Publishing and Promoting Your Book for Profit
by Peggy Grillot

Despite the snow for our November meeting, the Book Fair was a success, as was the three-person panel on "Publishing and Promoting Your Book for Profit."

John Lindberg: CEO of Publishers Distribution Service in Traverse City, Michigan. Lindberg gave the do's and don'ts of self-publishing. His firm distributes books for big publishers and small ones with three or more titles for commercial intent. There are 36,500 active publishers today compared to 248 right after World War II.

Two must-reads for the self-publisher are: The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter and 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer. Read Publishers Weekly, the Library Journal, and the American Bookseller to get a feel for the market. You'll also need an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) from the R.R. Bowker Company for each type of binding (hardcover and/or softcover) for your book.

"Like with any other business, do your homework," says Lindberg, such as:

1. Audience demographics: who's going to buy your book and where are they located?
2. Competitive advantage: what other books are available on the same topic as yours and how are they priced?
3. Distribution mix: how are people going to buy your book--in a bookstore or mail order?
4. Promotion plan: how will you sell your book at the consumer level and the wholesale market?
5. Financial plan: how are you going to finance your project?

"Although authors won't want to hear this," Lindberg says, "When you've finished your manuscript, you're only 5% done." The other 95% is what makes the difference between a profitable or losing venture. Self-publishers really need to examine their breakeven point, realizing "the market sets the price." Remember too that distributors typically receive a 50% discount.

Figure breakeven by gathering your costs, including prepress activities (such as cover design), press (the actual printing and perfect binding of your book; do not use a stapled or spiral binding), promotion of your book ($1/book is a good guestimate) and then any overhead you may have (renting storage space, for example).

"Your cover has to pass the 10-foot test," he says. If your book is one of a half dozen commercially published books on a table, your book should not stand out as looking self-published. If it does, you need to go back to the prepress stage and have a new cover design done. In this industry, people do judge a book by its cover.

Christy Heady: Author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Making Money on Wall Street and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Money. Heady says that if there's "no self-promotion, then there's no fire." Although Heady's books were not self-published, she was not content to let her publisher handle the publicity. She did her own market research and feels that authors should ask themselves, "How do I get the word out?" Heady believes the broadcast media should be contacted first to reach a larger audience through radio and tv. Working together with a PR firm, Heady shared her research ideas. Heady also developed her own print media list from trade journals, newsletters, and book reviews.

When Heady was scheduled for book signings, she'd contact the local media and mention she was doing a book tour. She wasn't shy; she'd ask when they could fit her in for an interview. Ideally, authors should go after high traffic days for book signings. "You want visibility," says Heady, "such as lunch hours or weekends." Book signings should e held in demographic areas that match your target audience. Did it work? "Yes," says they "sold out that night" after she coupled a radio interview with a book signing.

Jayme Soulati: Owner of Soulati Media Relations in Chicago. "Don't wait until your book is finished before starting your PR campaign," says Soulati. Publicity should start at least three months prior to publication to generate interest and presales. "Some topics are much easier to promote than others," says Soulati. Hard books to promote are novels, science fiction, children's and history. Media specialists such as Soulati analyze your book to get an angle on publicity. Is it newsworthy? Is it cutting edge? Is there a current need for your book? "Radio talk shows are always looking for guests," says Soulati. And that's here job, to get you in front of the consumer, whether it's on talk shows or in articles to generate interest and sales for your book.

Soulati says $1 per book is a good starting point to budget for a PR campaign. For a 5,000 print run, that equals $5,000. Realistically, self-publishers rarely budget that amount of money, so Soulati works with the customer to devise a program within their budget. Authors can help their PR efforts too by volunteering to speak at local organizations. The book line is a successful book is a profitable one.