Self Publishing vs. Publishing

Should you self-publish?
Or should you get your book published?
And why should you bother doing any of the above?

And if you do, how does pricing play a role on whether you starve as an author? Or not?

The answer depends on a bottle of Coke

Ok, quick. What’s the price of a 2 litre bottle of Coke? Say it. It’s about $2, right?

But a 600ml of Coke costs more than $2

If you head to that chilled Coke in the supermarket, you’re more than likely to pay as much as $2.65 or even $3, or more. And that's exactly how it works in the big, bad world of publishing.

To understand publishing, you've got to first understand pricing.

So let's go to Amazon.com

What's the price of a book on Amazon.com?
$10? $20? $30? That's the limit of the pricing, no matter whether you go to an online or offline book store.

And that's only the price of the book itself.
What you get to keep, as the author, may be as little as $1 or $2 on every book. Which means you have to find some way to fend off starvation.

Now there are three distinct ways to fend off starvation

1) Get speaking engagements or high-priced consulting
2) Start publishing in three-ring binders (e.g. at Mimeo.com)
3) Do both of the above.

Let's deal with the first:

Strategy 1: Getting speaking engagements or consulting
One of the core reasons for publishing, has always been to get what's on your brain onto paper. Now you may do an excellent job of putting your ideas on paper, but hey, it's a cut-throat world out there.

This means that less than 5% (and I'm being charitable) of the books ever make it to your local bookstore. They do, however, make it to Amazon.com and lots of other online stores. But that doesn't mean squat.

It just means it's out there.
It just means you have a published book.
It just means that if you're lucky, some CEO will pick up the book on his way to Wellington or Moscow, or wherever. And you'll end up with a plum consulting or speaking engagement. But luck ain't a good strategy.

So if you're going to put stuff on paper. If you're going to publish a book, you have to do your own PR, your own book signings, your own marketing.
Because no publisher is going to do your marketing for you (contrary to what you may believe).

Of course, there are many ways to get your act right

But the end point is the same: Unless the book actually translates into consulting or training or speaking, all you've done is impressed your mother.

Because you may look at a book like a noble cause, but let's face it: It's an advertorial, without the ads.

It's your expertise coming out so brightly, that your customer sees no reason to hire your competition.
If your customer doesn't get their hands on the book, then nada happens. And when nada happens, nada happens. And it's not a good feeling.

And in the good ol'days, begging a publisher to publish your book, or self-publishing were the two options you had to get the word out. These, my friend, aren't the good ol'days.

These are 'new' and 'improved' days

This means that you can self-publish. But not only self-publish, but do so on demand. And do so at a higher price. Much higher price. Which takes us to part two of this article.

Strategy 2: Self-Publishing one book at a time and doing so at a higher price

At first it will make no sense to you. A published book costs lots of buckeroos. You have to print, to get a designer, to do all this yada, yada stuff. And guess what? When the customer looks at your book, they see a standard sized book, and reckon the price will be between $10-$30. And that's it.

We've been trained by publishers to buy books at this price (In fact, this price segment hasn't changed in over 20 years or more).

So no matter how wild and wonderful your book ends up looking, you're doomed to this smaller price segment—if your book is the same size as any other book on the shelf.

But we're not talking shelves, are we?

We're talking self-publishing. And on demand.
So if you were to go to a course, what would you expect to pay? You'd expect to pay between $500-$2500 for a decent course. And what do you get with a course? Why a three-ring binder.

So what's the value of a three-ring binder with specialised information?

$500-$2500.
But that's the price of the course, you protest.
No it's not. You may protest, but your brain has equated the price of the course with the price of the book. And so, magically, a three-ring binder now becomes worth $500-$2500.

Put it back in an A5 format, and it becomes $30

Put it in a three-ring binder, and it becomes worth a few hundred dollars. And no you don't have to believe me. You need to try it out yourself.

The packaging determines the price

Which is why you'll gladly pay $100 or more for a PDF that you have to print out on your own colour printer.

But won't pay more than $30 for a full colour book.
This is how packaging works, and you can rail and rant. But it won't do you any good. This is the world we live in and packaging determines the price.

Which is why a tiny bottle of Coca-Cola costs $3. But the big mammoth bottle costs $2.

So yeah, now you've got a course

And you've got your three-ring binder.
And with services like Mimeo.com, you can not only print the books one at a time, but Mimeo.com will do all the bells and whistle-stuff for you, including Fedexing your book to Reykjavik or Budapest, or Hokitika for that matter. At prices that make you smile.

Which takes us to part three: Doing both of the above. So why do both of the above? Surely if you're raking in the dollars self-publishing one book at a time, it makes no sense whatsoever to get your book printed in a $10-$30 format, right?

Beep! Wrong Answer.

The published book goes places your website doesn't go. People buy books at $30, because it's a good read on the flight.

Or because it's in the library. And hence free.
Or because someone gives it to them as a gift.

They wouldn't be buying books to read with a cappuccino, if the book was priced at $100. Or $2500. So distribution helps. The lower price point helps get your information into more hands. And does so faster.

Now hey, this isn't a rule. There is indeed a book graveyard. Tens of thousands of books priced at this low, low price end up six feet under.

But if your information is good, and you market the hell out of your book, then it gains momentum of its own.

Books do sell, you know

A book like 'Good to Great' by Jim Collins has sold over 2 million copies in under five years. A book in the niche market of website navigation: 'Don't Make Me Think' by Steve Krug has sold well over 200,000 copies.

That's the power of distribution. And that's close to impossible to achieve, with a book that's priced well into $100 upwards.

So the published book must bring returns through consulting, speaking and training. The self-published three-ring binder must bring returns through higher margins. And both of these situations above can co-exist side by side.

Amazingly, you can have your book. And self-publish it too. All while drinking your chilled $3 bottle of Coke.

Next Step: Read the article on 'Uniqueness'.
Sushi, is sushi, is sushi…right?