Publishing Your Book—What Way is Best For You? - Part 2 Judy
Cullins c 2004 All Rights Reserved
Your print or ebook is nearly finished. You wonder if you should
try to get an agent to represent you to the publisher. Maybe
you've already sent out your query letter to some agents. You
dream how great it would be to be taken under the publisher's
wings.
You've already read about what traditional publishers can and
can't do for you. Now is a time for self-publishers who want a
print book to check out Print On Demand or Print Quantity
Needed.
On Print Books--Print on Demand Two Ways
1. Hire the Publisher/Printer yourself to just print your book
from your word file. In Print Quantity Needed such as
www.daharts.com (similar to POD) you keep all of your book's
rights. This method helps you make much more profit from your
effort and you will get your book out to the buyers so much
faster, making faster profits.
2. Hire Full-Service Print on Demand Publisher/Printers who each
charge you an up front fee to set up. They too take your word
files and put into Portable Document Format.
The downside? Check to see if you need these services. You don't
need an ISBN # if you sell from your own web site. The biggest
down to me is no control over my book. Here, you must buy back
each book from the printer/publisher at a wholesale
price--almost half of what you will sell it for. So, your
profits are limited.
List of POD Publishers to Investigate
1. www.trafford.com-888-232-4444 2. www.IUniverse.com
877-823-9235 3. www.XLibris.com 888-795-4274 4.
www.pagefreeepublishing.com 88-707-7634 5.
www.infinitypublishing.com 877-289-2665
These companies do not offer a good promotion plan. If you want
to sell online, you'll have hundreds of thousands of eager book
buyers ready to buy when you apply the number one, free way to
promote your book--submitting articles to opt-in ezines and web
sites. Contact a reliable book coach for this information.
On eBooks
If you sell your book as an eBook on your Web site or link it to
other publishing web sites, you will make 100% of the profit.
FACT: In traditional publishing for print books, you must get a
distributor, and a wholesaler to get brick and mortar bookstores
to carry your book. The bookstore gets a percentage too. Maybe
these costs will add up to 85%! What's left for the author, the
one who wants to make a difference in people's lives?
Is there a drawback to self-publishing?
If you print it, you must pay for the printing yourself, but
remember that could be as low as $300 for 50 plus books. Print
on Demand and Print Quantity Needed print short runs from five
to 500. Depending on how many that could run from $2-$5 for a
book you can sell for $15. You'll only have to make a small
investment, you won't have a huge inventory, and you can apply
your extra cash to book promotion, the most important part of
the book's journey.
If you write an eBook, here are some of the benefits:
Why Write an eBook Fast?
You…Make all the money, can make ongoing, passive profits for
life, spend much less time writing and promoting, retain total
control, share your unique, important message with 1000's daily,
build your client base and credibility, reach your target
audience easily and distribute yourself, spend less money and
have more cash flow, finish your book within 30 days, make
ongoing passive profits for life, can update your book when it
needs it, become the expert in your field, gain trust,
credibility and friends.
More benefits: you don't have printing or inventory costs, can
use word in 8 ½ by 11 format and PDF, don't have to travel,
don't have to tell or sell, don't have to package and mail
books, distribute and sell online from email or a Web site, no
packaging, no printing, and no mailing
Promotion is always at least as important, if not more
important, than your book. Drawbacks are starting to look like
profits and a low cost investment for you. With PQN (you have
all control, keep and distribute all the books) or eBooks you
won't have hundreds or thousands of unsold books in your garage
gathering dust.
Many people feel it's a drawback to have to market and promote
their books. Yet, you can learn skills such as the sixty second
"tell and sell," the promotional article or power press release,
and the sales letter for your Web site from an already
successful author-coach. Publicity agents charge a lot of money
and tend to overdo the media kit, (media editors and reporters
usually throw everything away except the news release).
You need to learn how to talk about your book in a few
sentences, a few paragraphs, and a longer sales letter. You need
someone who has authored and sold many books, one with long-term
copy writing experience. But even if you spend $1000 for
coaching, editing and printing, you'll still be able to realize
a larger profit than the traditional route.
You the author need to decide what path is best for you. Make
sure it's a profitable one.
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