6 Ways Self-Publishing Authors Can Make Their Book a Stand-out

October 16, 2012

selfpublishingadvisor Jodee Speaks, Uncategorized , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Hundreds of thousands of books are published each year. As a self-publishing author, it is important to make your book stand out from the crowd. Here are six ways you can make your book a stand-out

1) Hire a Copy Editor

Self-publishing authors are sometimes perceived as amateur authors because many choose not to have their manuscripts professionally edited. Copyediting is an important step in the publishing process at traditional publishing companies. As a self- publishing author, it is essential that you still complete this step. If you want your book to be perceived as professional, it must be edited by a professional.

2) Consider Cover Scribing

Even though we were all told by our English teachers to never judge a book by its cover, all readers do. In fact, your book’s cover is one of the most important factors when readers decide whether or not to purchase your book. If you want your book to stand out from your competitors, cover scribing is a great option.

3) Splurge on a Custom Cover

Another great way to enhance your cover is by choosing a custom cover. The art as well as the words on the cover represent both your book and you as an author, so you want a cover that is unique and appropriate for your book.

4) Consider an Enhanced Interior

The interior of your book is especially important if it includes many pictures or tables. Readers expect your book to be formatted professionally, so it pays to hire a professional to help format your book.

5) Don’t Forget About Pricing

The price of your book can prevent readers from purchasing it. You want to price your book competitively. This means that the price is high enough for you to make a profit and be seen as credible but low enough to attract readers.

6) Marketing and Promotion is Key

No one will buy your book if they don’t know it exists. There are many ways to market and promote your book, and many self-publishing companies offer marketing and promotion services. To learn more about the options available, contact your self-publishing company.

I’d love to know, how do you plan to make your book stand out?

ABOUT JODEE THAYER: With over 20 years of experience in   sales and management, Jodee Thayer works as the Manager of Author Services   for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department   is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants;   together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order to help them publish the   book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your   career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist   seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Jodee Thayer can put you   on the right path.

Top 5 Considerations for Effectively Pricing Your Self-Published Book

February 3, 2011

Elise L. Connors Uncategorized , , , 7 Comments

“Is my book too expensive?”

“Am I selling myself short?”

Traditionally-published authors usually don’t have any control over the price of their book. As a self-published author, though, how can you make sure you have priced your book appropriately? There is no hard and fast rule, unfortunately. However, here are a few things to consider while coming up with a pricing strategy for self-publishing a book:

  1. How much royalty will you earn from every book sale? If you’re planning on writing full-time, you want to make sure you’re making a sustainable amount per book ($1.50 – $2.75 is reasonable).
  2. What is your target market? Is your intended reader a teenager or an affluent attorney? You want to keep your audience in mind so that you don’t price yourself out of the market. You won’t be very successful if your ideal reader can’t afford to buy your book.
  3. Where do you want to sell your book? Trade discounts often determine where a book is sold. Most online retailers are fine with a short trade discount (less than 40%). However, big box stores, such as Borders, Barnes&Noble, etc. require at least a 50% discount (in addition to a solid marketing plan and full return-ability) to consider carrying your book. If you can’t imagine self-publishing your book without it being stocked on the shelves of your nearest B&N, you should consider going with 50% (though it will cut down on your royalties).
  4. How has your competition priced their books? Research books similar to yours. Make sure the page count is similar, it was published recently, and hopefully self-published. You don’t want to price your book too high above (or too low beneath) these books.
  5. Have you asked an expert? Now is not the time to guess. This is your livelihood. Your best bet is to employ the services of someone who is already familiar with the self-publishing industry, like a Publishing Consultant. These people know the book business, and they can help you with questions like these.

DISCUSSION: How did you decide on a price for your book?

Pricing Advantages in Self-publishing

December 28, 2009

selfpublishingadvisor Choosing a Publisher , , Leave a comment

Last week we discussed book pricing among the biggest advantages in self-publishing.  Book pricing can actually be more complicated that it would appear on the outset, and worth discussing in a bit more length.  Let’s start with trade discount.

The “trade discount” is the percentage of your retail price that you offer to the publishing trade for distributing your book to retailers. The “publishing trade” consists of wholesalers, distributors, and retailers—not your publisher. Everyone involved with your book after the publisher all the way to the reader falls into the “publishing trade” circle, and they all take a piece of the trade discount.

Obviously, the larger the trade discount, the more money there is to split up among the parties involved. Standard trade discounts range from 50% – 70%.

Most publishing companies do not offer any information about their trade discounting policies up-front, nor do they give the author any say in the matter.

Look for a publisher that offers authors the flexibility of setting your trade discount from 0% – 55%. A 55% trade discount will result in an industry standard 40% retail margin, which is what a typical book retailer seeks when considering whether or not to order a book. So in addition to availability on Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble’s website, Borders.com, and the many other sales channels—your book can have the retail margin that bookstores and chains are looking for.

 

Cheers!

 

Karl Schroeder

Self-Publishing: Ask the Right Questions

March 6, 2009

selfpublishingadvisor Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing , , , , , 1 Comment

Regardless of whether you are holding out for an old-fashioned publishing
contract or taking matters into your own hands with custom self-publishing, here are 5 questions you should
know the answers to when you decide to publish:

1 – What is the minimum number of books you have to purchase, and what does
each book cost you? Many require certain quantities to be purchased at highly marked up prices. That is how they ‘get you.’

2 – Who determines your retail price? How much is it? – Here’s another one
to look out for. You should have that control. Publishers that don’t allow that are often in the business to make money on your book. You’ve done the work. You should see the rewards.

3 – Who determines how much money you make from each book? Another good test.
Your publisher should pay 100% of the difference between the wholesale price and the
production price of the book. Most publishers pay anywhere from 5%-50%.

4 – Do you receive marketing support after publication? Free services like the Marketing COACH offered by Outskirts Press is an invaluable collection of proven tactics shared to help improve your book sales.

5 – Do you retain all the rights to your book? You definitely should. Check
the contract of wherever you publish.

Isn’t this fun!

- Karl Schroeder

More Pricing Info for the Self-Publishing Author

August 24, 2008

selfpublishingadvisor Choosing a Publisher , , Leave a comment

Many options in the custom self-publishing world provide you with the unique freedom to set your own retail cover price.  Authors should have the control set their own trade discount and royalty they want to early in the publishing process.  In fact, some publisher’s websites even provide features that automatically calculate the necessary pricing information for you based on your book details right away.

 

That dynamic pricing calculation should also include your author copy base price—the price you can purchase your book at.  This is one detail to consider when selecting your publisher.  Upon close look you may notice that some publishers artificially inflate a book’s retail price and then offering to sell copies to the author for a “discount.”  Strangely, this scheme adopted by so many POD publishers is similar to what you’d find with off-set printers—providing a “bulk discount” only if the author orders a large number of books all at once.  That defeats one of the biggest advantages of print-on-demand.  All they have really done is inflated the low-quantity costs enough to allow a discount on higher quantities.  No wonder their retail prices can be so high.

 

Look for a publisher that offers the pricing flexibility to allow your book to retail at the best competitive rates possible, while also providing you the option to purchase your book at those below wholesales costs in low quantities to sell on your own.

 

Have fun and keep writing!

 

Sincerely,

Karl Schroeder

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