Authors shopping for a book publisher should approach it the same way you do everything else you spend money on. I get calls from authors looking for book publishers all the time. Some return and others don’t, but I feel sooner or later our paths will cross again. I always hope that it is because they have been successful.
Why do I say it this way? More and more first time authors are looking at how to get published, whether you have set aside a budget for it, want to get it done cheap, or free. Regardless of the plan you use to get published the reality will set in, as the light shines with disappointment as you reflect back to what you expected, what you thought you heard and what you bought. This is the time where you have realized that maybe you rushed into it and it was a mistake.
If you are looking for hype, you have come to the wrong place. I have chosen to give you the facts. If you wrote your first book with no writing experience and no help from an editor, it probably needs to be polished and targeted to your market.
By now you have also learned that it does not seem to matter whether your book is accessible by major book chains, it hasn’t rewarded you like you thought. The truth is your book publisher positioned you for sales, and in some cases, if you Google the name of your book, you will see how well spread out you are. So what is the problem? You are not actively promoting, sending buyers to find your book. The mistake you made, you thought your publisher would do that for you.
Here is another one for you: No matter who puts your book into the online stores, unless your book content is marketable, the sales will dribble in. Re-evaluate your content against your competitors, something we never think of as first time authors. Is your message clear? How will it benefit your readers. Have you targeted your market, or are you trying to reach everyone?
What you do with your content will determine how far you will go in the market and how profitable your book will be. Radio and TV shows are looking for ideas to build a show around, not just the promotion of a book.
It’s time to assess your book idea from cover to content to book publisher. Learn from your mistakes, but don’t quit! Treat your book idea like anything else you have approached in your life. Get back up and try it again. The best part about self publishing you can swap out a file, at a fee, of course, and start over.
Getting a book into the market today is faster and easier because you can pay your way in but arent’ you
Publishing a book to make money, to create an income? I believe that self-published authors can establish themselves in the market, create a platform and be successful, if you work at it.
There are millions of publishing companies ready to you anything that scratches your itch, but it’s your choice. What do you want, hype, bull or the truth?
More Reading: Self Published Authors Don’t Beat Up On Yourself (click here).
