Traditional vs Independent Book Publishing: What’s Best for the Success of Your Book(s)? By Lee Foster (27 screens)

Why This Matters Successful “independent publishing” or “indie” authors may get “traditional” offers You may have several books in you, and possibly some should be done indie, some traditional A better understanding of traditional may confirm the wisdom of your indie path

Three Paths to Publishing: Defined Traditional “work for hire” Traditional “royalty” Independent self-publishing

Example of a Work for Hire Book Lee’s Back Roads California (Dorling Kindersley) and all his Lonely Planet Travel Books

Pro and Con: Pro: Traditional Work for Hire Cash in the bank. Try to save a little Your work is done, no promo required Prestige, your book with a major player

Con: Work for Hire Serial financial life. You move from project to project Your Identity may not be advanced (but also may, as DK listed Lee as the “author”) You can’t use the exact material elsewhere

Example of a Royalty Book Lee’s The Photographer’s Guide to San Francisco (Countryman Press)

Pro: Traditional Royalty You are part of the action, as an owner of the book. You get an advance against royalties. Royalty books tended to be more personal books, less formulaic In the past, publishers had exclusive access to the market (mainly bookstores) and had the needed capital for publishing and promotion

Con: Traditional Royalty Royalty publishers are not selling enough books today, and may not favor an ebook version, and may do no promotion Royalty publishers do not offer better market access than an author can get direct, such as with print-on-demand Amazon and Ingram (bookstores, libraries) Royalty publishers have conflicts with authors over web and app use of similar material

Example of a (Recent) Indie Book Lee’s Northern California Travel: The Best Options

Pro: Independent Self-Publishing Earn more per $14.95 list price print book sold, perhaps $4.25 vs $1 from a royalty book Author controls design, distribution, and book form (print, ebook, app, website etc) Author can license and sell material elsewhere, and book may be an ebook, website, and app

Con: Independent Self-Publishing Author needs to promote book Author needs to think like a publisher, not like an author who wants to be published Author needs to invest in good design

Independent Self-Publishing Arenas The print-on-demand book The ebook, and possibly the app The website presentation of the book

Example of a Print-on-Demand Book

The Print-On-Demand Path Both these options are needed, in my opinion, to get sales in all markets: Amazon/CreateSpace so the book can be immediately available on Amazon Ingram/Lightning Source so the book will be saleable to bookstores and libraries

Example of an Ebook

The Ebook/App Path BookBaby (Brian Felsen) can distribute the ebook to all viable markets, returning you 100% of the net sale. This is Lee’s choice Smashwords (Mark Coker) is another viable alternative, but requires you distribute to Amazon yourself Some of my books are apps. Apps are “software enhancements” of book content

Example of a “Book” as a Website

The Look of the Book Website at /norcal/ 30 chapters /norcal/

The Website “Book” Path Your website may be your most versatile “book” venue of all. Present the book in chapter or chunks. Sell more books/ebooks. Your book as a website will show your expertise and can lead to other revenue, such as Lee’s licensing GreatWorldGetaways and his contract with Answers.com as their San Francisco Expert

Example of Lee Licensing a Book Chapter San Francisco chapter licensed to GreatWorld Getaways, formerly the Uniglobe site

Example of Book as Website Getting New Contract: Answers.com Hires Lee Lee contracted as the San Francisco Travel Expert. Answers.com said they “liked my presentation of San Francisco on my website.”

Conclusion: What is a Wise Future for Your “Book(s)”? For Lee, the future will likely mean: More independent self-published books Some traditional work-for-hire cash-outs, such as the DK book Fewer traditional royalty books More focus on electronic products (ebooks, apps) and Internet outlets, his own and other Internet sites

Links to Presentation Lee’s website, showing his articles, books, ebooks, apps, and photos, is at His article on this traditional vs independent publishing subject on his website is at independent-book-publishing-whats-best-for- your-book/ independent-book-publishing-whats-best-for- your-book/

More Links to Presentation His “website book,” with its 30 chapters, is at His books/ebooks on his website are at oduct_id=2http:// oduct_id=2 His Amazon Author Page for his books is at Foster/e/B001HNI5S8/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=17 89&creative=390957&linkCode=ur2&qid= &sr=1-2-ent&tag=fostertravelp-20

Final Links to Presentation His recent licensing of a book article on San Francisco from his website to Uniglobe can be seen at america/san-francisco-%E2%80%93-a-one-and-only- experience america/san-francisco-%E2%80%93-a-one-and-only- experience His newly contracted position with Answers.com as their San Francisco Expert, showing his first 10 articles from May 2013, can be seen at

Nuances: Why Electronic Products? Electronic products can reach a worldwide audience. Lee’s app on San Francisco was chosen by Apple as a staff favorite and quickly sold 1000 units