File-Sharing Sites Are Stealing E-books!

But you can fight back: I knew there was a danger of people stealing your E-book--customers talk about it all of the time--but I thought the phenomenon was limited to people passing a PDF to their friends. However, it turns out that people are posting books on file-sharing sites, including books lifted from Kindle. Meredith Greene, a book reviewer and self-published author, details the problem and suggests both a legal and a marketing response in the Sacramento Book Review. Check it out. The Publishing Pro.

How Do You Define Publishing Success ...

... in a changing world? I'm in a funny place. On one hand, I am optimistic about what you can accomplish as an author, precisely because of changes in technology. On the other hand, I often find myself struggling not to rain on a customer's expectations. Having been in the business for thirty-plus years, I am amazed at how many authors assume they will sell thousands of their books. Possibly, I think, but not bloody likely.

Only a small percentage of the books published in a year--we're talking one percent or less--have sales of 5,000 or more. The rest, well, the average a few years ago was 500 copies sold. It's less today. And that's just counting traditional publishers, not the self-published folks that are my bread and butter. The POD (print on demand) outfits report that their customers sell on the average fewer than a 100 copies of their books. My customers get very depressed when they hear this, and they are certainly not alone. If you read almost any commentary, you'd swear we were in the dark ages of publishing.

So why am I excited? Because the changes in the world of publishing make it easier--not more difficult--for you to succeed with your book. You just need to know how to think about success. Here are the questions I recommend that you ask yourself.

• Did you get your book into publication? It is much easier today to get your book published than it was twenty years ago. Much easier and much faster. Sure, you have to publish it yourself--but it's not that expensive, it's fun, and you control everything about it.
• Did you make a profit? Some authors don't expect--or even want to--make a profit. If they are honest about it, more power to them. They can certainly succeed in losing money. Other authors expect to make a living on their first book. I tell them that it is good to have a lofty goal, but "don't quit your day job." The odds of being able to live on the proceeds of your first book are minuscule. (However, your odds of being able to live on the proceeds of your writing increase with every book you publish, especially if they are related.) I prefer to take the practical road and am more or less insistent that my customers expect to--and work at--making a profit. If customers follow my coaching, they should be able recover their expenses somewhere between 100 and 200 books sold. After that, it's all gravy. Nothing wrong with gravy. Nothing wrong with a lot of gravy.
• Did you further your work? A book supports your work; it is not the work. If you do it right, a book is just one way of carrying your message to your customer. If you do it right, you'll make a little money outright, you'll gain credibility, you'll create customers for new products (perhaps but not necessarily books) and services.
• Did you expand your world? Did you make new customers, new friends, new contacts? Did you get new ideas, learn new skills, gain new information? A book ought to do those things for you.
• Did you have fun? Book publishing ought to be fun. Truth be told, some aspects of publishing are, let's just say, less pleasant than others. However, publishing is hard for would-be authors mainly because they don't know the ropes. Once they become familiar with how it works, they rather like playing on the ropes. The Publishing Pro.

How Do You Handle Returns? You Have 3 Choices.

They're all bad: With my favorite on-demand printer, Lightning Source, you can open a "wholesale account," which makes your book available to distributors, bookstores, and other resellers through the Lightning Source system. It's tempting because Lightning Source is owned by Ingram, a major book distributor, which makes you think they know something about book distribution.

None of my customers has yet tried the wholesale account, perhaps because I discourage it. Book distribution is not for the faint of heart. It's expensive, risky, and ineffective, Other than that, it's fine. With this post, I want to talk mainly about risk, which has to do with "returns."

When you open a wholesale account with Lightning Source (or most other distributors), you will be asked how you want to handle returns. You have three options:

1. No returns: This is the least risky option. Bookstores can't return your books, to you or the distributor. That's good for you. On the other hand, bookstores hate this option. If you choose this, count on them to not order any books from you unless someone walks into the store and asks for your book. In that case, they might order one. One.
2. Returns okay--deliver. If you approve of returns, you'll get more orders. And returns. If you choose this option, you will pay a significant extra handling charge to have the books returned. And ... you may get them back damaged. Too bad.
3. Returns okay--destroy. If you approve of returns, you have another option. You can tell your distributor to destroy the returned books. This seems silly, except that experience has taught many publishers that so many of the books come back damaged that it's smarter to destroy the books and save the extra shipping and handling costs. In this case, the distributor may send you the covers to prove that the books have been destroyed. The fact that this option even exists should tell you something about how risky the business is.

If you must play the distribution game, we recommend Option #1.

However, there is some potentially good news in play. The Book Espresso Machine, which can be installed in bookstores and libraries, allows booksellers to print a copy of a book "on demand." This means the bookstore doesn't have to keep your book in inventory but can still sell it through its on-demand channel--and you get bookstore sales without worrying about returns. It's a win-win. That hasn't happened in the bookselling world for a while. The Publishing Pro.

Turn Your Permissions Problem into Opportunity.

It's networking: I love almost everything about book publishing, but I have to acknowledge to my customers that the permissions game--that is, covering yourself by asking permission to use any material you want to quote--is a pain in the p'toot. It's mostly time-consuming paperwork, combined with the dread that you might not get permission to use an important quote--or, worse, be asked to pay for it. The person on the other end--the one who will give you permission--probably isn't having any fun either. (I speak from experience.) The only reason you go through this process is because it's the ethical thing to do (or, if the ethics aren't driving you, because it could keep you out of some big-time legal trouble).

Unfortunately, this sort of honesty isn't particularly motivating to authors. Quite the opposite. I was working through this dilemma with a would-be author when she pointed out that many of the people she was quoting were potential allies that she wanted to meet. In other words, they were "key contacts." It dawned on me that all of us could be looking at the permissions-gathering effort more as an opportunity for networking than as a strategy for staying out of legal trouble.

Think about it. When you quote somebody and give them credit, you're plugging their book and their work. Usually, they are going to be glad you're doing so. Moreover, chances are better than average that they will have a natural interest in what you're writing about. Asking permission to use their material is a great excuse for making contact. Of course, they may turn you over to the publisher to complete the paperwork, but by then you've accomplished two things: 1) talking to an important contact and 2) finding out where to go for written permission. The Publishing Pro.

When Should You Publish Your Book in Print?

It's a different world: Thanks to Kindle, iPad, and other E-readers, micro-publishers are asking themselves when, if ever, they should publish printed editions of their books. Here is our take.

1) Publish your book as a printed edition when your book has legacy value. If you're doing a memoir, a scrapbook, or any kind of history, print it. One of the values of "hard copy" is that it survives in a way that other media does not. Think of all the important material you stored away and can no longer retrieve easily or at all on such things as ...

• reel-to-reel tape
• vinyl
• 16 mm film
• 8 mm film
• super 8 film
• 8-track tape
• 8-inch floppies
• 5-inch floppies
• 3 1/2-inch "floppies"
• cassette tapes
• zip drives

2) Publish your book as a printed edition if it is a "literary" (word-based) work. If you've written a novel, print it. The genre won't survive except in print. Devices like the Kindle won't survive as pure book readers. They will all evolve into multi-media devices, which will no longer be "books."

3) Publish your book as a printed edition if you need something physical to sell at your presentations. Giving presentations--and selling your book afterward--is your single most effective bookselling strategy. If you expect people to walk away from your presentation and download an electronic copy of your book from Amazon or Apple, keep dreaming.

There are good reasons for publishing your book as an E-book. By doing so, you can reach an international market more easily (because you don't have to ship physical copies); you can take advantage of the ability (in some formats, for now) to hyperlink; and you can reach those who simply choose to read books on electronic devices. However, even if you publish your content as an E-book, consider publishing a print edition as well for the above reasons. The Publishing Pro, LLC

Charging Sales Tax for Your Book

Yes, it's a pain: Depending on your state, you maybe required to charge sales tax on (some, perhaps in-state only) sales of your book and forward said revenue to your state. First, you'll need get a sales-tax license. Then you collect the required tax. Then you fill out a form, on some schedule, and forward taxes to your state and/or local government. It's an annoying but a mostly minor inconvenience--and you may then be exempt from paying sales taxes on your printing. That's the way it is in Colorado, according to our CPA, and that's what we do. Check with your own accountant. The Publishing Pro, LLC

Take These Ten Marketing Steps ...

... before you finish writing your book: Rookie authors--and some veterans, I'm afraid--think that book marketing begins after the book comes off the presses. Wrong, wrong, wrong. In fact, book marketing is front-loaded. What you do after the book is printed is continue all the good stuff you began much earlier. Herewith are some ideas:

1. Plan the project. Before you begin to write, define your reader, determine how you will change his or her life, settle on a working title and subtitle that capsulize what your book is about and who it is for, and write out a Table of Contents that will make your reader want to buy your book.
2. Compile your key contacts. Throughout the process, you should be compiling a database of "key contacts." Divide these into four categories: contacts who will get a complimentary copy of your book automatically (keep this list small); contacts who will be sent a press release and a review copy request form (if these contacts ask for a copy, then and only then will you send them a copy); contacts who will be sent a press release without a review copy request form (you won't be offering these contacts a complimentary copy); and, finally, contacts who will be notified that your book is published and how they can purchase a copy.
3. Create and use a blog. Do this anytime, the earlier the better. You can create and use a blog for free and even make money, potentially, by opening it up to Google ads or the like. Use the blog to show samples from your book, to talk about writing problems you're trying to solve, to publish related opinions or articles. Try to attract people to your blog and give them the opportunity to comment. In this way, you're building your audience. To create a blog, check out Blogspot or Wordpress.
4. Create and use a website. Websites are not free. You'll have to pay for a domain name and a website host. However, you do not need an expensive website designer. Some website hosts offer templates, similar to the blogs, that enable you to set up a website without much or any programming experience. In addition, if you do this, you'll be free to add your own material to the website without going through a "web administrator." Your websites and blogs should all link to each other.
5. Write about content related to your book. Notice, I didn't say "write about your book." You can, but it is more effective (and far less annoying) to present yourself as an expert in your subject and note that you are the author of a forthcoming book more subtly, like in a bio.
6. Give presentations.The best way to sell your book is at presentations. However, you should not wait until your book is published to begin. You need the practice. You need to build your reputation as a speaker, workshop presenter, and expert in your field. When you speak, you can work in the news that you're working on a book. Again, be subtle. For example, distribute a handout relevant to the presentation that happens to be a chapter of your forthcoming book--and says so.
7. Use your cover. Get your cover designed early and use it on your blog, your website, and your promotions.
8. Create your publicity package. This should include a one page press release about your book, a simple "review copy request form," and a list of 20 questions to give prospective interviewers. The materials should include an image of your book and yourself.
9. Gather testimonials. Once you have a working manuscript, begin to invite likely candidates to read your book and give you a testimonial. You can use some of these on the back cover of your book--testimonials make the best back-cover copy. You can add additional testimonials to the website, promotional material, even the back of the book.
   
10. Offer discounts to pre-publication buyers. Two months or so before you get your book printed, tell your prospective customers they can get a signed copy of your book at a discount if they order it early. Ask for checks. I recommend that you don't cash them until you know for sure when you will have books in hand.

You can do much more than this. The point is to begin now. Don't wait until your book is printed to begin marketing. The Publishing Pro, LLC.

How Do You Name Your 'Publishing House'?

Two considerations: Someone in a discussion group asked how to name her "publishing house, given that she was self-publishing. Here's how I answered:

Usually, I advise authors to invent a name for their publishing house, less to mask the fact that the book is being self-published (it's not the stigma it used to be) than to give the impression that the book is not a hobby but a business, which it ought to be, after all. Occasionally, authors are so well known that they are better off naming the publishing house after themselves (e.g. Joe Blow Enterprises), but this is an exception. Here are two considerations for coming up with what is sometimes called a fictitious name, a trade name, or a book imprint.

First, don't use "books" in your publishing name unless you want to restrict yourself to publishing books. I coach people to think of themselves as a "brand" that communicates content via various media, not just books.

Second, consider the degree to which you want this name to define your content. You can go either way with this, depending on your objective. For example, "Health Communications" suggests a certain subject matter. On the other hand, "JCR Publishing" offers much more wiggle room.

The Publishing Pro

How Do You Talk about Others in Your Memoir?

It's ticklish: I'm writing my memoir, and I realized early on that I was going to have to decide how to talk about other people (and institutions) in my life. Here's how I made my decisions.

• First, I clarified my purpose. If my memoir was to be a tell-all book (an exposé) or vehicle for settling scores, I was going to need a team of lawyers in my corner. Fortunately, my purpose was to explain my long transition from one of the world's great religions to another. The memoir essentially was to be about me, not about others.
• Second, I had to address the memory problem. Unlike some memoir writers, I have no lifetime of diaries or journals to work from. I have to go by my memory, which is flawed at best. I didn't know how flawed until I got a package of photos from my sister. Until then, I had the "memory" that my parents never threw me a birthday party. In the package of photos was photo after photo of me, at various ages, in front of friends and a birthday cake, blowing out candles. It was my sister, a year younger than I, who didn't get much in the way of birthday celebrations. Memory is about the present--one's resentments, one's values, one's vision of oneself--as it is about the past. I would need to be very careful about what I said about others and I would need a disclaimer about this memory thing. .
• Third, I looked at my values. One set of my values had to do with a 12-step program that puts considerable emphasis on protecting the anonymity of others, focusing on one's own issues instead of others', and behaving in such a way that you don't injure them, even out of good will. This intensified my conviction that I had to focus on my own behavior, that I should not identify others by their real names, and that I needed to be careful about what I said about anyone. While these rules applied to most people and institutions, I made some exceptions. One was to name the institutions or organizations that appeared on my resume. This seemed reasonable. Another was to name my family, which also seemed reasonable (as long as applied the other principles). Finally, the other exception was to name the leader of the religious community that I belong to now. This had to do with the values of this particular community, which insists on honesty and disclosure of our affiliation.

Having made those decisions, I find that the process of writing this memoir is easier, more enjoyable, and more rewarding than I expected it to be. You might think that the decision to pull back on what is said about others would neuter the book. Not so. Because I am focusing on myself--the good, the bad, and the ugly--the memoir is forcing me to confront my life in a deeper way and is more disclosing than it might have been otherwise.

You will come to your own decisions about how to talk about others in your memoir, but I hope this review of how I went about making my decisions is useful. The Publishing Pro.

Send Press Releases Online

Worth a try: One of my Linked-In colleagues suggested having a look at PRLog, a free online service that will upload your press releases and make them available to search engines. I haven't tried it and can't vouch for it, but my tipster says it's easy to use, effective, and the price is right. The Publishing Pro.