|
Issue Date: May 23, 2004
BOOKS
Can't get published? Then just do it yourself.
Three successful authors tell you how.
By Dawn Yun
Motivational speaker Natasha Munson has earned $40,000 in four years from her advice book.
|
What do the blockbuster books "The Celestine Prophecy," "The One-Minute Manager" and John Grisham's "A Time to Kill" have in common?
The mega-sellers were all initially self-published.
Once a rarity, a new crop of entrepreneurial writers is trying to follow in the footsteps of those publishing mavericks. These aspiring authors are footing the bill and printing their own creations. Of the 165,000 titles published annually, 40,000 are independently published, according to the Publishers Marketing Association, accounting for $26 billion in sales. Driving the trend: New technologies have dramatically cut book-making costs and created a flood of some 86,000 independent publishers competing for writers' business.
Today, a would-be writer can become a published author without knocking on the door of a single traditional publisher. Instead, the new do-it-yourself authors do it all, from choosing a cover and financing printing to selling and handling publicity.
What does it take to be successful? We asked three people who should know: Robert Kiyosaki, 57, of Phoenix and his co-author, Sharon Lechter, sold 1.5 million copies of their self-published "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" in three years, before graduating to Warner Books. (Today, the financial strategies series has sold 16 million copies, with yet another book, "Rich Dad's Who Took My Money?," out this month.)
Natasha Munson, 31, of Atlanta wrote "Life Lessons for My Black Girls: How to Make Wise Choices and Live a Life You Love!" and published it through an Internet-based company. Munson says the inspirational book has caught on among young women: To date, she has sold 20,000-plus copies.
Dan Poynter, 65, of Santa Barbara, Calif., is a self-publishing industry unto himself. He has written and published 29 books, including "The Self-Publishing Manual," which has sold 175,000 copies over 25 years.
What are the benefits of self-publishing?
Poynter: You make more money. You keep control of your work. You get to press sooner. It's one of the easiest businesses to get into, and it's a good business. I've never lost money.
"Bookstores are lousy places to sell books. If your book is about cats, go to a pet store."
|
What are the minuses?
Munson: You wear every hat. You're the author, the publisher, the shipper, marketer -- everything. You answer customer complaints and praise. You handle returns. You do a lot of phone work. You have to have the funds and the time needed to do this. It's not always an up day, and you have to keep pushing yourself. If you don't, you'll have books sitting in your garage. You're not going to always have book signings with 500 people. There will be down moments.
Kiyosaki: You can't sell a lot of work if you don't have a sales force. But you can find your audience. Otherwise, self-publishing is very rough.
How much money have you made from self-publishing your book?
Kiyosaki: About $16 million gross and $5 million net, after expenses.
Munson: I've made about $40,000. But it's inspirational to know how much Robert has made.
What surprised you the most about self-publishing?
Munson: How much it can change your life. Before I wrote this book I felt so frustrated. I thought, is this all there is? I was unhappy being a real estate agent. I was doing it for the money, not for my heart. Self-publishing gave me what I was looking for: the ability to start my own business and to write and talk about the things in my heart.
What was your biggest disappointment with self-publishing?
Kiyosaki: I haven't had a big disappointment. It's been magic. Actually, it's just been the most soul-satisfying thing possible. I flunked out of school twice and was told I couldn't write. Then I was an author.
Munson: My book is print-on-demand. [The books are printed when ordered.] So I'm not in every bookstore. I'll go into a bookstore and get all excited and ask for my book, and they're like, "Who?" Also, you're constantly selling. You're calling bookstores to take your book. Calling newspapers and radio and TV stations to write about you and put you on the air.
What are the best ways to sell self-published books?
Poynter: Bookstores are lousy places to sell books. Find the places where your audience gathers and sell directly to them. If your book is about cats, go to pet stores.
Kiyosaki: I went on radio talk shows. People would hear me in these little cities and ask their bookstores if they had the book. Then bookstores would order the book. Word-of-mouth sales. Friends telling other friends.
Self-publishing used to be called vanity publishing and had a poor reputation. Has that changed?
Poynter: Yes. Today there is a new breed of publisher that is more like a book producer, and they really care about quality. The equipment has improved, so books can be printed more quickly and more cheaply. Suddenly, people who never thought they could get published realized they could.
What did it feel like to hold your book for the first time?
Munson: I screamed. I kept saying, "This is unbelievable." After two months of writing the book every night after I put my kids to sleep, it was real. I had my book.
Kiyosaki: It was my 50th birthday party and also a launch party for the book. I was nervous and apprehensive, but I gave each person a copy. We had initially printed 1,000 books. I said, "If it doesn't sell, each of you will be getting a copy of this for Christmas and your birthdays for the next 10 years."
A book should be well-written. What advice can you give about content?
Kiyosaki: Make it interesting. Write to the average person. Write in sound bites. Write so a person wants to read more.
Dawn Yun is a freelance writer based in San Francisco.
Go to top
The nuts and bolts of self-publishing
If you're thinking about self-publishing, consider these fast facts and pointers from Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual:
What it will cost. The more you print, the lower your costs. A first run of 500 copies for a soft-cover, 144-page book with a four-color cover will cost $3 to $3.50 per book; 5,000 copies will run about $1.25 apiece.
Time it takes to print a book. About two weeks from start to finish.
How to find an independent publisher. There are more than 86,000 from which to choose. Look at books on the same subject as yours and see who published them. Browse the Web to investigate various outfits. Then select some to call, and compare options.
How to sell your book. Hire a distributor to sell directly to bookstores. It will cost about two-thirds of the cover price. Then you can devote yourself to selling on your own to select target audiences, such as at beauty parlors for a relationship book, and keep as much as 100% of the cover price.
|
