Doing it Yourself: Five tips to Separate your Print-on-Demand Project from the Pack
Art Edwards
The Writer Magazine
June 2006
You have a book-length manuscript you’re itching to publish.
Maybe you’ve tried the traditional route and found the process too long or too unresponsive. You’ve heard about print-on-demand (POD) companies--iUniverse, Xlibris, AuthorHouse--companies that, for a fee, digitally catalogue your title and print copies as they receive orders (hence, “on demand”), paying you a royalty for units sold. Maybe you’ve heard a POD success story or two and wonder if you could be next. You’re not afraid of hard work, and you’ve always thought you could do a good job promoting your own book if given the chance. After toiling over your craft for years you’re ready, finally, to introduce yourself to the world as a writer.
But wait a second. There are issues, right? You’ve been warned that POD publishing is merely a new, digital form of self-publishing, which many consider a colossal waste of time and money. Still, some POD authors meet with real success. They sell books and receive critical praise. A few land traditional publishing deals and option movie rights. Would your title be one of the success stories, or would it die an all-too-common digital death in the high millions of the Amazon sales rankings?
Here are five tips to help elevate your print-on-demand venture. They’re drawn from my experience publishing and promoting my debut novel, Stuck Outside of Phoenix, with iUniverse, an experience that included numerous promotional events, several positive reviews, and qualifying for the Star Program, a marketing-support program offered to select iUniverse titles that sell at least 500 copies.
1) Make sure your book is ready. This is the most crucial point I can make to a potential POD author. Traditional or otherwise, almost all successful authors dedicate years to their writing, produce many drafts of a work, and allow it to be critiqued by classmates, peer groups, or well-read friends. Don't expect it to be any different for you.
I’ll never forget one POD published author with whom I shared a stage for a panel discussion. After ten minutes of disinterested reading, she tossed her book onto the table and proclaimed, “I don’t even like that thing anymore.” Was she entertaining? Sure. But the audience was left with the impression that she wasn’t a writer at all but someone who got caught up in the romance of becoming a writer, compiled some essays, wrote a check to a print-on-demand company, and had second thoughts by the time book promotion kicked in. POD is too expensive for this kind of flight, and it can be embarrassing. Don’t put yourself in this position. Be patient, hone your craft, and submit nothing but your best work for publication.
2) Pay a proofreader and, if necessary, a cover designer. Spell-check is just the first step. Before submitting your book, have someone--a professional proofreader, a trusted teacher, or at least an aspiring amateur--proofread your book. Without the aid of a traditional publishing house’s editorial staff, POD titles are susceptible to any number of taboos: bad grammar, typos, missing words, errors of fact. If your published book is riddled with mistakes you’ll have little chance of getting noticed (at least not the kind of notice you want). Fees for proofreading vary greatly, so shop around. And if you think it’s too much money, consider the satisfaction of having a fellow word geek hand your manuscript back to you and say, “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t find anything wrong with it.” How much is that peace of mind worth?
Your book’s cover is just as crucial. Many POD companies offer to design a cover for you, or to design one with your guidance. As a rule, these covers are not good enough. If you want your POD book to rise above the crowd, you’ve got to have a competitive cover. With a home computer and programs such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, it’s possible to design one yourself, but I would only recommend it to someone who has both a strong sense of what they want in a cover and an advanced familiarity with graphic design software. If that’s not you, pay someone, a professional graphic designer or the like, to design a cover for you. Remember: your cover is the first element of your book people see. Blow it, and it won’t be opened.
3) Let’s get frugal. Your friend from out-of-state calls you and wants you to come to her fortieth birthday party. The flight will be expensive, but she can secure a reading for you at her local bookstore to help defer costs. She talked to the bookstore owner, and if you supply him with copies of your book you can pick your night. She’ll recruit other friends to attend the reading, but it might not hurt to take out an ad in the local weekly to alert the general public.
Time to tighten those purse strings. Nothing leads to a more fruitless POD venture than a laundry list of expenses that don’t yield sales. Instead of flying across the country, try your local bookstore. Instead of supplying a bookstore with copies of your book for a reading, ask the owner to buy them directly from the POD company and offer to buy back at cost what they don’t sell. (Hint: this is a great, cheap way to keep yourself well stocked with your title.) Instead of posting an ad in an expensive publication, post blurbs at online chat rooms and bulletin boards. Never go the expensive route when a cheap--or free--route might work just as well.
4) Take your promotion opportunities where you find them. You’ve probably formed an ideal of how you’d like to promote your book. Maybe you picture yourself reading at Barnes & Nobles across the country. Maybe interviews with Terri Gross and salon.com clog your fantasy date book. Maybe Oprah can squeeze you in. Ideals are fine--heck, go for it!--but don’t be too picky about promotional events. The market will dictate what it wants from you, not the other way around. There might be a group in your area that gets together once a month to discuss a topic that’s featured prominently in your book. Ask to do a reading for them. Does your co-worker belong to a book club? Suggest your book as their next selection and offer to drop by on the day they discuss it. The corporate bookseller at the mall won’t return your calls, but the small independent up the street might roll out the red carpet for you. It's up to you to find your best opportunities, or to create them from nothing.
5) Be realistic. There’s a wager I’ve always wanted to make with a would-be POD author. The wager would go something like this: take a stab at how many units you think you’ll sell during the lifespan of your POD book. Give it a number. Write that number down. Now, count the number of books you’ll sell. That’s right. Count the actual people who will buy your book. Start with family members and work your way through close friends, distant relatives, work associates, classmates, acquaintances, anyone who you think will buy your book. Write that number down, too. Here’s my wager: I’ll bet you that the number of books you actually sell will be closer to the second number than to the first.
Nobody starts a POD project to fail, so keep your goals modest. You might aspire to sell 5,000 copies of your memoir. Fine, but concentrate on selling 500--or 50--first. As a book promoter, you’ll find that nothing happens that you don’t make happen; you’re the one who has to schedule readings, get press, post blurbs, and tell friends. Having realistic goals doesn’t disqualify your book from achieving self-publishing nirvana. It simply insures that you won’t lose sight of your real success: authoring a great book and bringing it to market all by yourself.
Art Edwards
The Writer Magazine
June 2006
You have a book-length manuscript you’re itching to publish.
Maybe you’ve tried the traditional route and found the process too long or too unresponsive. You’ve heard about print-on-demand (POD) companies--iUniverse, Xlibris, AuthorHouse--companies that, for a fee, digitally catalogue your title and print copies as they receive orders (hence, “on demand”), paying you a royalty for units sold. Maybe you’ve heard a POD success story or two and wonder if you could be next. You’re not afraid of hard work, and you’ve always thought you could do a good job promoting your own book if given the chance. After toiling over your craft for years you’re ready, finally, to introduce yourself to the world as a writer.
But wait a second. There are issues, right? You’ve been warned that POD publishing is merely a new, digital form of self-publishing, which many consider a colossal waste of time and money. Still, some POD authors meet with real success. They sell books and receive critical praise. A few land traditional publishing deals and option movie rights. Would your title be one of the success stories, or would it die an all-too-common digital death in the high millions of the Amazon sales rankings?
Here are five tips to help elevate your print-on-demand venture. They’re drawn from my experience publishing and promoting my debut novel, Stuck Outside of Phoenix, with iUniverse, an experience that included numerous promotional events, several positive reviews, and qualifying for the Star Program, a marketing-support program offered to select iUniverse titles that sell at least 500 copies.
1) Make sure your book is ready. This is the most crucial point I can make to a potential POD author. Traditional or otherwise, almost all successful authors dedicate years to their writing, produce many drafts of a work, and allow it to be critiqued by classmates, peer groups, or well-read friends. Don't expect it to be any different for you.
I’ll never forget one POD published author with whom I shared a stage for a panel discussion. After ten minutes of disinterested reading, she tossed her book onto the table and proclaimed, “I don’t even like that thing anymore.” Was she entertaining? Sure. But the audience was left with the impression that she wasn’t a writer at all but someone who got caught up in the romance of becoming a writer, compiled some essays, wrote a check to a print-on-demand company, and had second thoughts by the time book promotion kicked in. POD is too expensive for this kind of flight, and it can be embarrassing. Don’t put yourself in this position. Be patient, hone your craft, and submit nothing but your best work for publication.
2) Pay a proofreader and, if necessary, a cover designer. Spell-check is just the first step. Before submitting your book, have someone--a professional proofreader, a trusted teacher, or at least an aspiring amateur--proofread your book. Without the aid of a traditional publishing house’s editorial staff, POD titles are susceptible to any number of taboos: bad grammar, typos, missing words, errors of fact. If your published book is riddled with mistakes you’ll have little chance of getting noticed (at least not the kind of notice you want). Fees for proofreading vary greatly, so shop around. And if you think it’s too much money, consider the satisfaction of having a fellow word geek hand your manuscript back to you and say, “I’m sorry. I just couldn’t find anything wrong with it.” How much is that peace of mind worth?
Your book’s cover is just as crucial. Many POD companies offer to design a cover for you, or to design one with your guidance. As a rule, these covers are not good enough. If you want your POD book to rise above the crowd, you’ve got to have a competitive cover. With a home computer and programs such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, it’s possible to design one yourself, but I would only recommend it to someone who has both a strong sense of what they want in a cover and an advanced familiarity with graphic design software. If that’s not you, pay someone, a professional graphic designer or the like, to design a cover for you. Remember: your cover is the first element of your book people see. Blow it, and it won’t be opened.
3) Let’s get frugal. Your friend from out-of-state calls you and wants you to come to her fortieth birthday party. The flight will be expensive, but she can secure a reading for you at her local bookstore to help defer costs. She talked to the bookstore owner, and if you supply him with copies of your book you can pick your night. She’ll recruit other friends to attend the reading, but it might not hurt to take out an ad in the local weekly to alert the general public.
Time to tighten those purse strings. Nothing leads to a more fruitless POD venture than a laundry list of expenses that don’t yield sales. Instead of flying across the country, try your local bookstore. Instead of supplying a bookstore with copies of your book for a reading, ask the owner to buy them directly from the POD company and offer to buy back at cost what they don’t sell. (Hint: this is a great, cheap way to keep yourself well stocked with your title.) Instead of posting an ad in an expensive publication, post blurbs at online chat rooms and bulletin boards. Never go the expensive route when a cheap--or free--route might work just as well.
4) Take your promotion opportunities where you find them. You’ve probably formed an ideal of how you’d like to promote your book. Maybe you picture yourself reading at Barnes & Nobles across the country. Maybe interviews with Terri Gross and salon.com clog your fantasy date book. Maybe Oprah can squeeze you in. Ideals are fine--heck, go for it!--but don’t be too picky about promotional events. The market will dictate what it wants from you, not the other way around. There might be a group in your area that gets together once a month to discuss a topic that’s featured prominently in your book. Ask to do a reading for them. Does your co-worker belong to a book club? Suggest your book as their next selection and offer to drop by on the day they discuss it. The corporate bookseller at the mall won’t return your calls, but the small independent up the street might roll out the red carpet for you. It's up to you to find your best opportunities, or to create them from nothing.
5) Be realistic. There’s a wager I’ve always wanted to make with a would-be POD author. The wager would go something like this: take a stab at how many units you think you’ll sell during the lifespan of your POD book. Give it a number. Write that number down. Now, count the number of books you’ll sell. That’s right. Count the actual people who will buy your book. Start with family members and work your way through close friends, distant relatives, work associates, classmates, acquaintances, anyone who you think will buy your book. Write that number down, too. Here’s my wager: I’ll bet you that the number of books you actually sell will be closer to the second number than to the first.
Nobody starts a POD project to fail, so keep your goals modest. You might aspire to sell 5,000 copies of your memoir. Fine, but concentrate on selling 500--or 50--first. As a book promoter, you’ll find that nothing happens that you don’t make happen; you’re the one who has to schedule readings, get press, post blurbs, and tell friends. Having realistic goals doesn’t disqualify your book from achieving self-publishing nirvana. It simply insures that you won’t lose sight of your real success: authoring a great book and bringing it to market all by yourself.