Chicken Scratchings

Posts Tagged ‘Selling’

15 stacks of books higher than this

by Bill Ruesch

Latest figures based on ISBN’s reveal that the US published nearly 190,000 books last year.  If you assume an average thickness of 1″ per book, and stacked them one on top of the other you’d have fifteen stacks of books each stack taller than the Empire State Building in New York. Last year–15 stacks of books taller than the Empire State Building. This wasn’t over a ten or twenty year stretch, but just last year. Try to visualize these fifteen stacks standing beside the Empire State Building and then imagine what would happen to the streets of New York City if two, five, or ten year’s worth of published books were stacked among the buildings.

All of this is from US publishing alone!  Another 130,000 books were published in the UK. If you added these books to the stacks it would create another ten more Empire State sized stacks. It boggles the mind.

The Questions to Ask

• Does my book stand a chance?
  • The odds are, please excuse the pun, stacked against you.  Every hour of every day over 21 books are published in the US. The competition is unbelievably tough, but as difficult as it is, if you don’t enter the fray you are guaranteed to fail. Remember as difficult as it is to win a lottery, lotteries are won every day. Like Han Solo said in the movie Star Wars, “Never tell me the odds kid.” That is the attitude you must adopt.
• What is the best path for me to pursue in getting my book sold and read?
  
  • First dispel the notion that all you have to do is write well and you’ll become rich and famous. That’s a fairy tale. There is no happily ever after for 99% or more of all authors. Even Mark Twain in his heyday knew the value of marketing. It has been recorded that he had 10,000 people selling his books for him. If Mark Twain had to arrange for his own book sales, it isn’t too far of a stretch to think that you would have to too. Even traditionally published authors have to participate in selling.  The Red Hen Association has downloaded an interview with a contemporary published author, Casey Sherman. Mr. Sherman has some very enlightening things to say about book selling today. Check it out at Casey Sherman interview.
  • Consider the genre of your book. Small independent publishers produce four times as many nonfiction titles as fiction. There is a reason for this disparity. A nonfiction book usually has an identifiable market.  A book of fiction has a more difficult time locating its audience; however, a novel has the potential for much greater sales in the long run. According to  http://BookStatistics.com popular fiction comprises 55% of book sales, followed by 10% religious nonfiction, and 9% cooking and crafts.
• How many books do I have to sell to make money?
  • Large publishers say they have to sell 10,000 books to break even, but for self-publishers without huge overheads break even can come much sooner. It is difficult to name a figure for profitability because costs of printing, editing, art, illustration, and cover design can, and do differ for each book. Simple math is all it takes to determine earnings. Add all the sales and then subtract all of the costs. Be sure to keep records of all costs including transportation to and from events, mail and shipping expenses, professional services like accountants and attorneys, meals if you are out of town, etc. Not only will you want to report expenses to the IRS to decrease your taxes, but you can’t get an accurate break even number without it. Self-publishing is a business. It’s best if you treat it as a business and not a hobby.
• How have other authors done it ?
  • In today’s world it is easier and more difficult at the same time to be heard among the babble. The Internet makes it possible to reach out to the entire world. You can setup and start a blog for free in minutes. Just think, you can launch a soap box and speak to the whole world right now. The problem is that 175,000 other blogs are started each day according to Cnet. Nonetheless, a blog has become a necessity. A stagnant blog, will not serve you. Just because you build a blog site doesn’t mean that you will attract visitors. You have to market the site, in order to market yourself and your book.
  • Arrange speaking engagements where you can sell and sign copies of books.
  • Go to where the potential readership goes. If your book is about race car drivers, see if you can get the book into NASCAR events. Maybe your book is about fairies, go to FaerieCon or other fairy festivals. Got a cookbook? Go to places where cooking is the topic. Be creative and think in terms of places people might be who would relate to your book even if it is a stretch. I have a friend who writes books about Dutch oven cooking. He has an arrangement with a Dutch oven manufacturer to put a sales piece about his books in the box of every oven they sell.
  • Be fearless. Call on buyers for stores and ask them to stock your book.
  • Get your book on library shelves. Contact the American Library Association for places and times of librarian conferences.

  Will these tips really work? They aren’t guaranteed, but they will help. The biggest tip is make your own fame. If you find a way to become a household name, you will sell books. There’s your guarantee.

I’ve been following the tirade over Harlequin’s effort to create a self-publishing division. I don’t understand the fuss and bother. By insisting Harlequin use the term Vanity instead of Self, isn’t the publishing industry really bullying authors into wearing a Scarlet V of shame? Haven’t we matured since the mid-1600′s when John Milton self-published? I can almost hear the grade school chants of “Cry baby titty mouse, laid an egg in Grandma’s house” when the phrase vanity publishing is tossed about.

First of all, let’s set the record straight. Self-publishing is not vanity publishing. Both self-publishers and vanity publishers share one trait, they pay for all of the expenses of publishing a book out-of-pocket. The difference between the two is in the distinction made by intention. Self-publishing is a business–the business is distributing and selling books. Self-publishers should be respected if not for their works, for their courage. How many traditionally published authors can honestly say they have the moxie to do the same?

Vanity press is reserved for those who want to have a book in print, but have no intention of sales and distribution beyond their immediate group of family and friends. What is wrong with that? A book from the heart speaks more to love than vanity.

Better remember who runs things here.

Do you really think that is right to deride an author whose dreams are fulfilled once the printed and bound book is in their hands? I don’t. I don’t know what dictionary the publishing world is looking at when they call these people vain. It’s the equivalent of using a racial slur. It’s ugly and should stop right here and now. Vanity publishing may be an accepted term, but it is time to scour it from the lexicon.

Maybe it is because the publishing competition is so fierce, but with the possible exception of professional wrestling, there seems to me more criticism, chiding, and mean-spirited bickering among writers than in any other industry. Psychologists will tell you that this childish name calling behavior comes from insecurity and fear. Are the mighty publishing houses and best selling authors really afraid of Aunt Martha in Iowa making an attempt at the brass ring without hamstringing her with the scarlet V? She will have plenty of other rivers to cross like distribution, marketing, etc.

Trust the public. The people will decide with their money what they want to read, and who they want to read. If we continue insisting on antiquated terms to protect the high and mighty, maybe we ought to take another look at who’s really vain.