Monday, September 04, 2006
Aspiring Authors Can GetPublished, if Not Sold
By KELLY SPORSStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal Online
Question: I'm interested in self-publishing novels, but I can't figure out where to start. I wrote two books, created a publishing company and secured a domain name. Where do I go from here?--D.S., Jersey City, N.J.
Answer: It's easy to self-publish a book, but it's not so easy to sell it.
"I cannot tell you how many people I know that tell me they have 5,000 copies of their book sitting in their garage," says Jan Nathan, executive director of PMA, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based association for independent publishers. "What makes someone a good author unfortunately does not necessarily make them a good publicist."
Novelists often struggle with self-publishing because they don't have a natural platform for selling their book, and many aren't stellar self-promoters. Nonfiction books offer advice or information that can draw in readers regardless of how much marketing is done. Novels, though, often require big marketing dollars and enough hype to get the book in readers' hands.
And even with a big publisher on your side, chances of success are slim. About 80% of the 1.2 million books tracked by Nielsen BookScan in 2004 sold fewer than 99 copies and only 2% sold 5,000 or more copies. The average book sells 500 copies. Only 10% of the roughly 120,000 books published each year reach traditional bookstores, Ms. Nathan adds.
Email your questions about starting a business. Please include your name, city and state. If you don't want your name used in our column, please indicate that. Due to volume of mail received, we regret that we cannot answer every question.
Three essentials to success as a self-publisher are a professional editor (not your good friend unlikely to demand you rewrite chapters four through eight), a talented cover and page designer and a well-tuned business and marketing plan. There is plenty of help available. Lists of editors, designers, printers and other publishing consultants are available at www.pma-online.org and www.spannet.org.
You will also need a block of International Standard Book Numbers, or ISBNs, which are used to identify one book title or edition from another. ISBNs are sold in blocks, with a block of 10 costing about $270. You can also get copyright protection by registering through the Library of Congress.
Once you're ready to print, there are two basic options. Traditional offset printing is a better deal when printing at least 500 copies, because you'll only pay $2 to $3 a copy for a bulk order. Newer "print-on-demand" technology, using digital printers, lets you buy copies one at a time for about $7 each. Self-publishers serious about wanting to profit from their book, however, should typically use the traditional method and buy at least 2,000 copies of their book, Ms. Nathan says. The higher per-copy cost of the newer technology makes it nearly impossible to profit on sales because stores and wholesalers usually take a big cut. Expect to spend roughly $10,000 on the entire self-publishing process, she adds.
Now comes the hard part: Actually getting people to buy it. Don't assume your local Barnes & Noble will scoop up copies and display them.
When Jacqueline Church Simonds, of Reno, Nev., self-published a novel in 2000 about an 18th-century female pirate captain, she first approached major bookstore chains, only to be turned away.
She ultimately devised a better strategy: marketing her book to consumers most interested in her topic. In her case, pirate re-enacters. She attends pirate symposiums, hosts readings of her book for pirate enthusiasts and writes articles on how pirates dressed and acted. She also maintains a Web site with pirate facts and clothing information. The two blockbuster movies, "Pirates of the Caribbean" and its sequel, haven't hurt her sales either. And even with all her marketing, she's sold only about 3,000 copies.
"It was actually really wrenching, because novelists are usually hermits by inclination," Ms. Simonds says. "So if you want it badly enough, you have to change your behavior."
Online booksellers are usually more receptive to small publishers because they have unlimited virtual shelf space. Amazon.com's Advantage program, for instance, will stock and sell books by small publishers in exchange for a $29.95 annual membership fee and a 55% commission on the retail price of each book sold. You might also try approaching locally owned bookstores, which may be more interested in displaying local authors.
By KELLY SPORSStaff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal Online
Question: I'm interested in self-publishing novels, but I can't figure out where to start. I wrote two books, created a publishing company and secured a domain name. Where do I go from here?--D.S., Jersey City, N.J.
Answer: It's easy to self-publish a book, but it's not so easy to sell it.
"I cannot tell you how many people I know that tell me they have 5,000 copies of their book sitting in their garage," says Jan Nathan, executive director of PMA, a Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based association for independent publishers. "What makes someone a good author unfortunately does not necessarily make them a good publicist."
Novelists often struggle with self-publishing because they don't have a natural platform for selling their book, and many aren't stellar self-promoters. Nonfiction books offer advice or information that can draw in readers regardless of how much marketing is done. Novels, though, often require big marketing dollars and enough hype to get the book in readers' hands.
And even with a big publisher on your side, chances of success are slim. About 80% of the 1.2 million books tracked by Nielsen BookScan in 2004 sold fewer than 99 copies and only 2% sold 5,000 or more copies. The average book sells 500 copies. Only 10% of the roughly 120,000 books published each year reach traditional bookstores, Ms. Nathan adds.
Email your questions about starting a business. Please include your name, city and state. If you don't want your name used in our column, please indicate that. Due to volume of mail received, we regret that we cannot answer every question.
Three essentials to success as a self-publisher are a professional editor (not your good friend unlikely to demand you rewrite chapters four through eight), a talented cover and page designer and a well-tuned business and marketing plan. There is plenty of help available. Lists of editors, designers, printers and other publishing consultants are available at www.pma-online.org and www.spannet.org.
You will also need a block of International Standard Book Numbers, or ISBNs, which are used to identify one book title or edition from another. ISBNs are sold in blocks, with a block of 10 costing about $270. You can also get copyright protection by registering through the Library of Congress.
Once you're ready to print, there are two basic options. Traditional offset printing is a better deal when printing at least 500 copies, because you'll only pay $2 to $3 a copy for a bulk order. Newer "print-on-demand" technology, using digital printers, lets you buy copies one at a time for about $7 each. Self-publishers serious about wanting to profit from their book, however, should typically use the traditional method and buy at least 2,000 copies of their book, Ms. Nathan says. The higher per-copy cost of the newer technology makes it nearly impossible to profit on sales because stores and wholesalers usually take a big cut. Expect to spend roughly $10,000 on the entire self-publishing process, she adds.
Now comes the hard part: Actually getting people to buy it. Don't assume your local Barnes & Noble will scoop up copies and display them.
When Jacqueline Church Simonds, of Reno, Nev., self-published a novel in 2000 about an 18th-century female pirate captain, she first approached major bookstore chains, only to be turned away.
She ultimately devised a better strategy: marketing her book to consumers most interested in her topic. In her case, pirate re-enacters. She attends pirate symposiums, hosts readings of her book for pirate enthusiasts and writes articles on how pirates dressed and acted. She also maintains a Web site with pirate facts and clothing information. The two blockbuster movies, "Pirates of the Caribbean" and its sequel, haven't hurt her sales either. And even with all her marketing, she's sold only about 3,000 copies.
"It was actually really wrenching, because novelists are usually hermits by inclination," Ms. Simonds says. "So if you want it badly enough, you have to change your behavior."
Online booksellers are usually more receptive to small publishers because they have unlimited virtual shelf space. Amazon.com's Advantage program, for instance, will stock and sell books by small publishers in exchange for a $29.95 annual membership fee and a 55% commission on the retail price of each book sold. You might also try approaching locally owned bookstores, which may be more interested in displaying local authors.
