New Authors Have To Look At Their Book Like a Business.
Posted: Thursday, April 30, 2009
by Mike Fak
http://mikefak.com
So you have written a book or are in the process. You also have been working on how to make your book as good as possible and thinking how to sell as many copies as possible.
A good product: selling in volume: sounds like things a retail business would consider important, doesn't it?
I always recommend you sit down and work out the math on your book as you would any new business you would become involved with.
We have already discussed making your book as good as it can be content wise so let's continue.
You need to create a trial balance sheet just like you would for a business. On the cost side, you need to list expenses including all charges you will incur in getting that first book in your hand. You then need to figure out what your reasonable expectations of revenue are. This is simply profit per book times purchasers. Don't place some pie in the sky number here. Most self-published authors will have the great majority of their books purchased by friends, family and acquaintances through clubs, churches and other organizations.
You then need to take that answer and divide it into a third of that number. I can tell you quite positively from experience that new authors are continuously surprised and disappointed in how few of the people who they counted on being a customer actually become one. From experience I debated saying cut that perceived customer base to one fourth but you get my drift. Reports of several of the bigger self-publishing houses tell the bleak picture as to how poorly sales can be with almost all books selling on average 200-300 copies. Rarely is that information listed on their sales page.
Whatever number of customers you come up with you can see if that number times per book profit exceeds the costs you intend on incurring on the book. For most of you, it now becomes obvious you cannot spend thousands and wish to recoup your initial expenses let alone make a profit.
Many times, writers if they had simply sat down and done the math would have found themselves looking at a losing venture that profited no one but their business partner.
I always tell authors who are ordering their own stock to stay way on the safe side. It might cost you 50 cents more per book for smaller numbers but having a large quantity of unsold books will mean you lost money rather than made any on your book.
There are some things you can do to get revenue projections and sales up measurably. You can create a buzz about your book before you even agree to spend any money. Word of mouth can help you get a feel for local interest. Perhaps you can find a niche for your work. As an example a story about animals could be of interest to a Humane Society. A story about finding faith could interest your church. A book about sailing adventures could be popular at marinas as is the case with one of my clients. Spend time thinking about your marketing strategy relentlessly before you place orders that end up in cartons in storage. Your book took time, so too does the development of the markets in which you can sell the most.
The possibility of having a known partner, like a service organization that shares revenue but also gives your business valuable salesmen is worth looking into. As an example, I have always offered my books to service organizations as a fundraiser. Depending on the pre-sell orders, and this helps you know how many to buy yourself, I have given between $3.00 to $5.00 per book to the charity or church. Yes, I would make more selling them myself but numbers can make a difference. Making a few dollars on hundreds of books is better than five dollars on a few dozen. Besides with print on demand you can always get more.
I offered a senior citizen center $3.00 per book once and in two afternoons we sold almost 300 copies. The center was elated with their $900 profit for doing no more than letting me have a table to use and I made $700 that I probably would not have otherwise. Yes, I knew some people who came in would buy the book anyway. But there were many that I could see were doing it to support the center.
Another important way to get your book in local stores is to be a distributor just like the big boys are. Tell the merchant they can pay their cost of your books after they are sold and have no obligations if a few end up shoplifted. This way a merchant has nothing to lose just like a Barnes and Noble that gets in books from Doubleday that includes an automatic return policy. Smaller niche and boutique stores are more susceptible to this offer than busier stores but I did have one of my books in a local grocery store, fittingly just past the beer and wine section.
I imagine after all we have talked about these past few weeks if I had to put the entire process into a nutshell, I would say 'Just slow down". Human nature can get the best of a new author enthused about perhaps a life-long dream becoming a reality. It is when we get in a rush that we don't think things through and can be taken advantage of by less than scrupulous vanity presses.
Staying slow and steady and thinking things through can help prevent that dream from becoming a nightmare.
Self-publishing can make you some decent money if you have a good product and market it yourself properly. It won't buy you a yacht but when it has run its course you can see a profit that can be converted into a solid and fair dollar per hour number for your work
Below are two links to articles and information that offer superior insight and information on self-publishing. I recommend you read not only these pages but all the links they refer to.
Doing so can be the difference between a great experience and a disaster and I'm rooting for all of you to someday be on the couch with Oprah. Don't forget to wave.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/books/28selfpub.html?_r=1
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html#Statistics
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Great article. Well done.I like to publish with the printer paying. However you have to take a small cut of the profits.Thanks Connor. Good adviceMike
I wish I had read this article, or one like it, before I published my first book many years ago. I sold a number of books, but lost money in the whole process. I'm putting together a book of poetry this time, but will take your advise and go slow. Thanks for this.Glad I could help David. We all learn things the hard way and that includes writers.Mike
Mike,This is not only terrific advice but honest, down-to-earth, realistic, and humbling.Thank you for spelling it out so well. Won't stop me from writing but it does make me see the value from a business point of view.Great job,NancyThanks Nancy.I certainly don't mean to stop anyone from writing. I'm just explaining the reality and sometimes that isn't what a hopeful author is looking for . But unless you do see the truth, the event of your writing lifetime can be a sad chapter that isn't worth remembering.Mike
Enjoyed your article very much. I agree with Nancy about your honesty and I think it is great because it could save some people a lot of grief.Linda dThanks Linda.That's what I'm hoping will be the result.Mike
Good lecture there, Mike. The education continues. Thanks. ~mogama~
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