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…
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
