Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello all-
I am working in partnership with a colleague to help develop a marketing tool to help book authors market themselves and their book better. As I do my research, it would help to know what are the many challenges that book authors face to getting a book published? More specifically, why are so many authors not able to make money or get exposure to their book?

Of course, as I write this out, I realize that their places like Lulu.com which help people get published pretty easily. So perhaps the challenge is not get published but getting exposure thus increasing sales? If so, what are the challenges to that? Is it just simply a matter of some books aren`t worth their weight in gold and it is simply a marketing issue to which most writers have no clue about? I dunno, hence my question.

I appreciate any and all opinions, stats, links, and resources on the challenges that a book author faces to not just get a book published but achieve success in the industry.

Challenges - I want to only offer digital (save a few trees) but I don`t know how many people read digital vs want a book. I want to know what kind of fresh angle I can put on the thing to make old info seem new. I want to promote it but I know nothing about non-digital marketing or how someone gets on a talk show to discuss a book. I don`t have a lot of time to do all the viral marketing for a book.

Basic problem: Distribution.

LogoMotives has just brought out a book, and talks about the same thing I found and a lot of authors. Publishers, IF they take your book, really could care less if it sells. They`ll make their offer based on a minimum sale number. If they think they can get back their investment and some small amount, they`ll go with the book.

They print is, sell the guarantee, and that`s all they care about. If it goes out of print (their choice as to when), so what. They really aren`t interested in advertising, promoting, or selling books. And so the authors end up with a few thousand copies sold and then it`s gone.

But how to go around the publishers? Yes, self-publishing is an option, but it`s expensive and there`s that distribution problem again.

Well, the link he gives - LuLu - does printing on demand.
But really it would be up to you to pour your promotional money into it.

When, and if, a publisher does actually market an author`s book they will often promote it to whom THEY feel is the market for the book, rather than the target audience of the specific author (who usually has a good idea of who will buy the offering).  The traditional resources for marketing just any book may not work for a very specific topic.

As part of the contractual agreement with the publisher of my first book, I was to provide them with the names of 50 editors and reviewers to whom they send copies - and then they didn`t send out the review copies.  I couldn`t understand why my local (and statewide) newspaper hadn`t mentioned the book or contacted me about it - especially after I had contacted them to introduce myself and let the book editor know a copy would be coming his way.  They had never received the requested copy.  The publisher`s marketing department said they had sent books to all on my list.  A quick email to all on my editor/reviewer list revealed that about 90% of them had never been sent a book.

Other authors working with the same publisher had warned me about having to do a lot of marketing myself - but what occurred was ridiculous.  After I "tattled" on the head of the marketing department things started happening fast - but a little too late for many publications no longer considering the book a "new release."

One major advantage of working with a traditional publishing house is the availability of a possible advertising budget.  My publisher did feature my book in large print ads in publications specific to my industry.  When the ads hit the newstands, book sales did increase. 

The publisher was very pro-active in getting the book placed in all major bookstores, on  all Internet bookseller sites and through independent bookstore networks.  My current book, which is being published by the same publisher, (my original contract gave them first right of refusal on a second book) will not be released until October and Amazon (and other sites) have been offering pre-sales for about eight months now.  It`s certainly a good way for a publisher to determine interest in a book prior to actual printing.

My initial book did result in the publisher coordinating a couple speaking engagements.  For the most part it was my responsible, as the author, to plan and schedule the speaking engagements I made at conferences, business networking events, universities, high schools, advertising federation meetings and elsewhere.  The majority of such activities were paid appearances.  One book signing event was scheduled by the publisher at a major international conference for my industry. I`m already lining up speaking engagements and appearances throughout 2008 at this point.

I also coordinated any excepts from the book in national magazines and on various websites.  Interviews resulting from the release of the book were due to my initiating contact with the publication or website.

In addition, with the release of my first book, I had purchased the URL (savvydesigner.com) most likely to be used in association with the title - and it directed people to the website of my business.  Many authors I know have actually created websites for their own books - I may do so with my new book.  The fact that, 2.5+ years after publication, a Google search for "savvy designer" creates good search results is in large part due to my own efforts, rather than those of my publisher.

My own blog, bLog-oMotives, the use of Amazon`s AmazonConnect, Amazon`s ListMania feature, sites such as Bookcatcher, links to books in my online signatures, participation in online forums/communities and other resources are all things I`ve made use of in the past and will use again with the release of my new book. (Here`s a link to a previous SuN thread on a related topic.)

While the experience of my first book was at times frustrating, it was a great learning experience.  I also learned what to ask for (or demand) in contract negotiations with publishers.  My second book experience has been much more enjoyable.  I have four other publishers now wanting to work on future book projects and I am much better prepared for the opportunities.

- J.





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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

Wow, Jeff - is your next book going to be about writing and publishing books?
What great information you gave.

I say go for it! I`d certainly read it.

We were more fortunate on our first book. It was a new type of test, with a huge consortium of heavy-hitters behind it, including Microsoft, IBM, and Intel. There were a couple of books about A+ certificaction, but they were gigantic, multi-volume tomes in the 1500 page area.

Jim put a proposal together for Coriolis, who owned the "Exam Cram" format. They liked the idea, and Jim thought he could boil down everything anyone needed to know about PCs, Windows, DOS, Networking, and the Mac, into 450 pages. That`s when he got me involved.

Contrary to popular belief, I actually do know how to shrink stuff. :-) It`s not easy, but with sufficient drugs and incentives, I can boil things down to their essence. So we did.

The contract was based on 10,000 copies presold, and the head of CompuUSA was friends with both Jim and the owner of Coriolis. CompUSA did a special on the book, and took another 10,000 copies if we could get it done a month earlier, which we did.

From there, it took off and we sold gazillions of books. Then Coriolis made some very risky investment decisions and eventually went bankrupt. However, as a small, *hungry* publisher, they were pushing the book everywhere. It`s because they were small, that they also ended up going under due to their delusions of grandeur.

By the third edition, we were picked up by Pearson Technologies, and released under their Que Certification line. From that point on, the book basically has continued, but never gone to where it could have been. Pearson is a massive house, with countless titles and divisions. Our book was just a cipher, lost in the masses.

Jeff is totally right, that although the author probably knows best what`s the target market, the publishers consider authors as a "necessary nuisance." So the second biggest challenge to being published is that IF the author goes with a large publisher, the adversarial relationship between that author and the printers.

I`ve looked a lot at self-publishing and e-books. I think a whole lot of authors are doing the same, both for the money and the lack of antagonism dealing with a big commercial publisher. It`s a tough decision.

For the moment, 10 books at 50% is a lot better than 40 books at 10%. I dunno, though. Costs for printing a hardcopy version of a book are substantial.