Tips for Writers
Publishing & Marketing Dilemma
By Jerry D. Simmons | May 7th, 2010 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
The most common complaint I receive from independently published authors is that they paid several thousand dollars for a book which in the end has a bad cover, poor production quality and too high of a cover price. After this sad story is played out in an email they follow with a question: What do I do now? In every case their publisher offered to help market and sell books for a sizeable fee which is in addition to the amount already paid. It’s the same each time.
What I don’t understand is how writers continue to fall into this trap? It amazes me how so many are blinded by the promises only to be left with a few dozen copies of a badly published book. Unfortunately there are no good answers and certainly very few solutions to this problem. If you build a bad house rather than try to repair it’s always less expensive to tear down and start over. Sorry but in most cases that is the best solution for a badly published book.
So-called print-on-demand companies that dominate the self-publishing business are not publishers. They are printers masqueraded as publishers with little or no actual marketplace experience. Their strength is in sales and marketing of their product and making promises that cannot be realized. They have a very slick promotion piece that is called a bait and switch. They make big promises, playing into the hopes and dreams of writers, offering a low introductory price. Once they get a signed contract then the writer realizes the additional add-on for services grows to an industry average $2,200 per title after the low start-up of $399.
Shortly after I decided to start my free informational web site WritersReaders.com it became apparent that the giants in the self-publishing business were not about to let a lone voice with twenty-five years of New York publishing experience hurt their business. As I began to write and speak about the truth in publishing and offer services that would counter what they had to offer, the heavy distorted promotion began and without the deep pockets on my part to advertise my message, it has been left to the readers of my blog, newsletter and those who have heard me speak to spread the news.
As I continue to battle the injustice of bad publishing and marketing scams, I’m asking that more independent writers and authors share my story with others. Now that the market for self-published titles has grown to more than 760,000 last year, this means more and more unsuspecting writers are being taken advantage of by these self-publishing elements whose motivation is only money and not the marketability of books.
The marketplace for books is very crowded and extremely competitive. If an author has any hope of realizing dreams of becoming a legitimate, successful author then the rules of the market must be followed. I’ve written extensively about the dos and don’ts of publishing and I do my best to offer as much free advice as possible. The problem is that I need to make a living too and it’s impossible to answer every question for free. The services I offer are reasonable and the experts I have access to have unmatched New York publishing experience.
You can cut corners and save money but you must realize that it will negatively impact your book. It’s not inexpensive to publish professionally which adheres to Book Industry Standards. Writers must be willing to invest a bit more to have any chance of success which can be defined as a product with the potential to sell copies. Don’t make publishing mistakes that you can rarely overcome, seek professional guidance and be willing to invest in what’s important for your book.
Why spend countless hours writing and then follow the crowd by publishing a bad book? It doesn’t make sense, spread the word, there is an alternative.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing, Book Sales, eBook, Hybrid Publishing Model, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing
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[...] The story is all too familiar; an email from a writer who invested heavily in a self-published book only to discover it wouldn’t sell. The next problem is lack of marketing and no idea how or where to start. If only she could have found me before she made several huge mistakes. Read more… [...]