Posts Tagged ‘published’

I’m a Writer. Should I Get a Book-Deal, Self-Publish or Self-Distribute?

Category: The Publishing Business | Author: | Date: August 9th, 2010

I’m a Writer. Should I Get a Book-Deal, Self-Publish or Self-Distribute? Written by Dino Dogan ~

(If you prefer to listen to the audio version, click I’m a Writer. Should I Get a Book Deal, Self-Publish or Self Distribute? hosted on writer Wanda Shapiro‘s blog)

Would you like to be the next big thing in the book world? Here is the recipe.

  • Write fiction; it sells better than nonfiction.
  • Write in conversational rather than academic tone.
  • Write about a topic that has a broad rather than narrow appeal.

Got that? Do you meet all the criteria?

Most writers don’t, nor do they aspire to.

But…assuming you’ve met the above-listed criteria, let’s talk about your odds of making it big.

There are 200 thousand books published (in English) each year. Book super-sellers (like Barnes and Noble) will carry 20% of that inventory.

  • On average, an author (in America) can expect to sell 500 copies.
  • Out of 1.2 million books tracked by Nielsen Book Scan (as of 2004); 950 000 books sold fewer than 99 copies. Another 200 000 sold fewer than 1000 copies.
  • From these 1.2 million books (basically all books ever published with a UPC code), only 25 000 sold more than 5000 copies.

Note: These statistics were culled from the most excellent work done by Chris Anderson in his book The Long Tail (aff).

Let me summarize those numbers I just gave you.

ONLY 2% of the books (when published using traditional channels) will be commercially viable. The remaining 98% will be a financial swan dive for the publishing house as well as you, the author.

Given these factors, do you still want to sign with a publishing house?

I DO Want to Sign With a Large Publishing House

There is at least one great reason to sign a book deal with a large publishing house.

Prestige.

Let’s not kid ourselves. Saying “I’m a self-published author” just doesn’t have a ring to it. On the other hand, imagine having a “published author” on your resume.

Getting a book deal with a large publishing house can be a great catapult for speaking gigs, new clients, future book deals, etc. As long as you don’t think of your book-deal as an end onto itself. Instead, think of it as a platform for bigger and better things.

If “prestige” is your goal, getting a book deal is the way to go. But what if you care more about making money?

$elf-Publish

We mentioned earlier that an average book will sell 500 copies. If you decide to self-publish, and use print-on-demand service like Lulu, you can expect to keep most of the profits from each book sold.

Financially speaking, this will make you lot richer than if you were to sell the same number of books via large publisher. Downside?

You will have to do all the marketing yourself. But guess what? Most authors who sign book-deals have to do that anyways.

Self-Distribution

Ok, that’s cool Dino, I hear you saying. But I don’t really need to have my ego stroked, nor do I particularly care about making money. I have this great idea, and I just want everyone to read about it.

Fear not my dear friend. Self-Distribution to the rescue.

Once upon a time, the benefit a publishing house would provide to an author is distribution. However, the Internet has made the “distribution” part of the equation available to anyone with a high-speed modem. You don’t even have to physically print your book. You can distribute it as a file (in .pdf format, aka E-Book) from your computer (or a hosted server). Better yet, make your E-Book available via Bit Torrent services.

To learn how first time authors like Wanda Shapiro use Bit Torrent for large-scale distribution, click here.

So, are you going to sign with a large publishing house, self-publish or self-distribute?

Only YOU can answer. But I imagine the answer will depend on your motivation and goals. I hope this post has helped you examine:

  • Why you chose to write? (prestige, money or proliferation of ideas)
  • What you hope to get out of writing?
  • Which path will you take?

Don’t think that you have to do only one.

  • Seth Godin has distributed his first book, Unleashing the Ideavirus (aff) via Bit Torrent only to have it published “for real” later on.
  • Dr. Brad Blanton has self-published his book, Radical Honesty (aff) only to have it picked up by a large publishing house when it proved to be a nimble seller.

I think it all comes down to this.

You have no more excuses to finish your book. So get to writing.

Start by leaving a comment and let us know what YOU think of these 3 options?

Is there a fourth option we didn’t think of?

Do you have experience using any of these 3 methods? Tell us about it.

Thanks Dino ~

Please check out Dino on Twitter @dino_dogan and at his website dogandogs.com.

Dino Dogan spent many years researching ways ‘adults learn, seek and receive information, communicate (both internally and externally) and apply learned info, specifically as it pertains to Human-Dog Relationship.’

In his quest to develop the Human-Dog Problem Tree he still finds time for his music and fitness. He is a singer/songwriter who is also a biker. But mostly he calls himself ‘a life-long student’.

“All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim; have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.”

Orison Swett Marden – Writer

CURRENT STATUS: Reminder, Motivator and Review Meeting (Read on if you want to join me in my Corporation of One meeting)

What l have learnt:

What I have done:

  • Wrote my very first guest post. Read it here.
  • Put the two Twitter accounts on my website. It’s an experiment. Not sure how it will go.

WORD COUNT: Night Walker 144,000 words in total.

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Sean Ferrell – The Author Talks About Writing

Category: People who Inspire, Writing | Author: | Date: July 26th, 2010

It is with much delight that I get to introduce Sean Ferrell as my guest writer for today. I’m still in a state of shock that he said yes and that it only took a few days to get all this in motion. See what two chilled-out people can accomplish? Imagine we put some drive into it, we’d conquer the world. That’s another story for another time, me thinks.

How did we ‘meet’?

I checked out Sean’s book trailer for his book “Numb” which I found clever and funny and left a comment saying:

Funny book trailer. Is that really you, Sean Ferrell, talking? But that Kindle is ugly compared to the iPad. Sorry, I’m a lover of Apple.

Then he responded:

Yes, it really is me talking, and yes, it really is ugly. It looks like something from 1986.

And we got talking and voila, I asked him if I could interview him and the good giving man said yes – thanks Sean – I wasn’t being sarcastic, in the world of publishing everything works well when people can be both good and giving.

So, the interview is below for you to enjoy as well. Later on this week, pop by again won’t you because we have more of Sean Ferrell answering questions on his main character in Numb and how he created his book trailer. So, don’t forget to come back for that. And of course, as always, I’ll remind you.

This is novelist Sean Ferrell giving advice to aspiring writers like me and you:

1) What advice or tip would you give an aspiring novelist still to make it?

Write toward the things that scare you. That’s where the energy is. Low energy writing is hard to pump up, and it will read as inauthentic. If you write to the things that scare you–revelations about you, your past, your family, whatever–that energy that you’ve used for so long to keep that stuff hidden will infuse the writing with energy and authenticity. If you don’t share it with others, so be it, but you’ll feel better and you’ll know you can tackle anything in your writing. And I don’t mean write memoir. I mean, if there is a topic you’re worried you “shouldn’t” try to handle in your fiction, that’s exactly what you should write about.

Also, find your own process. Don’t invest too much faith in any “process that works” touted by teachers or books or famous writers. Find your own way to get the words out. Try everything, adapt, trust your gut.

2) What noticeable thing has changed since you got the book deal?

I discovered I could fly! Actually, no, I always knew I could fly. What did change was I stopped thinking that publication would cure my writer’s insecurities. I still have plenty of opportunities to question my ability, to see the fault-lines and failures.

Publication doesn’t solve anything. If anything it made me realize that I write because I have to. It’s easy to get distracted by goals: if I can only finish a novel, if I can only get an agent, if I can only sell a book THEN I’ll be happy. And that stuff happens and you still find your shoes smell like shit and the dishes are dirty and not much has changed. So nothing changes, nothing is solved, and you still sit down and start writing again. In a weird way, getting published removed the distraction of publication.

3) How do you feel about author marketing? Has it always been that way?

I think that the way marketing and publishing work now puts much more opportunity into the author’s hands than it used to. I say opportunity and not pressure because honestly who would I rather have out there representing me than me? I am by nature an incredibly shy person. I think all my Twitter followers just collectively wet themselves laughing, but it is true. So, as a shy person I find that blogging and twitter have given me a great way to meet readers and writers, and to enjoy talking about books and to sometimes be stupid. Okay, I am often stupid. I am now on the verge of doing some readings where there will be GASP people GASP in front of me and I feel much better about it than I would a few years ago because social networking has made me feel like those who want to hear me will enjoy it, those who don’t won’t, and I can’t control either response so I’ll just try and have fun.

More about Numb:

Numb, a man who feels no pain and has no memory of how he came to be this way, travels to New York City after a short stint in the circus to search for the answers to his past. But when word of his condition spreads–sparked by the attention he attracts from letting people nail his hands to bars for money–he quickly finds himself hounded on all sides by those who would use his unique ability in their own pursuits of fame and fortune. There’s the best friend who doesn’t quite know how to handle Numb’s newfound celebrity, the savvy talent agent who may or may not have Numb’s best interests in mind, the sadistic supermodel whose idea of a good time involves lion claws and can openers, and the blind girlfriend who might actually see something in Numb others don’t. As Numb navigates this strange world, and as he continues to search for clues from his past, he is forced to confront one of life’s toughest questions: Who am I?
(via Sean Ferrell’s website)

Numb, coming from HarperPerennial in August, 2010

Sean Ferrell – The Author Talks About Numb the Character

Sean Ferrell – The Author Talks About the Book Trailer Numb

Chuck Sambuchino – An Interview: Published Book, Writing and a Writer’s Life (Part 1)

“It is good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy.”

George Lorimer – Editor of Saturday Evening Post

CURRENT STATUS: Reminder, Motivator and Daily Review Meeting (Read on if you want to join me in my Corporation of One meeting)

What l have learnt:

What I have done:

  • My friend Oosters is to write film reviews on my blog. I have another one ‘Whatever Works’ coming to you tomorrow. Yeah!
  • Author Sean Ferrell is to answer questions that I wanted to know and hopefully will benefit you as well. Hurrah!
  • Author Chuck Sambuchino’s interview as my guest blogger has been confirmed for mid-September. Yeah!
  • Talking to a book group run by another friend to see if they would consider writing their book reviews on my blog. Yeah! You can only but ask, right?

WORD COUNT: Night Walker 133,000 in total. Friday 23 July 1,000 words

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