Write it once then sell it every day for the rest of your life.
Self Publishing versus Traditional Publishing
If you are a budding author there comes a time when you must consider whether to follow the traditional route of publishing or join the ever expanding numbers of self publishing authors.
Firstly, despite what you may read out there on the internet, there are no right or wrong ways to do it. You have got to do what is best for you. There are as many different routes to take as there are books to be published. You may best be served by the experience of a publisher and their team or you might thrive on the challenge of getting involved in every detail of your book's production and go it alone. You have to weigh up all the pros and cons and decide what method will give you, and your own personal circumstances, the best chance of success.
Unfortunately for most, the very fact that you do not have to lay out any money with a traditional publisher is a big deciding factor. If you Self Publish, there can be some quite expensive up front costs, but not always, you could go Print on Demand with someone like Lulu.com. With a traditional Publisher you get a guaranteed distribution in bookshops and you will also have the use of all their knowledge of the marketplace. The biggest trade-off you will make for this, is the total loss of creative control over your work. The Publishers and their staff will make the final decision on everything including the cover, the title, even the chapters and their contents and rightly so, remember it is their money they are risking. If you self publish, it swings entirely the other way and you will have to make all the decisions. As well as having to organise the printing and marketing, there are even the small details to consider, including what paper the book is printed on.
As to the money, an author can usually expect to receive around 10% if he goes with a publisher. If you self publish and sell in a bookshop you can expect around 25% - 30%. If you sell from a website, your profits will increase significantly (PDF Ebooks give you nearer a 99% return), but you will have to market your book and find customers. Here is the real crunch, your financial return will depend totally on the number of books you can sell. This is where a traditional publisher is better in the short term, they already have the contacts and the distribution set up to move large quantities of books but of course there is no guarantee that people will buy them. If you go it alone and successfully produce a series of books, your profits will grow with your experience and you will also eventually be in a position to help and advise other would be authors.
Another thing that is not generally realised is the speed with which your work will find an audience. Although a Publisher can bring a book to market within a couple of months if there is a good reason, like a topical deadline, it usually takes a year to a year and a half, after you have finished writing your book for it to appear in the shops. Self Publish and you could have your book out there in the marketplace within weeks. This could be an especially important consideration if your subject is a hot topic of the moment, with a limited shelf life or there is competition from other authors.
So at the end of the day, you have to do your research, weigh up all these options and decide which is the right path for you. Of course, there is nothing to stop you trying both, which is an obvious idea but sadly lacking in many other on-line debates and sources of advice. Why not do both? Stephen King did!
You can always self publish and hopefully earn some money while you wait for you work to be accepted by a traditional publisher. At best you could strike it lucky and become a successful author with all the respect and financial reward that brings. At worst, and if nothing else, you will gain a lot of valuable experience that will enable you to deal with any publisher and his team on a more knowledgeable footing. Hopefully you will now have a clearer idea of what you want to do and if you do decide to self publish, you will find lots more ideas and help on this website.
If you are thinking of experimenting with writing and selling a pdf ebook, please check out our offers on the main website, where we will provide you with a basic package that will give you the ability to write, convert you work into a PDF ebook and sell it, with automatic delivery from your website, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and again automatically send follow up emails to your customers with other offers. You will not believe the price. check this out
If you need to expand this business or need ideas for marketing you are probably already in the right place! Have a look at our Blog and in-depth articles on how to make money as a self publishing author
Consolidation, the secret of creative financial success
Consolidation is a term more used in high end financial business strategy than in the creative process but if you are concerned with the over all profitability of your career as an author, it is one of the most important factors you must consider.
Now if you are doing it for pleasure or as an expression of self creativity there is nothing wrong with that in my book, more power to you. On the other hand if you are concerned with making money, consolidation is a critical factor.
Basically, in the case of an author for instance, you must resist the temptation to jump around writing about everything under the sun in your career. To maximise your earning potential you must specialise in one field or something related to it.
The first and most important reason to do this concerns your fan base. If you write a series of books on a particular subject, you will eventually attract a hard core of readers. If you jump around writing books about new subjects, the person you attracted with your previous book will be lost to you as a customer. If you write a book on the same subject or something connected, that reader of your previous book is more likely to buy it, and the next one and the next one. It is always easier to sell your work to an existing customer who has already bought from you.
The second good reason is that as you gain experience in your subject, you will find the books easier to write. Your second book will take less time to complete than your first, and your third will take less time than the second. The more books you write, the more media attention and publicity you will receive as you become a recognised “author & expert” in your field. As your list of readers grows so will your profits and you will start to experience the accumulative effect that consolidation can bring. The chances are you will go on to develop a fan base of core customers that will will buy your new books as soon as they come out.
Having a series of books also gives you greater flexibility in their pricing and marketing. It will allow you to offer package deals. That is, selling your books at a cheaper price but in greater quantities. Instead of selling one book, imagine selling a pack of six.
So here is a golden rule if you want to maximise your profit and reduce your effort. Consolidate, stick to one subject or genre or niche that you can aim to master and become a recognised expert in and never diversify or stray away from your customer base.
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The real Value of your Book
There is something that is not immediately apparent to budding authors and that is the real value of your book and the added financial advantages it will bring. I am not referring just to the typical 10% that you can expect from traditional publishers, (or the 20% to 90% that you could expect if you self publish), you can expect in earnings. What I would like to highlight here the “spin offs” that a book generates and that you as an author will accumulate.
First of all there is the enhancements it will bring to your social life with the dinner invitations and speaking engagements you are offered. As an author, your perceived standing will increase and as it does, so will the potential to raise your fees. If you are already earning an income from “Speaking” in some form, then having your name on a book, or better still, a series of books, (even as a joint author), will allow to charge more for your services. This is because people will see you differently. Do not be vain enough to think you are suddenly special or better. You are still the same person, but now you will be able to charge what you are really worth.
As an expert who has written a book, you will find it easier to write and get paid for newsletters and columns, you may even get asked for your comments by the media if your books have a bearing on a topical or current event. You will be able to charge for consulting in your chosen field, hold workshops and chair events. In fact, you will find that just been an author will open many new doors for you both socially and financially. If you already support a charity, the added prestige of being an author will allow you to give even more back to the community.
These are just some of the often unconsidered benefits of writing a book, that should figure into your decisions and long term plans when choosing the topics of your writing. When you start writing your books, you must think where you want to be in five years time, and if your chosen subject will take you there, be it lecturing or conventions. If you are writing with a mind to financial success, you must make the hard decision about how much “mileage” your book will have.
Writing a book is not just a creative process of self discovery that will change you internally. It will also produce unexpected benefits and changes to your life, both financially and socially.
This is the real value your book holds for you.
Delivering Digital data
You can add your book to an email as a pdf, you can even set up a simple auto responder with Microsoft outlook or pay for a monthly online service like Aweber.
There are lots of options but most either involve parting with cash or spending time at the computer, instead of writing and sometimes both.
One cheap and easy option if you have your own website is to use software like Smartddlite to sell and deliver your book 24/7 on autopilot.
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