A real reason to publish it yourself

Some people publish their own book because that's the way they want to do it -- to retain control, regardless of the effect that has on sales.

But take a look at this blog interview with someone who has seen both sides. (And with 25 books published, mostly by big publishers, he has major experience!) In 10 years, and with new editions as needed, John Bear sold more than 200,000 copies of his guide to distance learning for degrees; then it was taken up by a major publisher . . . which just did not do as well as he continued to do with his own edition which, through a stroke of luck in contract wording, he was able to continue to sell direct.

Such direct comparisons are rare, but it shows what a small publisher can achieve with a book that fills a need. I quote:

"It's so easy to get carried away, as I was, by the heady feeling of being published by someone big and famous. Perhaps that ego boost is reason enough. It is fine to hope for big sales, but one should not hold one's breath."

He adds:

"Even with more than 25 books published by the big guys (Ten Speed, Time Life, McGraw-Hill, Harcourt, Price/Stern/Sloan, Career Press, Prometheus), the most fun I had, and, by far, the biggest profits I had, were from the self-published, self-promoted books. While Bear's Guide was the most enduring, the most successful (over the short term) was one I bet you don't know about: Mailing from Mexico. Boy, talk about finding a niche. This was a 64-page 'manual' with information you couldn't get anywhere else, so my co-author and I sold it for $100, and we sold 1,000 of them from just two ads in Entrepreneur Magazine."

And that is also an important point: books are information and their possible sale price is related to the value the prospective buyer will put on them. In a book store books tend to be compared, even subconciously, with other books: why does this one cost $70 and that one, which is bigger, only $30? By mail and email and internet order you are selling the information. If you can find that niche, it becomes less a book and more a study guide, a manual, and some may prefer to put it out in a report format.

With one of my books, an early version of the one on PageMaker, I put out two versions: the normal book and the same information as a looseleaf manual for several times the price. Why I didn't stick to that format is anyone's guess. The numbers sold were smaller, but the profit per sale was very high and there were no middle men; every copy sold directly to a newspaper somewhere in the world.

Incidentally, that interview is on the Small Press Blog, run by Thomas Nixon, and though he now posts infrequently, it is still a good site for information on the small publisher world. And note that Mr Nixon calls it the "small press" blog with the subtitle "Your guide to independent publishing". There are mentions there of the dreaded term "self-publishing" but presumably they are to give the important keywords which will bring those who think it is the right term to his sites.

My own book on publishing your own book is Publish Your Book and though it is available from a publisher, Worsley Press, that is the publishing firm which I started and where I first produced that book on a copier, bound it myself, guillotined it to size and packed copies to mail out.

Comments

[Cathy]

I would like to thank you for this post. I am new at this self publishing and am a little intimidated by all of it.
It is difficult whether to chose CreateSpace or use a self publishing company, my book (which I have to tweek again, got proofs yesterday) is small but I believe will be a big hit?
So, do I go it alone? or do I get help from the big company?
NOt sure.

[Gordon Woolf]

A few years ago I would have said steer clear of such offers, but CreateSpace is part of Amazon and does give you access to their system of selling... at a cost. And you have to work out whether that is worthwhile.

You really need to work out what your costs per book will be, and whether it will sell for enough to give you a return not only on the print and production costs, plus the percentage Amazon wants (probably 40% minimum on physical books), but also gives you something for all the work which has got you this far. Ebooks cost less to produce but they usually sell for far less too, so a higher percentage return still gives you a lot less in actual cash per book.

You say you already have proofs. Was the layout done by you, or are you having to pay for that too? If so, that's another cost to be covered.

None of these costs disappear if you do it yourself, but some can be deferred. So, you'll say I'm not giving you a real answer. And I'm not.

However I will warn that whatever method you go for, read the contract or conditions very carefully. You want to ensure that if the method you choose is not working, that you can get out and get out without paying huge fees.

On the other hand, if you like taking full responsibility, and, as well as being the creative type who can produce the book in the first place you can also go out and sell it, then you may be better doing it on your own. I admit I got terrified if I had to walk in to bookstores or call them or wholesalers or distributors and push myself. But it worked for me.

Gordon Woolf