DIY publishing is now considered trendy as opposed to thirty years ago, when mainstream publishers invited new and unknown authors along to preview prospective works. Self-publishing is business and should be treated as such. Without prior knowledge or a key plan, selling a book will result in wasted pounds.
It pays to differ from the current glut of subjects and stories. Zip along to the nearest bookshop and take stock of how much cookery, gardening or books on warfare adorn the shelves. A flux of cookery books will make another tome on the same theme incredibly difficult to sell, especially to a mainstream publisher.
Assuming an author has X number of books printed either through a vanity publisher or even a small press, the next step is to get the book out there, to be read. Take time to decide the best strategy.
Identify the target audience, age, income, career and residential location of prospective readers.
Look at the competition and evaluate the market demand and prices.
Devise a statement that spells out why this new book is special (often called the unique selling point or USP).
Develop a market plan, work out the financial outlay required, and whether sales will recoup the cost of printing, binding etc.
Advertise the publication in local papers, magazines, newsletters etc. Convince news editors to publish press releases about the new book.
Seek audience on websites to promote the work with an image of the cover if possible. This costs around 299 per annum via some of the smaller publishing concerns.
Get postcards, leaflets or flyers printed (fairly cheap these days) at a copy shop.
Hire stalls at markets/fairs; get involved in community organisations at conventions, lectures and events. Display books and promotional material. Offer a special discount to get people interested. At least if they buy, the book is out there and being read.
Caution, almost no self-published book gives a significant return on an author's investment in time and effort, so don't give up the day job.
So where does it all end? Hopefully like the effort of one, now famous author, who initially made little profit from a self-published book but gained loads of publicity. Then one day a copy ended up on the desk of a creative consultant. The result, a well-known mainstream publisher snapped up the work. By the year 2000, the book sold over 300,000 copies and became a best seller. It can happen.
DragonCub is an brand new online bookstore where anyone can sell and buy books. For more information, visit http://www.dragoncub.com/books or contact Miriam Taylor: miriam@dragoncub.com. Tel: +61(0)432 393296
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