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An Excerpt from: U-Publish.com 4.0: A ‘Living Book’ to Help You Compete with the Giants of Publishing

Chapter 1: Why Self-Publish?

by Dan Poynter and Danny O. Snow

“...Self-publishing is much easier now,” said Calvin Reid, an editor at Publishers Weekly. “Before, you had to spend thousands of dollars. Now you can have your book wonderfully published for several hundred dollars and print on demand.” Add to that,
“conscientious, relentless marketing,” Mr. Reid said, “and you have a recipe for success.” — The New York Times, 9/8/2004

Self-publishing (also called independent publishing or alternative publishing) offers many benefits to writers: more control of content, a bigger share of profits, faster publication, and greater potential to tap lucrative specialty markets beyond bookstores and libraries. The benefits of more editorial control and more money are fairly self-evident. The benefits of exploiting non-traditional markets are less obvious, but equally important.

In a 1996 report, the Book Industry Study Group (BISG.org), a leading book trade association for policy, standards and research, estimated that there are nearly TEN TIMES more
outlets for books than bookstores per se. These markets are far more numerous, easier to target, often pay more and pay faster than conventional book trade channels.

In his ‘special report’ titled Book Marketing: A New Approach, Dan Poynter wrote “It is suspected that a very large, unreported number [of books] are sold through specialty shops, catalogs, as premiums, etc. These non-traditional sales are usually easier to make, very large and much more lucrative.”

A subsequent BISG study in 2005 confirmed Poynter’s suspicions by documenting that “smaller” publishers (those with annual revenues under $50 million) now generate $11.5 billion per year in sales, often reaching readers beyond the bookstore world, in many cases selling more books outside traditional trade channels than within.

“The fact that these publishers are doing billions of dollars’ worth of business outside trade channels sheds new light on concentration in bookselling,” said Judith Appelbaum, Chair of
the BISG Publications Committee.

Books are now sold almost everywhere: in gift shops, supermarkets, airports, truck stops, and most importantly in uncounted numbers of stores with specialized product lines that are often compatible with a particular book’s subject. No kidding: we’ve seen books about fishing selling like hotcakes off a rickety wooden pier on a remote stretch of the inter-coastal waterway, miles from the nearest town…and farther from the nearest bookstore!

The traditional publishing industry supplies a few specialty outlets as a sideline, but sells the majority of its books through major chain bookstores and libraries.

The terms for mainstream book trade sales are less than ideal for the publisher, conventional or independent. Mainstream booksellers expect big discounts, a long time to pay, and the right to return unsold books to the publisher on a routine basis. The sad fact is that bookstores rarely BUY books; instead, they take them on consignment!

On the other hand, non-traditional outlets are far more numerous, easier to identify, often pay more, pay faster, and return fewer (if any) unsold books. While conventional publishers move most of their inventory through mainstream channels, tthe savvy self-publisher can usually find better outlets. To illustrate, suppose you have written a book about a relatively narrow subject like organic fertilizers… how many casual bookstore customers are interested in this subject? Probably very few. But now imagine the customers of a tree nursery or gardening supply center: nearly ALL of them are potential readers!

Traditional publishers generally don’t even try to sell books in outlets like these, but self-publishers can take advantage of specialty markets that are often neglected by conventional
publishers.

Conventional publishers tend to look down on nontraditional markets and self-published books. Often they cite frequent writing errors, amateurish layouts and cover designs, or other problems that are seldom seen in books from major publishers. Frankly, this attitude is sometimes justified — especially by marginal books from vanity presses — BUT there is absolutely no reason why a self-published book can’t meet professional standards. To illustrate, here are just a handful of books that were originally self-published:

Other well-known self-publishers include: William Blake, Stephen Crane, e.e. cummings, Deepak Chopra, Benjamin
Franklin, Zane Grey, James Joyce, Rudyard Kipling, D.H. Lawrence, Thomas Paine, Edgar Allen Poe, Ezra Pound, Carl Sandburg, George Bernard Shaw, Upton Sinclair, Gertrude Stein, Henry David Thoreau, Mark Twain, Walt Whitman and Virginia
Woolf… to name just a few.

So don’t tell us that a self-published book can’t meet (or beat)
the standards of conventional publishers! If you have the passion to write about a subject you love, the time and skills to prepare a
quality book for publication, the confidence to take some financial risks, and most of all the determination to promote and market
your book proactively, you can self-publish successfully. For those who do, this book will briefly summarize the most important things you can do to succeed, and some pitfalls to avoid.

* * * * *

U-Publish.com 4.0: A ‘Living Book’ to Help You Compete with the Giants of Publishing
by Dan Poynter and Danny O. SnowAvailable January 2007
www.ParaPublishing.com / www.U-Publish.com

The authors call their new edition a “living book” because they will use
new technologies to keep readers up-to-date after it goes to press. Fresh new information will be added month after month, via the Web, e-mail and with POD printing. Readers who obtain the book from a chain bookstore or from one of the leading online booksellers can get free monthly updates at the website named for the book: www.U-Publish.com/monthly.htm

The authors have also made a special arrangement with Lulu.com to update the paperback edition on a monthly basis, starting in January 2007. If you obtain a copy from Lulu, the appendix will contain fresh new material from their newsletters, added monthly throughout the year.

You can also receive the “Publishing Poynters” newsletter and “U-PubDATES” by e-mail. Get a free subscription at: www.U-Publish.com/poynters.htm

Whether you prefer Web, e-mail or print, the “Living Book” strategy helps keep you informed about the latest developments in self-publishing for years to come.

About the Authors:

Dan Poynter is an author of more than 100 books, a publisher since 1969 and a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP). He is an evangelist for books, an ombudsman for authors, an advocate for
publishers and the godfather to thousands of successfully published books. His seminars have been featured on CNN, his books have been pictured in The Wall Street Journal, and his story has appeared in U.S. News & World Report. The media come to Poynter because he is the leading authority on book publishing. He travels more than 4,000 miles each week to inspire and empower writers, publishers and professional speakers.

Harvard graduate Danny O. Snow has been widely quoted about new publishing technologies by major broadcast and print media, including AP, UPI, NPR, Publishers Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and many others. He has also served as a contributing editor to BookTech: The Magazine for Publishers, as a panelist and moderator for national publishing events such as PMA’s “Publishing University,” as senior planning consultant to Lulu.com, and as a POD book publisher with Unlimited Publishing LLC.