Self-publishing 101 Miral Sattar CEO Bibliocrunch.com miral@bibliocrunch.com @miralsattar @mediashiftorg #digitaled #edshift
About me Miral Sattar, Founder of BiblioCrunch.com B.S. Computer Engineering, Columbia M.S. Digital Publishing, NYU Software Developer for 7 years 4+ years at TIME Senior Product Development Manager Launched digital initiatives (video, apps, blogs, e-books) Recognized a need in the e-book space! Left TIME full-time to launch Bibliocrunch.com Marketplace that helps authors and publishers find talent to help them create quality books
Why Self-Publish? The Industry has Changed
Digital publishing grew to $2.7B by 2013, nearly nine times larger than 2009 400 381 $ 3,500 300 CAGR=72% 271 2079 2722 ebook unit sales will skyrocket $ By 2,625 2013, U.S. consumers will purchase 381 million ebooks, roughly four times the amount they purchased in 2010 200 100 34 313 103 894 175 1436 $ 1,750 ebooks will bring in substantial revenues In the next three years alone, ebook sales will $ 875 grow 72 percent annually to reach nearly $2.7 B 0 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 00 Total US E-book Sales (Millions) Total US E-Book Revenue (Dollars) 4 Source: Yankee Research Group, 2011
The Publishing Services Spectrum DIY Authors Self-Service Full-Service Traditional Publishers Opportunity to fill unmet need Professional editing Cover & Design App Development Marketing & Publicity Apps Fact Checking Workflow Conversion Enhanced Features Proofing Distribution All the services that publishers only had access to are now available to all. It s easy to find book professionals online. This has made ebook publishing seamless.
Overview of the Publishing Market
Self Pub Stats The Big Five traditional publishers now account for only 16% of the e-books on Amazon s bestseller lists. Self-published books now represent 31% of e-book sales on Amazon s Kindle Store. Indie authors are earning nearly 40% of the e-book dollars going to authors. Self-published authors are dominating traditionally published authors in sci-fi/fantasy, mystery/thriller, and romance genres but -- and here is the surprise -- they are also taking significant market share in all genres. *Source Author Earnings
Self Pub Books Pricing (SW) $.99 cent pricing days are gone Content has value $2.99 and $3.99 are currently the pricing sweet spots for most e-book bestsellers. In general, authors who price their books modestly earn more than those whose average price is higher, but 99 cents is no longer the path to riches. Readers prefer longer e-books. In fact, bestselling books tend to be over 100,000 words. This came as a big surprise to us. Series books outsell standalone books -- but series books under 50,000 words are at a sales disadvantage. Free still works as a marketing tool, especially when an author offers the first book in a series for free, but it is much less effective than before -- primarily because so many authors are taking advantage of it. Pre-orders give authors a sales advantage. Non-fiction earns more at higher prices. This was a real shocker for us. "Non-fiction buyers are less price sensitive, says Coker. It appears as if most non-fiction authors are underpricing their works, and they should experiment with higher prices, he says.
Everyone can be a Self-Publisher
Who Should Self-Publish Bloggers (the original self-publishers) Entrepreneurs First-time authors Traditionally published authors Anyone with an interesting story to tell or share
The Publishing List Overview
Define Your Budget & Goals A lot of times self-published authors forget this key step and costs add up Are you looking for more readers? Are you looking to sell books? Do you just want to tell a personal family story?
Consider Crowdfunding Publishing can cost money if you don t already have a team Crowdfunding Raising money through social campaigns Average author can raise between $2000-$10000 You don t have to give it back, just incentives Platforms: Kickstarter, IndieGogo
Do Vendor Research Whether you are deciding between an editor, cover, designer, vanity presses, company, always make sure you do you research Simple Google Search of Vendor Negative Reviews Look up companies on BBB Always read Terms of Service or Terms of Use before signing up for a platform as most of them are not author-friendly. It doesn t matter whether they are a Big Six or startup
Hire Good Editors
Editing Developmental, Copy Editors, Proofreaders Make sure to hire or work with an editor who has worked in your genre Make sure the editor has worked with a self-published author Ask a lot of questions Agree on a fee structure 15% deposit, 50% Sign a contract (via email or a document) Meet with your editor, whether it s Skype, G+, FaceTime
Optimize your Cover
Cover Design Make sure it s optimized for all ereaders, devices and retailers Readers do judge books based on covers Size of 1600px by 2400px JPEG works for all digital books Check the designer s portfolio. Make sure they ve worked in your genre Decide if you are going to use custom illustration or stock photos (less expensive) Don t just hire a graphic artist or a print book designer
ISBNS
ISBNS These are the barcodes that register your books Most retailers don t require them to self-publish anymore If you do get them, get one for every format (EPUB, MOBI, PDF). Having an ISBN can up your Google rank Help with library distribution Official distributor in US is Bowker 10 ISBNs for $250
Formatting and Conversion Straightforward if it s just text with no bullets, pictures, illustrations Picture books are more complex, Charts and graphs are more complex Get samples of work Decide on a fee structure Agree on samples schedule BookDesignTemplates.com, Pressbooks.com, FlightDeck
Proofread your Book It s your book, make sure you go through it on a digital device or simulator before putting it onto the market Even if you hire someone you might find a mistake All the retailers (Amazon, BN, ibooks, Kobo) let you preview your book online You want to make sure you catch the errors before the book goes out into the world
Doing Print Runs Don t pre-print books without having a distribution deal in place Try Createspace or Lightning Source for good print-ondemand services. Barnes and Noble, BookBaby have options as well
Get Reviews Send free copies of your digital books to encourage reviews The reviewers will request which format they prefer (print, ebook) Before you execute a marketing plan, buy ads, or do anything, make sure you have at least 10-15 reviews Signup for NetGalley to get reviews There s a list of free blogs where you send your book to reviewers on http://bibliocrunch.com/blog
Major Retailers They all allow you to self-publish your ebooks Amazon (for your Kindle) Barnes and Noble (for your Nook tablet) ibooks (for your iphone, ipod, ipad) Kobo (for Kobo reading devices
Prepare Your Files for Conversion *a lot of retailers now accept word documents, but be careful with this
File Types MOBI/PRC Amazon EPUB PRINT READY PDF Barnes and Noble NookPress Apple ibooks Kobo CreateSpace, Ingram Spark, BookBaby, Barnes & Noble
Validation Tools Bookworm reads epubs online and validates them epub validator web-based epub validation (threepress.org) Sigil open source, multiplatform WYSIWYG ebook editor. EPUBCheck updated last month to validate EPUB3 29
Amazon Known as KDP, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (http:// kdp.amazon.com) Over 60% of market 25% of revenues on Amazon come from self-published titles in US You need a PRC or MOBI file: 50MB Cover At least 1000px on longest size, JPEG or TIFF, 1.6 height-width ratio Don t hardcode page numbers To sell your book you will need to submit tax and bank information
Barnes and Noble Known as Nook Press (http://nookpress.com) Formerly PubIt! Roughly 25% of ebook market You will need to upload an EPUB File: 20MB Cover size Optimal: between 750px and 2000px in length, JPEG, 5KB to 2MB filesize To sell your book you will need to submit tax and bank information
ibooks Apple ibookstore Roughly 25% of ebook market You will need to upload an EPUB File: 2 GB Great for enhanced ebooks Cover size Minimum 1400 px along smaller side, JPEG or PNG file To sell your book you need to input your bank and tax information You need a Mac and an itunes Connect account You will need to download itunes Producer
Kobo Kobo Writing Life kobowritinglife.com Low single digits market share You will need to upload an EPUB File: 200 MB Cover size: Optimal: 600px x 860px, JPEG, PNG To sell your book you need to input your bank and tax information
Marketing Plan/PR Strategy Make sure you have a marketing plan Books don t sell themselves and you will spend a lot of time here If you hire someone make sure they have marketed books in your genre Get a sense of their success stories Sandra Beckwith (ASJA Member has a great newsletter) Figure out whether they do: Blog Tours Press pickups Launch parties Amazon optimization, etc
Marketing Plan A lot of companies try to sell marketing services Be wary of this since it can cost $$$$$$$$$
Best-sellers Book sales are tough Launching a book is like launching a new business Numbers are not consistent According to Library of Congress the average Selfpub book sells 150 copies a year Traditional book sells 250 copies a year $$$$$$$$$
All the tools to self-publish a great book are available to you!
Additional Resources Bibliocrunch.com Author services marketplace that matches authors with quality, vetted book publishing professionals Self-Publishing Tips Blog http://bibliocrunch.com/ blog PBS Self-Publishing Articles on MediaShift http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/author/msattar/ Self-publishing hotline (softline) 212.510.7843
Get our free ebook Send a text to 33444 with the word NANOBOOK @miralsattar @bibliocrunch http://about.me/miral
Questions? Miral Sattar miral@bibliocrunch.com @miralsattar @bibliocrunch http://about.me/miral