LIMITED OFFER

1. What am I really trying to do?
2. How am I going to do it?
3. How do I find a publisher?
4. How do I sell it?
5. How do I structure a piece of writing?
6. How do I write it?

How do I sell it?

Consider, how is the book going to be marketed?

Ask a Publisher?  In general, none of the big publishers is likely to promote a book for more than six weeks, and you will be the one touring bookshops and shows and doing all the hard work signing copies and being nice to the punters, for no pay other than from the sales, with the book seller taking most of the revenue, the publisher much of the rest, and you just the few pence per book.

Or maybe you want to do it yourself? Then it is essential you take good advice, such as that offered by Dan Poynter in his excellent Self-Publishing Manual. It is aimed at an American audience, but the rules, methods and statistics hold true in the UK, just change a few names to suit. Today, the web is possibly the best way to market a book. This was not true ten years ago, possibly not even five years ago. Hence this web site being so recent, even though my first book has been simmering gently for more than twenty years.

Grab the reader. What sells a book is the cover design. It must persuade the customer to pick it up, once in his hand there is a 90% chance he will buy it. If he reads the blurb on the back the odds rise to 95%. If he reads the first few pages, and the last few pages, the odds rise to 98%.

So find, befriend and inspire a talented artist, and carefully plan the cover to attract attention from at least three metres, and ensnare when within arms reach!

Will I make any money?  Whatever your route to the market, expect half of the first print run to be given away to reviewers and libraries. You are unlikely to make any profit on the first print of the book, all it does is make a small ripple in the pond of publishing. With luck, the ripples will spread far enough that someone sees it, likes it and tells their friends.

...next