HOW TO TELL LIES TO TOTAL STRANGERS FOR MONEY JAMIE S. FOLEY

SELF PUBLISHING & MARKETING JAMIE S. FOLEY

FICTION OR NON-FICTION?

CHRISTIAN YOUNG ADULT FANTASY 3 independently published novels 1 new manuscript out to 3 publishers “Harry Potter in a Left Behind story... It is refreshing to read something this clean and engaging and I heartily recommend this Christian YA suspense thriller for readers teen to adult.” — R.T. YOUNG THE SENTINEL TRILOGY

WORKED 3 THOMAS NELSON PUBLISHERS Webmaster & digital marketing specialist Live Events division in Plano, TX

FREELANCE WEBSITE DESIGN & MARKETING

BETH WISEMAN BESTSELLING CHRISTIAN FICTION AUTHOR OF 28 NOVELS & NOVELLAS

WAIT A SECOND… IF BETH WISEMAN HAS CONTRACTS UNTIL 2019 WITH HARPER COLLINS, WHY IS SHE SELF-PUBLISHING?

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING You sell your rights to a publishing company in exchange for their distribution, occasionally an advance, and other perks

SELF PUBLISHING “To publish (a piece of one's work) independently and at one's own expense.” - Google

HYBRID PUBLISHING “The hybrid author is someone who has book deals with traditional presses, but also self-publishes, or publishes in some other nontraditional way.” – Huffington Post

SELF $500-$999 TRADITIONAL $3,000-$4,999 HYBRID $7,500-$9,999 AVERAGE ANNUAL INCOME

WELL… THAT WAS DEPRESSING.

SELF You maintain rights & creative control You set your own deadlines You pay for editing, cover, formatting Higher royalty percentages TRADITIONAL Publisher takes the bulk of profits Required literary agent takes 15% Publisher may give an advance Publisher’s connections, distribution, and they may hire a publicity firm WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

YOU DO THE MAJORITY OF YOUR OWN MARKETING. REGARDLESS,

WHAT? BUT MY PUBLISHER IS SUPPOSED TO DO ALL OF MY MARKETING FOR ME!

MARY WEBER Author of the Storm Siren trilogy with HarperCollins

SELF PAPERBACK Number of pages? Width and length? Retail price? CreateSpace royalty calculator at TRADITIONAL PAPERBACK Royalties usually start at around 7.5% PRINT ROYALTIES

PRINT ROYALTY EXAMPLE: SENTINEL

$ $1.25 (shipping from printer) = $5.70 PER BOOK $12.99 (retail) - $5.70 = $7.29 PROFIT PER BOOK SOLD

WHAT ABOUT TRADITIONAL? 7.5% of $12.99 = 97¢ PER BOOK SOLD

TAXES…

SELF KINDLE 70% if your book is priced between $2.99 and $ % otherwise NOOK 40% TRADITIONAL EBOOKS 25% on average EBOOK ROYALTIES ABOUT 70% OF MY BOOK SALES ARE EBOOKS, AND 70% OF THOSE ARE KINDLE.

DO I NEED AN AGENT?

THE GOOD Sells you to traditional publishers Represents you during negotiations Guides you throughout your career Tackles difficult contracts THE BAD Take 10% - 15% of your earnings LITERARY AGENTS REQUIRED FOR TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING, NOT NECESSARY FOR SELF PUBLISHING.

EDITING! Because we can’t expect to write 5,000 words per day and like all of them.

Collect 5-10 beta readers Developmental edits: $250-$350 Line edits: $1,000+ Quill Pen Editorial: EDITORS WANT TO GET TRADITIONALLY PUBLISHED? HIRE AN EDITOR TO MAKE SURE YOUR MANUSCRIPT IS IN GREAT SHAPE!

SELF-DESIGNED OR PROFESSIONAL? LET’S PLAY

PEOPLE JUDGE BOOKS BY THEIR COVERS. 79% OF PEOPLE SAY THE COVER PLAYS A DECISIVE ROLE WHEN BUYING A BOOK.

Just because you CAN design a cover yourself doesn’t mean you SHOULD. Design + font = genre Covers can cost $100-$1,000+ COVER DESIGN

DON’T FORGET FORMATTING… Hire a professional to format your book

AND THE ISBN… Costs $100 or free from CreateSpace

THIS IS A LOT OF MONEY! You’re starting a new small business. All businesses require an initial investment to get started.

KIRK DOGEAREDDESIGN.COM

THE PLAN? GO HYBRID! Publish your first book for yourself. Write several manuscripts and learn. Write what publishers want. self-publish > go for traditional publishing > self-publish again

“[PUBLISHERS] WANT TO FIND ASPIRING AUTHORS WHO ARE GOOD BUSINESS PEOPLE.” Social media engagement, not necessarily your amount of followers list size, open rate, and engagement Website Visits Google page rank Good design - NINA AMIR, WRITER’S DIGEST

YOUR WEBSITE SHOULD HAVE: An easy way to buy your latest book Your progress on your next book Your contact info with a professional, current portrait Behind-the-scenes content Your event schedule Recommended books

START AN LIST! Very high return on investment Publishers may ask how big your list is Sell more books over time Free goodie for sign up Sign up for a free starter account at MailChimp.com

SOCIAL MEDIA MANIA! Don’t feel like you have to join every new network. Pick 1 or 2!

INFOGRAPHIC BY ACCION.ORG

47% OF ALL INTERNET USERS ARE ON FACEBOOK A good ratio of content to sales is 7:1 Post according to what your audience wants to see Inspirational? Bible verses Young? Funny memes End times? Politics & news Romance? Recipes & crafts Make a page, not a profile Pay a few dollars to ‘boost’ posts that are important to you

GOODREADS Add your books Offer giveaways Write your own reviews Answer questions Best place to get reviews!

BOOKBUB Spend $65-$475, get thousands of sales partners/pricing “BookBub [is] the cheapest on a per-sales giveaway basis.” – THOMAS UMSTATTD JR. OF ENCLAVE PUBLISHING 20% of books accepted lists with millions of subscribers Feature ebook deals

ANGELA CASTILLO

PERMAFREE: When you give your book away for free, permanently, in ebook formats.

PERMAFREE 2015 ACFW conference: Traci Tyne Hilton – “Well, the first month the first… book was free—and I only had three books in the series at the time—I made $2800.” Enclave Publishing’s Thomas Umstattd Jr. – “The biggest shift that we made in terms of strategy was going permafree… It was an overwhelming success. The number of sales for books 2 and 3 in those series more than doubled.” Works with a series Set the first book for free on Kindle and people will buy books 2, 3, and beyond…

OTHER AWESOME MARKETING STRATEGIES SPEAKING The best way to sell non- fiction books LOCAL BOOKSTORES Be excellent to bookstore owners and they’ll promote your books to their customers. BOOK SIGNINGS Great way to generate excitement LIBRARIES & CHURCHES Get involved and help! People will talk about you, and you’ll sell books over time (especially series) BLOGGERS Send a paperback in exchange for a review

RESOURCES MARKETING Author Media blog: Novel Marketing podcast: Re:Write Conference - Christian event in Austin each Fall: CRAFT Writing Excuses podcast: Scribophile critiques: DOWNLOAD THIS POWERPOINT

QUESTIONS?