Hi now I hope my last couple of posts covering why you simply must be involved in information publishing in some way and how to get involved, get up and running even with little or no knowledge have been useful and an eye opener to just what is possible.
It’s Not Rocket Science
I hope that I managed to de- bunk the myths that you need to be a fully fledged writer or journalist to make it work – you don’t especially when you can hire one who not only has the necessary skills but knowledge as well – how cool is that.
A Word Of Advice
Don’t get too hung up on the credentials of writers you consider using and I’ll tell you why. In my day job in magazine publishing we have many free lance writers and even editors we use all the time, now many of these people are not what you’d call top notch writers or editors even, many are just real enthusiasts who along the way have developed a huge knowledge bank and have discovered they have some ability to put it down on paper.
Now ok you might find that although the content is top notch sometimes the grammar is lacking but to be honest a quick and simple editing job is not hard or beyond you. But the cream is you get that knowledge bank down on a piece of paper and it’s yours – how cool is that, awesome.
Self Publishing – What You Need To Know
Ok in simple terms you’ve written/had written a eBook, work manual etc and rather than trying to get it published in the conventional manner by using a publishing house and all that it entails to get one, get your work approved etc you decide to publish and market it yourself.
Now this is not new, many budding authors would do this & then market their book around local bookstores and outlets especially if it was a ‘History Of’ the local area kind of book – but bottom line its hard work and you won’t retire rich believe me.
Ok I hear You – What’s Changed?
Good question and the answer is Kindle – Amazon’s very own eBook reader platform.
Now I’m not going to go through how it works and a blow by blow account but suffice to say if you do a search for Kindle Self Publishing all the details are there.
A Real Success Story
But what I will do is recount a story that broke just a week ago…..
John Locke a publisher of crime and western books has just joined the ranks of an exclusive club, becoming the 7th only author to have sold over a million copies of his Kindle eBooks!!!
Now read that again – YES a million copies.
This guy from Kentucky in the USA is 60 years old; he publishes and promotes his books himself. He relies on word of mouth , his ever growing army of fans and with the help of online promotion, social network sites and a personal philosophy of ‘treating the customer right’ – he personally answers all his own emails, has a blog which is easy to find and very little marketing budget – he has achieved a million sales in a year!
And wait for it – selling his books at 99 cents!!!
Yep you read it right – his cut of the cover price is 35 cents so in a year he’s made $350,000!!
Why So Cheap I hear you ask
And it’s a good question. There’s much debate as to what a Kindle/eBook book is worth and as I discussed in my last post the price point. Personally I think he’s been very cute, getting his books into as many people’s hands quickly (partly because of the price) the viral effect will be enormous when he writes another one just imagine what will happen – what a clever guy!!!
Finally this is from a guy who admits that writing is not even his day job and his only artistic endeavour before this was as a singer in a rock band in his youth. So if he can do it why can’t you?
To your success
Please leave a comment, has this post helped you?
Tony
