Here are some of the most common:

1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite of recent success stories in the news, you probably won’t become rich from your publishing venture. And you probably won’t sell a million copies of your book. Keep in mind that a book that sells 10,000 copies—whether self- or traditionally published—is generally considered to be a “success.” Another thing is that too many authors also believe that just putting their work out there is somehow going to result in sales, so they neglect putting together a marketing and promotions plan—which leads to the next item on the list.

2. Failing to think about marketing before the book is published. This is a biggie. I know that writing a book is no easy task, and authors tend to get caught up in the process before thinking of the next step, which is ensuring your book reaches your audience. I frequently speak with authors who have had their books out for months and have generated few sales. When I ask what they’ve been doing in terms of marketing, I often get a vague response. Or I have authors call me in September, asking to help them plan a promotions plan for the upcoming holiday season (which they should have started long before fall). It’s never too early to think about promoting your book and building your author platform. You’ll definitely want to have a plan in place well before the book’s publication date.

3. Not knowing your audience. Perhaps your book does have wide appeal, but not “everyone” is going to read it—even if you think they should. Also, consider your competition: Does your book offer something new and unique to potential readers?

4. Going the vanity press route and thinking you’ve self-published. If you pay a publisher to publish your book, and that publisher uses its own ISBN on your book, you have not self-published. And chances are, if you’ve got a vanity (or subsidy) publisher imprint on your book, reviewers won’t give it the time of day. Although the stigma is diminishing for true self-publishing (you purchase your own ISBN prefix under your own publishing company name and assign a number to your book), it still exists for vanity and subsidy publishing because editing is often nonexistent and interior and exterior designs are usually templates that look substandard. So if you hire a “self-publishing service,” make sure the end result is a well-done book that is truly self-published—by you.

5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. You can—but the end result will likely be an amateurish book that is riddled with errors. Even the best writers need good editors. And unless you are a book design professional, you want a pro to design your interior and exterior so they don’t scream “self-published.” Too many times I see authors in writers groups who post a book cover designed by themselves or a family member—and they almost always look it. Surround yourself with professionals who can help ensure your book reads well and looks good. (Get recommendations for professionals from other self-published authors whose books you like.)

6. Being stingy with review copies. Reviews are an essential part of any book promotions plan, so budget the cost of review copies in your original promo plan. I have worked with authors who were opposed to sending out “free” copies of their book—and the number of reviews they received suffered for it. It’s not unusual to hear some successful authors reveal they sent out a hundred or more review copies.  

7. Not looking at self-publishing as a business. Once you’ve decided to self-publish, you are no longer just an author; you are also a business owner. And just as a commercial publisher looks upon any new book as an investment of its resources, so too do you.

I’m really excited to welcome back guest blogger, Lindsay Buroker, for part two of her article on SEO. Thanks to epublishing, Lindsay is a full-time indie author and she’s also starting a

She has been writing fantasy novels and short stories since she was seven. She’s been finishing them since… well, that’s a more recent development. Originally from Seattle, she’s currently traveling the world and writing from the road. She was a professional blogger for years, so she had to learn a thing or two about SEO—which most people have heard of but many know little about. Hopefully, Lindsay’s post will change that.

If you’re a fantasy fan, you can check out her free fantasy ebook, Ice Cracker II. (Yes, she even SEOs her author bio!)

Advanced search engine optimization tips

If you read part one of this post, and you found yourself nodding instead of scratching your head, you might be ready for a little more. Here are a couple more tips:

Set your site/blog up so it’s “SEO friendly”

If you haven’t chosen a domain name (a yourauthorname.com address) yet, you may want to work your main keyword into it, especially if your name is already taken. An example might be jeffsmithmysterynovels.com or janesmithromance.com. Don’t go crazy with the keywords or choose anything too long as you want fans to be able to remember your web address.

You’ll want to use your main keyword in the title of your site as well. Instead of something like, “A random writer’s musings…” your blog might be “Jane Doe Historical Romance Author.”

On the main page of my site, the title (the text that appears in someone’s browser bar) is “Lindsay Buroker — Fantasy Author,” and, as I write this post, my site appears fourth under a Google Search for “fantasy author.” I hope to make it to the #1 spot some day! (Though these things take time, so you have to be patient.)

Note, I didn’t use my keywords in my domain name (people generally have a tough time spelling my name correctly, so I didn’t want to add anything extra, and since it’s an original name, the .com address wasn’t taken yet). I just point this out so you know the final decision is up to you. Do what you feel makes sense and looks good to you.

Get links to your site

While it’s good to be SEO friendly, what you do on your site is only part of the battle.

In the early days of the internet, you could fill a page with lots and lots of instances of a keyword in order to rank more highly for it. And that actually worked.

The search engines are much smarter these days. They figure that links to a site count as votes of confidence, so they are factored into how well a site ranks for its keywords. People usually link to things that are useful, so the more links there are pointing to a site, the more likely search engines will consider it an authority (AKA a site worthy of doing well in their results). Also, links from older, more established sites count for more than links from new sites with few visitors of their own.

Try to get people to link to your main page and also some of your individual blog posts. Remember how I said the main page of my site ranks decently for “fantasy author” even though I don’t use that term in my domain name? That’s because I’ve written a few guest posts (like this one, hah!) on other people’s blogs where I’ve linked to my own site with that keyword (scroll back up to the top of the article to spot where I snuck it in here).

Eventually, if you maintain a useful blog (or you’re a great author!), these links will come naturally, but it’s tough getting noticed in the beginning (as with selling books, huh?). Guest posting is a good way to get links. (Click that link to read an article I wrote on the topic.)

Be patient, young Jedi…

If you start employing some of the SEO techniques I’ve discussed here, you’ll be way ahead of the game. Most authors don’t know anything about this stuff (not everybody is a geek like me whose been making a living online for the better part of the last decade).

It does, however, take time for you to start seeing significant traffic from the search engines. Plan to post to your blog regularly and work on getting links to your site (even if you just blog once or twice a week and try to get one link a week, you’ll be doing great) for the next six to twelve months before things really start kicking in.

I know that sounds like a long time, but you’re an author planning to build a whole career out of this, right? The good thing about SEO is that the things you do today (especially link building) will pay off in the future as well. Five years down the road, someone might find your site on Google, thanks to an SEO-friendly article you wrote today.

If you’re looking for more tips on blogging, SEO, and book promotion, you can stop by my self-publishing blog. I’m adding new articles each week, and I’ve also started a “Savvy Self-Publishing Podcast” for those folks who enjoy learning while in the car or at the gym.

Thanks for reading my posts and checking out my links!

I’m really excited to introduce guest blogger, Lindsay Buroker, who will explain SEO for authors. Thanks to epublishing, Lindsay is a full-time indie author and she’s also starting a

She has been writing fantasy novels and short stories since she was seven. She’s been finishing them since… well, that’s a more recent development. Originally from Seattle, she’s currently traveling the world and writing from the road. She was a professional blogger for years, so she had to learn a thing or two about SEO—which most people have heard of but many know little about. Hopefully, Lindsay’s post will change that.

If you’re a fantasy fan, you can check out her free fantasy ebook, Ice Cracker II. (Yes, she even SEOs her author bio!)

Search engine optimization or “SEO” isn’t exactly the most riveting topic. I know; I did it for years for my day job before switching to writing full-time. It is something, however, that’s worth knowing a little about since it can help bring more visitors to your website and/or blog via the search engines. Eve better, some of those visitors might like what they see and go on to buy your books. (Though I’m just a nobody-special independent fantasy author, not too may days pass without someone buying at least one of my books through my blog.)

Sounds good, you say, but what the heck is SEO anyway?

Search Engine Optimization is the art of convincing Google and other search engines that your website/blog is particularly useful and important in your niche, thus meaning it should rank more highly in the search engine results than the sites of your competitors. (In other words, if someone types in “fantasy author” or “fantasy novel,” I want Google to list my site before the sites of all those other fantasy-writing folks!)

When people use search engines, they type in search terms or “keywords” (these can be single words but are usually combinations of words). The search engine attempts to deliver the most relevant results by looking at numerous factors, including:

• How often those keywords are used on a webpage or blog post (ie. you get more points if the keywords are used in the title, text, and the web address).
• The number and quality of links coming in from other sites, especially links that use those keywords in the “anchor text” (the underlined words people can click).
• Overall age, popularity, and “authority” of a site (it’s easier for more established sites to rank in the search results)

Are your eyes crossing yet? I hope not! The important thing is to start thinking about what terms people may type into the search engine to find you. For example, if you’re a historical romance author, people might enter “historical romance” or “historical romance novels.”

You can play around with the Adwords Keyword Tool to get an idea for which keywords are popular in your niche or genre. Once you decide which phrases would be applicable to you, consider making an effort to use them on your website or blog (just focus on one term per page or post). This alone will put you ahead of lots of other authors!

If you’re looking for more tips on blogging, SEO, and book promotion, you can stop by my self-publishing blog. I’m adding new articles each week, and I’ve also started a “Savvy Self-Publishing Podcast” for those folks who enjoy learning while in the car or at the gym.

Check back tomorrow for part two of this post, which includes advance SEO tips.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

How long are you willing to wait to see your book in print?  Let’s skip right over the months and possibly years it might take you to find representation and assume you already have a finished manuscript and an agent. It may take some time for the agent to shop around and find the right place for your book. Let’s further assume the agent finds a publisher who is interested and offers a reasonable contract. You still might have to wait another 12 to 18 months to see your book in print.  Self-publishing can be done in a much shorter amount of time—usually just a couple of months if your manuscript is professionally edited and the book is professionally designed.

What are your reasons for wanting to be traditionally published?  A lot of authors today make the choice to self-publish rather than pursue a traditional deal. They believe they can better produce and market their books—and potentially make a lot more money. But in some circles there is still a certain amount of “prestige” in landing that trad contract. If it’s the so-called status of a traditional deal you crave, then self-publishing may not be right for you. If you simply want to get your work out there, then collecting rejection letters may just postpone the inevitable.

How much control are you willing to let go of? In general, when you sign a contract with a traditional publisher, you give up a certain amount of control over your project both editorially and creatively. The publisher will likely have final say over the content, the title, and the cover design. Most of the time, authors are satisfied with the results. However, having worked on the traditional side of publishing for a number of years as managing editor of a small press, I can think of a couple of different instances when authors were not happy with decisions we made regarding their books. They had no choice but to live with it. With self-publishing, you maintain full control over every aspect of the production process.

Do you have a sizeable author platform in place? You may not have a chance with a traditional publisher if you don’t have a large list of connections and potential buyers. The fact of the matter is that regardless of how good your book is, most trads expect you to have a large following before they will sign you on.  (Plus, you’ll still have to shoulder much of the marketing and promotions burden yourself.) Of course, author platform—and marketing and promotions— is equally important in terms of sales if you decide to self-publish.

Would you be self-publishing strictly out of frustration? Self-publishing is not as easy as simply uploading your Word document to CreateSpace. At least, it shouldn’t be. Care should be taken to ensure your content is top-notch (hire a good editor) and its presentation matches that of the trads (hire a book designer). There’s the also the little fact that you are now taking on the role of publisher in addition to author, which leads me to the next question.

Are you interested in becoming a publisher in addition to an author? This is a biggie because as a self-publisher, you are forced to take on that role. Even if you hire professionals to help put your project together, you’ll still have to make final editorial and design decisions. You’ll need to decide on a name for your publishing company and open up a bank account. You’ll have to obtain the appropriate numbers for your book. You’ll need to handle accounting and budgeting for the project. You’ll have to figure out distribution and fulfillment. Of course, there are companies that can help you with all that, but it’s definitely more involved than “just” being an author. It’s not for everyone. 

Do you have the budget to do it “right”? Sure, there are places where you can get your book published for “free,” but chances are your book will be immediately identifiable as “self-published” and disregarded by reviewers—or worse, trashed by them. I simply don’t believe there is any way around having your book professionally edited and designed. You don’t need to pay thousands for each, but you’ll probably have to pay something. And please make sure you have enough money to purchase your own ISBN. Never use one of the so-called “POD self-publishing” company’s ISBNS. Never. Make sure you are the publisher of record.

Do you truly have a quality manuscript with a unique message? Have you tried but failed to get a traditional deal because your manuscript is a piece of crap? Has no unique message? Is poorly written? Then self-publishing is not for you either; you’ll probably waste a lot of money and time on something that will not sell—and worse, could harm your reputation. If, however, you truly believe you’ve been rejected by the trads through no fault of your manuscript (it’s tough to land an agent, let alone a contract these days), self-publishing is probably your best bet. With a good book and a solid marketing plan, you will probably even be successful.

From The Domino Project: Are you feeling lucky?
One of the biggest distinctions between old publishing and new is the nature of luck.

From The Savvy Book Marketer: The Media is Paying Attention to Self-Published Authors
I came to self-publishing by accident. I wrote a novel, A Great Place for a Seizure, with the plan to find a literary agent and a publisher. Several rejection letters later I decided to be strategic and attempt to win an endorsement for my manuscript from organizations that could attest to the value of a novel that gives a well-rounded account of life with epilepsy.

From Publishers Weekly: Amazon Launches The Kindle Cloud Reader
As expected in the wake of Apple’s new restrictions on buying content outside the Apple in-app purchasing system,  Amazon.com has launched the Kindle Cloud Reader, an HTML5 reader that will allow consumers to buy and read Amazon titles through the web browsers found on almost any PC or mobile device.

From Authority Publishing: 12 Tasks Every Author Should Tackle Before Publishing a Book
1. Start a Blog – Do not wait until the book is in print to start building your audience. Write about topics of interest to your target audience and update your blog at least twice each week.

From TeleRead: Google adds book sharing feature to Google+
Google has added a feature to let people share links to Google Books e-books on their Google+ social network circles. The feature can be used either by clicking a link on the e-book’s “About the Book” page, or by pasting the Google Books URL into the Google+ Share box.

From Pod People: Indiereader
Indiereader started out as a site for readers of self-published material to mingle and discover new books. What they discovered, and most people already knew, is that dedicated self-published books readers are a demographic that barely exists outside of the authors themselves (and sometimes not even them).

From the Idea Logical Company: If you like irony, you must love the publishing world of today
Anybody who doesn’t find the publishing business interesting in its time of digital change is simply not paying close enough attention. No matter what story we’re focused on, scratch the surface (or scratch your head) and you find you are pondering something else.

From Mashable: How Blurb Tapped Into the Burgeoning Self-Publishing Industry
For the last six years, Eileen Gittins has made it her mission to help anyone and everyone become an author via Blurb. What started as a self-publishing startup for do-it-yourself bookmakers has become a multi-platform storytelling service, adding an app for iPhone and iPod Touch in April, and most recently, an iPad iteration. Mashable spoke with Gittins about the conception and evolution of the company, her inspirations and, of course, cowboy boots.

How Authors Can Benefit From Article Marketing

by D’vorah Lansky

If you are an author wishing to increase your readership, article marketing can send highly targeted traffic your way. Everyone wants free traffic, but in order to get it through article marketing, you need to write articles. What do you write about?

You want to write about your topic area, your expertise and topics of interest to your target audience. By identifying problems and pains and providing solutions, you will quickly develop your readership.

Writing articles for article marketing is very similar to writing posts for your blog. Most experts recommend articles between 400-500 words, about the length of an average blog post. There are other similarities, too. When picking topics for articles, consider the following:

• Choose topics that are of interest to your target market. If your blog audience is interior designers, your articles should be aimed at providing ideas and solutions to that same audience. Remember, your goal is to drive targeted traffic to your site. In other words, you want to attract people who will read your article, find something of interest, and click through to your blog for more of the same. Do not disappoint them by writing articles about one topic only to greet them at your blog with totally unrelated content. Readers will become annoyed and they will click away as fast as possible.
• You want to develop a loyal and thirsty readership. If you provide quality articles, people will be eager to read more of your work and find out more about you and your book. Through your articles, you will be able to connect with your readers, intrigue them with your message, have them click on the links in your resource box, and bring them to your website.

Invite Your Readers to Reprint Your Content

A fantastic way to get in front of new audiences is to provide articles on your blog and invite others to share your content. This is a common practice and a wonderful way to provide readers with great content and access to your knowledge. On the page where you have your articles listed, you can post a statement, giving permission for others to reprint your articles as long as they include the author information you have listed at the end of each article. In that section, you can include your name and website, as well as an invitation, for example, for people to receive more tips by opting in to receive a special report.

Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Articles

When setting up your fan page, you can pull in the RSS feed from your article directory accounts as well as from your blogs. An excerpt of your articles will then be displayed on your fan page. This will provide you with exposure to more readers and, again, position you as an authority on your subject.

Become a Guest Blogger on Sites Where Your Target Audience Frequents

Share your articles on other blogs, where you are featured as a guest blogger. This is an excellent way to get in front of new audiences and increase the likelihood of your articles being read. When other blog owners share your work, they are, in essence, endorsing you as an expert in your field. They have the trust of their readership, and if they are inviting their readers to read your articles as guest blog posts, then they are giving you their endorsement. To maximize your effectiveness, become a guest blogger on sites that attract your target audience and/or the people who serve your target audience.

Find Niche Article Directories and Publish Your Articles There

In addition to article directories that welcome articles on any topic under the sun, there are also niche directories which publish articles on specific topics or written by specific types of experts. To locate niche article directories, do a search in Google (www.Google.com) for terms such as, “niche article directories” or use the term for your niche topic. An example would be “book marketing article directories.”

By establishing a regular writing and article marketing schedule, you will create an abundance of content while becoming known to new audiences you might not ever have had the opportunity to get in front of. I’d like to invite you to visit my main community blog. You’ll notice that there are lots of articles by fellow book marketing experts. I love having guest bloggers as it provides fantastic content for my readers and provides me with the opportunity to develop relationships with amazing writers and exceptional marketers.

D’vorah is the bestselling author of Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online - Visit her book blog and check out the full virtual book tour schedule at: www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com.

D’vorah offers programs for nonfiction authors interested in growing their brand and their book sales through online book marketing practices and strategies. You can purchase her book on Amazon at: www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com/amazon

1. Educate yourself. Publishing is a business and needs to be treated as such. There are books, blogs, websites, and associations devoted to self-publishing. Failing to learn all you can about it can mean wasting thousands of dollars by blundering along without knowledge or a plan.

2. Study the competition. Be sure your topic hasn’t been overdone. Check the library, your local bookstore, and Amazon.com. But don’t stop there: Check Books in Print Subject Guide and Forthcoming Books in Print Subject Guide. Then make sure yours is better than what is already out there.

3. Write what other people want. Catering to one’s own personal desires often makes for a blah book nobody buys. Face the facts: Personal journals and impassioned tirades are best saved for family and friends, not foisted upon the general public.

4. Think “marketing” from the start. The time to start generating marketing ideas is before you even write the manuscript. Identify your market. How can you reach them? Start folders of ideas. What catalogs might be interested? Which associations reach your potential readers? Can you sell the book as a premium to companies that would give it away as a gift to entice new customers or use it internally for training? Think about who else reaches your potential customer and how you can partner with them. Do you have contacts who have national name recognition and might write an advance endorsement?

5. Get professional editing. You cannot edit your own work. You cannot.

6. Create a catchy title. The right title can make a book. Short is best. Clever is fine but don’t sacrifice clarity. Include a subtitle for nonfiction books as it gives you extra mileage in ensuring readers know what the book is about.

7. Include all the vital components. Depending on whether your book is paper or electronic, you may need an ISBN, LCCN, EAN scanning code, subject category on the back cover, the title displayed boldly on the spine, and so forth. Don’t know what you need? See item number 1 in this list!!

8. Have a dynamite cover. Get it designed by a professional who knows book cover design, not just someone who does nice logos or brochures. There is a lot of competition out there; this is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

9. Make the interior inviting. Study the insides of books that look clean and user-friendly; use these as your model. The production values of your book must meet the competition to be acceptable in the trade. It is not advisable to do your book layout in Word, so if you are not budgeting for the steep price tag and learning curve of a program such as InDesign, hire a pro.

10. Price properly. Books that are much more costly than the competition—or even sometimes a lot cheaper—can meet resistance. Figure out a per-unit cost that still offers you a margin for profit and enables you to offer booksellers a discount—and that keeps you in line with your competition.

11. Publicize, promote, publicize, promote. Eat, sleep, and talk your books. Ongoing, enthusiastic marketing is the real key to success. Never quit. Always be on the alert for new opportunities; marketing is forever and your efforts today can yield results way down the road.

(Portions of this post have been excerpted from the upcoming second edition of Jump Start Your Books Sales by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier, scheduled for release in late 2011.)

Shannon says: Research your choices.  There are lots of self-publishing companies out there these days.  CreateSpace, Lulu,  iUniverse, BookLocker, Xlibris, and Authorhouse are just a few.  Some are totally free, and some aren’t.  For those that aren’t, check out their contracts or packages that they offer.  Know what you are getting for your dollar up front….

I’ll add: Keep in mind that going through many of these companies is not true self-publishing. AuthorHouse and Xlibris, for instance, are both owned by vanity/subsidy giant Author Solutions. If you intend to sell books and make a profit from your venture, it is recommended you not go this route. (I recently blogged about the different publishing options.)

Shannon says: Know your budget.  If you use a POD company that charges for a package, which package can you afford?  You should also plan on purchasing review copies.  How much money are you willing to invest on other marketing?  Don’t forget postage and shipping supplies!  Are you paying for editing services or for book cover design?…

I’ll add: Make sure you have a budget! In my opinion, you need to have your manuscript edited and you need to have a professional cover design, at a minimum. Yes, there are “free” services out there, but the adage “you get what you pay for” is certainly true. In terms of marketing and promotions, there are plenty of things you can do for very little or no cost, but if this is not your forte, you’ll want to set aside money for promotions. You can write the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it.

Shannon says: Be prepared to invest in review copies!… 

I’ll add: Absolutely. I have seen more than one author’s attempts at promotion fail because they do not want to send out free review copies. We had one author, in fact, ask us to set up a virtual author book tour for her, but she neglected to fulfill review copy requests. The tour was a failure. My co-author of The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5^th Edition, Marilyn Ross sent out some 500 review copies for her book Jump Start Your Book Sales; it was a valuable promotions tool and she attributes that as the number one reason the book enjoyed excellent sales.

Shannon says: Invest in a decent book cover…. Most POD companies have some sort of automated book cover design program with stock images.  Don’t use their stock images!  If you do, just know there will be other books out there that have the same cover as yours…. Research your options or hire a graphic designer for assistance.

I’ll add: I wholeheartedly agree with this. The templated covers put out by these so-called self-publishing companies scream self-published. Not only will there be other covers out there with your exact same image, but these amateurish-looking designs do nothing to generate interest in your book. I would also venture to say that a professional graphic designer with book cover design experience is essential.

Shannon says: Edit!  Most POD companies offer some sort of editing service, but it can be quite pricey.  If you can’t afford to hire an editor, at least have a smart friend or two read over the manuscript and look for mistakes and misspelled words.  Don’t think that your own eyes will catch everything, no matter how many times you read your own book. I’m guilty of doing that myself, and readers were quick to point out my mistakes. Sure, traditional books even have mistakes in them and some are always going to slip through, but if your book is full of mistakes and errors it can be a big turn off to the reader, and to reviewers!

I’ll add: The POD companies offer sub-par editing that is not worth the (usually expensive) price they charge. And don’t count on friends (unless they are professional editors) and don’t think you can self-edit. (I have been an editor for more than two decades—and I still needed an editor to read through The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing. The editor found plenty me and my co-author had missed.) Find yourself an editing professional whose style meshes well with yours. Ask for a sample edit of a chapter or so to determine whether the editor can edit your work without changing your voice. Where to look? Ask around writer’s groups (on Facebook or LinkedIn), tweet about your needs on Twitter, or look into groups such as the Rocky Mountain Publishing Professionals Guild, which provide listings of editors (and, incidentally, the other pros you may need in your self-publishing venture).

Shannon says: Format your book properly and follow the rules!  I have never, never, NEVER seen a traditionally published book that lacked right margin justification and I’m tired of self-published authors telling me that they did it that way because it’s easier to read.  No, you didn’t follow the rules because you didn’t do your homework, or you don’t know how….

I’ll add: I generally recommend that authors do not attempt their own interior designs. Unless they are well versed in a design program such as Adobe InDesign, they are probably not qualified and the results may not be pretty—or professional. However, if they want to do their own page layout, they should read websites such as The Book Designer so they can learn the elements of what makes good design.

Shannon says: Understand that physical bookstores are not your friends….  And never, NEVER call a bookstore and try to promote yourself over the phone!  They don’t have time to talk to you. Almost all bookstores expect a discount so that they can sell a book and make a profit.  With almost all self-published books, companies charge all customers list price so there is no discount for bookstores.  Or there’s no distribution of your book through wholesale channels for chain bookstores to be able to get your book anyway.  And if there is, the book is usually sold non-returnable so a chain bookstore will require pre-payment….

I’ll add: It is often an author’s ultimate goal to have their book on the bookstore shelves. But Shannon is right; this is really not the most lucrative way to sell books. Although you can get into the trade distribution system by printing with Lightning Source (owned by Ingram, one of the largest wholesalers in the country), you will be expected to offer a deep discount and a returnable product. However, I think it is worth it to have your book available at the bookstores, so this is another reason why I believe going the “POD self-publishing” company route is not a good idea. As Shannon says, companies charge customers list price so there can be no discount. Self-publish the proper way, and you can offer a discount and still make a profit.

As usual, it all comes down to educating yourself about the process and doing the most professional job you can. Your book’s success and your own reputation are on the line.

Upon further discussion, I learned that she had printed 3,000 copies of the book at a cost of about $10,000. Add this to the expensive menu of other production and marketing services she purchased from AuthorHouse, and it turns out her investment totaled about $20,000. It was with a sinking heart that I told her she had more or less wasted a large amount of money on books that would probably never reach readers let alone the library market. I explained the difference between true self-publishing and vanity/subsidy publishing; I told her she could have published books under her own imprint with her own ISBN for a fraction of that $20,000—and she would have had saleable, reviewable, marketable books.

So where did she—and countless other authors who fully intended to self-publish—go wrong?

Her primary mistake was in not understanding the definition of vanity and subsidy publishing.

Here’s how Writer Beware describes them:

A vanity publisher prints and binds a book at the author’s sole expense. Costs include the publisher’s profit and overhead, so vanity publishing is usually a good deal more expensive than self-publishing. All rights and completed books are the property of the author, and the author retains all proceeds from sales. Vanity publishers may exclude objectionable content such as pornography, but otherwise do not screen for quality.

A subsidy publisher also takes payment from the author to print and bind a book, but contributes a portion of the cost and/or provides adjunct services such as editing, distribution, warehousing, and marketing. Theoretically, subsidy publishers are selective. A subsidy publisher claims at least some rights, though the claim may be limited and non-exclusive. The completed books are the property of the publisher, which owns the ISBN, and remain in the publisher’s possession until sold. Income to the writer comes in the form of a royalty.

However, the lines have blurred over the past few years. What you’ll most often find nowadays is neither a vanity publisher nor a subsidy publisher in the classic sense, but a hybrid of the two–following the vanity model in terms of pricing and selection (building a fat profit into its fees and publishing anyone who will pay), and the subsidy model in terms of book ownership and income to the author (the publisher owns the finished books, and the author earns royalties on sales).

Writer Beware goes on to explain about a new player in the publishing arena that has joined the game in recent years: POD self-publishing services. These companies are similar to vanity publishers—upfront fees are charged, they will publish almost anything, and marketing services offered are minimal. The main difference is that it is less of an investment on the part of the author since books are printed only when orders come in, saving authors from printing thousands of books up front. (As an aside, let’s go over the definition of print-on-demand [POD]: It refers to a digital printing technology that makes it cheap and effective to produce books in small numbers, such as one or two at a time.)

POD “self-publishing services” use digital printing to provide publishing services to authors for free or for a very low cost. Most offer free templates that enable authors to upload and format their books. Most also offer fancier packages that include editing, design, and marketing, which can cost several thousand dollars. These services tend to be poorly done and not worth a fraction of what they cost.

It’s also important for authors to realize that the average book from a POD service sells fewer than 200 copies, mostly to the author. Companies like Author House, iUniverse, and Xlibris—all of whom are owned by Author Solutions, Inc.—lay claim to selling millions of books each year. What they don’t tell you is that given the sheer volume of books released, it averages out to only around 40 books sold per title. Lulu.com founder Bob Young admits that the average Lulu author sells fewer than 1,000 books (and I have read in various places that it’s really more like two copies). (Find additional stats here.)

POD services call what they offer “self-publishing” or even “indie publishing,” but it is not. With these types of services, authors are bound to the package deals these outfits offer in terms of production. The bulk of any money made off of sales is kept by the company to offset their costs; authors are likely only entitled to a small royalty. (What this means it that authors pay twice—once at the beginning and again with every book sold.) Most of these services own the ISBN assigned to the authors book, giving them at least some claim on publishing rights.

All that said, what exactly constitutes true self-publishing? It’s incredibly simple.

In true self-publishing:

The author controls all aspects of the publishing process, from manuscript editing to interior and cover design to pricing and promoting. There are many services, including my own company Self-Publishing Resources, that cater to authors in need of help with these services.

The author keeps all profits from sales of the book.

The author starts his or her own publishing company (very easy to do!), purchases his or her own ISBNs, and maintains all rights to the book.

The author works directly with a POD printer, such as Lightning Source, or an offset printer—or both. (Or neither—and simply goes the ebook route.)

The author has mainstream review, distribution, and sales opportunities that are not there with a POD self-publishing service or vanity/subsidy press imprint on his or her books.  

According to Writer Beware, whose mission is to track, expose, and raise awareness of the prevalence of fraud and other questionable activities in and around the publishing industry (the site also includes a much more in-depth explanation of the various publishing options), “POD services often portray themselves as a revolutionary new publishing model that’s opening up a world of opportunity for writers locked out of the market by the narrow standards of the monopolistic commercial publishing industry.” Don’t believe what these services say. The only way you can truly self-publish is to do it under your own imprint and your own ISBN. It’s that simple.

1. Not using social media at all. All too often, authors assume social media is just a waste of time. But the fact is that authors who are not jumping on the social media bandwagon are missing out on a valuable aspect of building their platforms. Even large corporations are using social media as part of their marketing plans. The truth is, authors who want to sell books probably can’t afford to sit on the sidelines.

2. Not having a handle on your objectives and goals. Diving into social media without a plan can be counterproductive. Authors should decide in advance how much time they will spend on social media, what they want to accomplish, and how they can reach the most people in their target market.

3. Trying to do too much. There are hundreds (thousands?) of social media sites. Authors do not need to have profiles on every single one. It’s best to decide on a few and focus your time on those. Because social media is so dependent on relationship-building, you need to use it consistently (much like nurturing relationships “in real life”). Figure out how much time you’ll spend each day, then focus only on a few sites with that limited time. Investigate the third-party applications available (such as HooteSuite and TweetDeck) to help streamline your efforts.

4. Not doing enough. Related to the previous item, putting up social media profiles and then not staying active is useless. If you’ve got profiles on dozens of sites, you simply won’t be able to be an active participant. You need to be an integral part of the social media community if you are to reap any rewards. Posting infrequently makes it appear as if you are not engaged, and you will likely lose followers and friends, making your efforts indeed a waste of time.

5. Treating social media as a form of advertising. It’s pretty simple: Advertising is about selling; social media is about building relationships. And whereas advertising is often ignored, social media offers opportunities to showcase expertise and engage potential customers in more meaningful ways.

6. Not listening. Don’t spend all of your time on social media expounding about your message. Much like a face-to-face conversation, listening to others and responding to their needs is just as important.

7. Giving up too soon. All too often I speak with authors who have been giving social media marketing their best effort for a month or two or even six, finding they are disappointed with the results. It’s important to understand that social media is a commitment in the long-term. Even in traditional advertising, it is important to build TOMA (top of mind awareness) over a period of time; the same holds true in social media. Relationships must be built and nurtured—and this takes time.

Ultimately, there are no shortcuts to social media marketing success. Authors must be engaged and authentic, and they must contribute to the viral conversation if they are to enjoy the rewards.