A month ago I became a POD Lulu self-publisher (see my post of Oct. 1st) with a goal in mind - to prove that there will be no book sales without my own marketing and promotion. Here's my booklet available in print and as a download: http://www.lulu.com/content/1233344
It is a how-to on one of the hottest topics today; it appeals to the right niche of 25 million readers, the price is right - not too low, not too high; keywords are right too; seems like no problem to sell.
Guess what? No sales. None, zero. Why? Because it was meant to be so. Because POD is what it is - PRINTING ON DEMAND. It has nothing to do with selling books, it prints books FOR THE AUTHOR who creates THE DEMAND. In other words, any POD sells their printing service to the author, that's it. No POD sells books to the public, period.
So, when you think of publishing your manuscript, think of two components: printing books and marketing/promoting books for sales. So called self-publishing companies like Lulu.com and others provide tools for printing only, the marketing/promotion part that sells books is resting with you, the author. And it is not cheap...
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5 comments:
Olga,
Welcome to the world of a self publisher.
I found your post through your answer to Kathie Thomas's question on reviews.
I'd like to suggest that Lulu does exactly what you both agreed that they would do - translate your electronic document into a printed book, and provide a mechanism for purchase.
You don't have to work with printers, vendors or even an electronic store.
Attracting an interested buyer - that is up to you. (how could someone else do that for you - that is the business of publishing, and you're the publisher!-)
I published The LinkedIn Personal Trainer on Lulu in June and have slowly been building my market - you must to. ( http://www.linkedinpersonaltrainer.com/ )
Check book signings, marketing, advertising, and every other manner of getting the word out.
I suggest you look in this blog: http://fonerbooks.com/ for additional insights.
Best luck,
steve
Steve,
You've taken the right approach with your book - printing on Lulu, but the publisher is your own company and you do the marketing. It's the only way to sell a self-published book.
I'm not new to self-publishing and have published a series of articles on the topic:
http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Olga_Kellen
This blog post of mine is kinda attempt to make people aware of the formula:
POD + MARKETING/PROMOTION = Self-Publishing, as there are so many answers on LI: use Lulu and you are published which is only half true ;-)
And yes - Morris Rosenthal of http://fonerbooks.com is a great expert as Dan Poynter of http://www.parapublishing.com is.
Dan was my first teacher in self-publishing.
Olga,
I found your post on LinkedIn and followed it to your blog. Great topic.
We're in the same boat. I come from the world of marketing, sales and distribution and know that for books, as well as other products, depend of sales, marketing and distribution.
I started a Social Book Experiment to invite others into the sales process of my book and help other publishers sell books. I would love it if you could participate.
Here is the link: http://jorgeolson.com/book-experiment/
Thanks,
Jorge Olson
I'm leaving a post here because I was unable to do so at Nyssa's Hobbit Hole--the comment format there is different and prevents me. It ignores me! If you could change it there to pop-up, or whatever this one I'm typing in is called, I'd like to leave a comment. Thanks!
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