Upfront: This is not a traditional publishing bash. Many, many authors decide to go the traditional route.
I began my journey the traditional way, at least the local traditional way. I didn't have to pay a cent to have my book published, and I was excited for a while at the prospect. After writing for many years, finally, someone was taking notice.
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| First cover |
Here is what I discovered after the novelty of publishing wore off.
1) After my family had purchased my middle reader for $18, it was hard to sell it.
2) The cover really wasn't middle reader, and I wondered if the artist had read my book. The cover was nice but it really didn't work for my book.
3) I was surprised that I was expected to do 99.9% of the marketing. Frankly, I had no idea how to do it. My publisher listed my book on their website. That was the extent of their marketing efforts.
Going the local publisher route was not a bad idea, I learned a lot, but in the end, with little control over my book, I felt as if I could do better. Frankly, I knew my book better than anyone else, and because I knew it, I felt I could sell it.
Smile.
I wasn't necessarily right about that. I knew my book, but I didn't know how to market a book that was too expensive with the wrong cover. A few years of trying and failing to sell it proved to me that something else needed to happen.
Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to buy the rights back to my book. Fortunately, my brother did. It cost him $500.
Smile.
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| Final cover |
Life is about learning, and book learning doesn't come cheap, but I learned.
1) Publishing on my own I could price my middle reader at $10, a far better price, and one that readers would pay.
2) I could create a new book cover, one that works for the genre of my book.
3) I could do 100% of the marketing! Through the years I have actually learned something! What works, what doesn't. And change, boy does marketing change!
Price. Cover. Marketing.
There you have it.
