In this episode I give you a sneak behind-the-scenes look at how we put together our new book to launch March 29 PLUS a sample chapter 22 - Divine Connections are Waiting for You.
ANYONE can write a book and it is cheaper than you thought. It is also a GREAT way to grow your business, influence or legacy. Imagine 100 years from now, your children's children's children getting to read what you wrote!
Here's the link to our blog post Seven Steps to Publish Your Book for Less than $500! Below are updated notes of the current process and how you can get a $250 discount if you wanted to access Chandler Bolts Self Publishing School (a lot more pricey than our process but VERY helpful if you want a step by step process from book idea through to book marketing).
So what have we done differently this time in publishing Finding Hope in Crazy Times - Daily Stories of Hearing God? AND what am I learning about book publishing?
1. Self-Publish or Traditional Publish?We went with self-publishing route again in order to retain 100% rights to the book and any derivative of it (future workbook, future series...). It's also a fun experiment to learn from previous books we have self-published and keep improving on the process. Other major reasons for self-publishing are margin and marketing. With a traditional publisher you do get an up-front payment which is book commissions paid in advance. The amount depends on their expectation of overall book sales ie. your existing platform and reach (in other words, YOU are still the primary marketing machine - there's no shortcuts). A traditional publisher will then pay you around 10-20% royalty on sales. Self-publishing is 8-10x this. So you have to weigh up number of books sold compared to $/sale and make your own choice which route you will go. We chose to invest in the marketing training in Self Publishing School. I need to sell an additional 500 books to pay for this (should be easy from what I've already learnt). I do recommend Self Publishing School if you are serious about the investment of time and money. If you are serious about this contact me for a $250 discount.
2. What has it cost us to self-publish?Here's the breakdown so far:
- Write the book. Cost: HOURS and HOURS of evenings and weekends!
- Edit the book. Cost: FREE to self edit and get your spouse / friend to proof read
- Edit the book again. Cost: $320 through Fiverr.com. Make sure you choose someone with an English literature qualification and lot's of great reviews.
- Edit the book AGAIN. Cost: FREE self edit. Every time you read your copy you will spot necessary edits. One of the best ways to find edits is to record it as an audio book. That way you have to read it slowly so you NOTICE how many little errors there are.
- Design a cover. Cost: $500 to ??? We paid between $500 and $1,000 depending on how many revisions. Don't skimp on this as it is the first thing people look at and an average cover communicates 'home-made' - only read this if you like your cousins home-made pumpkin pie.
- Format the interior. Cost: $500 to ??? We have built relationship with a local graphic designer that we are happy with. Check out Fiverr.com also for this. Again, don't skimp on quality - make it easy for people to read.
- Format e-book. Cost: $150-200. Check with the same person who formats your book whether they can also do the ebook conversion. Otherwise check fiverr.com or other professional services - Ingram Spark.
- Record audiobook. Cost: FREE. I setup my bedroom as a make-shift sound studio. This looked like closing the curtains, sitting under the duvet and surrounding myself with pillows - all to dampen the sound. I then used my Rode lavalier microphone (thanks Andrew Montesi) that plugs into my iphone 7 Plus and used Voice Record Pro app (free - thanks Cliff Ravenscraft).
- Format audiobook. Cost: $500-1,000 sound engineer. I used Ryan Opfer of Recorded Word for this.
3. Next stepsWe are waiting on our foreword from Kris Vallotton due this month then we will put together a lauch team (marketing/reviewing/spreading the word) then LAUNCH March 29. If YOU are interested in being part of our launch team (we give you free audiobook and you purchase e-version for $0.99 plus take the time to read and post a honest review) then contact us through team @ AndyandJanine.com with LAUNCH TEAM in the subject line.
4. What am I learning?Marketing. Marketing. Marketing. I used to think that getting the book published was the largest part of the job. NOT SO! I'm learning that I could have the best product/service/message on the planet but if I don't do my UTMOST to let people know about it, I am not stewarding well. I MUST MARKET. For me that looks like investing in the marketing component of the Self Publishing Course and applying what I am learning. If I had a bigger budget I would employ someone to help. Maybe that will be the next book?
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