Many writers are turning to self-publishing as an option for seeing their work in print. Though this is increasingly becoming a viable route, it is essential that writers demonstrate some level of caution and planning before committing their hard earned cash to a self-publishing project.
This posts lays out a framework that can be applied to any self-published project. The aim of the blueprint is twofold :
- 1. This blueprint will (hopefully) allow a writer to re-coop any cash they have outlaid.
- 2. It will show writers how to make their book visible to the widest possible audience.
There are many events that can lead to the success or failure of a self-published book. However, there is just one overriding factor that is important – resources. In short the limiting factor for all self-publishing projects is resources. Whether this is cash, time or expertise a self-publishing project will, at some point, become limited by the writer’s resources. If it is not cash, then it will be time or expertise.
This is not a criticism, it is just reality. Think about it – publishing houses employ many people to birth and sell a book. They use editors, printers, typesetters, designers, marketers and salesmen (to name just a few). A self-published writer needs to do all these things – at some point something will give, resources are just too limited.
This means that if a self-published book is to be a success, then the writer must marshal and apply their limited resources for the best possible return. To be more practical a writer must decide where their money, time and expertise are best applied to produce the most sales.
It’s A Business
The second a writer stops writing and starts thinking about self-publishing, they are no longer a writer, they are now a publisher. This is an essential fact. If you are self-publishing your book then you need to stop seeing it as a work of art, and start seeing it as a product. Self-publishing is a business venture and must be seen as such.
The aim of any business is to make profit, and in the case of a self-publisher this means selling books. Yet, it is more than simply selling books. These books need to be carefully costed and time and effort taken into account (resources) to ensure that a profit is being made with each sale. This is not just the price of printing, the cost of a book includes all the pre-production outlays plus, in theory, the time you spend marketing and promoting. Only this way will a venture be a success. I am always amazed when I talk to self-published writers and ask them how many books they need to sell to break even, or how much profit they make on each title, only to be met with a blank stare!
Preproduction Is Essential
I have no tangible figures to back this up but, I am convinced, that one of the biggest hurdles for self-published books is poor production. Let’s face it, how many times have you picked up a book with a crappy cover design, badly cut pages and a sloppy edit and just known it is self-published! Did you buy? Of course not!
Preproduction (editing, proofreading, design and typesetting) is an essential part of the book production process and is not an area in which you should be skimping on resources. Trust me, if these things were not important then publishing houses would not be spending money on them!
As a self-publisher, it is essential that you produce the best book possible and the only way to do this is by using up some of your resources.
Here is a list of people who may be able to help at a discounted rate (warning this link is to a BubbleCow service)
Printing Partnerships Are Vital
Chances are that your single biggest outlay as a self-publisher will be in printing. Now, as I see it, you have two options. The first is to go it alone and approach a printer direct. The second is to use a specialist self-publishing company who will manage the process. Both have pros and cons. The point is that as a business venture you need to assess all the options, look at your resources and decide the best approach for YOU.
Distribution Is The Kiss Of Death
Time and time again I see self-published books with no distribution solution. By distribution I mean how will you get the book to potential readers. There are two main routes, the first is bookshops, the second is the internet.
The bookshop route is problematic for self-publishers. You may find that your local book stores are happy to stock your books, but only after a personal visit. However, try expanding this country wide and you meet two problems. The first is that bookshops tend not to speak to individual writers about their books (they buy centrally). This means you will be forced to use a third party distribution chain such as Gardners. However, this brings us to the second problem. Printing the number of books needed to meet a bookshop’s buying needs means printing (perhaps) 10,000+ books. This is a huge outlay (probably beyond your resources) and a massive risk!
This means in reality bookshops are not a viable option – this leaves the internet. Now, can I just make it clear that I am not talking about ebooks here, so the internet is basically a method of letting readers know about your book and then posting it out to them. The basics is a listing on amazon and a website, but if you are going down this route (and I don’t see any other option), you will need a platform…
The Dreaded Writer’s Platform
In reality, one of the only ways for a writer to sell their own books is via the internet. This means spending precious resources on building a platform. The long video below explains how to do just this:
The critical factor here is that the resources that will come under most pressure are time and expertise. Blogging and using social media is a time consuming and long term process. Yet, it may be your only real option to breaking even. I would strongly suggest that you clearly define you online strategy, long before you spend any money on printing books.
Real Life Marketing
Finally, we turn to the last part of the puzzle – real life marketing. Many successful self-published writers will tell you that a combination of talks, book shops signings and school visits (if applicable) do actually convert to sales. Yet, once again, it puts pressure on your resources. Do you have the time and expertise to set up these events?
In conclusion, I hope that this blueprint will give you an outline for successfully publishing your own book. I urge you to see the project as a business venture and to see your money, time and effort as resources that ar both precious and limited
Good luck!
