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Your Book Is A Business – You Need To Invest In It
When you write a book, it’s good to remember that your book is a business and that you need to invest in it.
One of the biggest decisions you will have to make regarding your manuscript is how to publish. Do you want to approach a traditional publisher or self-publish? Both have merit and writers have strong feelings and opinions about both. This post is not a discussion of what you should or should not do. How you choose to publish is a personal decision and only you can make it. There is no right or wrong, there is only you and your book.
Your Book Is A Business – You Need To Invest In It
A Writer’s Piggy Bank
But whatever route you choose you will need money. This is something most writers don’t plan for. Even if you want to approach a traditional publisher there can still be costs involved. If you choose to approach a traditional publisher, you may still need to pay for:
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Manuscript appraisal
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Editing and proofreading before submission
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The wait
It usually takes anything between six to 12 weeks to get a response from a publisher or agent, although this varies from agent to agent and publisher to publisher. If they reject your manuscript you start the process over and wait another 12 weeks. If the book is accepted, it still takes months to get it on the shelf. An advance is nice, but it’s still going to take a while. If you choose to self-publish you foot the entire bill.
Here are some of the things you may have to pay for:
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Manuscript appraisal
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Editing and proofreading
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Cover and book design
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Typesetting, formatting and layout
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ISBN application
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Barcode generation
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Printable PDF creation
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Printing
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EBook conversion and publishing
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Marketing stuff
Self-publishing has a bad reputation because many authors neglect the editing and proofreading side of things. Please don’t do that. Make sure you offer a quality product. A black and white, type-only, soft cover book will obviously be cheaper than a hardcover, full colour, glossy coffee table book with huge photographs. Prices vary and it’s always good to ask for samples. Look at the quality of the printing and binding. Cheap, is after all just that: cheap. Remember your book is a business. What does your product say about your brand?
I came across this in an article recently: “In its first study on author income since 2009, the Authors Guild delivers some jarring, if unsurprising, data. The survey, which will be released next week, indicates, among other things, that the majority of authors would be living below the Federal Poverty Level if they relied solely on income from their writing.”
Depressing, but if you look at your bank account, annoyingly true, right? And if you read this article about the latest author earnings you’ll also see some interesting information. It may help you make some decisions.
Whatever route you decide to go, you will need to build up reserves. Start today. Save as much as you can each month, if you treat it like a business and invest in it like a business you will prosper. Remember if you’re failing to plan you’re planning to fail. Good luck.
Top Tip: If you want to learn how to write a book, sign up for our online course.
by Mia Botha
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Posted on: 26th February 2016
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