The Authors Marketing Powerhouse
Self Publishing
I've been told it's very difficult to publish; that is, unless you are already have best sellers on the shelves. Friends are urging me to self publish. However, I've checked into that arena as well, it has its own horror stories. Then, there's the marketing!!!
For new publishers, what would you recommend?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Robin on -
I used one of the self publishing companies. Only the marketing portion is a problem for me. They send regular emails with suggestions and links. But I still feel very --- abandoned. I could have paid more money and they would have marketed for me, but I didn't have the extra cash.
Since I own a small business, carving out extra time to market is very difficult. I have not given up, however!
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Permalink Reply by Bonnie on -
Thanks Robin. One question. If you go the route of self-marketing, such as Lulu.com, do they advise you how to market or do you wing it? I must agree with you, it would be much simpler to allow the experts to do their job in the marketing field. I must say though, I took another step backward . . . still skittish;-). I'll keep on blogging for the time being. Sixty-three and still holding back (ha-ha), but maybe, just maybe I'll give it a shot. Writing is my life since retirement. You are so sweet to reply. Thank you again Robin.
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Permalink Reply by Robin on
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I used Outskirts Press. It was easy, reasonably priced. They have different packaging levels with varying degrees of support. Only the high dollar packages include marketing.
I get regular emails with suggestions and recommendations on what to do marketing-wise. Here is text from one of them:
Tell everyone you know that your book is published and ask them if they will buy a copy on Amazon. It's best if they buy it directly from Amazon since that will improve your Amazon Sales Ranking. More about the Amazon Sales Ranking later...
Then, encourage all of them to write a positive (5-star) review for your book. As you will learn in the coming weeks, soliciting book reviews is one of the cornerstones of healthy book promotion. Get as many positive reviews as you can since Amazon customers rarely buy books that have ZERO reviews. Usually your friends and family will do it if they know it will help you. If they don't buy the book, offer to give a few copies away but only if they agree to write an online review in exchange.
Amazon makes it easy to notify your friends and family (and potential customers) via email that your book is available online and ready for sale. Here's how:
Locate your book listing on Amazon (the easiest way is searching by the ISBN)
Once your book listing is on-screen, make sure your cover is showing. If it isn't there yet, wait until it is (a previous email indicated those timeframes).
Along the right-hand side of the Amazon screen under all those BUY buttons is a small link that says "Share." Click on it.
You can share your book's publication with your Facebook friends and on your Twitter account. If you are already a Facebook and/or Twitter addict, this should come as a pleasant surprise. If not, we'll be covering those social networking opportunities at a later date.
You can also send an email by entering all your friends' and family's email addresses. Everyone you know will receive a professional looking email directly from Amazon that makes it easy for them to buy your book.
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Permalink Reply by Dennis AuBuchon on -
I am a self-published author and I have been happy with my publisher. While I did not pay for the marketing and do it myself anytime I needed them to respond to something they were right their. All my discussions with them have been positive and I recommend them. My current book is Integrity: Do You Have It? 2nd edition.
Marketing and getting publicity is not difficult just check google for my name and you will find it coming up between 70 & 80 percent of the first ten pages.
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Permalink Reply by Pam Stanton on -
I just self-published my book through Lulu and am learning about marketing and distribution. Some lessons learned and words of advice:
PRO's:
1) Lulu is great if you want to get your book out there and available for $0 capital investment. You can buy their marketing services, but I chose not to do that.
2) Lulu's interface is fairly intuitive and their cover wizard is helpful. You basically just have to upload Adobe .pdf files and you're off and running.
3) Lulu will provide free basic "promotional" services like listing your book with Bowker and Amazon, if you decide to use Lulu's free provided ISBN ("free"... but see the "con" below.)
4) Lulu handles the payment processing and order fulfillment for you, which is great if you aren't in a position (or don't want to figure out) how to be able to accept credit card/Paypal, and if you don't want to package and mail out books yourself.
5) Lulu's website will create a "storefront" page featuring your book. You can link to this from your blog or website and it makes you look very professional, very quickly.
CON's:
1) Lulu's Terms and Conditions are not so easy to understand. Through trial and error I am learning what rights I have to do my own printing and distribution outside of Lulu.
2) Lulu's Customer Service is only by email-- there is no phone number to call. They do respond within a day or two, but the answers are sometimes cryptic. The website is a jumble of information that is not intuitive to navigate.
3) Think VERY CAREFULLY about whether to accept Lulu's "free" ISBN, or provide your own. I went into this completely naive and with little cash... so I took the "free ISBN" rather than pay them $350 to obtain my own. I've since discovered that: a) you can obtain your own ISBN's directly from the exclusive provider in the U.S., www.Bowker.com. A single ISBN costs $125, and if you're willing to buy a block of 10, it costs only $25 per ISBN. For a nominal fee of $20, Bowkers will also generate the standard ISBN barcode you need for your back cover.
Unfortunately, because I accepted Lulu's ISBN, I am restricted to using them as the only distribution agent for the book. I can order copies from them (at my author discount) and deliver them myself, but I cannot engage any other third party. This stinks... because I've come to realize that Lulu is a very expensive way to produce books. (see below)
4) Lulu's printing and shipping costs are very expensive, compared to other online services that do just book printing. They do not offer economy shipping options. My 89 page book costs about $6.25 to print and another $3 to ship. So... there's not a lot of room for me to mark it up for a profit before I'm priced out of the market. If you're negotiating with bookstores to stock your title, they will naturally want a discount so they can make their margin. With Lulu's costs, you just don't have much wiggle room.
SUMMARY:
So my advice? If you decide to use Lulu, bring your own ISBN to preserve your ability to seek alternate printing sources once you're up and running. Lulu's a great way to get started quickly and have a "storefront" you can link to from your blog or website.
Feel free to reach out to me directly if you have other questions. I'm happy to share what I've learned.
http://www.PamStanton.com
Pam@PamStanton.com
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