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    New Smart & Simple Self Publishing – Using 80-20 Strategies    
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New technology has opened an amazing door for faster and easier publishing options –

and for marketing a self-published book to the book industry. Lengthy books chock full of information are available on self-publishing. But if you are a new author, they can be intimidating and overwhelming. What follows is a smart but simple way to proceed.

By Agreka LLC        
List Price: $14.95      
Soft Cover 6 x 9  96pp   Copyright 2007
Agreka™ Books ISBN 978-1-934-243-01-5 / 1-934243-01-0
 
Read Table of Contents

Writing the book is important. It is the beginning. Then publishing decisions need to be made, which include a variety of options. Learning on your own can take several years and involve expensive mistakes. Or you can begin your journey higher up on the mountain by learning from our experience.

We provide insights and details for the journey, including how to make the most effective use of your publishing and marketing dollars. A ton of money can be spent trying to put your book "out there," as you learn the playing field. Today there are new and affordable ways to begin that process.

Be aware that if the topic of your book has more than a local audience, and you can move it along successfully in its publishing journey, the time may come when major book buyers in the industry will want to know about it. They are always looking for a book that has a proven and growing readership.

The book world is a complex entity with many steps required. When first learning about all of them, one can become overwhelmed. But like anything else, if you acquire information and think it through based on your goals, you can then take it one step at a time.

Throughout this book, you will read about the 80-20 of your decisions. This is the time-proven strategy of the respected business model called 80-20. Its premise is that you can spend 80% of your time and resources that will produce a 20% result. Or you can target your time, strategy, and financial resources toward a carefully chosen 20% plan and are more likely to obtain an 80% result. This model has been a boon to large and small businesses, and to individuals. To effectively apply the 80-20 Model in every aspect of your journey, you need information about the book world as it is today.

Additional Information:  Introduction  Read Table of Contents

Introduction 

The Game Plan

Many new authors write a book, not yet knowing what they will do later regarding publishing. As we begin with the broad picture, know that later in the book, we’ll go into details. But first, consider your goal.

Let’s look at the road map of where you may be going. Knowing the end from the beginning, or at least possible destinations, will help you in your writing. So as you write, consider the following.

You can print 25 or more copies, soft or hard cover, and give them to family and friends. You can have the book professionally designed or you can design/format it in your computer program, add photos, and have it printed. But before you make those decisions, you must first decide what printing company will print the books. His requirements for how the book materials come to him will guide you in how the book is formatted and designed.

Printers often do not know the world of putting a book together before the printing begins, so don’t assume they will tell you everything you need to know to get it ready. And they may offer you additional services that sound good, but later you will discover they hindered you. So pay attention to the details we’ll share about finding a printer, and why it matters.

You can choose to print a quantity of books and sell them only through your own direct channel, like an association – and not to book stores. When you have a captive direct market that will want your book, you can put a retail price on it that covers your costs and provides a profit. With a direct market, you do not have to factor in the financial aspects of book industry discounts paid to distributors and wholesalers.

Or you can decide that while you want to sell to a direct market, you also want your book to be in the commercial book world. Understand this world is a multi-faceted industry and you must learn how it works. Too many authors simply want to write the book and hand it off to some entity to "take it from there." But that is no different from drawing a house design, handing it off to a builder and walking away trusting that he will create what you want. One of our goals with this book is to explain in simple terms how the industry works, so you are not at the mercy of others to make decisions for you. And if "details" are not your strength, ask a family member or friend to help.

For commercial books, there are two options you can consider. Either pay for and print a quantity of books or decide you will begin the launch using the new Print on Demand publishing strategy that is revolutionizing the book industry.

If you do not choose the Print on Demand strategy, then you either sell your printed books directly to book stores or you find a book distributor. You can’t do both or it is like having two stores with the same name and no one knows which one to go to. The distributor’s job is to add your book title and information to his database, offer you advertising opportunities (which you pay for) in his publications that go out to book stores, and all orders for books from the book industry come to him. He receives the order, packs the box with your books, ships it, invoices the purchaser, and tracks payment information. And he handles all the "returns," which we’ll talk about later.

There are "local" book distributors who in turn work with large book industry distributors. But know that every time you add someone to the process, you make less money because each entity must be paid for their time and work.

Or you can bypass the distributor world by setting up your book as print on demand. This is a strategy that will offer a more affordable launch, and it can provide many of the services you need. For most books, it is a smart way to begin. You can also purchase from the Print on Demand company a quantity of books for yourself, and to sell to a non-book-industry clientele, and order more as needed, knowing you can receive them in two weeks.

Book distributors, independent book stores, and libraries can order your book from the print on demand company, even one book, and it will be printed, bound, and shipped. You can log in to watch daily or weekly sales, if you wish. They send you a monthly email detailed report on sales, and you are paid the fourth month after the sale. Understand that in the book industry, distributors are allowed three months to make payment for the books they order, and then payments need time for processing and reporting. Payment is made to your bank account.

Advantages: No significant outlay of monies for a large quantity of books, no expensive storage of books, no shipping and invoicing to multiple book stores. Errors or updates in the book can easily be corrected with a new book file upload before the next order is filled. The book can also be offered as an E-book if you desire that option.

Many authors choose the print-on-demand strategy, and here is why. If book sales take off and remain steady, you can then choose whether to print a large quantity using offset printing (for a lower per-book printing cost, and greater profit to you), arrange services with a distributor, and change the status of your book from print-on-demand to already printed and ready to ship. Or you can approach a large publishing company and present the "numbers" on sales and see if they will pick it up and take it from there. Or you can allow the book to continue as print on demand.

Understand that within the commercial book industry, each step a non-print-on-demand book travels to finally reach the reader involves a cost. Handling the journey of a physical book takes time, storage, receiving orders, shipping, invoicing, tracking, and all this passes through the hands of several industry entities. Then there are the "returns."

We’ll talk about "returns" a lot because it is a long established component of the book industry that should govern your initial decisions. Read more in the book . . .

 

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