Let's say I get off my but and finish a first novel, self publish through Lulu and devote a good amount of time to a website, local bookstores, booksignings, marketing locally, etc...

I would be interested to know if I could break even or make a small profit and potentially stir up a small readership. Do you think that grassroot tactics are applicable in this line of work? Besides wasting time, which I have at least the small luxury, are there any other cons?

It seems to me that a first novel will not be my greatest and the act of marketing it could make me at least more motivated to take writing more seriously and therefore anchor myself mentally to accomplish more.

Because Lulu permits low print run orders, consider staging a just in time inventory, or as it's known, print quantity needed, PQN, as needed. A first order of ten books for ARC circulation and consequent postage to send them to reviewers is a relatively low up-front expense, compared with, say, a purchase of 100 ARCs and distribution expenses.

Then there's the benefits that come from reviewers who care to suggest improvements. Reviewers are not critiquers. Reviews are an after-market promotional marketing practice. A properly written review reads much like a good query letter, or the pitch portion of a more comprehensive book proposal. The purpose of a book review is to promote a book toward its target audience, not bash it out of hand.

Staged orders are a good idea. Purchase ten, send out ten for review requests, wait for responses, incorporate favorable reviewer responses, or insightful recommendations, into the final edition and back cover art. Repeat if needed. Those blurbs on the back cover are of as much, if not more, importance as the front cover, and any inside jacket material. The average time a bookstore browser spends on examining a book, front cover, eight seconds, back cover, fifteen seconds, according to Dan Poytner's Para Publishing citing a Wall Street Journal report.

The one caution I have for self-publishing, through any venue, is to engage a copyeditor who knows his stuff. It's like the addage about a lawyer who represents himself, not a wise practice. In every anecdote of a self-published author I've read, when they didn't engage a competent copyeditor, they were embarrassed, at least, if not humiliated, by obviously egregious errors of mechanical style.

Myself, I'm good--I must be, I've got dozens of clients and have for ten years--but no one is expert enough to catch 100% on a single pass, nor on their own work. The work I do is for professional business writers, and they average one or two nondiscretionary errors per page after their third pass. I reduce it considerably, but there's still an occasional one per fifty pages that gets by me on my first pass. Published novels that I read, of late, dozens or more nondiscretionary errors per novel. Of old, about six per published novel. Rarely none, except in reprints of popular novels or new editions of classics. Self-published, the sky's the limit.

My feeling is that unless you're exceptionally lucky, it's hugely unlikely that you'll be able to break even on a self-published book, no matter how good.

I'm going from memory on what other people have told me, but the average number of books sold through POD/self-publishing is around 75 and that's generally either people who either know you or you can directly meet. If you have a non-fiction book and have access to a large number of people in person (i.e. it's an investment book and you run investment seminars), then it's viable. For fiction books, the difficulty is getting it into book stores (where most books are sold). Most POD books aren't accepted by bookstores because there has to be a return policy on the books (i.e. the book store must be able to return any unsold copies). The profit margin on books is razor tight for bookstores, so most self-published books are simply not viable for them to stock. You can special order them through a bookstore, but how are people going to know to do that?

Because of the small print runs, most books through POD are typically more expensive than an equivalent book through a traditional publishing house. You're competing against books from publishers with marketing departments, contacts and favourable terms of trade for the book stores.

Reviewers also typically have problems with self-published books. Reviewers who are widely read are typically asked for a *lot* of reviewers. Why review a book that your readership is unlikely to be able to get their hands on? Publishing houses have marketing staff to try and convince reviewers to review books, etc. You don't.

For a genre book, it's extraordinarily difficult to generate the publicity needed to generate sales. There are exceptions, but they're very rare. If you have a technical non-fiction book with a niche audience and you have existing marketing channels (i.e. seminars, a popular blog, etc.) then POD may be the way to go. If you don't, then I'd recommend against it. It will probably end up costing you money and time which you could use to improve your writing.

I've read enough of your writing to know that you will make it and make it through the traditional route. It might not happen tomorrow, but it will happen.

Nick

Wide success from self-publishing has a stigma of being marketplace flukes. However, the ones that have become bestsellers share a common factor. They all were of interest to large, yet specialized audiences. In short, they were rejected by traditional channels and the authors turned to self-publishing to fulfill the demands of their immediate circle of interest. Then they took on a life of their own through word or mouth advertising. Local, regional self-publishing is a growth industry that's got untapped potential.

The book that I edited during a publishing internship for publication sold through it's first print run in its first season. It was picked up in a distribution partnership with a going publishing concern that actively marketed it to a distinct regional interest. Though sales are down now, two years later, it remains in print and still performs up to projected expectations.

One significant pro for self-publishing is the rewarding experience of do-it-yourself, inception to distribution. I've done it, more than broke even, and enjoyed the experience. I signed every copy I sold in person. The in-person acclaim of approving audiences was worth every heartache I experienced in the self-publishing process.

Another pro is the per copy return from the work is built in and not dependent on total units sold. The potential return from a short print run is higher from a self-published novel than one that is never published, something versus nothing. Even a dozen copies sold with a markup of an average royalty, say, $2 for a 100 page 6" by 9" trade paperback is something. Only time is not fully compensated.

Take an example of an average traditional publishing performance, 1000 copy print run, no advance because it's the author's first novel, 400 returned copies, 10% net royalty on actual publisher sales, say, $10 average a copy, $6,000 equals $600 royalties.

At two bucks "royalty" markup a copy for self-published and no returns because they're sold one at a time retail and not subject to returns, only 300 copies would perform as well. However, a more common "royalty" markup on a self-published novel is $3.00, or 200 copies to do as well as traditional publishing practices. And no wasted paper.

Here's a breakdown of averages involved in bringing a novel into print life through self-publishing.

500 hours to write, revise, rewrite, prepare a finished manuscript, etc.

8 hours for a light copyedit by a professional copyeditor, at roughly $15 per hour.

8 hours to layout and impose the manuscript into a book block PDF format suitable for POD, assuming all formatting conflicts have been excised in previous editing.

2-12 hours cover design, front matter, back matter.

10 hours bookkeeping, housekeeping, registration, and arranging limited local distribution.

So that's roughly 550 hours, most of it from the writing that is done regardless of how it's published. So fifty hours for a potential return of, what, say, ten copies sold for a profit of, say, $30. Low return, sure, but the experience is priceless. And the next one will do better still. And who knows, it might be the season's smash self-published hit.

While there are success stories with self-publishing, they do need to be treated with caution. The key is that the markets are specialized. As a rule of thumb, it has to be a market that is not profitable or viable for traditional publishers to reach. That's why specialized non-fiction books are often the self-publishing success stories. There's always exceptions, but they're pretty rare when you look at them in context.

From the perspective of genre fiction, I don't think it's a good idea. You can be successful in self-published genre fiction, but I think it's actually harder work than going the traditional route and with a lower rate of success. The work isn't in getting the book printed, but in getting it distributed.

Graphics novels are probably different than genre fiction.

From the perspective of learning all sides of the publication game, it is valuable.

Cheers,

Nick

If the goal is swinging for the global fence, the chances of glorious success are no less and no more likely for an emerging writer in traditional channels than self-publishing channels.

If the goal is a modicum of localized recognition, a beginning as it were, self-publishing is a more likely route to some small recognition. Almost anyone can sell a few dozen copies of a well-executed book publication out of the backseat of their car in a few hours. I've done it more than once; once, six hundred books over a couple of years. Then, there's the satisfaction of giving copies of a legitimately published book to family and friends. There's nothing as satisfying as having your name on the cover of a well-executed book.

Self-publishing failures share a common fault, unprofessional layout and packaging, even in POD channels. A letter-sized paperback formatted in manuscript style looks cheap, unless it's intended to resemble a term paper. A saddle-stitched book looks cheap, unless that's its default format due to limited page count. Yet, either will sell if the content is of interest to the audience. The biggest mistake I've seen is an untrimmed book, sort of what a community center project might publish from a mimeograph machine, with a stapled binding and hand colored craft paper cover.

In the alternative, a popular novel of any genre will earn out more "royalties" for the author from self-publishing than traditional publishing. It's rare, but it happens about once a year lately that a runaway bestseller comes out of a self-publishing project, and more frequently than in the not as recent past. At one time in the not too distant past, all novel publication was self-published.

If a novel has traditional legs on it, and nonetheless goes the self-publication route, distribution packages are available through all the POD and legitimate self-publishing outlets. Lulu's Published by You package costs $100, Published by Lulu is currently free, but normally $100. Essentially, that $100 gets a book an ISBN and a look-see by one or more distributors and online booksellers, and likely an automatic listing on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles sites within six to eight weeks. The ISBN is the key. Amazon's CreateSpace has a similar direct channel into Amazon's Web site that only takes a couple of weeks.

Most of the legitimate self-publishing outlets distribute to brick and mortar booksellers through Ingram, the leading book distributor in the US. Lulu does if there's direct, large-scale wholesale interest. xLibris too, and Lightning Source.

An ISBN is the key for getting into R. R. Bowker's Books in Print, the standard marketplace listing of all books in print, albeit there's six million titles listed in that worthy tome.

Other marketing practices, advertising and promotion, should focus on getting out the word that a title is available to the target audience. A review of a title in a local paper will generate lots of goodwill with bookstores that carry it, and likely sales as well. What I've found is that most bookstores refuse to carry books without an ISBN.

A book talk and signing is another step in the marketing game. Donate a copy to the public library and then get on their presentation schedule. Some libraries require a Catalog in Place number available through the US Copyright office.

If the topic is of interest to a select audience, advertise in whatever venue is likely to attract their attention. Again, the local paper is always eager for advertising revenue. A small, one-time ad is not all that dear. But local is no longer the only accessible venue, the Internet is a local community for everyone. Commitment is half the battle.

Same with a vendor Web site, and they're not all that dear anymore. A basic e-commerce hosting by, say, WestHost, is only about $20 a month with a shopping cart and order fulfillment routine. Add in a payment fulfillment merchant account with PayQuake costing a small percentage of sales and Bob's your uncle.

Unconventional markets are the bread and butter of self-publishing: local museum bookstores, mom and pop bookstores, unconventional book outlets, like bait and tackle shops, notions stores, gift shops, mom and pop hardware or grocery or convenience or gift stores, etc. Locally-themed fiction is as popular as nonfiction titles in the self-publishing marketplace. Foster relationships with local businesses. They will invariably consent to consignment sales that fit their business slant and occupy little shelf space. Two or three copies of a book take up very little space. A few outlets with movement and the book moves. Word of mouth.

I've done it. It worked with little effort and great reward. And I did it in a small town, rural community; once with a history compilation, once with a recipe book, and once with a collection of ghost stories. Each was a self-publishing success because I committed to success.

They then carted it around and sent copies all over the place until someone picked it and pblished it properly.

However, I'm beginning to see some advantages in it. (Not that I have anything that'd make a worthwhile book right now, though.)

http://www.fonerbooks.com/cornered.htm

http://www.jh-author.com/self-publish.htm#cons

Also, a couple of questions for extrinsic:

extrinsic said, "The book that I edited during a publishing internship for publication sold through it's first print run in its first season. It was picked up in a distribution partnership with a going publishing concern that actively marketed it to a distinct regional interest. Though sales are down now, two years later, it remains in print and still performs up to projected expectations."

Question: What's the name of the book?

extrinsic said, "I've done it. It worked with little effort and great reward. And I did it in a small town, rural community; once with a history compilation, once with a recipe book, and once with a collection of ghost stories. Each was a self-publishing success because I committed to success."

Question: How did you measure success?

quote:

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How did you measure success?

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The crux of marketing is letting the audience know a title they're interested in, whether they know they want it or not, is available.

Most of the routine marketing strategies are available to the self-published author in small scale or large. At the first line is an ISBN. That's the feature that makes a title a commodity in the marketplace. Reviews are in another bracket, and have value relative to the target audience, local interest, local reviewer; global interest, global reviewer.

In another bracket is direct marketing targeted at the audience. A quaint but endearing process is postcard mailings to associates, aquaintances, friends, and family of the author. If your publisher hasn't asked for a mailing and contact list of aquaintances, they're not doing their job. E-mail, yeah, spam anyone and everyone who's deigned to provide their address. If it's considerately done, it's not overtly offensive, besides, all my aquaintances like to know if I've come out with a new title anyway. Some of them even buy.

In another bracket, a regional publisher who arranges distribution partnerships might, and will if the title is accepted on their list, include a self-published title in their catalogue. The catalogue is sent quarterly to their list of vendors.

Specific to a POD self-published title, say, at Lulu, the title is offered for direct sale through their Web site. A personal Web site need only incorporate an inline link to the URL of the title at Lulu, same with if or when it's listed at Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

A major advertising campaign is out of reach for most emerging writers, but they're not likely to get that much of an advertising budget commitment on their first book from one of the larger publishers either.

Again, marketing is the lynchpin for creating demand. Distribution responds to demand.

As to whether there's any issues related to a traditional publisher picking up a previously self-published title, if they're interested, it won't matter. They write the contract for rights licensing, with some input from the author, agent, lawyer or rights' owner. Where there's a will there's a way. The contract might not read first rights, but it will read as needed to represent the actual rights acquired. In fact, every self-published book that I now of that was picked up went through a substantive editing and revision process; therefore, a new edition that deserved first rights licensing.

The only concerns might be whether there's been a misrepresentation, a misleading claim, providing false or fraudulent information on either party's initiative, or author violations of codicils requiring cessation of self-publishing distribution, a noncompete clause. If the title has marketplace legs on it, that's all that really matters.

The book is titled The Hatterasman by Ben Dixon MacNeill (1958). It's the 50th anniversary edition (2008). I was wrong about it being on the market for two years, one year actually. It left my hands two years ago, May. It was released last May, but it's sold through on the first print run.

http://www.amazon.com/Hatterasman-Lives-Place/dp/097914034X

Yes, that's my name listed on it as editor.

If the sirens' call of the sea, the sound, the dunes summons one to the shore, The Hatterasman calls as loudly to the soul of the barefoot beachcomber-reader.

I measure success through several criteria. Money is one, but money is fleeting. Acclaim is another, more fleeting but more emotionally rewarding than money. Self-satisfaction from a job well done is another, that one is as enduring as my accomplishments.

Today I stopped by an exhibit of some of my lathe ware at a community art show. I was pleasantly surprised to find that two of the three wares had sold. By the time the show has run its course, a projected 10,000 patrons of the arts will have examined my wares. The acclaim and praise has been universally approving and emotionally appealing. I'm preparing wares for my next show in March, and one coming up in April. I've accomplished my skills goals as a woodcrafter, now I'm reaping the rewards.