Monthly Archives: March 2009

With the explosion of print-on-demand, there are more authors than ever before dipping their feet into the self-publishing game. Many authors come from the traditional arena and have a degree of knowledge and understanding commensurate with their experience.  Other authors may have independently published books in the past, consider themselves savvy, and are now seeking  the advantages that come from joining forces with a full-service print-on-demand self publisher (Ingram distribution and automatic wholesale fulfillment, to name just two).

The great majority, however,  are new authors, anxious to learn, but not possessing much history or background in the industry.  They often rely upon the information they read on the internet, hear from friends/associates, or receive from their publisher. All too often that information is either incorrect or slanted.

Let’s examine one good example – the confusion that exists around retail returns as it relates to print-on-demand books.  There is a commonly-held misconception that all POD books cannot be returned to the wholesaler by retail stores.  This harkens back to the early days of POD. Those days are over.  The great majority of POD books are all printed by the same printers and distributed in the same manner; and that process does allow for POD books to be returned by the retailer through Ingram Book Wholesalers.

Whether or not the individual POD publisher allows returns is at the discretion of each publisher.  Some allow it and some do not. Usually the publishers who allow it do so for an additional fee. Why? Because not all POD authors want their books to be returnable, and because accepting a return on a print-on-demand book is expensive.    POD publishers who offer “returnability” for “free” are able to do so by amortizing that additional cost across all their books and authors, even the authors who don’t want that additional, costly service in the first place.

Let’s consider that one of the defining characteristics of “print-on-demand” is that the book is printed only when it is demanded.  There are some who believe offering a POD book on a returnable basis defeats the very advantage of POD in the first place.  Naturally, the major issue is the printing cost.  When an off-set book is printed in quantities of thousands, each book has a printing cost of perhaps a dollar or two.   (Of course, that means each book order costs you $4000). By comparison, the very same book printed one-at-a-time via POD digital printing has a printing cost of perhaps $6.  A publisher who is willing or able to accept a $1-$2 loss for a returned book might be unable or unwilling to accept a $6 loss.  This is basic economics. POD works because books are only printed after there is a need, when there is a buyer.  Then everyone wins. But if a POD book is printed “on consignment” when it might not be purchased, that is an expensive risk.  Since it is the author’s decision to take on that risk, it is most often the author who is asked to front the cost.

THE LIFE INSURANCE ANALOGY

When a POD publisher offers to sell a book on a returnable basis, there is often a period of time associated with the option, either one year or two in most cases.  Why?  The best analogy is life insurance. You pay into a life insurance policy every 6 months or every year. You don’t just make one payment. Same philosophy here. In fact, the analogy works on several levels.  Life insurance is protecting  your family in the event of an unfortunate circumstance, such as a death.  Purchasing a retail returns program is similar– you are protecting yourself in the event your book is returned in massive quantities.   Similarly, just as the life insurance company is accepting those premiums to have enough money to cover any claim, so too are the POD publishers.

Let’s pretend Barnes & Noble orders 1000 copies of your book. They sell 100 and have 900 copies to return.  If each copy costs $5 to print-on-demand, that is $4500 being refunded back to Barnes & Noble’s pocket. This is an over-simplification, because there are additional complexities like wholesale margin and printer profit to account for, but this works for the sake of an example.

It might not be pretty to realize, but from a business perspective, 4500 returned POD books have a value of exactly zero, so the fact that 4500 books are coming back to be dealt with is actually an increased cost to the wholesaler and publisher, not a savings. Reprinting that same book new costs $5 while administratively handling its storage, reassignment, and reshipment might cost $7.

So, who is giving that $4500 back to Barnes & Noble?  Not Ingram! The only players left are the publisher and the author.  Since the publisher has offered “life insurance” on the book, they pay the $4500 bill rather than asking the author to pay. The author’s “premiums” have covered the publisher against the potential risk.  Does this mean that some authors receive a far greater financial benefit than the cost of a returns program? Yes. Does this mean that some authors receive a far lower financial benefit? Yes.  Just like insurance.  The family with the “death” is subsidized by all the premiums being paid by the living.  Of course, between dying and living, I know which I’d prefer.  So if my book is not being returned in massive quantities, I’m okay with the fact that I might be subsidizing other authors in this way.

WHEN TO OFFER RETURNS

95% of online e-retailers like Amazon or BarnesAndNoble.com will list your book whether or not your book is returnable.  The question of returns only truly arises when the topic turns to off-line, brick-and-mortar stores.  So if your marketing plan is to ignore the off-line stores entirely, there is no need to have your book returnable.

On the other hand, if your plan involves contacting brick-and-mortar stores, pitching your book to their buyers, engaging in physical book signings, and having your book either stocked or available for off-line retail ordering, you may want to strongly consider a returns program for your book.  Why? Because off-line, brick-and-mortar booksellers are accustomed to being able to return books.  This harkens back to the days of the depression when publishers offered this “perk” to bookstores in an effort to encourage them to continue buying books even when bookstores didn’t have any customers.  Once acquired, the bookstores refused to relinquish this perk, even when business boomed.  Again, this is an oversimplification; but it will suffice as a snapshot of history.

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.   This pretty much sums up the situation with off-line, brick-and-mortar bookstores and POD books.  Bookstores are the old dog. POD is the new trick.  Each started out this millennium not fond of the other.  Slowly, the old dog is coming around, out of necessity more than anything else.  But most stores are not willing to relinquish their requirement for returnability (unless they really like you and are willing to make an exception – and this happens quite frequently, mostly at the local level). That means, if you want to be in their ballgame, you need to play by their rules. And that means allowing your book to be returned, with the understanding that you are basically paying for insurance when you order a returns program, protecting yourself against the risk of your book being returned in such high quantities that the refund would exceed your ability to pay.

Granted, this is a topic with some complexity, but hopefully this article has helped somewhat.

Since March is SMALL PRESS MONTH, this is the month to promote your self-published book! With that in mind, here are 31 ways you can market & promote your book during Small Press Month, one for each day of March. Time to get started!

Mar 1 – If you do not have enough author’s copies on hand, contact your publisher and order more so they arrive in enough time to pursue these other tips throughout the month.

Mar 2 – Contact other independent published authors in your area (through local associations you may belong to) and combine your resources to fully exploit the opportunities during this month. There’s a lot to do, and four hands are better than two. With the advent of social networking sites, this is easier than ever.  In fact your publisher may already have a group on such sites as MySpace or FaceBook or a following on Twitter.

Mar 3 – Contact your local bookstores and suggest they offer discounts on Small Press books. Bring in yours and offer it to them at a discount to get them started. Show them the rest of this calendar as a way of indicating your commitment to making their event successful. Offer to leave a free copy with them along with a sales sheet.

Mar 4 – Contact your local newspapers and inform them of Small Press Month (in case they don’t know about it). Suggest they write a small article or events calendar for Small Press events in the area, specifically the ones you secured on March 3rd. Tell them you will be sending them a press release on the 5th.

Mar 5 – Send a press release to the local media (newspapers, radio, television) mentioning Small Press Month and your independently published book. (If you secured some events, mention them in the release.

Mar 6 – Follow-up on your press release from yesterday with the local media via telephone. Reiterate Small Press Month, your planned events in the community, and your Small Press book. Send them a review of your book that they can use as a foundation. (Less work for them).

Mar 7 – If you haven’t yet published your book, today is the day to start. Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full service self-publishing and book marketing service is offering an instant 10% discount on all their book publishing services throughout March. Click here for the necessary promotion code.

Mar 8 – Contact your local libraries and suggest they feature Small Press titles, including yours. Offer to leave a free copy with them, along with a sales sheet. If you’re an Outskirts Press author, your free author’s center generates your sales sheet automatically. You can even change it and update it first through your Author Toolkit.

Mar 9 – If you haven’t yet sent out review copies for book, now is the time. The Book Review Starter Kit has many book reviewers listed in the Author Resources section, which is available at http://outskirtspress.com/authors.php  no matter where you have published your book.

Mar 10 – Contact local schools in your area and tell them about Small Press Month. Mention that you are a local published author and offer to speak to their assembly about how to accomplish their dreams of being published. This is particularly effective if you have a children’s book you can then sell after the assembly.

Mar 11 – Contact local universities and colleges. Same concept as yesterday — promote yourself and your book by sharing your knowledge of how to write a book and get it published. Sell copies of your book in the back of the room.

Mar 12 – Schedule a seminar or tele-seminar on “How to Write and Publish a Book” and offer a “Small Press Month” discount on the registration fee. Send out a local news release about your class.

Mar 13 – Contact other sales channels outside of the bookstore that may be likely to sell your book. This may include websites related to your book’s topic, gift stores, hardware stores, grocery stores, boutiques, etc. Look at your book and ask yourself where your readers may be shopping.

Mar 14 – Contact local art studios, design boutiques, or other small independent businesses in your area. Give them the opportunity to share in co-op on some advertising initiatives (plus, if applicable, offer to conduct some events in their venues).

Mar 15 – Join with other independently published authors and arrange a co-op advertisement in the local media, using any dollars secured from local businesses you spoke with on the 14th. In addition to simply promoting your book, promote your upcoming events, so people show up at them. The other authors can join in the events, which may lead the bookstores to be more interested in scheduling it (even on such short notice).

Mar 16 – Contact all the local radio producers in your area and pitch them on Small Press Month.  The Radio Interview Starter Kit within the Outskirts Press author’s center makes it easy, with free contact information in your local area, available to everyone regardless of where you published your book.

Mar 17 – Think St. Patrick’s day thoughts. Then make sure your online Amazon.com listing is all it can be. Do you have a Kindle Edition for your book? Is your book participating in Search Inside the Book?  Do you have your Book Video trailer playing from your Amazon blog?

Mar 18 – Contact the major newspapers about Small Press Month. They’re likely to write up something if enough authors contact them, and you will want to be among the piles of information they have received:

THE NEW YORK TIMES: 229 W 43rd Street, New York NY 10036-3959 (212) 556-1234

USA TODAY: 1000 Wilson Blvd, Arlington VA 22209-3901 (703) 276-3400 and 535 Madison Avenue, 20th Fl, New York NY 10022-4212 (212) 715-5410

WALL STREET JOURNAL: 200 Liberty Street, New York NY 10281-1003 (212) 416-2000

WASHINGTON POST: 1150 15th Street NW, Washington DC 20071-0002 (202) 334-6000

Mar 19 – Contact your local community center and inform them of Small Press Month. If you have gathered a band of local authors, this will be more affective. Schedule an impromptu event, celebrating Small Press books.

Mar 20 – This may be the month to switch publishers if you have published elsewhere. Look at the publisher you chose and ask yourself: Is your retail price too high? Is your profit too low? Is your author’s copy price too high?  Are your marketing options too costly? Compare the top 4 publishers here and save potentially thousands of dollars.

Mar 21 – Small Press Month is just one month out of 12. Prepare for other book events, like the London Book Fair, Book Expo of America, Beijing, and Frankfurt. Or make it easy on yourself with the Global Book Tour marketing package.

Mar 22 – Create a social networking account on Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.

Mar 23 – Contact the Learning Annex (or similarly themed Adult Education Program) in your area and offer to teach a class on the subject of your book. As a published author, you are qualified to teach on your subject since you are an expert. Your book may even be required reading for each student! Cha-ching!

Mar 24 – Start writing online reviews through Amazon. Write reviews for every book you have ever read. Mention that you are the author of your book at the bottom of each posted review. If people like the writing style of your review, they may investigate your book, especially if you write reviews for books within the same genre as yours.

Mar 25 – Contact the public libraries in each state and mention your involvement with Small Press Month. Send them information about your book. Here’s a link that will get you started: http://www.publiclibraries.com/

Mar 26 – Start preparing for April (National Poetry Month), especially if you have a volume of poetry you have published.

Mar 27 – Help other writers you know get published and earn a 10% commission for the referral after their book is published. Register for the exciting Outskirts Press affiliate program at http://outskirtspress.com/affiliates.php 

Mar 28 – Start a blog and keep it active and up-to-date. Register it with blog directories so others start reading it and participating. There are many blog programs to help you get started. Conduct a search on Google for the one that works for you.

Mar 29 – Submit your published book to the Google Base listings. It’s free. http://base.google.com

Mar 30 –  Publish a “Large Print” edition of your book. With the world’s demographics growing older, “large print” editions are becoming more and more popular. Featuring 14 or 16 point fonts, these editions appeal to the aging community because they are easier to read. You’ve already written the book, now re-publish a new “Large Print” edition to increase your revenue and double the effectiveness of your marketing initiatives. It’s easy to get published here.

Mar 31 – Take a breath. It’s been a busy, productive month.