LIFESTYLE ............................................................................................................................... .................................................................................. . publishedmasterpiece How to sell your
One of the most difficult aspects of self-publishing is marketing. Chris Day shares steps that self-published authors should take in order to successfully sell their book
CHRIS DAY
is founder of Filament Publishing Ltd and has successful titles in the UK, the USA and Middle East
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ublishing is a 16th Century technology, using a 19th Century business model, trying to get to grips with a 21st Century digital world, so something has to give!
It used to be the case that publishers were the gatekeepers to the whole world of publishing. Unless you managed to get a publisher to accept your book, there was nothing you could do, and your golden words would end up in a dark cupboard, never to see the light of day.
Today, however, the pendulum has swung in completely the opposite direction, and the question many authors are now asking is, Why do I need a publisher when I can do everything myself? As a result, an entire industry has grown up to serve the needs of the ‘Self-Publisher’. So how does this new found freedom work?
The old mindset - when the publisher was in control - was that all the author had to do was to write the words, then hand them over to their publisher who did everything else. Authors didn’t have to worry about editing, proof reading, design and layout, the printing process, or how to get their book into the marketplace, as the publisher did it all. With self-publishing, all those same processes still need to be done, but now the author is responsible for them all. Many authors are discovering that it is not quite as easy as they were led to believe.
Having completed the manuscript, the first hurdle an author faces is accepting that his golden words may need another pair of eyes to give some independent feedback. The number of self-published books, which have made it into print - full of spelling mistakes, punctuation and grammatical errors - is frightening. There is nothing worse than having to apologise to everyone who buys your book in the future.
An entire industry has built up, known as ‘Vanity Publishing’, which will make you feel wonderful about spending an incredibly large sum of money on very important sounding things. If, at the end of the day, even if you sold every single book at full price, you are still out of pocket by a large amount, something is very, very wrong. Beware.
No matter how talented your relations are, there is nothing to beat the services of a professional - such as a member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders. It is a very worthwhile investment to have the peace of mind of knowing that your book is right. Maybe your book might need a bit of polishing - most do, so it’s not any reflection on your skills and knowledge. Sometimes a talented editor can bring your words to life, and make an already great book even better.
“If you are self-publishing, then of course you have chosen to fund your project, but in doing so, you will gain the highest reward for all your hard work. Every new book is a start-up business of its own.”
So now you have your manuscript and it is ready to go, who do you turn to next? Well, that depends on what you want to achieve. If all you want is a few boxes of books to show to friends and use as Christmas presents, then there is nothing to stop you seeking out one of the many online volume printers that advertise very invitingly for authors. Because they appear to know what they are doing, and talk the language of publishers, you might be forgiven into thinking that they do. The reality is that they are really printers with very good marketing and, when you add up every little extra they charge for, not as cheap as you might expect. That may not matter if all you want is a few copies to show your friends that you are an author.
If, however, your goals are bigger than that, and you want to use your book to raise your profile in your marketplace, or to underpin your status as an expert in your business, then you should not be looking for a service aimed at consumers, but one aimed at professional authors. Once again, not everything you see online is what it seems.
www.keepthefaith.co.uk35
The good news is that niche marketing is either no-cost or low-cost. By building up a profile of your ideal reader, you can find out the websites they are likely to visit; the social networks they hang out on; the events they attend, and the organisations they might belong to. This will tell you where you need to be seen to raise your profile - and that of your book. It is not complicated!
If you are self-publishing, then of course you have chosen to fund your project, but in doing so, you will gain the highest reward for all your hard work. Every new book is a start-up business of its own. You need to look at outgoings and well as income, and have a proper plan in place to ensure that the latter exceeds the former! By applying proper business principles to your publishing project, you will have a big advantage over the many authors who don’t, and you will enjoy the success you truly deserve.
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Chris Day also helps new authors self-publish and ‘turn their knowledge into income’. For details visit
www.filamentpublishing.com ...........................................................
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