How Book Design and Book Merchandising Will Keep Your Book Alive
Too many authors spend all their time writing and then skimp on book design and marketing. They expect their publisher to handle all the details of book design and marketing so they can just sit back and make millions year after year.
Then, if these same authors decide to self-publish, they will quickly get lost in the quagmire of print-on-demand publishers and the self-publishing time and money sinkhole. In fact, most authors would rather die than think about book marketing or spend money on book design.
Facing Your Book Marketing Competition
In 2005, about 172,000 books were published with ISBN numbers, according to Bowker, who compiles publishing statistics. An ISBN number will take you to Books in Print and allow your book to be distributed to bookstores and online sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. According to some sources, almost a quarter of these books were printed by print-on-demand (POD) companies.
I would estimate that number to be much higher, since Lightning Source prints its books for many small publishers, which also provides printing services for many of the larger POD companies.
Also, Lulu Press, which publishes more than 1,500 books a week, says that only about 5% of its books get an ISBN number. That’s another 80,000 books circulating on the market each year, though most of Lulu’s books are only sold through Lulu Press on its website.
The definition of “Best Seller” has changed
It only takes 300 book sales to make Lulu’s top 100 all-time bestseller list. 300 books! For some people, that can be accomplished simply by selling books to their extended family. While AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Palibrio, and other big players in the POD market could print more books with ISBN numbers, their sales records aren’t much better.
Some sources estimate that the average book does not sell more than 150 copies, and other sources put that number under fifty copies. In many cases, the authors end up losing money on their books, which is why Lulu Press is so popular. At Lulu, you can upload your book’s interior and cover (you do all the design work for yourself) and have a book delivered to your door in a matter of days, all for the “cost of printing” (which is highly priced, by the way). inflated).
The services and prices of POD companies vary widely, which is why we are in the final stages of creating a comprehensive guide to desktop publishing. It can be a confusing swamp of information and data, with many unsubstantiated claims. The truth will be revealed.
Will you be one of the winners, or part of the majority?
Will your book be dead before it hits the streets? If you intend to sell more than 50 books, you will need to invest time and money in producing and marketing your book. These are the basic steps you will need to consider:
1. Write a great book that has an audience.
One of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that people will read your book simply because it’s “good.” People will read a book if it applies to their lives (non-fiction) or if it really is a damn good book (fiction). Even then, you will have to market your book. “How to sell a book” or “How to market a book” are two of the top questions we get, and search engine analysis shows these are frequent search terms. If you haven’t written your book with an audience in mind, then you have three legs on your four-legged marketing stool.
2. Spend some money on book cover design and book publishing.
The second stage of book marketing is the interior and exterior design of the book. People judge a book by its cover, so if you’re not spending some money to get a standout cover, you’re losing sales. Then people will open the book and read the introduction or first few pages. Is it well written? Easy to read? Is the interior design of the book clean, consistent, and well implemented? I have seen many POD books where the margins were too small, the fonts were poorly chosen, and the images were blurry. Who is going to buy such a book?
There are many great book cover designers out there. Then for editing, contact Charity at Mighty Pen Editing for your editing needs. Don’t skimp on editing because you WILL make mistakes (trust me, there are probably a few in this article).
3. Choose a good quality publisher.
Lulu Press is great if you just want to print a few books for your friends or create a low-cost galley to send to publishers, agents, or distributors. You will often be asked to submit a “galley” of your book, which is simply a printed copy of your book with a blank cover. Lulu Press is excellent for creating galleys at minimal cost.
As we’ll show you in our next comprehensive guide to desktop publishing, which POD company you choose will depend on your intentions and desires. If you want your book professionally edited and the cover professionally designed by your publisher (rather than outsourced to an unknown person), then companies like Cold Tree Press may be a good option. Other companies offer a varied level of marketing packages. Personally, I prefer to avoid having these publishers market my book and instead go to a good book marketer or media specialist.
However, there are some small publishers (like Cold Tree Press or Arbor Books) that have great book marketing packages, ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars (you get what you pay for!).
4. Take a “no holds barred” approach to book marketing.
If your book is your life, or is an important part of your business marketing plan, then spend some money on advertising and book marketing. Too many people, especially business people, write a book, post a page on their website (and on Amazon) and hope to get some sales. Your book is like a 250 page business card and should be used accordingly.
If your book is your life story or a novel, you still need to spend some money on marketing, although your approach will be different. Definitely consult a media relations specialist (Marika Flatt at http://www.prbythebook.com) or book marketing specialist (Penny Sansevieri).
5. Use the Internet to market your book.
The old ways of marketing books, like book tours, are dead and gone. Sure, you can still do it, but if you really want to sell books, you’ll need to go online, not silently.
Use techniques like blogging (blogging), Podcasting and Videocasting (sort of like online infomercials). Be sure to check out the advanced book marketing teleseminar series at http://www.writeandpublishyourbook.com. You should also learn how to take a virtual book tour (a class that Penny Sansevieri will teach through Write and Publish Your Book).
So, write a great book, find a good cover designer and book editor, work with a quality publisher, market your book to the fullest, and use the internet to market your book with podcasts, blogs (an author blog), webcasts, video and virtual book tours.
Good luck. Good writing. Good sale.
