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How many books can a self-publisher sell? Editor's Notes #302 December 12, 2019 |
| Hello, it takes an entire team of people in editorial, distribution, publicity, design and marketing to make them work. —Will Ferguson In this issue: 1. How many books can I sell if I self-publish? 2. Tickled my funny bone 3. Interesting Web site 4. Writing prompt 5. Letters to the editor 6. A reminder about a special offer 1. How many books can I sell if I self-publish? Writers often ask whether they should self-publish or go with a trade publisher. There are whole books on the subject. For starters, there are a variety of ways to self-publish: Ebook to be sold personally, ebook sold by Amazon or similar company, hard copy book printed traditionally and sold by the author through a variety of means, hard copy through a print on demand company, and maybe some other ways that escape me at the moment. Besides having to consider which way to self-publish, the writer has to consider marketing. How much marketing is the writer prepared to do, and how much will any publisher or distributer do? And just how does a person’s book get found online anyway, or in a bookstore for that matter? Underlying the questions above is often the question of reach: how many books can the writer sell? Today, we’ll have to leave aside the issue of how you are considering to self-publish and exactly how the marketing works for each venue. We’ll look instead at which conditions could sway a writer either to self-publish or to work with a traditional publisher. A successful self-publisher already has some sort of access to a market. Maybe the writer has already published books and has worked out a way to stay in touch with readers who want more. Maybe the writer is an expert in a field and can exploit that celebrity. This does not have to be worldwide acclaim, just enough expertise to make the writer’s book appealing, perhaps at workshops or conferences. Although traditional publishers are happy when their writers bring a ready market with them, it’s not necessary. The publisher will already have a system of distribution and sales people who will suggest your book to stores and will also possibly put your book on Amazon. How many books you sell if you self-publish is 100% up to you. There are no shortcuts to sales. One of the saddest things I’ve seen happen to self-publishing writers is the let-down when the reality sets in that simply having your book available on a large site like Amazon does not guarantee any sales at all. There is a lot to learn about marketing anything online, and you have to be in charge of that when you self-publish. Another sad thing is when a writer hugely over-estimates how many hard copies will sell and lives with boxes and boxes of books that aren’t getting into readers’ hands. How many books you can sell if you self-publish depends on many factors: how well-written your book is, its physical properties, your degree of expertise, your social reach, the topic or genre of your book, the competition, the local situation, how much help you get. How happy you are with the end result will largely depend on how well you have researched your options and how honest you are about your own skills. =========== 2.Tickled my funny bone Sign outside a health-food store: Closed due to illness. =========== 3. Interesting Web site Some advice for promoting your books on Twitter. https://thewritelife.com/twitter-marketing-strategy-how-much-book-promotion// =========== 4. Writing prompt Think of a time you were disappointed. How would someone next to you know how you were feeling? (Or did you hide it well?) How did the disappointment manifest itself physically? Write about that experience or give a disappointment to one of your characters. Make your reader feel what the disappointed person feels. I’d love read your result? =========== 5. Letters to the editor Sometimes our words can hurt. Recently I learned that I had inadvertently injured a subscriber, and he spoke up. I’m sharing his message here with his permission so you can learn from my mistake. I have. Re: Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut and still think they are sexy. It is hard enough for bald over-weight people to appear in public. Your joke seems to promote the false impression that this type of person thinks they are sexy and should be laughed at for it....To make fun of people and promote false impressions is a nasty way to create a cheap joke. We need to stop and think before we promote false impressions and create jokes at the expense of others. (Name withheld by request) Here is a link to the offending issue of Editor’s Noteshttps://www.writershelper.com/Editors_Notes-278.html/ =========== A reminder about a special offer Until January 31, 2020, I will double the word count for a sample edit. So, for US$20, you can have an edit on 1000 words. This is not simply a check of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. I comment on everything I see. I also include a quote for the full range of my services, so if you’ve ever wondered what it would cost to have your book edited, you would know exactly what I would charge for the various types of work an editor does. Learn more and submit your work at https://www.writershelper.com/sample-edit.html/ =========== Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor Link on LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/in/audreyowen (Email me first so I know how you know me.) =========== If you know a writer who would appreciate receiving Editor's Notes, forward this issue. If someone has passed this on to you, you can get your own free subscription by signing up at https://www.writershelper.com/newsletter.html |
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