Goal Setting for the Self-Published Author

Keeping in mind that being a Self-Published Author is a business, I have a question for you. Do you have a business plan in place? If you do, has it been updated recently? If you don’t, get one. Why? I’m happy you asked. A business plan does several things for you, the first and most important, in my opinion, is goal setting. You should know where you are going before you start the journey. A business plan is a road map, of sort, to help you get to your destination. There will be twist and turns along the way and probably a few bumps and bruises, but you will still be on your way. Being on your way to becoming a successful self-published author is your goal. So take a moment to plan that journey. Who knows, you may end up with a few wonderful accolades along the way and a little money to help you get there.

How do you put together a business plan? Another good question. In this wonderful and freighting world of the internet, you can goggle and find just about anything you need to do whatever. Goggle “Business Plans”. You will get an array of sites that is dedicated to assisting you in putting together a business plan, if you would like to do it yourself. However, if you are like me I do not pretend to be a business guru. I’m an author, so I turned to professional to put together a business plan for me.

To those that are brave enough to try this on your own, here’s the short of what a business plan should include according to the Small Business Administration:

a)      Table of Content – give key sections of the plan

        b)      Executive Summary – Tell who you are, what you do and why

c)      Business description and vision – your company’s goal and objective (for your books)

d)      Definition of the market – who might buy your product

e)      Description of product and services – describe your product

f)        Organization and Management – describe who is responsible for what in your business

g)      Marketing and Sales Strategy- how you plan to reach your customers

h)      Financial Management- revenue and expenses

i)        Appendices- brochures, and/or copies of your book

That Small Business administration has a really simple and informative on-line course on creating a business plan. http://app1.sba.gov/training/sbabp/index.htm check it out.

I know, I went a little deep on this post and this is a very simplistic example, but the information is helpful. Besides, who said this journey was going to be fun all the time it creating wonderful characters and story lines. We have to put a little work into it somewhere along the road.

Until the next time.

Iris

Staring A Publishing Company—Really? Okay!

 So you want to start your own publishing company. Believed it or not it really isn’t that difficult to do. Keeping it going and profitable is the challenge. Starting your own publishing company is not for the faint at heart. Go into it knowing that every decision made is on you. Your company will succeed or fail based on the decisions you make. Also know, you may not see a profit right away. In fact, it will probably be three to five years before you see green. However, the joy and pride you experience every time you put a book on the market is unbelievable. Each book is like your baby, from inception to birth. Here are the steps I took to establish SIRI Enterprises, my publishing company.

1.      First I knew I wanted to self-publish. You need to determine if you want to publish just your books or publish other authors work.

2.      Once that decision is made, write a business plan. I used, The Ernest & Young Business Plan Guide by Eric S. Siegel, Brian R. Ford and Jay M. Borstein, as my resource.

3.      Apply for your business license with your local city or county. Contact the IRS to obtain your EIN (Employer Identification Number @ http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html). Also, set up with your state tax department.

4.      Go to the US Copyright  Office @ https://eco.copyright.gov to establish an account

5.      Do the same with The Library of Congress @ http://pcn.loc.gov to establish an account

6.      Purchase a set of ISBN @  http://isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp (you can purchase from 1-1000 at a time)

7.      Determine if you want a Vanity Press to handle your packaging (ie: LULU, Smashwords, Create Space, etc…) Or if you want total control you can hire a consultant to handle page design and covers design. I use http://judithwansley.com/default.aspx

8.      Research printer and/or distributor for your books. You can use just a book printer or one that does both. I use http://www1.lightningsource.com/  

9.      Establish a relationship with editors to use when needed.

10.  You don’t have to do this, but I did set up an account with Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble to handle eBooks sales.

Now, it you still want to start your own publishing company, I have to tell you, it has been a very exciting endeavor. While I still would like to be published the traditional route, doing for myself has been most rewarding. Good Luck and remember, Believe in yourself and you can accomplish anything.

Quality vs. Quantity

Message to Self-Published Authors

What is the first thing you think when you read an author has produced twenty books in a twelve month time span? WOW! That author is bringing in the big bucks. It’s a logical assumption. You want a piece of the action, don’t you? LOL! We all do. But, at what cost?

This is going to be short and sweet.

If you put out twenty books and only two out of the twenty were good reads, how many more of your books do you think readers will purchase? Probably none. Here’s a little something to remember. Quality will bring you a bigger bang for your money than quantity will in the long run. How, you ask? Well, let’s look at the economics of book sales. You sold one hundred books at $5.00. You made $500.00 dollars. Not bad. You put out another twenty. This time you only sold two, you made $10.00. What happened? The readers choose not to try you again. Eighteen out of the first twenty they purchased were not good. And here’s the thing, you knew it before you put the book on the market. But you put them out there anyway for the quick buck. Now, you really have a problem—negative name recognition. You have to win the faith of the readers you lost back.

Let’s take a look at another scenario. You wrote one book. You sold 100 at $5.00. You made $500.00. Not bad. In fact readers are talking about your book to others and you find you have to reprint more or your eBook sales are jumping. When you release your second book, you sell 200 on the first day. $1,000.00 in one day! This is a real WOW! You have double your sales on the first book, all from word of mouth. The readers talked about how good that first book was to their friends, bookclub members, on review sites and other readers listened. Not only did you retain you first group of readers, you have added more. Why? Quality.

The quality of your story is what will keep the readers faithful to you as an author. They will remember the characters, what they did, how they did it and who they did it to. Readers will begin to quote some of your words. But most important, the readers will share your work with other readers. Give them a piece of crap and they will not even remember the name of the book. Or worse, when they hear your name the will smirk, “Don’t waste your money.”

Quality vs. Quantity…..Quality wins hands down, every time. When writing your novels, but your big toe in it the mix. It will pay off in the long run.