venture cafe 10.27.2016
TRANSCRIPT
Self-PublishingYour BookYour book is a business card that doesn’t get thrown away
Talking Points• Self Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
• Changing landscape presents opportunities• Why write ?• Putting a book together
• Must Haves• Raising your personal and professional Brand• Promoting your book to drive your business
• Focus on practical issues• Spent 18 months servicing self-published authors• This is just a glimpse of a dynamic and changing
environment
Anchor Points
Publishing has changed
Source: Forbes
Self-publishing has exploded
Source: Bowker, Inc
Strong Growth Trends
Source: Smashwords
A lot of competition ….
So why write a book ?
Source: Digital Book World
Premise
1. Only a small percentage of people will buy your book2. Of those who buy, only a percentage of people will read it3. Of those who read your book, only a small percentage will believe,
remember and tell others about the content of the book.
You are writing a book to raise your brand and drive your business.
In order to drive your business, you need a sophisticated and professional product
You may be the next Malcolm Gladwell, but until that happens, assume:
This does not matter
Why write a Professional book?• Shows you are serious enough about the
topic to write a book• The business card that does not get
thrown away• People won’t likely need your services
when you hand them your calling card • The spine becomes the most important
part of the book
Different Levels of Engagement• Level 1: Write a book• Level 2: Write a competent book about a topic• Level 3: Write a competent book that solves a
problem• Level 4: Write a competent book that solves a
complex series of problems and changes how people think
• Level 5: Write a competent book that solves a problem and changes how people live
Must Haves
• Editor• Book Cover Artist• Graphic Designer• ISBN• Website• Print Your Book• Public Relations
• Typos, grammar, flow• People judge a book by the cover• Font, Margins, Layout• Necessary to sell• Discoverable, Tie-in w Social Media• 100 – 200 Copies to start• Raise awareness, Speaking, etc
Price of entry• Editor• Book Cover Artist• Graphic Designer• ISBN• Public Relations• Website• Print Your Book
$1,000 - $1,500$ 100 - $ 500$ 500 - $1,000$ 150$ 750 - $2,000 +$1,000 - $2,000$ 750 - $1,500 +
Total $4,000 - $8,000 + Although expensive for an individual, this cost can be absorbed by most businesses – if there is a payoff
Other Options
• LionCrest “Book-in-a-box”• Green Leaf• Advantage Media
You can collaborate on a book
Find A Ghost Writer
$10,000 + …. But you are more likely to get a finished, salable product ….
Milestones1. Find a topic that you are knowledgeable about that relates
to your business (directly or indirectly)Round-table with peers to establish the focus
2. The more useful the topic, the betterSolve someone’s problem that has money to pay you for the solution
3. Establish hard (& soft) deadlines and appoint an enforcer4. Write, rewrite – and then rewrite again5. Don’t skimp on the “must-haves”6. Don’t print too many books (100 – 200 at a time)7. Don’t worry about how many books you sell
Driving your business1. The book is your business card that isn’t thrown away2. It raises your personal and professional brand3. It establishes you as an expert4. It will drive traffic to your website (blogs, posts, tweets)5. It will lead to speaking engagements
All of this will raise awareness, add to confidence and help to close sales
Books1. E-books have their place, but the demise of printed
books has been greatly exaggerated2. There is no better software/hardware archiving tool than
a book3. Authorship makes you more interesting4. It connects you with people5. Books make unique and personal gifts
Questions/Comments ?
@berglund_stlhttp://www.slideshare.net/JohnBerglund/venture-café-1027
John Berglund