Amy DuBoff's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-publishing"
Navigating the Maze of Self-Publishing: A Newbie’s Perspective
I am currently self-publishing my first book. I am also currently planning a wedding. Let me tell you, the self-publishing has required me to make just as many decisions!
Much like when you find the person you want to marry, saying “yes” to your book is the easy part. You love your book, and now you want the entire world to know. But, what’s the best way to present it to prospective readers?
While trying to answer this question for myself, I made one important realization: there is no one “right” way to go about self-publishing. Each author is different, and what might be a good strategy for one book might not apply to another. At each juncture, I tried to make the best decision for me and my book series. I scoured advice columns and talked to other author friends.
The following are some of the key decisions I had to make, and why I made my selections:
Self-publishing, versus traditional
Self-publishing offers a degree of flexibility that traditional publishing does not. The series that had been floating around in my head had several components that were important to the overall story, but not really standalone novels. The ability to self-publish a novella addressed my concerns—allowing me to tell the story I wanted to tell without trying to comply with arbitrary page length restrictions publishers typically place on their books, especially with a new author.
Distribution platform
There are dozens (or more) ways to distribute an ebook. I looked over as many comparison charts as I could find about the various platforms. There were pros and cons to each. Ultimately, I decided to pursue a multi-prong approach.
1. I started with Amazon.com, using the Kindle Direct Publishing option. The interface is easy to use and doesn’t require additional software. I was able to set up a pre-order, which has allowed me to promote my book in advance of the official release and offered the added benefit of giving me a deadline. What better way to make sure I follow through with my commitment to publish!
2. As a secondary platform, I am going with BookTango. BookTango is free to use and the royalty structure is very favorable. They claim royalties are 100% paid to the author, but that’s after the retailer fees. While it might not offer the financial benefits of going directly to each of the big distributors, it’s an easy way to get in the door with Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Sony, Apple, and Kobo without separately managing all of those accounts. While BookTango also works with Amazon.com, I elected to opt out and go directly to Amazon because of the pre-order flexibility.
There were two other sites I considered before settling on BookTango. The first was Smashwords. Aside from less favorable royalties, I decided against Smashwords because of its “meat grinder” publication process, which requires “Smashwords edition” in the book info. I also considered BookBaby, but having to pay for an ISBN and having less control over the production process made me go with BookTango instead.
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
At first, I was all about DRM. After writing a book, who would want to make it easier for it to get pirated? But, that’s an oversimplification. The truth of the matter is, anything can get pirated if someone knows what they’re doing; DRM isn’t going to solve that problem. What DRM does do, however, is keep someone who’s bought your book from being able to view it on multiple devices. How frustrating for the customer! Once I realized that, the decision to go DRM-free was easy.
Pricing
I considered several factors when setting my pricing strategy. First, I knew that price is a barrier to entry for some readers. “Free,” of course, eliminates that barrier. However, the obvious drawback is the author makes no money. Less likely—but still a possibility—is that prospective readers will associate the author’s work with free content, and may therefore be less likely to pay for future releases (hoping to just snag them on another “free” promotion). Given the goal of ultimately establishing a paying customer base, I wanted to find a price point that would mitigate the purchasing barrier while still making the reader feel like they “got their money’s worth.”
To find that ideal price point, I browsed through my competition—namely, the other books available in the Kindle store within my genre (science fiction). The other titles ranged from novellas to long novels. I ran a few $/word analyses, but I didn’t find a consistent ratio. So, I started looking at just overall price. Most full-length novels were in the $2.99 to $3.99 range.
Now, my first book is barely novel-length by SFWA standards at approximately 43,000 words. It is not fair to charge a reader full-length novel pricing for a book half the length of a standard space opera. The second book in the series will be somewhere around 56,000 words. So, I decided to price the first book at $0.99 and the second book at $1.99—making it $2.98 for the equivalent of a good-length novel and in line with the market. However, the modest $0.99 entry point for the first book will let readers see if they like my style without making a large commitment.
Promotion
I work as a business writer for my day job—writing proposals to solicit new work for my company. However, trying to promote myself is an entirely different matter. As a more introverted person by nature, I’m not one to walk up to a stranger and say, “Hey! You should buy my book.” I knew I needed someone to help me. So, I “hired” my fiancé, Nick. Most people have a Nick somewhere in their friends group—that person who will make friends with anyone while they’re standing in line. I strongly advise any author to find their own Nick to be an advocate and promoter (and such people often come with a broad social network to help get the word out).
Further, author A.B. Keuser helpfully pointed out that having a credible online presence is important. When a prospective reader searches for you, something other than your personal Instagram account should show up. So, I invested in a personal website (nothing fancy, but functional enough for now), created an official Facebook page, and got set up as a GoodReads author. While the searches for me and my book aren’t 100% optimized (yet), it’s a significant improvement over when I started the process.
Give clear “next steps”
At the end of my ebook, I have a blurb for the next book in the series and links to social media pages. As a self-published author, it is critical to take every chance to build a relationship with readers and cross-promote. If a reader stays engaged all the way to end of one book, they are likely to be interested in the next book in the series.
Closing thoughts
Early on in the self-publishing journey, I needed to accept the fact that I’m a total unknown. Building trust with readers is a process. I wanted to make myself credible by showing that I’m invested in being a writer (website, social presence). I also wanted to eliminate barriers to entry for potential readers by setting my work at a reasonable price point and referring those readers to upcoming releases.
To start forming a relationship with readers, I am releasing Chapter 1 of my book one month prior to the official publication date. It will be available for download from my website on March 17, 2015 (http://www.amyduboff.com/publications...). Oh, that’s today :-).
I’d be interesting in hearing others’ perspectives or if you disagree with my approach. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Much like when you find the person you want to marry, saying “yes” to your book is the easy part. You love your book, and now you want the entire world to know. But, what’s the best way to present it to prospective readers?
While trying to answer this question for myself, I made one important realization: there is no one “right” way to go about self-publishing. Each author is different, and what might be a good strategy for one book might not apply to another. At each juncture, I tried to make the best decision for me and my book series. I scoured advice columns and talked to other author friends.
The following are some of the key decisions I had to make, and why I made my selections:
Self-publishing, versus traditional
Self-publishing offers a degree of flexibility that traditional publishing does not. The series that had been floating around in my head had several components that were important to the overall story, but not really standalone novels. The ability to self-publish a novella addressed my concerns—allowing me to tell the story I wanted to tell without trying to comply with arbitrary page length restrictions publishers typically place on their books, especially with a new author.
Distribution platform
There are dozens (or more) ways to distribute an ebook. I looked over as many comparison charts as I could find about the various platforms. There were pros and cons to each. Ultimately, I decided to pursue a multi-prong approach.
1. I started with Amazon.com, using the Kindle Direct Publishing option. The interface is easy to use and doesn’t require additional software. I was able to set up a pre-order, which has allowed me to promote my book in advance of the official release and offered the added benefit of giving me a deadline. What better way to make sure I follow through with my commitment to publish!
2. As a secondary platform, I am going with BookTango. BookTango is free to use and the royalty structure is very favorable. They claim royalties are 100% paid to the author, but that’s after the retailer fees. While it might not offer the financial benefits of going directly to each of the big distributors, it’s an easy way to get in the door with Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Sony, Apple, and Kobo without separately managing all of those accounts. While BookTango also works with Amazon.com, I elected to opt out and go directly to Amazon because of the pre-order flexibility.
There were two other sites I considered before settling on BookTango. The first was Smashwords. Aside from less favorable royalties, I decided against Smashwords because of its “meat grinder” publication process, which requires “Smashwords edition” in the book info. I also considered BookBaby, but having to pay for an ISBN and having less control over the production process made me go with BookTango instead.
Digital Rights Management (DRM)
At first, I was all about DRM. After writing a book, who would want to make it easier for it to get pirated? But, that’s an oversimplification. The truth of the matter is, anything can get pirated if someone knows what they’re doing; DRM isn’t going to solve that problem. What DRM does do, however, is keep someone who’s bought your book from being able to view it on multiple devices. How frustrating for the customer! Once I realized that, the decision to go DRM-free was easy.
Pricing
I considered several factors when setting my pricing strategy. First, I knew that price is a barrier to entry for some readers. “Free,” of course, eliminates that barrier. However, the obvious drawback is the author makes no money. Less likely—but still a possibility—is that prospective readers will associate the author’s work with free content, and may therefore be less likely to pay for future releases (hoping to just snag them on another “free” promotion). Given the goal of ultimately establishing a paying customer base, I wanted to find a price point that would mitigate the purchasing barrier while still making the reader feel like they “got their money’s worth.”
To find that ideal price point, I browsed through my competition—namely, the other books available in the Kindle store within my genre (science fiction). The other titles ranged from novellas to long novels. I ran a few $/word analyses, but I didn’t find a consistent ratio. So, I started looking at just overall price. Most full-length novels were in the $2.99 to $3.99 range.
Now, my first book is barely novel-length by SFWA standards at approximately 43,000 words. It is not fair to charge a reader full-length novel pricing for a book half the length of a standard space opera. The second book in the series will be somewhere around 56,000 words. So, I decided to price the first book at $0.99 and the second book at $1.99—making it $2.98 for the equivalent of a good-length novel and in line with the market. However, the modest $0.99 entry point for the first book will let readers see if they like my style without making a large commitment.
Promotion
I work as a business writer for my day job—writing proposals to solicit new work for my company. However, trying to promote myself is an entirely different matter. As a more introverted person by nature, I’m not one to walk up to a stranger and say, “Hey! You should buy my book.” I knew I needed someone to help me. So, I “hired” my fiancé, Nick. Most people have a Nick somewhere in their friends group—that person who will make friends with anyone while they’re standing in line. I strongly advise any author to find their own Nick to be an advocate and promoter (and such people often come with a broad social network to help get the word out).
Further, author A.B. Keuser helpfully pointed out that having a credible online presence is important. When a prospective reader searches for you, something other than your personal Instagram account should show up. So, I invested in a personal website (nothing fancy, but functional enough for now), created an official Facebook page, and got set up as a GoodReads author. While the searches for me and my book aren’t 100% optimized (yet), it’s a significant improvement over when I started the process.
Give clear “next steps”
At the end of my ebook, I have a blurb for the next book in the series and links to social media pages. As a self-published author, it is critical to take every chance to build a relationship with readers and cross-promote. If a reader stays engaged all the way to end of one book, they are likely to be interested in the next book in the series.
Closing thoughts
Early on in the self-publishing journey, I needed to accept the fact that I’m a total unknown. Building trust with readers is a process. I wanted to make myself credible by showing that I’m invested in being a writer (website, social presence). I also wanted to eliminate barriers to entry for potential readers by setting my work at a reasonable price point and referring those readers to upcoming releases.
To start forming a relationship with readers, I am releasing Chapter 1 of my book one month prior to the official publication date. It will be available for download from my website on March 17, 2015 (http://www.amyduboff.com/publications...). Oh, that’s today :-).
I’d be interesting in hearing others’ perspectives or if you disagree with my approach. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Honing In on the Best Marketing Approach
Well, self-publishing continues to be a fun and exciting journey! The last month has had some highs and lows, but on the whole it has been amazing.
I hate to contradict myself, but I’ve learned a lot about what seems to be working marketing-wise and what hasn’t generated any results. So, below is a follow-up to my earlier post about marketing and publishing channels.
1. Distribution
My initial strategy to go for wide distribution didn’t pan out how I hoped. In theory, the more places a book is available, the more it will sell. Right?
Well, despite having the book available on B&N, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes, all of those platforms combined only moved four copies. Four copies in seven weeks is pretty dismal. Amazon, by contrast, is at 160+. Since book one is all about building a foundation for the series, I have it available for lending on Amazon. However, since the book is wide distribution and therefore not enrolled in KDP Select, I’m missing out on any potential revenue from those borrows.
Aside from being the largest online bookseller, I think I got more sales through Amazon for one simple reason: site navigation. Trying to run searches or filter results on most other sites in a nightmare. Amazon has so many layers and categories built into their catalog that some potential readers are almost certain to stumble upon your book eventually. “What about Google Play?” you may ask. Yes, Google Play is optimized for searching—it will search through book descriptions, and even the book content itself, which Amazon does not. However, when browsing by category, only Top Sellers show up. It was pretty disheartening to see that my book would ONLY ever appear if it came up in a keyword search. It makes it next to impossible for a new author to be discovered when only bestsellers make the page for each genre—and there’s no “see all” option.
That’s a long-winded way of saying I’ll be going Amazon exclusive. For a while, at least.
2. Marketing Channels
I continue to cast a wide net for marketing. Potential readers could be anywhere. I have posts up on several sites that offer a free promotional areas, such as Craigslist, Goodreads, and Indies Unlimited. I’ve also invested in some paid marketing, with mixed results.
2.1. Goodreads Paid Promotion
I decided to throw $10 at Goodreads and see what would happen. Of the 16,000+ combined views on the four ads in the campaign, there have been six click-throughs. I have not noticed any correlation to the clicks and the sales. Therefore, for now, I’m putting Goodreads advertising in a category for decent awareness-building and name recognition exposure, but it’s not a great way to generate sales. I will say, though, that money is only debited from the campaign fund for each click, so those ads will continue to run for quite some time. Doing it over, I would have started with $5.
2.2. AwesomeGang Paid Promotion
AwesomeGang offers both paid and free promotions. I did not notice any increase in sales the days surrounding the promotion. Doing it over, I would have done the free option. I stayed on the mailing list for a few weeks, and it seemed like the books were often of a more romance/erotica nature, so maybe space opera just wasn’t the right fit for the mailing list and others would garner different results. So, for a free marketing option, I’d say go for it, but skip the paid upgrade.
2.3. Pretty-Hot
Similar to AwesomeGang, there are free and paid promotions. The paid promotion came with some website featured placement time, so I went for it. Again, no discernible sales difference around those promotion days. Doing it over, I’d go for the free option. As with anything else, if it’s free marketing, may as well keep it as part of the overall campaign.
2.4. EReader News Today
Here’s where things got interesting. I signed up for EReader News Today when I came across it in my search for all things related to self-published book promotions. I wasn’t familiar with the site and its potential reach. In fact, when I saw that my book was accepted for May 19, I had completely forgotten about it and the $20 by the time the date rolled around. So, needless to say, I was shocked when I had more than triple my usual daily sales volume by the time it was 10am. By the end of the day, I had sold 46 copies and reached #6,292 in the Paid Kindle Store. For some, that’s nothing. But for me as a first-time author, it was huge. I didn’t quite break even on the money spent versus sales revenue, but the potential sales conversions to Book 2 in the series was well worth it. And, no copies were returned!
2.5. The Fussy Librarian
This site used to be free, but alas it is no more. However, the science fiction list has more than 100,000 subscribers, so a $16 investment has the potential to pay off well. The ad will be running on June 26th, so we’ll see what happens.
3. Getting Reviews
Trying to get books reviews is exhausting. For several weeks, I spent my evenings combing through lists of bloggers and sending out review requests. I also went through all of the Top 1000 reviewers on Amazon and wrote those who might be interested in my book. Between those two approaches, I only had about a 10 to 20 percent response rate, so it’s a lot of work for little payoff. However, every review counts. From what I’ve heard and read, the magic number to hit on Amazon is 50 reviews. I’m at 23 right now, so almost halfway there! I’m hoping more readers will start to post, as well.
4. Willingness to Adapt
When I released “Architects of Destiny,” I thought it was perfect. Well, of course, it wasn’t. After I had a few reviews, I noticed some common themes. So, I made some minor revisions. Nothing major that I’d say would warrant a re-read, but little refinements to polish the presentation. Some love the book, some think it’s okay, and others detest it. That’s how it goes with these things. But, some people DO love it—far more than those who hate it—so I’m standing by my work and not doing a complete overhaul to please the dissenting minority. That said, there’s always room for improvement, and I’ll continue to make those little revisions when I think there's opportunity to enhance the reader experience.
I’m glad I can so easily make those adjustments and have a new version live within hours. For that reason, I’m electing to hold off on offering a paperback version of the book until those little final tweaks are in place.
5. Closing Thoughts
Marketing a book is never-ending. And, in some ways, the book itself can continue to evolve. Self-publishing offers the unique opportunity for continuous improvement while maintaining creative control, and I’m thrilled I went that route. As I continue to learn, I will share my thoughts and hopefully help others in the way I was guided when I first started out.
I hate to contradict myself, but I’ve learned a lot about what seems to be working marketing-wise and what hasn’t generated any results. So, below is a follow-up to my earlier post about marketing and publishing channels.
1. Distribution
My initial strategy to go for wide distribution didn’t pan out how I hoped. In theory, the more places a book is available, the more it will sell. Right?
Well, despite having the book available on B&N, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes, all of those platforms combined only moved four copies. Four copies in seven weeks is pretty dismal. Amazon, by contrast, is at 160+. Since book one is all about building a foundation for the series, I have it available for lending on Amazon. However, since the book is wide distribution and therefore not enrolled in KDP Select, I’m missing out on any potential revenue from those borrows.
Aside from being the largest online bookseller, I think I got more sales through Amazon for one simple reason: site navigation. Trying to run searches or filter results on most other sites in a nightmare. Amazon has so many layers and categories built into their catalog that some potential readers are almost certain to stumble upon your book eventually. “What about Google Play?” you may ask. Yes, Google Play is optimized for searching—it will search through book descriptions, and even the book content itself, which Amazon does not. However, when browsing by category, only Top Sellers show up. It was pretty disheartening to see that my book would ONLY ever appear if it came up in a keyword search. It makes it next to impossible for a new author to be discovered when only bestsellers make the page for each genre—and there’s no “see all” option.
That’s a long-winded way of saying I’ll be going Amazon exclusive. For a while, at least.
2. Marketing Channels
I continue to cast a wide net for marketing. Potential readers could be anywhere. I have posts up on several sites that offer a free promotional areas, such as Craigslist, Goodreads, and Indies Unlimited. I’ve also invested in some paid marketing, with mixed results.
2.1. Goodreads Paid Promotion
I decided to throw $10 at Goodreads and see what would happen. Of the 16,000+ combined views on the four ads in the campaign, there have been six click-throughs. I have not noticed any correlation to the clicks and the sales. Therefore, for now, I’m putting Goodreads advertising in a category for decent awareness-building and name recognition exposure, but it’s not a great way to generate sales. I will say, though, that money is only debited from the campaign fund for each click, so those ads will continue to run for quite some time. Doing it over, I would have started with $5.
2.2. AwesomeGang Paid Promotion
AwesomeGang offers both paid and free promotions. I did not notice any increase in sales the days surrounding the promotion. Doing it over, I would have done the free option. I stayed on the mailing list for a few weeks, and it seemed like the books were often of a more romance/erotica nature, so maybe space opera just wasn’t the right fit for the mailing list and others would garner different results. So, for a free marketing option, I’d say go for it, but skip the paid upgrade.
2.3. Pretty-Hot
Similar to AwesomeGang, there are free and paid promotions. The paid promotion came with some website featured placement time, so I went for it. Again, no discernible sales difference around those promotion days. Doing it over, I’d go for the free option. As with anything else, if it’s free marketing, may as well keep it as part of the overall campaign.
2.4. EReader News Today
Here’s where things got interesting. I signed up for EReader News Today when I came across it in my search for all things related to self-published book promotions. I wasn’t familiar with the site and its potential reach. In fact, when I saw that my book was accepted for May 19, I had completely forgotten about it and the $20 by the time the date rolled around. So, needless to say, I was shocked when I had more than triple my usual daily sales volume by the time it was 10am. By the end of the day, I had sold 46 copies and reached #6,292 in the Paid Kindle Store. For some, that’s nothing. But for me as a first-time author, it was huge. I didn’t quite break even on the money spent versus sales revenue, but the potential sales conversions to Book 2 in the series was well worth it. And, no copies were returned!
2.5. The Fussy Librarian
This site used to be free, but alas it is no more. However, the science fiction list has more than 100,000 subscribers, so a $16 investment has the potential to pay off well. The ad will be running on June 26th, so we’ll see what happens.
3. Getting Reviews
Trying to get books reviews is exhausting. For several weeks, I spent my evenings combing through lists of bloggers and sending out review requests. I also went through all of the Top 1000 reviewers on Amazon and wrote those who might be interested in my book. Between those two approaches, I only had about a 10 to 20 percent response rate, so it’s a lot of work for little payoff. However, every review counts. From what I’ve heard and read, the magic number to hit on Amazon is 50 reviews. I’m at 23 right now, so almost halfway there! I’m hoping more readers will start to post, as well.
4. Willingness to Adapt
When I released “Architects of Destiny,” I thought it was perfect. Well, of course, it wasn’t. After I had a few reviews, I noticed some common themes. So, I made some minor revisions. Nothing major that I’d say would warrant a re-read, but little refinements to polish the presentation. Some love the book, some think it’s okay, and others detest it. That’s how it goes with these things. But, some people DO love it—far more than those who hate it—so I’m standing by my work and not doing a complete overhaul to please the dissenting minority. That said, there’s always room for improvement, and I’ll continue to make those little revisions when I think there's opportunity to enhance the reader experience.
I’m glad I can so easily make those adjustments and have a new version live within hours. For that reason, I’m electing to hold off on offering a paperback version of the book until those little final tweaks are in place.
5. Closing Thoughts
Marketing a book is never-ending. And, in some ways, the book itself can continue to evolve. Self-publishing offers the unique opportunity for continuous improvement while maintaining creative control, and I’m thrilled I went that route. As I continue to learn, I will share my thoughts and hopefully help others in the way I was guided when I first started out.
