Want to Publish a Book?
- Kathy Gaudry
- Mar 3, 2022
- 5 min read
Millions of people today want to write a book, but probably only a fraction of them will. However, the latest stats about book publishing show that in 2019, there were four million books published which is TEN TIMES more titles being produced than in 2007. That’s a lot of competition for any author and book.
There are several ways to publish a book today. You have self-publishing and traditional publishing, both of which have pros and cons. Before you do either, you need to know what to expect.
Self-Publishing
As a retired book publisher and quite familiar with the different types of book publishing, I always hated to hear a caller say “I have a book that is going to make you a million dollars!”
Writing rarely makes an author and publisher that kind of money, so as I listen, red flags are going up everywhere in my head.
That kind of naiveté in a writer opens them up to being scammed by the charlatans in the publishing world. These con men will convince an author that their manuscript is the very best, thus the author should buy from them a publishing package that is overpriced and poorly produced. As a self-publisher under these conditions, the author will fail to make any money. You already know it is hard to write a book, but believe me, it is even harder to sell a book.
In the past few years, self-publishing has shattered all records. Almost half of all books published now are self-published, thanks to Amazon, Ingram, and a number of other platforms which has made self-publishing easier. Bowker reports that 1.7 million books were self-published in 2018 [latest stats on this], which is a 264% increase in just five years. Self-publishing was almost half of the production at that time, and that percentage is even bigger today.
If you self-publish, this means that you, the author, take on ALL of the costs of production and marketing. Marketing is the most difficult in the process. Your marketing will take double the amount of time you spent writing, so prepare your life appropriately. This type of publishing, if done correctly, can make the author the most amount of money, but if you do not want to dedicate this time to marketing, you will not be successful.
The elephant in the room for self-publishing is Amazon. My disclaimer: I publish through Amazon, but receive no compensation from them for what I am going to write here. Amazon holds about 75% of the market for books and distribution. There are other players in the field such as Barnes and Noble and Ingram Spark to just name two, but the powerhouse is Amazon.
Amazon has made self-publishing about as easy as it can get. Their KDP program with thousands of pages of HELP can work even the rankest beginner through the process. An app they created, KINDLE CREATE, makes even the formatting of eBooks and paperbacks simpler than ever. It’s not a perfect system yet, for I have had great difficulty using their cover formatting (and had to go to an outside source to get my covers created), but given time, I suspect they will overcome this problem area as well.
Royalties at Amazon range from 35% to 70% less production cost. These royalties are significantly higher than any traditional publisher can offer. HOWEVER, and there is always a caveat isn’t there? You need to plan your own marketing. They do have an advertising division, but if you don’t know how to use it, you will spend money with no results. I am going to recommend a book just out (Summer 2021) by the best of the advertising gurus, Alex Strathdee. Consider buying his book ADVANCED AMAZON ADS. You can see more info about this book in my store. It is best I have found on the market and definitely worth buying if you plan to advertise your book with the Amazon program.
Traditional Publishing
Traditional publishing has always been a “tough nut to crack.” More manuscripts come over
the transom than peanuts in Georgia. Most of these manuscripts are unsolicited and so the vast majority don’t even get looked at. A query letter to your chosen literary agent or publisher(s) is your best bet to save time when looking for a home for your manuscript.
If you want to be traditionally published, you will have to submit your manuscript to various
publishing houses which publish SIMILAR books. I am stressing similar because you don’t want to bring a travel book to a cookbook publisher. Find publishers who publish books which
are similar to yours. There is a very good reason for this. The publisher’s marketing is set up to match the books in their line. If you bring a book to them that doesn’t fit the line, they have no easy way to market your book. This limited marketing, just for your book, will get very expensive.
You can also find a publisher if you go through a literary agent, but finding a good agent who will work with a first-time author is difficult, yet not impossible. Again, find agents who work in your chosen literary field and query.
Being traditionally published means that you give the publishing rights to the publishing company, and in return, you will receive a royalty on sales minus your agent’s commission. This royalty normally is between 10-15% depending upon your contract. Your publisher will pay for all of the production and marketing of your book. You SHOULD NOT PAY your publisher for this service–that is NOT traditional publishing.
Book Publishing and Marketing
A better course of action is this: once your book is written, spend time developing a marketing plan for it. What should you consider?
WHO will buy this book? Get specific with your demographics. Will women primarily buy your book? What’s their age group? Are they married? Single? Live in the suburbs? Have kids? How educated are they? Answers to all of these questions and any others that you can think of will really help you determine how to market your book.
WHY will they buy it? Consider what the BENEFIT of your book for your reader is. What is so unique about your book that readers will be compelled to buy it?
WHERE will they be able to buy it? If you are working with a traditional publisher, they will determine the markets. If you are self-publishing, you have some work ahead of you in finding places that will carry your book. Or maybe you are planning to put it on Amazon and just let it sit there.
Be brutally honest with yourself. Are you an expert in the field? If so, you have a ready-made
pool of buyers for your book. If you are not the expert, why on earth would anyone want to purchase your book? Have you presented something unique? Is it written better than anything else on the market? Do you have thoughts or pictures that other authors did not?
Readers need to be able to find your book, so where are your markets? Will it be an eBook? Paperback? How will it be distributed? What is your time frame for your marketing plan? What is your budget for your marketing plan? Is it realistic?
Once you have your marketing plan in place, decide if you will self-publish or be traditionally published. There are many pros and cons to each type of publishing, and you must decide what works best for you and your book. Either way, your marketing plan will be invaluable.
After you develop a marketing plan and if you decide to go with a traditional publisher, share your plan with them after you sign a contract. You might give them hints before signing to let them know you have been exploring the marketing for your book. Most publishers will work with you in different areas of your marketing, but again, in traditional publishing, they already have a great deal set up for their authors.
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