Why Self-Publishing Is NOT "Easy"

Publishing a book has never been easier. Almost everyone has a keyboard and a computer with the ability to crank in words and produce a manuscript—whether nonfiction or fiction. Authors struggle to find a literary agent and a traditional publishing deal. They get tired of crafting an excellent product, the waiting, and the rejection letters. Instead they decide to self-publish because that direction looks easy.

For over 20 years, I've been reading about publishing, writing and working in this business as an editor and writer. I encourage you to read this recent article from Jane Friedman, former editor at Writer's Digest and publishing expert. I want to quote a brief section of Friedman's article:

“Back in 2012, there were many headlines about the tremendous growth in self-publishing output as demonstrated by the increase in ISBNs used by indie authors.

Since then, Bowker—the agency that issues ISBNs in the United States—has continued to release annual stats that still show growth in the sector, but these numbers always come with important caveats, including:

• Bowker’s figures don’t reflect all of the self-publishing activity out there. They can’t count books that don’t have ISBNs, and a considerable volume of self-pub titles are published and distributed without ISBNs.
• Bowker’s counts are for ISBNs, not book titles. A single book title may use several ISBNs (e.g., one for the print edition, another for the ebook edition, and so on).

According to Bowker, ISBNs for self-published titles in 2015 reached 727,125, up from 599,721 in 2014, representing a 21% increase in one year. The increase since 2010 is 375%.

But I think more important is where the growth occurred. Bowker’s numbers indicate more authors are using Amazon’s CreateSpace, which is free to use; older, fee-based self-publishing services are falling out of favor. Here’s a selected glimpse (again, remember these are ISBN counts coming out of each service per year):

• CreateSpace titles in 2010: 35,693
• CreateSpace titles in 2015: 423,718 (+1,087%)
• Author Solutions titles in 2010: 41,304
• Author Solutions titles in 2015: 23,930 (-42%)

The only area of Author Solutions’ business that saw an ISBN increase in 2015 is WestBow, the Christian self-publishing imprint marketed through Thomas Nelson. Note that Penguin Random House, which used to own Author Solutions, sold it off in January 2016, unloading what was probably seen as an albatross.”

Are these statistics a surprise to you? 

The increase of over 1,000% percent on CreateSpace was startling.If you publish through CreateSpace, your book is only on Amazon and not available in other formats.

If you decide to self-publish, understand several facts: First, you are establishing a world-wide sales record of your publishing efforts. Traditional publishers and literary agents look at this information to decide if they are going to publish your next book or take you on as a client. Second, you are in complete control of your work which may feel easier but also you are responsible for all the details of the book creation (excellent cover design, well-written writing, distribution and sales).

Yes the creation of books has never been easier. Here's the reality that few people will tell you: making the book is easy but getting people to purchase the book will take hard work and persistent effort. If you have developed relationships with people in your target market and connect with them often. More specifically if you connect to your audience through an email list and speaking to them face to face, then yes you can sell your book.

No matter what I write, a number of you are going to take the leap into self-publishing. Here's several action steps if you go this route:

1. Work with an experienced editor to create an excellent book.

2. Work with professional cover designers and people to format and produce a book where every detail looks like something from one of the big five traditional publishers. This means including elements like endorsements and words on the spine of the book (including a publishing logo on the bottom of that spine).

3. Keep working consistently to grow your audience. Get my free ebook, Platform-Building Ideas for Every Author and trying new avenues to market and sell your book.

4. Continue to learn all you can about publishing. Get a copy of my Book Proposals That Sell and study the publishing insights in this book.

5. Never give up on your book. As the author, you have the greatest interest and passion for your book. This statement is true no matter whether you are traditionally published or self-publish. Always be looking for new opportunities to write or speak about your book.

This last point is something that I try and model with my own books. For example, in the header of my twitter profile, you see my Book Proposals That Sell book which is only available from me. My Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams book is in my bio for my recent Southern Writer magazine column. And finally, I continue to do radio interviews for my Billy Graham biography which came out over two years ago. Just follow this link to see some of the recent interviews and listen to them.

Have you self-published? Was it a good experience and “easy?” I look forward to reading your comments. 

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Boost Your Book Marketing Opportunities

Many book authors don't want to face this question: Are you happy with your book sales during the past year? Take an honest look at your sales numbers—which is much better than ignoring them. Are there things you can do differently in the days ahead to sell books?

If you've written a Christian book, then you need to get a copy of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace by Sarah Bolme.  This book is packed with a wide range of information and resources. Whether you are launching a new book, selling a book which has been in the market for a while or targeting special markets like homeschool, Spanish or African American, every author will find many insights in these pages.

As someone who has been in the Christian market for many years as an author and editor, I appreciated the honest and forthright information in this book. For example, in the introduction, Sarah Bolme writes, “Today, almost half of all books are self-published. According to Bowker, 40% of all books published in 2012 are self-published…However, the average self-published title still only sells between 40 and 200 copies. Often this is due to the author’s inexperience or lack of knowledge about how to market a book effectively.” (Page 3). A few paragraphs later, Bolme writes, “When promoting the Kingdom of God, getting books into people’s hands is God’s business. All you can do is what you know to do. Do that and ask God to bless your feeble efforts. After all, if he can feed over 5,000 people with two small fish and five little loaves of bread, He can multiply your marketing efforts to reach thousands of people, if that is His desire. Marketing and selling books is not a sprint; it is a marathon. Too many authors give up too quickly when they do not see immediate results.” (Page 4)

I love the websites and resources packed into these pages. Whether you have your first book or have written many books, you can easily find value and profit from studying these pages and applying it to your books.  I appreciated the research and careful thought that went into these resources.

As Bolme writes, “Research shows that an unbeliever must have seven to twelve significant contacts with the Gospel message before they will become a Christian. This same principle holds true in marketing. Consumers generally need to be exposed to a new product seven to twelve times before they will purchase it. Familiarity is important. The more consumers see and hear about a product, the more likely they will eventually purchase the product. This theory holds true in marketing books to the Christian marketplace. Repeated exposure is essential. The more consumers see and hear about your books, the more likely they are to place orders for your titles.” (Page 132)

Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace is not a book that you read once. Keep your yellow highlighter and post-its handy has you work through these pages. Every Christian author needs this book to open up new possibilities for their book, then take action to apply this information to their own book and marketing efforts. It is the application of this book which will make a difference for your book sales. 

To get the best value from this book, I recommend you read it cover to cover. You will gain a realistic perspective about he Christian marketplace and the various opportunities. After a single reading, I recommend you return to the book and apply the information to your own marketing efforts. For example, if you need distribution, then explore the various websites in this chapter. If you need to engage more Christian media, then make detailed use of the websites in that chapter.

Also Sarah Bolme writes and informative blog called Marketing Christian Books (use the link to read it). Or better yet, use this link to subscribe to receive the updates through your email. I've been reading Sarah's work for some time and appreciate the value and insights in her articles.

If your book sales are not what you want (and this is true for almost every author), then take action. It is never too late (even if your book has been published for a while) to tell more people and increase your book sales. Instead of depending on happenstance or your publisher or someone else, take your own responsibility (the first principle of Jack Canfield's The Success Principles) and move ahead with confidence.

Tweetable:

Selling enough copies of your Christian book? If not, use these ideas and resources. (ClickToTweet)
 

The Constant Wish of Every Author

Are you making wishes as an author?

Several weeks ago I was skimming on Facebook and noticed one of my author friends was talking about a new book. I wrote this friend and offered to review her book. She was going to ask her publisher to send me a book. I promptly pressed on to something else and almost forgot about it. Then the review copy arrived this week. I'm eager to write a few words of review to help my friend.

The publisher launched this book on March 1st. As a part of my process of getting ready to review this book, I checked the book page on Amazon. Nine days after the launch, it looked like my review was going to be the first one. There were no reviews for this book. Reviews are important to every author because they are social proof that readers love your book. It's why I work as an author to ask others to review my book and also review books for others on Amazon and Goodreads.

I emailed my author friend about her lack of reviews. Now this author has sold thousands of copies of some of her other books. She has a full-time job—not as an author. Despite her years in publishing, I found her response interesting. Her email blamed the lack of effort on the marketing department of her publisher.

It is the constant wish of every author to have someone else market and sell their book. Each of us want a marketing department who has the same passion for our book and subject that we have. The majority of authors are introverts and don't enjoy marketing or even want to think about telling others about their book. Recently I heard bestselling author Brene Brown's book, Rising Strong. In this book, Brene describes herself as an extreme introvert. Her view is common among authors from my experience.

One of my favorite books is The Success Principles by Jack Canfield. I've read the book and also heard the audio on this book. Why? Jack studied the principles that people follow to be successful and I want to be successful as an author. The first principle in the book says, “Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life.”

This principle applies to the constant wish for every author to have someone else market your book. Are you reaching out to your target audience? Have you identified your target audience for your book? Where are they and how are you reaching out to touch them on a consistent basis? It does not have to be daily but it does have to be regular. Give them great content on your topic and in that process point them to more information inside your book.

One of the best ways for you to take responsibility is to create your own marketing plans. Whether you self-publish or have a traditional publisher to get your book into the bookstore, these plans are important. Whether your book is launching soon or has been out for a while, you need to be creating and executing your own marketing plans.

A marketing plan from the author is a key element in every book proposal. The proposal is your business plan. If you have such a plan, are you taking action to execute it? Does your plan need adjustment and updating? I give much more detail about these elements in Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets to Speed Your Success. If you don't have this book, it has never been so affordable at only $8. I have all of the remaining copies so don't try and get it from Amazon (despite the over 130 Five Star reviews). Get it directly from me (use the link).

Whether you have a traditional book or self-publish, you can do it—but you have to take daily action. If I can help you, my personal email is in my twitter profile. In the comments, let me know what actions you are taking to market your book.

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