Oh, to be published!

Most book authors want to be picked up by a famous publisher and zoom their way to fame and fortune on the merits of their books. Nothing wrong with aiming high.

Before you pack  your publishing parachute, however, here are some facts about ”getting published.”

• Writing a good book isn’t all it takes. Visit   “How Stuff Works” and learn about 14 books so famous you’ve probably heard of all of them that were rejected time after time by publishers.
• Sell your own and make more money. Epecially for books with a subject of special interest for a specific market, you can reach that market effectively on your own and pocket the profits.

Here are three good reasons  to be your own publisher…

1. First good reason: Best offer around. No paying publisher has made you an offer you can’t refuse.  You didn’t make it to the top of the hierarchy of book publishing options with your book. Who cares? Deal with offers later. For now you can go your own way and publish your book yourself.
2. Second good reason: You know your market.  You know who needs (wants) your book. For example, if you’ve written a book for Iraqis settling in the United States, you know who needs your book  most and where to find them. Your marketing is off to a great start.
3. Third good reason:  you want to be in charge. A 15% commission may not be enough for your book, but that’s what a commercial publisher typically offer. If you publish it yourself, you’re the one who decides of how much you make. For every book sold, you pocket 100 percent of the profit.

Does that mean it’s easy to  get rich selling your own books?

Of course not! If writing books were a fast trip to  wealth, everybody would be writing books. It takes enormous dedication and hard work to break even (meet your hard costs) with a book you write and publish yourself.

Even if a publisher buys rights from you for your book, expect a workout in book promotion. For example—

One of my relatives wrote a terrific book on gift giving. She sold it on her own for a while, but then a commercial publisher picked her up and began sending her money and loading her with work to do to promote the book. She was traveling all around the country sharing gift-giving tips on television shows. After two years of almost nonstop  promotion, she figures she cleared about $5,000. By the hour, including writing and designing time, she calculates an hourly rate of about $5.

Here’s a quick way to find out if you should publish your own book:

Calculate how many books you think you could sell on your own and how many books your publisher would have to sell to give you the same revenue at a 15% or 20% royalty. The numbers should help you make a wise decision.

Of course you’ll want to go with a commercial publisher if you get a great offer that costs you nothing but puts a significant amount of money in your pocket with no debt involved. Of course, if you have confidence that you can sell your book on your own, you should be a self-publishing author, or as we think of you these days, an independent publisher.

People who seem to do best with self-publishing:

• Experts who give speeches and host workshops
• Doctors with private care patients
• Business owners with information and skills to share
• Professors and scholars who have an important set of facts to share with colleagues or the general public
• Historians who can make local or regional history come to life
• Writers and people with important information or a story line who feel driven to publish a book.
• Anyone with a story to tell that can help others

Not everyone asking for your dollars is a crook. Dozens of legal businesses offer a wide range of services related to book publishing and want you to think that they are publishing companies. The key to knowing whether they are publishers or not is finding out how much money you need to send them. If the answer is anything more than $0.00, you are dealing with a service provider, not a publisher. Griffith Publishing is in that category. We do not purchase manuscripts but work with the author to give him or her the best opportunity for financial success and recognition.

Why publish your own book? Only you can know the answer. When it’s right for you, you’ll find a way. You’ll be a successful self-publishing author.

And what about your book? Tell us about it.

We’d love to hear from you. Call us any time at 800 359-9503. Or send us email (hodi@mindspring.com).

Brought to you compliments of Griffith Publishing.

Let’s go to Publishing School!

Publishing school can be fun and answer many questions for you even before you ask them.

No tuition  to pay. No grades to worry about.  And no commercials, either.  Just  lots of info you need to save money without losing quality. We believe information should be free. We do provide an occasional link to Griffith Publishing, but only to let readers know where this information is coming from.

When you link to Griffith Publishing, you will see on the left of the screen an invitation to sign up for the publishing school from that source. The classes in this blog-driven publishing school cover the same material and more, but with new graphics, examples, and text. We welcome your questions or comments about our publishing school.

Offered by Griffith Publishing

Making money publishing books with other authors

It’s not easy, but it’s possible, to chip out a pretty good living publishing books. You can do it yourself, and you can make a lot of people happy.

A few days ago a doctor author called me asking for information about publishing a book with the title, “So You Want to Be a Surgeon?”

Immediately the whole plan fell into place in my mind.This would be a guide to a career in surgery. We would open the minds of thousands to the possibilities and tell them how to get started.

The doctor would be the publisher, and we would start with this title. Using his connections we would find doctors in other specialties who would be willing to share their thoughts and experiences. We’d soon have a series of books: “So You Want to be a Surgeon?…a Dermatologist?…an Emergency Room doctor?…An Internist?…A Family Practice Physician?” and on and on through about 20 specialties.

Each book would have a corresponding web page with links to the latest statics about demand for the specialty, the number of specialists in various geographic areas and other information. The book itself would be balanced between hilarious and serious “talk” about the ins and outs of being involved in that specialty. More than one doctor would share his or her thoughts.

We’d sell the books and develop both print and online catalogs to let bookstores, medical schools, and libraries know about the books. We’d book our authors and contributors on radio and TV. We’d get them in front of high school and college students. We’d participate in medical school programs devoted to specialties most in demand.

My lead doctor would be the publisher.  I would take care of packaging the books and running the show.

It all seemed like a good idea, but I’ve shelved it for now. The doctor’s manuscript is the story (interesting and captivating) of one doctor’s experience as a surgeon. It’s more of an autobiography than a career guide. Still, we’re talking and who knows what might happen?

The lesson of this note is this:

Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate. Several authors zeroing in on different aspects of one subject can sell more books than several authors working separately. Not everyone shares equally, of course. Authors will do well if every opportunity to sell the books is taken.

Think about it anyway. Be a single-interest publisher yourself. It could make all the difference in the world.

Joyce Griffith

Why publish your own book?

Authors usually decide to publish their own books for one of these reasons:

1. They can’t find a publisher or an agent who will handle their book for them
2. They have already identified a market for the book and prefer to reach that market themselves
3. They’re not content with a 20% royalty from a commercial publishing house

Griffith Publishing’s author consultant has this advice:

Go with a commercial publisher if you get a great offer that costs you nothing but puts money in your pocket with no debt involved.

Otherwise, consider self-publishing. You’ll work hard, you’ll face frustration from time to time, you may need a couple of years to reach your financial goal, but if you persevere in offering your helpful or highly entertaining book to those who need it or would enjoy it the most–you will succeed!

This blog is brought to you at no cost or obligation by the “publishing school” offered by Griffith Publishing.