful results, it might even be less possible to get that traditional book deal on effort #2. Or 3 or 4 or 5 etc.
He might be best friends with your cute, popular sister. You will probably take writing classes and join writer groups and sooner or later someone you know is going to have a huge success in self-publishing. And then, dear writer, you must resist resentment and schadenfreude. You must take the high road and be happy for your friend, and also try to find out if there’s lessons to be learned there.
Complaining about him will get you nowhere. What’s the alternative – traditional publishing? That model seems to work only for the very, very successful author, the household name. Anecdotally I’ve been told by friends who have traditional publishing deals that they are still expected to bankroll their own publicity tours and other marketing. So it’s really difficult all around — see the link up top, the industry report, an industry in flux.
He mocks you incessantly. It seems every day there’s a new “insult” hurled your way – or a new way to market, or a new social media platform to use, or a new place to advertise your book. Kind of like that bully in the hallway you can’t ever really avoid.

There’s one nice thing about school bullies, and that’s that you eventually graduate and leave school. And you move on. With self-publishing, it’s my expectation that the longer you spend doing it, the more likely you’ll figure out the pathways to success. It’s true, however, not everyone has the luxury and time of publishing book after book until finally something clicks.

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Are YOU Cut Out to Be a Self-Published Fiction Writer? Take my quiz.

It’s become such a popular past time, it seems. Everybody’s got a book, just like back in the 1990s, everybody had a screenplay.

Hey, nobody bought any of my screenplays for a million dollars, either. (But– I actually know people who did win this little lottery, it does happen, though very rarely.)

Ready? Dig in, Answer these questions.

Are you the type of person who likes spending hours, alone, every day for likely a year or much more, constructing an internal world?
Would it bother you if this internal world was never appreciated by any other single human being, ever?
Are you the type of person who could then take that project, that world of yours, and totally rewrite it (if necessary) or chuck it if it’s just not working?
Are you the type of person who needs external validation to think you’ve done something worthwhile?
Are you comfortable being pigeonholed into a well-defined (and hopefully popular) genre?
Also, in a general sense, are you the type of person who is proactive, or are you reactive and more comfortable being told what to do or generally directed by someone else, like a boss or a parental figure, etc?
Are you the type of person who can straddle the role of introvert (most writers) as well as the extremely crucial role of self-promotion (generally an extrovert role) with EQUAL ease?
Are you the type of person who relishes creating a platform, likely from scratch, on social media, including things like a personal blog, twitter, facebook, instagram, Pinterest, tumblr, possibly more, with thousands and thousands of followers?
Are you the type of person who is comfortable devising an ongoing marketing plan for your self-published book, a comprehensive plan which involves reviews, readings, interviews, social media posts, YouTube promo videos, Twitter posts, Facebook posts, self-promo blogs, guest blogs for other people, and more, in a campaign which truly never ever ends?
Finally, will you be motivated to write your next great novel even if after all that’s come before (see the above list) only results in a handful of sales? Which don’t even cover the cost of self-publishing the damn book?

So how did you answer? There’s not really a scoring system here – you can pretty much get the gist of what I’m saying – that basically you need to be driven by the desire to write, and get tremendous satisfaction from doing just that, without a guaranteed promise of anything beyond that. Otherwise, don’t go there, save yourself the costs in both time and money, and do something you have a true passion for.

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Self-Publishing Update #2: Kept

there’s a pool like this in my book. Or several!

It took longer than I anticipated to finish the book, and to do the edits I wanted, all the passes — one for plot, another for comments I’d made in the margins, yet another for character, yet one more for dialogue.

I will finish my latest pass through “Kept” in the next few days and get it off to the copyeditor — very much in demand, so I know she won’t get to it till September. So that and my own delay in finishing means that the book won’t come out for several months.

Which is OK. Because I want the best book possible. Also, the holidays are not the optimum time for book publicity, which is what I’ll now pivot to — that and the marketing/launch plan for “Kept.”

Because when you self-publish, you are as much of a marketer as you are an author. If someone asked me what I thought was the one thing potential self-publishers needed to think about seriously before going down that path, that’s what I’d say. Consider the marketing, consider if you’re up to it. It is essential, and you will either have to do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you — which most individual self-publishers can’t possibly afford.

Stay tuned for Update #3!

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My Reasons To Self Publish!

Print on Demand, original version!

People often ask me why I decided to go the self-publishing route with Eureka Street Press – and now to continue along that path with my second novel (“The Forest Dark“). Here are the reasons. (If you have any questions, I’d love to respond to them – just put them in the comments.)

So, why Self-Publish? Here’s what happened with “Benediction” (2009):

Initially, I went the traditional approach looking for a book agent, specifically, one who had supported Gay Fiction in the past (this was for my first novel, Benediction)
I sent out 30 or so letters to agents and got back respectful rejections from all (all that I heard back from, which was most of them, if not all)
I also realized that the question of how to market this book (about a middle-aged gay man with prostate cancer) was equivalent to the question of the quality of the book itself – which struck a chord with me, as it was similar to my work experience in the entertainment industry, i.e., the questions we asked about film and TV projects, regardless of subjective “merit.”
It’s all about genre: to successfully market a book, you have to choose a genre. Even though I always felt the book (Benediction) had wide appeal, I chose to brand it Gay Fiction.
About the same time, I spoke with an acquaintance who had a good experience with self-publishing (Drew Banks, Able Was I) and took a seminar at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center on Self-Publishing (given by bestselling writer Nick Nolan).

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I took the class, and his ideas really seemed to make tremendous sense, particularly from a niche marketing model
I’m also a big fan of Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail, and realized how the internet has basically changed the way we find out about and buy media (among other things), but especially music and books.
I had done this before – with a short documentary video, which is for sale VOD (video on demand) on amazon.com and has been for years. (Our Brothers, Our Sons, which was also an independently produced project from start to finish.)
My old day jobs (remember them?) have mostly been in marketing/PR, so doing that aspect of this process (and it is a significant part of the process) was not daunting to me.

The Basic Process

I chose a publishing company (originally BookSurge, now they’re CreateSpace), which is owned by amazon.com, and intimately connected to all the marketing strength of amazon. (This is also the company that distributes my video.)
I hired a copyeditor and a separate graphic designer for the cover.
I submitted text files once the book was edited, and then proofread, made changes, then approved galleys.
Once that was done, the title was ready to be printed P.O.D. (print on demand) model, i.e., there is no inventory, when a book is ordered, they print one, which makes this business model doable. It was also formatted to Kindle ebook, which have turned out to been the lion’s share of sales.

The Marketing Part

Challenge – you do have to find your audience, which is mainly people who not only buy their books online, but also find out about their books on the internet.
I committed to spending about an hour a day for a year (at least, gulp) doing marketing on this book, mostly online.

After the launch, then what?

Pitfalls

Growing an online fan base is really slow – hopefully, these books will pay for themselves eventually, but there’s no guarantee.
You have to do all the marketing yourself – or pay someone to do it for you.
The whole issue of “returnable books” makes the economics of selling self-published or P.O.D. books in brick-and-mortar bookstores really difficult – so you do miss that audience, or they are harder to reach. (You tell people about it, but they don’t see it in bookstores, so out of sight, out of mind…)
There is still some prejudice against self-published books as being of inferior quality, though that is rapidly changing year over year.
My hunch is that self-publishing is best for books that have a real clear niche to them – probably the best for non-fiction (like a self-help or a finance book, for example), followed by really definable genre fiction books – such as mystery, romance, etc. It’s much harder with literary fiction unless there’s a great marketing hook or you’re already a well known writer with a platform (a blog, a following on Facebook, a YouTube sensation, an email list of thousands, etc.)

Benefits

Online royalty structure is outstanding – up to about 35% of list price for paperbacks, 70% of list price for ebooks.
The book will never go out of print, unless I take it out of print.
Control, control, control! As the author, I have total control over this book and what happens to it – and with CreateSpace, it’s a non-exclusive arrangement, so I can pursue other sales channels (for instance, with Barnes & Noble, Apple, etc.) as well. (And I admit it, I’m pretty much a control freak.)
No need to share the royalties with an agent.
Timing – you can have a book out in the marketplace in a couple of months – vs. a year to 18 months or more with a traditional publishing deal.
A successful self-published book is also a frequent launching pad to a traditional publishing contract, should you want that. (Amazon Encore for successful self-published books, others.)

But don’t just take my word for it! Here are Guy Kawasaki’s Top Ten Reasons to Self-Publish (from his 2013 book, How to Publish a Book):

1. Content and design control. Self-publishers can control what’s in a book, how long it is, and how it looks. They only answer to themselves for most aspects of their books.
2. Time to market. Self-publishers can get their book to market in less than a week once it’s copyedited. Traditional publishers take six to nine months to get a printed book to market, and they will not release the ebook version earlier than the printed version.
3. Longevity. Self-publishers can keep their book in print forever—or at least as long as it takes for readers to discover it. Traditional publishers stop marketing a book once sales decline.
4. Revisions. Self-publishers can revise books immediately with online ebook resellers and printers that are working “on demand.” Traditional publishers can take months to fix errors because they print revisions after they’ve sold off current inventory.
5. Higher royalty. Self-publishers can make more money. Amazon pays a 35 percent or 70 percent royalty to ebook self-publishers. On a $2.99 ebook, most authors make approximately $2.00.
6. Price control. Self-publishers can change the price of their book at will. For example, they can set a lower price to try to sell more copies or set a higher price to communicate higher quality.
7. Global distribution. Self-publishers can achieve global distribution of their ebook on day one. For example, Kindle Direct Publishing will list an ebook in one hundred countries. Apple’s iBookstore reaches fifty countries.
8. Control of foreign rights. Self-publishers determine who buys foreign rights and for how much. They can make more money because they are not sharing foreign-rights revenues with a traditional publisher.
9. Analytics. Self-publishers can receive real-time or near real-time sales results. Traditional publishers provide twice-a-year royalty statements—imagine running a business with two sales reports a year.
10. Deal flexibility. Self-publishers can cut any kind of deal with any kind of organization. Traditional publishers only sell to resellers except for bulk sales of printed books to large organizations.

I’ve seen the future and it’s the independent artist: self-publishing

Well, it’s only fair that this blog post should come out on the heels of a previous one which lamented the awful state of book author compensation.

Hugh Howey, the science fiction writer, wrote this piece for Salon which is about as positive on the state and potential of self-publishing as the previous one was negative (also for Salon). (Although that book, “Broken Piano for President,” was published by a small independent, not self-published.)

Howey’s had great self-published success (the “Wool” series, among others) and offers several similar stories. But the real thing that I loved about this piece is that he sees the bigger trend which transcends individual successes, and bodes well for writers in general as well as readers.

He reminds us that “the slush pile is made available to readers.” What that means is that in traditional publishing, it might be only that 1% of manuscripts that make it through the fickle editorial/marketing gauntlet. With self-publishing, other gems are out there waiting for readers to find them.

Aside from tadalafil cialis generika making your articles pretty simple to understand, it would also help if you write using conversational tone. Even, habitual tadalafil tab factors like alcoholism can lead to the development of water loss and brain swelling. They are mainly high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol etc. purchase levitra online A very essential order generic viagra http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/MOTS-05.12.18-Williams.pdf component which is present in silagra is sildenafil citrate that improves the functioning of the network. Of course, there’s a lot of dreck too, even most of it, probably. But still, “those who take their writing seriously, who publish more than one title a year and do this year after year, are finding real success with their art.” Or at least some of them are.

Howey contrasts the tired, old style route to literary success with the new paradigm of self-publishing by comparing it to the music business. Why is it we celebrate the hardscrabble musicians and their antics but not the writers who do analogous things? I believe there’s that persistent (and false and misplaced) myth that anybody can do it – anybody can write a book – if they just have the time to sit down and do it. Really? Kind of like that classic piece of modern art that your kid still hasn’t produced, right?

Bestseller Makes Writer Nothing — or Close To It

books, books on the shelf

The sad truth of the writerly life: probably, you’re not getting rich. Patrick Wensink lays it all out for you here in Salon.

I’m a firm believer in transparency — here, the transparency which seeks to eliminate wishful thinking and guesswork — both of which seem endemic to the arts.

Painters, dancers, actors — and indeed, writers — often let the magic of following the dream weigh heavily on the practical decisions to pursue the art. Not that it’s not worth pursuing – by all means, it is/they are – I just believe one should take that leap with a clear idea of why. (And a good line on a day job.)

And that “why” should not be about financial rewards. Sure, you may become the next Spielberg, Warhol, Baryshnikov, whoever — but chances are you won’t. Or it may take a really, really, really long time. So there has to be enough love in your heart and passion for the thing itself to enjoy it for its own sake. Otherwise, don’t do it.

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Wensink even calls writing books a “fiscally idiotic quest.” I had a well-meaning friend actually laugh out loud when she asked me what the average monthly royalty check on my book “Benediction” is, and I told her (I’m not telling you – but it’s small – so much for transparency). Yes, it does make one feel like an idiot.

But still, we persevere. There’s some powerful drive there, the need to create, to tell stories, to transcend ourselves, whatever it may be. Then there’s always the hope that someday we’ll get Hollywood-sized paydays (that’s actually a place where writers can make some decent money, though when you average out lean years with spectacular ones, it may not be all that much different from other professions, at least for the vast majority).

So keep writing. You need to do it, and we need your dreams.

Publish your book: CreateSpace

Find a gem: Good Reads

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 →

Self-publishing: How to Decide on the Book Cover . . .

books, books on the shelf

The conventional wisdom says the most important factor in anybody checking out your book prior to making that all-important purchase decision is the cover. I would have to agree with that – it’s as true in the brick-and-mortar bookshop as it is while browsing Amazon or B&N online. But if you’ve made that big decision to self-publish your book, who do you trust your cover to?

Usually it will go one of two ways. Whatever self-publishing service provider you end up choosing – CreateSpace, Lulu, AuthorHouse, etc. – will have options for you, which, of course, increase along with the publishing package price. For instance, the most economical of the packages will probably have the fewest cover options – maybe a few background choices, a few typefaces for the title and your name, perhaps three or so layouts.

Of course, it’s hard for such a cover to look like anything but a template. You don’t want the person considering your work to think that they vaguely remember this cover (because they’ve seen the same design copied over and over) or worse, that it screams cheap product.

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Five Tips on How to Write a Book Synopsis

Five Tips on How to Write a Book Synopsis*

Before you market your self-published book, you need to have a piece that encapsulates the essence of your work into a form that’s sharable. This is usually called a book synopsis.

Tip One: You Need Three.

Or better put, three versions of your synopsis. First: a logline, (for fiction) which is one or two sentences which should inform us of the title, the genre, who the protagonist is, and what sort of struggle or conflict they encounter in the story. For non-fiction self-publishing, one or two sentences which include the title, genre, and what the lesson/argument is.

Second, a slightly longer version, about the length of one paragraph, which will include more details a buyer needs to know; and finally, a one-page version of your story or message that includes the plot, main characters and themes if it’s fiction, and your argument/lesson if it’s non-fiction.

Tip Two: Break it Down, Chapter by Chapter.

Where to start! Do you have a table of contents, if it’s a non-fiction book? This can provide an easy way to break down the essence of your message. If it’s fiction, try summarizing each chapter into a short paragraph and then combine, edit, then merge some more.

Tip Three: Tell a Story (arc).

Think along the lines of classic story structure. Start with your main character, and the problem or issue that character is presented with. There’s an opposing force, which is often another character. Your hero or heroine is beset with increasing complications and setbacks, ending with a climax, before ultimately achieving a goal of some kind. This kind of “spine” works just as well with a non-fiction book.

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