As a recent visitor to my blog pointed out, the traditional self-publishing model of “write a book, print a bunch of copies, and sell them” is becoming more outdated and short-sighted every day.  The fact is, recent developments in technology and content delivery have presented a whole host of fun, profitable and low-cost ways to deliver your book idea to the masses—ways that won’t result in dozen of prewritten rejection letters.  If you are a budding author who is willing to forgo traditional publishing channels and do something a little different, take a few moments to review these six ideas.

Idea #1: Start a Blog

Since 2001 I have been working on a Nonfiction-Business book about growing small companies.  After almost 350 completed pages, I thought I was ready to publish.  Just to be safe I started a blog, with the intent of test-marketing snippets of the book to a broader audience.  After nearly a year, I came to two startling conclusions: my idea sucked, and so did my writing style.  The bad news is, I spent seven years of my life writing about things most small company managers don’t even care about.  But on the bright side, I figured it out before I completely humiliated myself.  And, the blog I started (the one you’re reading right now) is really starting to take off as of late, with 1,300 followers on Twitter, 2,100 readers of my RSS feed, and over 20,000 page views in the last two months.

Idea #2: Turn it Into an e-Book

Although it will likely be decades before e-Books completely replace their paper-based equivalents, millions of people already prefer the electronic format over its printed counterpart.  Why not reach these early adopters by turning your book into an e-Book?  They’re easy to create, easy to buy, easy to download and easy to read.  The simplest e-Book format to master is PDF, which can be created with any number of free applications, including my personal favorite PrimoPDF.  Or, if you’re hoping to see friends and family reading your book on their slick new Amazon readers, you can visit eHow.com for a quick tutorial on converting your book to Kindle format.

Idea #3: Develop an Online Course

If your book could be used by people to learn more about a concept, topic, activity, or special period in history, you might want to consider turning your book into an online course.  Monster-sized companies like Microsoft, Adobe and Apple all offer rapid e-Learning development tools—but so do hundreds of smaller firms like Lectora, Unison/RapidIntake and MindFlash.  Depending upon the tool you choose, your book could eventually turn into a comprehensive online resource that includes not only content, but also elements like interactive exercises, quizzes, games, assessments, animations, demos and other multimedia.  And here’s the best part: online learning courses can sell anywhere from $99 for a short course (2 to 4 hours in length) up to several thousand dollars for a course in excess of 20 hours long.

Idea #4: Make an Audio Book

Much like converting your book into e-Book format, creating an audio version of your best-seller isn’t nearly as difficult as you might think.  If you or one of your friends has a relatively pleasing voice, acquiring an audio recording of your book can be done in several ways.  You can record it directly onto your hard drive in a quiet room with a nice headset (less than $100), or you can spring for a half-day of off peak time at the local recording studio for about 500 bucks.  Either way, once you have your master file you can convert it to downloadable MP3 or iTunes format with any number of free tools.  Add a website and a simple shopping cart to the mix, and people with hour-long daily commutes will be downloading your book to their portable audio devices in no time.

Idea #5: Break it Into a Series

If I have learned one thing during my 5+ years in the publishing industry, it is this: given the choice between an 80-page book for $10 and an 800-page book for $20, the vast majority of consumers will purchase the shorter book.  Sure, the longer book is a much better overall value—2.5 cents per page versus 12.5 cents per page for the shorter book—but the longer book comes with something the shorter book does not: a commitment.  People love the sense of accomplishment a quick read can give them.  If your book pushes the boundaries of reasonable length, you might want to consider breaking it into a shorter continuing series that includes individual blog postings, smaller e-Books or 15-minute Podcasts.

Idea #6: Write a Screenplay

Can you visualize your book as a movie, musical, play, sitcom or soap opera?  If so, why not convert it to screenplay format?  True story . . . a very good friend of mine had a book idea in his head for years.  One day, he and a film student acquaintance decided to convert the idea into a screenplay.  After nine months of part-time work it was ready, and the film student used a few connections to pitch the idea.  Less than a year after completing it, the two had sold the screenplay to director Clint Eastwood for well into the six figure range.  Shortly thereafter the two were attending the Hollywood movie premier, hanging out with people like Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Clint Eastwood himself.  Did they make enough money on their screenplay to quit their full-time jobs and retire?  No.  But now they both carry Screenwriter’s Guild cards . . . and have one heck of a story to tell their grand kids some day.  For a bunch of free tips and information on how to convert a book into screenplay format, check out Screenwriting.info for a great primer.

Comments?  Questions?  Feel free to reply to this post.  Otherwise a Retweet, Facebook Share, LinkedIn Share or other type of social share (handy buttons provided) would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

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Over the last several months it occurred to me that at least a dozen of my friends, relatives and acquaintences are in the process of writing a book.  Because of what I currently do for a living (Marketing Director for a mid-tier training and publishing company) a number of them have asked me for advice.  This series represents a summary of the conversations I had with each of them.

The post you are about to read will act as Part II in what will likely be a three-part series written specifically for budding authors.  In Part I of this series, 5 Reasons to Self-Publish Your Next Book, I covered the most compelling motivations to self-publish—some logistical, some financial, and some emotional.  In this posting I will cover the ins and outs of self-publishing, with the goal of demonstrating that self-publishing is not nearly as difficult or expensive as you might think.

With the above in mind, it is time to review the costs, difficulty and importance of four key steps in the self-publishing process: 1) Choosing a Name, 2) Incorporating Your New Business, 3) Getting Your Book Ready for Market, and 4) Finding an Affordable Printer.

Step 1: Choosing a Name for Your Publishing Company

Choosing a name for your new publishing company is by far the most fun and least expensive step in the process.  And the best part is, it’s your publishing company—so you can choose whatever name you want . . . almost.  Before you settle on a name, spend a few hours searching the web to make sure your favorites aren’t already taken by another publisher.  Also, for marketing purposes be sure to choose something that lends itself to an available URL, and that sounds good when you add “Publishing” or “Publications” to the end of it.  Both Network Solutions and GoDaddy will allow you to check URL availability for free.

Cost: $0
Difficulty: Easy
Importance: Mandatory

Step #2: Incorporating Your New Business

If your goal is to self-publish Grandma’s favorite recipes for the next reunion, you may skip to Step 3.  But if your future plans include multiple books, online sales, and investments in assets like computers and software, you should STRONGLY consider incorporating.  For a few hundred dollars or less, websites like LegalZoom can help you set up a Subchapter-S corporation, usually in less than a month. Running your publishing company as a corporation has a number of benefits, not the least of which are the ability to write off business expenses against income from your real job, and protection of your personal assets in certain situations if you get sued.

Cost: $139 to $369 + State Fees
Difficulty: Medium
Importance: Optional (but Recommended)

Step #3: Getting Your Book Ready for Market

There are two absolutely universal rules in the publising world:

• Books with ugly covers don’t sell; and
• No writer should be his or her own proofreader.

With these two things in mind, finding qualified and inexpensive help with these two tasks—cover design and proofreading—will be critical to your long-term success.  Not surprisingly, most authors lean heavily on their personal networks in these cases.  If you recently spent an entire weekend helping a starving artist or English major move out of an apartment, now is the time to cash in your favor.  Otherwise, if you have no applicable friends you can contact the Graphic Design and English instructors at the local community college for a student recommendation.  Not only will a student’s rate be significantly lower than hiring an experienced professional, but you might be able to get your project done for free as part of a class project, or as a resume-builder for a student looking to break into publishing.

Cost: $0 to $500 Each
Difficulty: Medium
Importance: Mandatory

Step #4: Finding an Affordable Printer

Finding someone who can print your book at a reasonable price is not as improbable as it sounds.  The fact is, there are companies out there who do nothing but print short runs of books for independent authors.  With just 30 minutes of work, I was able to find several that print books for less than $5 apiece, with very low setup fees.  One of these companies is called Keystone Digital Press, and offers an “Instant Price Quote” service where you can enter the specs of your book into an online calculator.  When I entered what I consider to be the specifications of a standard book (200 pages, 5.5″ x  8.5″, 60# paper, perfect binding, full-color cover) the system shot me a price of $4.20 per book for 100 copies.  Understanding these printers don’t offer a ton of flexibility—only 6 book sizes, 3 bindings and 2 paper weights to choose from—their prices leave you plenty of room to make money when you actually sell a book.  And although the 100-book minimums might seem intimidating at first, keep one thing in mind: if you don’t believe in your book enough to print 100 copies, you shouldn’t be doing this anyway.

Cost: About $500 for 100 Printed Copies
Difficulty: Medium
Importance: Mandatory

This wraps up Part II in my self-publishing series for aspiring authors.  If you would like to be notified when the next post in this series becomes available, be sure to either Join my RSS Feed or bookmark this page and check back often.  Also, if this post was truly helpful to you, feel free to reply to this post.  Otherwise a Retweet, Facebook Share, LinkedIn Share or other type of social share (handy buttons provided) would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

Related Articles You Might Enjoy:

• Authors: 6 Other Things to Do with Your Book Idea
• Authors: 5 Reasons to Self-Publish Your Next Book

Over the last couple of months it occurred to me that about a dozen of my friends, relatives and acquaintances are in the process of writing a book—a science fiction novel, a how-to manual, a business resource, a cookbook, and a fiction novel based on actual events being just a few examples.  Because of what I currently do for a living (Marketing Director for a mid-tier training and publishing company) a number of them have asked me for advice.  This post represents a compilation of the conversations I had with each of them.

5 Reasons to Self-Publish Your Next Book will act as Part I in what will likely be a three-part series written specifically for budding authors.  In Part II of this series I will cover exactly HOW to self-publish, and in Part III I will dive into what many consider to be the Holy Grail of the self-publishing world—marketing your own book.

With the above in mind, here are 5 reasons you should avoid traditional channels and self-publish your upcoming best-seller:

Reason #1: Self-Publishing is Not Nearly as Difficult As You Think.  If you break the process of creating a book down into smaller pieces, publishing really only involves four things: 1) writing, 2) editing, 3) designing a cover, and 4) printing.  Assuming you can handle the first one, good freelance editors and cover designers can be found online, or through a local Liberal Arts school, or even among your group of friends.  In terms of printing, every major metro area is home to at least a half-dozen shops that specialize in printing short runs of self-published books for a very reasonable price—often around $4 per copy.

Reason #2: Publishing Companies Don’t Actually Do Anything. Any new author who signs a deal with a large publisher eventually comes to the same conclusion: “My publisher did nothing for me.”  Sure, they may have helped with a cover design and donated a few hours of editorial time, but what should you realistically expect to receive in exchange for giving up 90% of your money and 100% of your intellectual property?  Unfortunately, very little.  In most cases, all of the responsibility for marketing and promoting your book (the part you REALLY need help with) will fall squarely on your shoulders. Unless, of course, you consider being added to an already over-crowded catalog as “marketing.”

Reason #3: You Will Make More Money. The standard royalty arrangement most publishers offer their first-time authors is between $.75 and $3.00 per copy sold, depending upon the type of book—fiction writers getting the low end of the scale, and authors of high-priced technical guides cashing in at the higher end.  But when you self-publish, your royalty arrangement is much more attractive.  In fact, it can be expressed in this easy-to-understand formula:

What You Put in Your Pocket = Sale Price – Printing Costs

In the Fiction world this formula can easily equal $5 per copy (assuming a $9 sale price and $4 to print), but where it really begins to pay big dividends is in non-fiction, where technical guides and manuals can sell for between $30 and $50 each.  Even the heaviest-hitting authors who work with publishers don’t clear $25 to $45 per book.  But hundreds of self-publishers are doing just that . . . and more.

Reason #4: You Will Spend Less Money. After investing thousands of hours (or possibly your entire life) writing and editing a book, do you really want to spend your own money traveling to trade shows and speaking events to promote it?  This is exactly what a publisher will ask you to do . . . if they even care enough to tell you.  But if you self-publish, dozens of free or low cost marketing opportunities become available to you—opportunities we will talk more about later in this series.  And when your marketing efforts actually work and you start selling books, you won’t be forced to buy them back from the publisher first.  You can simply pull a few more out of the box in your garage.

Reason #5: A Publisher Will Never Care As Much As You Do. When it gets right down to it, the number one complaint I hear from people who work with a publisher is ”They just don’t care about my book.”  But why should they?  These firms represent hundreds of titles, and only start to ‘care’ when an author demonstrates the ability to make them hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.  If your book represents your life’s work, wouldn’t you rather have a publisher who is passionate about your book and has a vested interest in its success? Publishing on your own is almost always the better choice.

If you would like to be notified when the next post in this series becomes available, be sure to either Join my RSS Feed or bookmark this page and check back often.  Also, if this post was truly helpful to you, I would love to write more about this topic—so please post feedback if you would like more content in this area.

Comments?  Questions?  Feel free to reply to this post.  Otherwise a Retweet, Facebook Share, LinkedIn Share or other type of social share (handy buttons provided) would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

Related Articles You Might Enjoy:

• Authors: 6 Other Things to Do with Your Book Idea
• Self-Publishing: A Simple and Inexpensive How-To Guide