from the archives – Page 13 – Self Publishing Advisor

Cheri Speaks, copyediting, Editing Your Self-Published Book, from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “There’s a Problem with Your Book”

Welcome back to our Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years. What’s stayed the same? And what’s changed? We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

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[ Originally posted: March 1st, 2011 ]

Your book published. Your family and friends have bought it. You’re excited…until they call you to tell you there were so many grammatical errors in the book that it was difficult to finish reading. “Oh no, I should have paid for copyediting”. Now you run the risk of “looking” unprofessional in the author community.

Too often authors are faced with the decision to either save their pennies or invest in editing services. They decide to bypass the editing. Fast forward to publication and many authors wish they would have made the extra investment. Even if you have gone through your manuscript with a fine tooth comb and had friends or family look it over, you’re almost guaranteed to find mistakes at publication. As a matter of fact, when you pay for professional copyediting services, the editor normally still has a 5% margin for error. With that margin of error from fresh and professionally trained eyes, imagine the level of error from amateur and familiar eyes.

When asked what they would have done differently when self-publishing their book, most authors agree they would have invested more money into professional copyediting and customizing their book cover.

So, I’m sold on the need for copyediting service, what do I need to know about working with an editor? Here are a few tips/things to keep in mind when you hire an editor:

Proofread and spell-check your work before sending it to an editor.

Remember that Editors are human and many work with about a 5% margin of error.

There are different levels of editing intensity: basic, moderate, and extensive.

Basic copyediting typically catches about 70% of errors in a manuscript.

As a self-publishing author, don’t focus on what the editor didn’t find, but rather what WAS found.

Review your manuscript again after you receive it from the editor to check for errors they may have missed.

If you want to be a successful author, it is important that you take the publishing process very seriously. That includes investing extra money into creating a polished product.

– by Cheri Breeding

The topic of copyediting and the professional-grade book is not a new one to us here at Self-Publishing Advisor, but back in 2011 when Cheri first wrote her post it was not yet the standard by which most indie books were judged. Since then, the industry has evolved, and we’ve written several times to try and sort out what copyediting might mean to the current aspiring self-publishing author. (You can read those posts here and here.)

Because we tackle this topic on a regular basis, it’s less helpful to rehash those posts than it is to do something a little different: I want to show you the difference between a professionally designed and copyedited book and one that hasn’t seen as much love and care put into its production.

Let’s start with covers. To start, first let me say that it’s no exaggeration that there are two terribly designed self-published book covers out there for every good one. All you have to do is look at the templates people are choosing from …

… to see why this is so easily and so often the case. A professionally designed cover makes all the difference to your book’s impact on potential readers, and all the difference as to whether they actually choose to pay to purchase it. Here are two neat examples of self-published books I’ve seen recently that I felt immediately drawn to for no other reason than the fact they are beautifully designed:

What I love most about these two examples is that they put the lie to any claim that genre fiction leans easily toward poor design. Cazanav’s book is billed as paranormal fantasy, and Taylor’s as literary fiction––but if anything, Cazanav’s is sharper, more specific, and more revealing of the book’s content and tone. That’s a good move!

So, let’s assume you’re sold on a professionally-designed cover. What happens when you crack the spine and turn to the first page? Does anything change? Yes and no. As Kyle Beshears writes on his blog, there’s real value to investing time and money into getting the exact design you want inside of your book as well as out. Beshears chronicles his entire journey to self-publication, and points out that his choices––which always involved taking the cheapest option, even if it meant sacrificing untold hours of time and labor for his entire family––is not, in the end, a path worth following for many indie authors.

Just getting the title page of his book to look the way he wanted (above, on the right) was a lengthy struggle. Paying a little money up front doesn’t just ensure you get the design you want––it ensures you have an active advocate or team of advocates working for you and on your behalf to make sure your book is as beautiful as you’ve always hoped.

On a paragraph-by-paragraph basis, copyediting does for your sentences what a graphic designer does for your cover––which is to say, a copyeditor will whip your lines into shape and help you revise your book into something even stronger, and more compelling, than you could do on your own. Relying on friends and family to be early readers is a good move, but relying on them to bring the same expertise and incisive vision as a career copyeditor who has been in the publishing industry for years and years is not such a good move. Copyediting isn’t about changing what you do––it’s about making sure you create the best book possible and shifting some of the burden of perfection and hyperspecific industry insight off of your shoulders so that you can spend more time doing what you love: writing new books!

If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear them. Drop me a line in the comments section below and I’ll respond as quickly as I can. ♠

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.

Advocacy in Self-Publishing, Book Promotion, Book Promotion Strategy, from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “5 Ways to Increase Book Sales by Giving Away the First Chapter”

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[ Originally posted: June 17th, 2011 ]

I love Amazon! I frequently search for books on Amazon. I pay attention to what Amazon recommends for me. I have a Kindle and often check Amazon’s list of “Top 100 Free” Kindle Ebooks. As a reader, the choices for “what to read next” are endless. My “to read” list is never under 25 books. Readers have so many choices these days, so, as an author, how do you convince readers to choose your book to read next?

One idea is to give away the first chapter of your book. Everyone likes getting something for free, right? The first chapter will give the reader a taste of the book and will entice them to want to read more. There are a few ways you can get your first chapter into the hands (or onto the screens) of your potential readers:

Add a message in your email signature asking your contacts to let you know if they would like to receive a copy of the first chapter of your book. For those who reply, send them a PDF copy of the first chapter and let them know where to buy the hardcopy if they like it and want to read more.

Put an ad in your local newspaper with a short (1-2 sentence) synopsis of your book, inviting potential readers to email you for a PDF copy of the first chapter for free. When you email the file to these contacts, let them know where to buy the hardcopy if they like it and want to read more.

Similarly, put an ad on Craigslist (in the “free” section) with a short synopsis of your book, inviting potential readers to contact you for a free PDF copy of the first chapter. And – you guessed it! – when you send it to them, let them know where to buy the hardcopy if they like it and want to read more.

First Chapter Plus publishes and distributes a monthly e-catalog, which includes the first chapters of print and digital books, and mp3 clips of audio books to over 35,000 opt-in subscribers. This listing will include the necessary details for where potential readers can find and purchase a copy of your book.

If you’re a blogger, publish the first chapter of your book in a blog post or link to a PDF file where your readers can open the first chapter and read it. Be sure to let readers know where to buy the book once they’ve read the first chapter and want more. Author Ian Lurie actually allows his viewers to read the entire contents of his book, Conversation Marketing, online. See how he does this here: http://www.conversationmarketing.com/internet-marketing-book/

DISCUSSION: What are some other ways that you might distribute the first chapter of your book to potential readers?

– by Kelly Schuknecht

The world has shifted somewhat since 2011. By that, I don’t mean to suggest that my original points are somehow now invalid––they’re all still great ideas and, except for the newspaper advertisement and First Chapter Plus (which runs about $100 for one month of promotion) they’re free–but I do mean to introduce social media to this list. Back in 2011, most of the more popular websites (such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) already existed––but they hadn’t yet quite reached the cultural tipping point where they are now at, where a single post can go viral and by force of sheer momentum, alter reality offline, outside of the internet. This makes for some very good news for you, the self-publishing author, especially when it comes to promotions like free sample chapters.

Here are three more ways to get your first chapter into the hearts and homes and hands of your potential readers:

Take advantage of your existing social media presence (and maybe even beef it up a little). There’s never been an easier way to spread the news that you have a sample chapter out there waiting to be read than by alerting your followers on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, Tumblr, and elsewhere. Not familiar with one of these social media platforms? It might just be worth taking a look to see whether it might be of use to you, both for this promotion and for other networking purposes. Except for Tumblr, none of these platforms can actually serve as host for your chapter’s file––with Tumblr, you can just copy and paste into a text post, and it will preserve almost all of your formatting––but part of their appeal is that they create exactly the right kind of “bite-sized” bits of information that makes for shareable content. My suggestion is this: upload your .PDF file online or steal your Amazon book listing’s hyperlink, and paste that link into a cute little promotional post for each of these platforms.
Fans will sometimes do the sharing for you, as with this sample chapter to George R.R. Martin’s next book that appeared on Tumblr recently.
Take advantage of the Kindle Store’s automatic sample*––in several ways. Did you publish through KDP, or Kindle Direct Publishing? If you did, then 10% of your book is automatically accessible to your readers for free. It’s worth noting at the outset that one of the downsides to publishing through KDP is that you can’t choose which chapter or what content is made available this way, but such are the hazards of publishing through a large company with little customizability. If you do publish through Amazon’s KDP, however, take full advantage! As I mentioned above in point #1, you can grab the hyperlink to your book listing and share the sample chapter’s availability far and wide. Additionally (or alternatively) you might use the automatic sample as a guidepost to what you should steer clear of including in your own promotion. If Amazon, for example, offers the first chapter, you might upload a .PDF to your blog of chapter two. This might prove to be an especially clever move, since dedicated readers will have to access both your Amazon book listing and your personal blog––and doing so increases their exposure to your product, which in turn increases the odds they’ll purchase your book!
Make it visual, and make it embeddable. Software designer Nathan Barry writes that “moving from a text link to a more visual graphic can double the number of downloads of a sample chapter. That’s expected since it is much more visual and will grab more attention.” How do you go about doing this? First, create a graphic snapshot of your book’s cover or first few pages––something attractive that intimates the look and feel of your book––and then use a software app or program like ConvertKit to generate email subscription and download options. This will create an embeddable piece of HTML code that you can insert into your blog and any other platform that allows for HTML content.
image credit: nathanbarry.com

And there you have it: three new ways to engage your readers with the wonderful promotional tool that is the free sample chapter!

* NOTE: several other publishers, including indie and hybrid self-publishing companies, offer sample chapter options. You should always inquire after the options by contacting your Personal Marketing Assistant.

If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear them. Drop me a line in the comments section below and I’ll respond as quickly as I can. ♠

ebooks, Elise Speaks, from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “Top 5 Considerations for Effectively Pricing Your Self-Published Book”

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[ Originally posted: February 3rd, 2011 ]

“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:

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).

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.

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).

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.

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?

– by Elise L. Connors

I absolutely love Elise’s post on ebook pricing, especially since most of the points hold steady in the face of a rapidly changing market. There’s very little that’s the same in 2016 as it used to be in 2012 when it comes to the world of self-publishing in digital formats––except for this! And while some figures may require updating––and Borders has gone altogether out of business––I cannot think of better advice than what Elise gave us in these five simple points.

One recent event has, of course, dramatically altered the parameters by which you should set your ebook’s price: Hachette won its suit against Amazon. What does this mean? Why should indie authors care about a battle between an online retailer and a traditional publishing company? I can think of several reasons.

One: Amazon is far and away the largest online retailer of ebooks, outpacing Barnes & Noble by leaps and bounds and leaving Apple’s iBook store and the Google Play store to contend for the last percentages of the market with their book subscription services and bundles.

And two: Hachette’s win means that Amazon no longer gets to keep ebook prices artificially low––justifiably low, in Amazon’s opinion––as the prices of ebooks put out by the Big Five traditional publishing houses cannot be reduced by the third party online seller. As a consequence, ebook prices have been soaring––as the Big Five set higher prices to rake in more profit, many self-publishing authors are following suit because of the luxury principle; they don’t want their books to be assumed inferior in quality just because they’re less expensive.

A lot of factors go into your price-setting decision. Are you looking mostly for exposure? If you are, then selling your book at a dramatically reduced price (say, a $0.99 deal) may well get your book in front of more pairs of eyes than if you price it higher (say, around $9.99). A low price might also help lure in readers who are itching to try a new book but only have a little free cash to risk. But a low price cuts into your royalties, and for Amazon especially the highest royalties (around 70%) come when you price your book around the $2.99 sweet spot. You may lose a few risk-conscious readers, but you only need one reader to purchase your book to every two who turn away in order to break even in your royalties when you boost your price to $2.99.

Your book’s genre and length can also play a role. Remember Elise’s fourth point, above? If you’ve written a book that falls neatly to a particular genre (or perhaps, relates un-neatly to several) then you should take a long look at how similar novels of a similar length and style are being priced. All books are wonderful things and no genre is inherently more “literary” than another, but a pragmatic author must recognize that human perception is flawed and nowhere near as egalitarian as we’d like. This is to say, romances, Westerns, science fiction, and fantasy tend to be priced more cheaply than, say, a travelogue or political exposé. You don’t want to price your book outside of your ideal reader’s expected range.

In a lot of ways, it’s easy to lose sight of your vision for your book when the price dominates conversation. Here’s my advice for pricing an ebook in 2016: Do your research, consult an expert, and make the call. Don’t spend too much time deliberating, or you’re missing out on the most important thing that you as an author can be doing: writing another book! ♠

from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Self-Publishing, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “Self-publishing’s Strongest According to Inc. Magazine”

Welcome back to our new Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years. What’s stayed the same? And what’s changed? We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

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[ Originally posted: August 13th, 2009 ]

Inc. Magazine released its annual top 500 fastest growing US businesses yesterday. Outskirts Press, Inc ranked #268 on the list, and exclusive among full-service self publishing firms. With on-demand publications up 132% over the previous year, Outskirts Press finds itself the fastest growing provider in the fastest growing segment of the book publishing industry. Congratulations Outskirts Press.

Author Solutions – the only other self-publishing related provider recognized, came in at 3266 among the top 5000 companies.

Congratulations self-publishing.

– by Karl Schroeder

Six years later, Inc. 500 has morphed into the Inc. 5000 but the list remains a stellar launch point for discussions about what industries are seeing success in a mostly-post-recession USA––and not just for the men and women who walk Wall Street. It remains a fantastic resource for indie and self-publishing authors, too.

But first, the bad news: This year, no self-publishing providers made the list. The good news is that this is because the self-publishing industry has begun to stabilize, diversify, and revisit its offerings in order to better tailor them to the end user. Because the Inc. 5000 only lists the fastest-growing companies, a stable market fast reaching its maturity just doesn’t quite fall within its purview.

And while indie, hybrid, and self-publishing companies may not have made it into last year’s list in the Inc. 5000, they continue to occupy headlines over at the Digital Book World (see here), Publisher’s Weekly (see here), and one of my personal favorites, Library Journal (see here). We’ll be following the news within the industry as it emerges this year, and while indications seem to be present that e-book sales remain down from this time two years ago, it may very well be that Hachette’s battle with Amazon and the resulting price hike has driven readers back to print. That’s a profitable (and surprisingly cheerful) piece of information, I think! Watch our Monday morning posts for more statistics as companies head into their Spring quarter. ♠

Advocacy in Self-Publishing, Book Marketing, from the archives, karl schroeder, Kelly Speaks, Self-Publishing, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “Self-Publishing – A Growing Industry”

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[ Originally posted: January 11th, 2010 ]

Did you know that over 40% of all book sales in the United States last year took place online, through e-retailers like Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com? More and more people are becoming comfortable with (and even accustomed to) shopping online. What’s more, consumers are more likely to purchase lesser-known and self-published books, according to Inc. Magazine.

What does this mean for the self-published author? With the convenience of on demand-printing and full-service self-publishing options: Good things. Selling books online is more cost-effective than selling through a typical bookstore, and that means more money in your pocket. Again, make sure your publisher lets you set your own retail price, royalty, and discount to take maximum advantage of shifting consumer trends.

Just something to keep in mind as you write and investigate the publishing options best in-line with your goals.

Have fun and keep writing!

by Karl Schroeder

Almost six years on from Karl’s original post, we now have the benefit of hindsight to apply to many of his predictions–and fortunately for all of us who happen to be involved in the self-publishing industry, most of them came true! According to Statista.com, “some 41 percent of global internet users having purchased products online in 2013”–and the numbers have continued to climb steadily from there. And in respect to total e-commerce sales, a separate Statista article shows that Chinese retail giant Alibaba had a massive 23.7% market reach (outright) in 2015, but that Amazon and its affiliated sites together had an aggregate market penetration of 39.6% (the affiliates earned 22%, and Amazon proper 17.6%).

Many companies might struggle to find their niche in a market so overrun by big business, but smaller, more nimble organizations (including hybrid and self-publishing firm Outskirts Press) have shown they’re more than capable of keeping their footing. Outskirts, which ranked in Inc. Magazine‘s top 500 or 5000 for four years in a row starting in 2009, continues to ensure that its authors make waves in the Amazon bestseller listings–and get their books onto actual physical bookshelves, as well.

And Outskirts Press is just one company among many who are succeeding at delivering on the promises of self-publishing as laid forth by Karl in his article: convenience in on demand-printing and full-service self-publishing options, cost-effective marketing, and more money in authors’ pockets, not to mention control over retail price, royalties, and discounts. Inc. Magazine and others have come forward to bolster our knowledge and understanding of the inner workings of the publishing and self-publishing business, with articles like “How to Self-Publish Your Book” (2011), “How to Self-Publish a Business Bestseller” (2012), and “Publisher’s Note: Celebrating the Power of Partnership” (2015) underscoring new ways to adapt in an ever-shifting landscape of opportunities and challenges.

Some things have changed since 2010: Barnes & Noble seems to be stuck in a slow and gradual decline, print books seem to be on the rebound after Hachette and the other Big Five traditional publishing houses won their battle in the Amazon price-fixing war, and so on. But other things haven’t changed: self-publishing is succeeding where traditional publishing continues to fail–in providing vital and necessary services and support to authors whose books are too daring, too interesting, and too precious to fall through the cracks.

What does this all mean, though? It means, as Karl’s article so eloquently stated, that self-publishing remains a “Growing Industry.” ♠

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