How Your Publishing Path Effects Your Marketing By Cheryl Pickett
We have a returning guest with us today. Cheryl Pickett is writing and publishing coach and today she's going to discuss how our publishing path affects our book marketing. She has a new program called Publishing Possibilities 2011 that you can read about in her bio at the end of the post.
How Your Publishing Path Effects Your Marketing
By Cheryl Pickett
Many people new to the world of authors and publishing may believe that as long as you get your book in print and available for sale, the rest of the details don't matter much. Published is published. Unfortunately, holding to that idea will likely end up leading you off course and to disappointment in the end.
The method you choose to use to publish ultimately effects almost every aspect of becoming an author and your potential for success. For example, one option offers minimal control but also minimal investment, whereas another has fine print that hinders you from owning certain important design files. Often, even when people are aware of these situations, many have no idea that publishing choices also make a huge difference in marketing plans and opportunities. And unfortunately, the impact isn't always positive. Here are just a few potential scenarios to watch and prepare for:
1. Product Nightmares
This is one of the worst-case scenarios; the company or vendors you choose to work with deliver a poor product. Your book is poorly constructed with thin paper or cheap binding that falls apart. The design is also cookie cutter. Those who purchase are disappointed and don't recommend it to anyone else. You can't even sell enough to make your investment back, and you need to fix or redo the entire project. In this case, you can lose time, money and potentially hurt your reputation, all of which will have to be made up by new promotional strategies.
2. Show Me the Money
Besides looking for product quality, determining how a particular option will affect your bottom line is an important consideration too. For example, one option may offer author copies at 20% off cover price, where another offers 40%. Another option allows you to keep everything after print costs. Clearly, making the wrong choice here affects profit. Less profit means fewer funds that can go to marketing or back into your business. A smart choice on the other hand could help you break even quickly and then keep the momentum going.
3. Promises Promises
If you don't want to go it alone, there are plenty of companies willing to help you get your book out into the world. Many also offer help with a wide variety of marketing and promotional tasks. Most of the time, additional costs are involved. Unfortunately, many of these promises are weak or vague to begin with and others simply fall through. It's easy to see how this would influence marketing. For example, if you were counting on lots of help via a promotional package then discover you're really on your own for the most part, that can change your marketing plans completely.
As you can now hopefully see, the publishing path you ultimately choose can greatly impact the marketing options you have. Are all the effects negative? No, definitely not. There are plenty of positive ways good choices will ultimately help your promotional efforts. The key is to be as informed as possible from the beginning, learn as much as you can, ask questions, then ask more questions. When you finally hold that book in your hand and it's something you can proudly offer to your audience, you'll know it was time well spent.
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Cheryl Pickett is a writing and publishing coach specializing in helping experts like coaches, consultants, trainers and entrepreneurs become authors. Her ten plus years experience as a freelance writer and author allow her to provide unique insight into both crafting a business building book and the publishing process. Her current program, Publishing Possibilities 2011, will guide participants through the often confusing process of choosing the best publishing option. Details can be found at her website www.cherylpickett.com/programs.
-------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
How Your Publishing Path Effects Your Marketing
By Cheryl Pickett
Many people new to the world of authors and publishing may believe that as long as you get your book in print and available for sale, the rest of the details don't matter much. Published is published. Unfortunately, holding to that idea will likely end up leading you off course and to disappointment in the end.
The method you choose to use to publish ultimately effects almost every aspect of becoming an author and your potential for success. For example, one option offers minimal control but also minimal investment, whereas another has fine print that hinders you from owning certain important design files. Often, even when people are aware of these situations, many have no idea that publishing choices also make a huge difference in marketing plans and opportunities. And unfortunately, the impact isn't always positive. Here are just a few potential scenarios to watch and prepare for:
1. Product Nightmares
This is one of the worst-case scenarios; the company or vendors you choose to work with deliver a poor product. Your book is poorly constructed with thin paper or cheap binding that falls apart. The design is also cookie cutter. Those who purchase are disappointed and don't recommend it to anyone else. You can't even sell enough to make your investment back, and you need to fix or redo the entire project. In this case, you can lose time, money and potentially hurt your reputation, all of which will have to be made up by new promotional strategies.
2. Show Me the Money
Besides looking for product quality, determining how a particular option will affect your bottom line is an important consideration too. For example, one option may offer author copies at 20% off cover price, where another offers 40%. Another option allows you to keep everything after print costs. Clearly, making the wrong choice here affects profit. Less profit means fewer funds that can go to marketing or back into your business. A smart choice on the other hand could help you break even quickly and then keep the momentum going.
3. Promises Promises
If you don't want to go it alone, there are plenty of companies willing to help you get your book out into the world. Many also offer help with a wide variety of marketing and promotional tasks. Most of the time, additional costs are involved. Unfortunately, many of these promises are weak or vague to begin with and others simply fall through. It's easy to see how this would influence marketing. For example, if you were counting on lots of help via a promotional package then discover you're really on your own for the most part, that can change your marketing plans completely.
As you can now hopefully see, the publishing path you ultimately choose can greatly impact the marketing options you have. Are all the effects negative? No, definitely not. There are plenty of positive ways good choices will ultimately help your promotional efforts. The key is to be as informed as possible from the beginning, learn as much as you can, ask questions, then ask more questions. When you finally hold that book in your hand and it's something you can proudly offer to your audience, you'll know it was time well spent.
--------
Cheryl Pickett is a writing and publishing coach specializing in helping experts like coaches, consultants, trainers and entrepreneurs become authors. Her ten plus years experience as a freelance writer and author allow her to provide unique insight into both crafting a business building book and the publishing process. Her current program, Publishing Possibilities 2011, will guide participants through the often confusing process of choosing the best publishing option. Details can be found at her website www.cherylpickett.com/programs.-------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
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