So, you’ve written your book.  Now, how do you get people to buy it?

I have been fortunate enough to associate our company with a true expert in the field of indie book publishing —  Todd Rutherford, VP at Yorkshire Publishing. Some of you may know him on Twitter as @publishingguru.  Todd definitely is our “go to” guy when it comes to taking a work from just being available as either an eBook or POD and getting the world to not only notice it, but more importantly, to buy it!  He is the marketing guru!

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Todd and asked him the questions that I believe to be on the minds of new authors everywhere.

1.      What is the first thing a self-published/indie author should do to begin marketing his/her book?

Set up a Wordpress, Twitter, Facebook, and Linked-in account and start  building your platform.

2.      Should the marketing start before the book is published?

The majority of your marketing should be done before the release of  the book.

3.      Once an author has sold to friends, family and contacts within their circle, sales seem to slow down dramatically.  How can they ”break out” and get exposure beyond their circle?  They seem to be stuck.

Publicity is king.  Work on getting the story about you and your book covered by broadcast, print, and online media outlets.  Awareness creates demand for books.

4.      How important is it to get into bookstores?

It depends on your goals.  I believe everyone should set their book up  for availability through Ingram so the book can be ordered by stores.   If you want to succeed at getting your book in stores on a national scale, you must launch a national publicity campaign. Starting by getting your book carried in bookstores in your local area is a good idea. I have clients who have sold more than 400,000 books without  being in a bookstore.

5.      What types of media do you recommend and how can it be utilized by the DIY author?

Coverage by any kind of media is good, but radio is my favorite.   There are more than 1000 talk radio shows nationally with 100,000  listeners or more.  The airwaves are alive with millions of book buyers.

5.      Is it realistic to market a self-published book on a very low or no budget?

If you are broke, start with social media.  It only takes time.  Money comes in when you need to send a copy of the book to a contact that can provide you with media coverage or buy a large quantity.

6.      What is the minimum budget that you would suggest?

I would recommend planning to spend a minimum of $1,000 for a local test market.  This should cover the expenses to get about 50 key contacts exposed to the existence of your book.

7.      Is there value in having postcards, bookmarks, etc. printed?

It depends on what they are being used for.  I recently did a post card mailing to 4000 bookstores for a client.  I would only recommend postcards for something like this.  Having some bookmarks printed up  to give to everyone you come within 3 feet of to promote your book isn’t a bad idea either.

8.      Is it important to give books away?

It is the most important thing to do, as long as they are being given to influential people or wholesale book buyers.  Most major publishers give away 3000 to 5000 books when they release a new title.

9.      Do you have a recommended pricing strategy for Books (including eBooks)?

Retail pricing varies based on content and popularity, but I typically  look at what the bestsellers in a genre are selling for and price a book accordingly.

10.      How important are the social networking sites?  It’s about impossible to keep up with it all.  Which social networking environment do you think has the most affect on sales and marketing?

I believe social media is the most profound method for connecting with a target audience that may lead to book sales.  Wordpress for your blog, and Twitter and Facebook to promote it are the most effective.

11.     What is the best advice you can give a DIY author trying to market their book?

Don’t give up.  It takes time to create a national platform.  Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield did more than 600 radio interviews their first year.  You may not be able to get that done in a year, but  you can do something each week to promote your book.  If your book is  well written, edited, designed, and you stay committed to marketing long-term, it will eventually succeed.

It was a pleasure to meet with Todd.  I hope that all of my aspiring author friends have gained some insight from Todd’s insightful words.  You can find out more on Todd’s blog at http://publishingguru.blogspot.com

CMYK

In this blog I’d like to expand more on the tools that you need for DIY publishing.  Specifically,  creating book covers and illustrations that will print the way you want them to.  Let’s start with some computer color definitions:

RGB:  Wikipedia states,  ”The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additive primary colors, red, green, and blue.

The main purpose of the RGB color model is for the sensing, representation, and display of images in electronic systems, such as televisions and computers, though it has also been used in conventional photography. Before the electronic age, the RGB color model already had a solid theory behind it, based in human perception of colors.

RGB is a device-dependent color space: different devices detect or reproduce a given RGB value differently, since the color elements (such as phosphors or dyes) and their response to the individual R, G, and B levels vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, or even in the same device over time. Thus an RGB value does not define the same color across devices without some kind of color management.

Typical RGB input devices are color TV and video cameras, image scanners, and digital cameras. Typical RGB output devices are TV sets of various technologies (CRT, LCD, plasma, etc.), computer and mobile phone displays, video projectors, multicolor LED displays, and large screens as JumboTron, etc. Color printers, on the other hand, are not RGB devices, but subtractive color devices (typically CMYK color model).”

What does it all mean?  RGB is the standard for the colors on your monitor and other projection devices.  It is not, however, the standard for printers.  RGB colors will look different when they are printed.  For example, the beautiful deep red you selected on your monitor  might print kinda red-ish/pink-ish.  An odd color you may not have wanted.

Now for the “What the CMYK?”  First of all, if you have a printer that supports this standard, be prepared to buy lots of cartridges!  And for the best output to check your work along the way, expensive paper, too!

Here is the definition, again quoted from Wikipedia, “The CMYK color model, referred to as process color or four color, is a subtractive color model, used in color printing, also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four inks used in most color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key black.  Though it varies by print house, press operator, press manufacturer and press run, ink is typically applied in the order of the abbreviation.”

What was the first thing I learned about CMYK?  Black is not black if you don’t choose “wisely.” It’s more grey looking.  It sure  looked black on my monitor, but it didn’t print out that way!  And this was just the beginning!!!  CMYK was for me, more complicated and less easy to forecast the final result.  My graphics designer friends laughed at me because this is the world that they know and live in.  You will get better with practice!

If you want to see a comparison between RGB and CMYK, read this Wikipedia submission.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_space

Let’s get back to the software and tools that you need to get the job done for your covers and illustrations.  I use both of the large print on demand (POD) companies:  CreateSpace (owned by Amazon) and Lightning Source (Ingram).  Here are the differences in the software tools that you will need:

CreateSpace will accept both RGB and CMYK color profiles.  This means that you can use Adobe Photoshop Elements to make your cover even though it is limited to RGB.  Adobe Photoshop Elements is much, much cheaper than its more sophisticated cousins, but it will get the job done in the RGB world.  The bottom line:  You can purchase “Elements” for as little as $79.00 and make a fantastic book cover.  I recommend you get version 8 because that version provides the all important “blue lines” for aligning elements (and that’s a separate blog all by itself).

So, if you only want to publish with Amazon, spend $79 dollars for Photoshop Elements 8 and use CreateSpace. They will generate a book cover template for you.

However (Are you sitting down?), if you want to publish with Lightning Source, you need to step up the software tool set to a more sophisticated product that will support the CMYK standard.  Do you have $799 to spend on one piece of software (Photoshop CS4) to make one book cover?  Lightning Source will only accept CMYK profiles.  They’re the “real deal” folks for mass market distribution.  So if you want to be in the bookstores with domestic and international distribution, Lightning Source is the way to go.  OK, you say, “Other companies will do that for you.”  Of course they will, but keep in mind that most are outsourcing their services to Lightning Source anyway, not telling you, and you are paying a premium price for it.  If you are a DIY’er intent on distribution via Lightning Source, you might as well bite the bullet and buy the right software.  The cost of the software will be cheaper than the cost incurred by some of the self-publishing companies on the market today and you can use your new tool for multiple projects as well as tweaking lots of images, photos, etc.  For most creative people, Photoshop either now or someday, will be a part of their life!

In summary, RGB and CMYK are two very different color profiles that determine the final outcome of your book cover and illustrations.  If you are only going to publish paperbacks on Amazon, save yourself a lot of money and make your cover using CreateSpace and Photoshop Elements 8.  However, if your goal is to be in the bookstores, I recommend Lightning Source and do it yourself with the right tool.  Just be prepared to buy some very expensive software.

What does NovelHelp use?  Well, I have a passion for tools.  I like to use the tool for the right job, which means I have both.

Huh?

In the last week, there has been a lot of discussion about the efficacy of video trailers.  Many in the Twitterverse and in their own blogs have raised very valid questions.  These have included:

1. Does a trailer make you look like a self-published author?  Does it make you look too ‘Indie?’

2. What tools are necessary to create a trailer?

3. What sources of audio and video are available?

4. How much does it cost to produce a video trailer?

5. How do you distribute the trailer and get people to see it?

and, my very favorite question,

6. Does a book trailer sell books?

The last question is really THE issue for all of us here at NovelHelp and Telemachus Press.  After all, the principal reason (maybe the only reason?) that we have or will create them here for our clients is to sell books!  I am, however, sure that there are some great people out there who might have other reasons for creating a book trailer beyond our commercial motivation.  These might include enabling a creative outlet or learning a new skill.  Maybe you just always wanted to create something audio-visual.

I thought that it might be helpful to offer what we have learned with respect to the questions above.  Please bear in mind that our sample size is small and that our opinions need to be tested over time.  I will try to clearly indicate in what follows where we are stating fact and where we are just letting you know what we think.  Let’s get started.

1. Does a trailer make you look like a self-published author?  Does it make you look too ‘Indie?’

To begin with, big-budget books are being promoted by trailers.  Having a trailer does not make you a self-published author.  There are trailers for books by Stephen King and Michael Crichton.  The better question might have been, “Does a bad, poorly produced book trailer make you look like a self-published author?”  Yes, but then again, so does a bad, poorly written, edited and produced book!  If you have the skills and drive to deliver a great book, you probably won’t be happy with a lousy trailer!

As more and more book trailers are created and viewed by prospective readers, this issue might just go away and here’s why.  The trailers being produced today by both big-budget, known authors and by small-budget, unknown authors all run the gamut from really well-done to really bad.  In other words, there are some big-budget trailers out there representing work by well-known authors that are (in our humble opinion!) pretty bad!  At the same time, there have been inexpensively produced trailers that have been in league with the best of the best of the professional, big-budget ones!  As more and more of these get produced from all sources, the viewing audience will come to know that the quality of the trailer (and by inference, the book) is not guaranteed by the budget or the source and that very good trailers and very good books spring from the self-published world.  Trailers, both good and bad, come from everywhere!

2. What tools are necessary to create a trailer?

As with all computer-aided creative development, the range of development tools is significant with the top end tools being pricey.  I imagine that those who have recently posted questions and comments are more interested in getting a great trailer produced without investing their life’s savings, so let’s talk about that.  As our office is a Mac shop, we can speak with more authority about the Mac tools that we use.  For those of you using Windows, I will tell you what we have heard and more importantly, point you to a better source of information.

A trailer that we recently produced for “Death of a Cure,” was produced using iMovie and only iMovie!!!  Don’t want to sound like an ad for Apple, but our team was really impressed with its ease of use and powerful set of features.  iMovie comes with the iLife suite of software that also includes iPhoto, iDVD, GarageBand and iWeb.  I think that an exploration of these other tools would yield functionality that would have been helpful.  However, if you want to see what you can do with iMovie, take a look at the following trailer:

For all of our friends using Windows, we understand that a combination of PowerPoint and a product call Power Video Maker Professional offers a development environment.  I can’t comment on usability or feature set as we have no experience with these.  A good link for more information on using these tools is:

My last comment about tools is this:  the tools that you select will have an impact on your product, but not near as much as the other components that go into making a trailer.  I’m sure that the big-budget failures had high-dollar production.  Get reasonable tools, but focus on content, story-line and getting your message across in an attention getting trailer!

3. What sources of audio and video are available?

We use iStockPhoto Don’t let the name fool you.  iStockPhoto also has graphics images, video clips and audio tracks.  The selection is vast and the tools are user friendly.  The search facility works for us, however, the more you use iStockPhoto, the more you will understand what keywords yield the best results.  There is a “light box” feature that we really like where you can collect images under consideration and compare them all in one grouping before you buy them.  There is even a way to download an image and practice with it before buying.  The image will have a watermark that gets removed when you pay the license fee.

iStockPhoto has competitors and we would be pleased to hear back from you about your experiences with them!

4. How much does it cost to produce a video trailer?

There are four cost components to consider:

i. Tools.  As I mentioned above, this can run from very inexpensive to really outrageous.  Apple’s iLife costs $79 for a single user license.  The family pack is $99.  For Windows users, PowerPoint may already be on your computer.  It comes with MS Office Home that lists for $149.  I looked up Power Video Maker Professionalhttp://www.presentersoft.com/buynow.htm and it also lists for $149.  One additional piece of software that you most probably will need is Photoshop Elements.  It is now bundled with Adobe Premier (creates movies) for $129 (PC and Mac). This is not the full-blown, super-expensive Photoshop CS4, but rather a scaled-down version that should meet your needs for adding special objects and some fine tuning.

ii. Labor.  If you do it yourself then it’s just your time — you’ll have to value that!!  There are many service firms available that will produce your video.  The inexpensive ones will probably not deliver what you want.  There is only so much graphics artists time, copywriter time and editing that you can buy for $750!  And, that doesn’t include the images and soundtrack.  It is not uncommon to see trailer production costs in the thousands.  As with most things, a place in the middle might be the best combination of value for the money.  To produce a really great trailer takes a lot of energy and tremendous attention to detail.  The story boarding must deliver a message that resonates and grabs the viewer!  The images and music must be carefully selected.  And, finally, getting it all produced will take countless passes at the partially completed product until it is just perfect.  You can see in the really good trailers that the developers paid attention to all of these steps — especially the last one.

iii. Media.  Careful selection and some time invested in looking at a lot of images can get you very good material at a reasonable cost.  No matter what you do, don’t skimp on image quality!!!  You can see in some trailers “pixelated” images where there just aren’t enough bits of data because the low-cost, low-quality image was purchased.  The $1 version will look terrible compared to the $5 one!  Images should be 640 x 480 or above.  You won’t lose resolution if you make the movie smaller, but you’ll really lose quality if you make it bigger!  Make sure that you understand your intellectual property rights as well.  Read the fine print!  The license to use the image must meet your intended use.  In most cases, you are not purchasing the property, just a non-exclusive right to use it.  I’m not a lawyer.  If you are uncertain about your rights, talk to one!

iv. Distribution.  Either you can DIY or you can hire someone else to.  No matter what, get the link out there!!!!  Get your Twitter friends to help.  Put it in your email signature.  Place it on other pages as appropriate!!  Like I said, “Get it out there!”  If you hire someone else to do this, make sure you get their plan to accomplish this up front!

5. How do you distribute the trailer and get people to see it?

See section 4. iv, above, and below is a list that I’ve started where you can upload your video:

http://www.youtube.com

http://www.vodpod.com

http://www.trailerspy.com

http://www.smashwords.com (eBook host)

http://www.authorcentral.amazon.com

http://www.photobucket.com

http://www.squidoo.com

http://www.channels.com

http://www.bookbuzzr.com

And of course, your Facebook Page and author Website!

And now, the Sixty-Four Thousand Dollar Question!!!  Will a trailer sell my book?

As I said at the beginning of this post, our sample size is small.  Here is what we know.  Our trailer for “Death of a Cure” has caused a spike in sales and the rate of improvement is increasing.  It’s subjective at this time, but it seems that our sales have moved up 2.5 times since the trailer was released.  This is somewhat confused as at the same time we started offering the book on the Kindle at a dramatically reduced price as a limited-time, promotional special.  That probably had something to do with the jump in sales.  Maybe the two have fed off of each other and that the real message here is that you need a strategic plan integrating the trailer with other promotional activities.  That is what we believe.

Save Time

The “5 Ps.”  We’ve heard them before in various versions.  I would like to add a new flavor -- Proper Planning Precludes Poor Publishing! In this post, I’d like to share with you a process that will help save not only time, but a few headaches when it comes to both publishing your eBooks and paperback or hardcopy books.  What I’ve found is that the sequence of events in self-publishing, meaning the order you format and upload your files, really, really matters.

The sequence you use to format for the distribution channels that you have selected will minimize your workload and reduce errors that creep in with formatting changes.  For many authors, eBooks are an afterthought.  They’ve created their hardback or paperback book and then decided to publish an eBook counterpart.  In reality, the eBook formatted file needs to be created and uploaded first.   Most of us have seen poorly formatted eBooks with hyphens in the middle of lines, awkward word-wrapping and headers and footers in the middle of a page.  This is because the author, publisher or distributor took the POD formatted file and tossed it at an eBook distributor without change.

If you understand the formatting rules demanded by the eBook and hardcopy distributors, you can follow a logical sequence that provides for a custom format for each distributor while causing you to do add just what is needed at each step while undoing very little.   Below is the order that I use when self-publishing and uploading files.

eBOOKS – Smashwords and Kindle

Start with the eBook format first as this is the simplist.  It’s a lot easier to add formatting than remove it.  Removing formatting can take sooo much more time.

My two favorite sites for eBooks are Smashwords and Amazon Kindle – for different reasons.  If you follow the rules below your eBook as well as your POD book will look great!

• File type:  Word for Windows 97-2004
• Copyright page:  Smashwords provides text for your copyright page.  From this I have created a sample eBook file and you can download it here:  Special eBook Formatting  Word File.  Smashwords has an excellent distribution channel to Barnes & Noble, Sony and Amazon.   Smashwords continues to add to their distribution channel.  I like these guys — easy to use, clean website and excellent customer support.  They also participate in Operation eBook Drop where eBooks are provided free for military personnel — a great way to promote your book with free copies to very deserving people!
• No cover photo inside the Word document
• Leave margins 1″ all the way around
• No headers or footers
• No page numbers
• Do not use tabs to indent the first line of the paragraph.  Use the “indent” feature instead.  The sample file above accommodates this rule.
• No fonts over 14 pt
• Insert page breaks between chapters, not paragraph returns.  I do, however , like three paragraph returns before the chapter name for presentation.  It drops the page down a bit and readers can visually see it is a new chapter.
• Use word wrap
• Widen the space in between the lines using Paragraph Spacing.  In Word, Select “Format,” “Paragraph” Select “Multiple” and type in 1.2.  This displays a very nice readable spacing in the paragraph.
• Use 12pt Times Roman or 12pt Palatino font for text
• Summary….NO FANCY FORMATTING .  For eBook presentation, you can put the chapter titles in bold, no larger than 14 point and perhaps the first letter in the first word of the paragraph can also be bold and 14 point.  I think it looks nice.

Amazon Kindle —  dtp.amazon.com

• The above formatting recommendations accommodate the Amazon Kindle rules except that you should replace any reference to Smashwords with Kindle.  Pay special attention to “Special Smashwords Edition,” on the copyright page with “Special Kindle Edition,” also within the copyright paragraph itself.  When you sign up using dtp.amazon.com, you can use the same ISBN on the dtp.amazon.com page that you will use with your POD version later.  Your hardcopy or paperback book and Kindle eBook will link together on Amazon.  Your book reviews for both the eBook and the POD will be shared on both pages without the reviewer having to enter them twice!
• I like to put the book cover (front of cover only in .jpg format) as page one on the Kindle book.  This works nicely.

Now that your eBooks are complete, it’s time to format the hardback and/or paperback.

Note:  If you have a Kindle or the Kindle software on your computer (or iPhone) did you know that you can send a Word file to your “Kindle?” Great for testing!

POD PAPERBACK/HARDBACK FORMATTING (Step One – Word File)

• File type:  Word for Windows 97-2004 (I just seem to have the best luck with this)
• Format the document size in Word (i.e., 6×9, 8.25×5.25)
• Remove the cover if you included it in the eBook.  The cover will be uploaded as a separate file.  Post about covers to come later under separate cover  (sorry, couldn’t help it!)
• Top Margin – 1″  (This is a personal choice because I like to have the book title and author name separated a little more from the body of the book.)
• Left, Right, Bottom Margins 0.5″
• Header and Footer Margins 0.5″
• Gutter 0.5″
• Block (left and right) Justify Text
• Use section breaks to restart the formatting (page numbering).  This could actually be an entire separate post so if you have questions, drop me a note.
• Since you’ve formatted the eBook (page breaks etc.) there is very little to do here except one important thing:  Hyphenation Pass – If you are block justifying your text you will need a hyphenation pass to tighten up the lines so you don’t have as many “holes” between the words in your text.
• NOTE:  Don’t be alarmed if Word shows the “left and right” pages backwards.  That’s why you need to look at your document in Adobe.

Now your book is ready for………

POD PAPERBACK/HARDBACK FORMATTING (Step Two — PDF)

• Your Word file must now be saved as a .pdf.  Do not use the “Save As” feature in Word. You must use the print feature in Word: Select “File” “Print” “Save as PDF.“
• This is the formatting that most PODs will require
• Finally, I like to open the file using Adobe Acrobat and look it over.  And, while in Adobe, use the “Save As” an Optimized PDF.  Here you will create a higher quality PDF and you can check to see if your fonts are embedded.

Here’s the short version of my checklist:

• Format Smashwords
• “Save As” new file and format for Amazon Kindle
• “Save As” new file and format for paperback book
• “File” “Print” “Save As PDF” (Paperback book)
• Open in Acrobat and “Save As” an Optimized PDF file.

NOTE:  You will want the regular PDF file (not optimized) for fast web viewing for other sites such as BookBuzzr and Scribd.

As new distributors come on-line and the existing players change their requirements, this document will need to be changed.  I will do my best to keep it current.  Please don’t ever hesitate to drop me a note at claudia@novelhelp.com.  I’ll answer your questions.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

So, you are a prospective best-selling author!  What’s it pay if you publish and distribute using non-traditional, print-on-demand and eBook partners?  Numerous articles have been written that POD and eBook pay better on a per book basis than the mass-market model.  But what does that really mean?

(Click Here to Download) an Excel Spreadsheet that provides an example of  Distribution Profitability.  I think we got this right, however, if anyone out there sees a mistake, please let us know.  The formulary driving the calculations come directly from the current on-line agreements from the printers/distributors and the currency conversions for UK and Europe are recent.

As you can see in this example, the return to the author varies from $1.73 to $6.80 per book – quite a spread!  The cells in bold can be changed to reflect your returns for a 6” x 9” paperback book.  If you are planning a different format, than a little more surgery and research into the distributor’s deal to you, will be required.  In the traditional mass-market deal, from what we have been told by published authors, your return is closer to a buck per book and may be a little more for the famous!

The net effect of all of this is:

1. The return varies from source to source
2. The return varies with page count
3. The return varies with book size (see the distributor’s agreements)
4. Look into partner programs where landing on a purchase page might start with the buyer first landing on your page – think Amazon Associates.

Some traps to avoid after digesting this information include:

1. Don’t try to jam too many small words on a page of print to inflate profits
2. Driving sales to the CreateSpace eBook Store seems like a good idea except that your buyers might resist creating another on-line account  — this one is tough to assess and any feedback here would be welcome!
3. Don’t get carried away – anyone with a spreadsheet can become an instant millionaire!!  (See the next item!)

Finally and most importantly . . .

• No matter how you publish, it is up to you to sell your book!!!!  Revenues are a function of book sales.  The first step in your overall sales plan (and yes, you absolutely need a sales plan!) might be to determine your profitability per book as we have demonstrated in the example spreadsheet.  However, the rest of the plan to drive sales to make those numbers happen is far more important!
• WHAT ARE YOU DOING TODAY TO SELL YOUR BOOK?!?

I’ve just completed my first “book trailer.”  What’s a book trailer you ask?  Never heard of one?  Well, a book trailer is just like a movie trailer, except that it is a “preview” of your book.  They are quickly becoming a popular way to market and sell books.

A couple of weeks ago, while researching book trailers, one of my favorite, helpful tweeps, @winsloweliot, started sending me links to various book trailers.  While watching one of these book trailers, I witnessed first-hand the impact that trailers can have on book buyers. I was watching the trailer Lethal People by John Locke.  My husband happened to be looking over my shoulder and within the first 10 seconds said, “I have to buy that book.”  It taught me (1) trailers make a marketing difference and (2) I better get working on making the trailer for Death of a Cure.

So, after a lot of very late nights and about 50 hours later, I uploaded my first book trailer to a test page on my company’s website. I received some excellent, and more importantly, helpful comments from my “tweeple.”  Twitter is a great resource for getting help and opinions from those that are neither close friends nor family.  And believe me — they are much needed and appreciated honest opinions.  After I made a few changes, I uploaded the video to YouTube.

Since the upload, I’ve had people ask me, “How did you do it?” So is the reason for this post.  Included are two .pdf files that I used to script the trailer. These files are how I began the process.  They ended up with lots of pencil scribbles, but the notes helped keep me organized and focused (it’s easy to get off track – for me anyway – when you start looking at pictures).  If you stay focused you will keep your expenses under control.

Here are the steps I took to make the book trailer.

1. Read the book.
2. Think about the concepts or the point that you are trying to get across.
3. Make a Book Trailer Scene List, scenes from the book, that will communicate your concept.
4. Write a Book Trailer Script. I used  a spreadsheet with columns for subject (content), file name and description of the file to help me keep focused and stay on track with the story. This was also important when buying images in that I would write the file name down on the spreadsheet, next to the subject while purchasing the files. I also recorded the cost of the file every time I purchased the image so I could see how much I was spending. Stay organized – there are lots of pieces and parts to keep track of.
5. I went to iStockPhoto.com and purchased all the images first.  The video images averaged 25 credits each and the stills averaged 3-6 credits each. OK, except for one, I “bit the bullet” and paid 20 credits.  You purchase credits ahead of time in bulk and then you can “go shopping.”  The more bulk credit you buy, the cheaper the images get.  My credits averaged around $1.20 each.
6. I also purchased the audio in iStockPhoto.com – 25 credits
7. Because I have a MacBook Pro, I used iMove to make the trailer.  An amazing tool. If you have a Mac, it is part of the iLife product line.  If you have a PC, I have recently seen “Adobe Premier” bundled with “Photoshop Elements” for a very cheap price (as far as software goes).  Adobe Premier is used for making movies too.
8. Then, I spent about 50 hours of labor making the movie. My time was long because I had a learning curve as I had never done this before.  Boy, was it fun!  OK, and I have OCD with this kinda stuff (just ask my husband).
9. I spent around $400-$500 in materials (photos). And I bought about 2 videos and 3 images that did not get used.  I also cropped a lot of the footage of the video that was used.  As far as the cost of the software?  iLife was already on my MacBook Pro.

You may begin to notice that POD and self-publishing companies are now offering Book Trailer services. I’ve seen them priced between $1,200-$5,000 depending on the length and complexity of the trailer.  My company will be offering that service too, of course, but I hope that this post will show you that you can also DIY. Nobody knows your book better than you do.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to drop me a note.  ~ Claudia

Should I Follow the Pack?

Amazon has expanded the Print-on-Demand distribution channel from its CreateSpace subsidiary.  The new Expanded Distribution Channel, identified by its acronym EDC, allows distribution through additional outlets to the retail and wholesale market.  I have read the full release of this announcement and you can as well by linking to the CreateSpace Website

All in all, it seems like a good move for many who have not taken the time (and shared the frustrations) of creating an account with and uploading their work to Lightning Source, Inc (LSI).  My personal experience is that it is easier to format your covers and interior materials for CreateSpace than for LSI.  Distributing your book via LSI seems to offer all of the advantages of the new EDC with respect to getting your book into retail stores.

There are, however, some issues that you might want to consider prior to using EDC as your conduit to the wholesale and retail space.

To begin with, you must upgrade your CreateSpace account to the Pro Plan FOR EACH TITLE.  I believe this to be a plus for many authors.  The additional royalties earned with the small initial subscription of $39 and an annual renewal of $5 nets greater money back to the author unless the author has a large number of titles where none of them sell in anything but very small numbers.  Do the arithmetic and figure this one out.  CreateSpace has a link for a ROYALTY CALCULATOR that will further help you make this determination.  Email me with your particular situation (number of titles and historical or forecasted sales and I will help you out!). The remaining issues surrounding EDC are a little more disconcerting to me – only time will tell if my concerns are warranted.

My principal cause for some worry is the engagement of new third parties outside of the print shops currently being used.  I am fairly certain that Amazon uses third party printers scattered around the country for Print-on-Demand today and I have no problem with that.  The wording in the announcement is clear to me that they, probably for financial reasons, are reaching beyond this capable team.  I smell China!!  Maybe I’m reading too much in this, but Amazon warns us in the web announcement that, “There may be some minor differences in manufacturing (e.g. paper thickness, color shade, etc.) between the EDC and other Channels.”  One of the great things about CreateSpace has been the consistency in quality of their manufacturing.  Those of you who know me know that I’m a little fanatical here, but I think that a key to selling your hard work is the professional quality of the final product, content and appearance.  With my clients, I’m crazy about this!  Maybe we will see over time that these new third parties will do the same job, but I’m in a “show me” frame of mind!

My next concern is the additional fee for changes to your cover or interior of $25 per uploaded change (for EDC).  One of the great features of Print-on-Demand has been the author’s ability to make changes to the work over time.  My own view is that a new publishing model is evolving where a work is produced and improved with feedback from readers enhancing their work with each iteration.  It’s a brave new world out there in cyberspace, we collaborate and some very traditional models are undergoing change supported by new technology.  This fee, while small to some, will be an obstacle for many authors I speak with.

Finally, it seems that Amazon has a little more work to do making this new distributed manufacturing model work seamlessly.  The reporting and royalty delay along with the new fees demonstrate that the interaction between Amazon and its new partners needs some optimizing.

In summary, I still plan to upload to LSI for wholesale and retail distribution until this new model fully shakes out at Amazon.  I am very hopeful (but you know how I feel about being “hopeful”) that Amazon makes this work (and makes a couple of immediate policy changes) and that will allow me to reduce the amount of work for all of us by reducing the number of distribution partners that we must now use.

If you elect to use the EDC, these are the steps to take.  Good luck and keep writing!!

How to Activate the Expanded Distribution Channel for your title :

Step 1: Login to your account.

Step 2: Click the title name of the book you’d like to update.

Step 3: Navigate to the Sales Channel Management page.

You will see the EDC distribution outlets for which your book is eligible.

Step 4: Upgrade to Pro Plan if needed – Already enrolled in Pro Plan? skip to Step 5. In order to access the Expanded Distribution Channel, your book must be opted into Pro Plan. Learn more about the benefits of Pro Plan, including higher royalties and reduced manufacturing fees.

Step 5: Enable the Distribution Outlets you want then click Save Changes at the bottom of the page to activate the EDC.

Opinions?  I’d like to hear them.

Huh?

Oh, those terrible tabs, actually they weren’t so terrible until you decided to upload your book to an eBook, huh?  Then your book had lots of error messages, right?  There is always a way to fix things after the fact.  Believe me I have paid my dues and still at times attend the “school of hard knocks” with “delete, space, backspace, arrow, etc. etc. delete.”  If there is a short-cut…I promise I’ll find it!

Are you taking advantage of the FIND and REPLACE feature in Word for Windows?  It will save your life (’cause you’ll have more time for other things).  I use it all the time, but had forgotten about the search and replace feature for tabs using the commands until recently (mostly because I started working on a lot of books that have tabs).

In Word for Windows, select “Edit” Replace

For the “FIND” line type : ^t (the “caret t” is the symbol for tab – Shift 6 and t )

For “REPLACE” (do nothing)

Select Replace All.

Coming soon….Importance of indents.

I’ve often said that if you have the software and the skill set, you can self-publish your book – DIY.  What you need to do, however, is weigh the cost of paying someone to do the publishing for you, versus buying the software and doing it yourself.  Now, if you have the skills and plan on writing a lot of books, or perhaps starting your own author services company, there will be a return on the financial investment. And of course, the reward and satisfaction that you DIY.

Below is a Self-Publishing Shopping List:  The Big Three (Adobe Acrobat, Word for Windows, and Photoshop) are the most important to me.  There are other software options out there.  This just happens to be a list of the tools that I use. (Note: If you plan on publishing non-fiction or a book that requires sophisticated indexes and page layout, you’ll need Adobe InDesign.)

SIMPLE NOVEL:  > $1,300.00

Adobe Acrobat 9 – $299

Word for Windows (Office) – $150

Photoshop CS4 – $699.00

Single ISBN Number and Bar Code:  $150.00

POD Set Up Fee can be $0 – $75.00

Books are purchased at cost from the POD

Purchase License for each iStockPhoto Artwork $1-12 for Standard License, less than 499,999 copies. After that it can run anywhere from $75.00 to $250.00 per picture for the extended license.

NON-FICTION OR NOVEL W/ IMAGES OR SOPHISTICATED COVER:  > $3,000

Adobe Acrobat Pro – $499

Word for Windows – $150

Photoshop CS4 – $699

InDesign  CS4 – $699

DreamWeaver CS4 – $399

ISBN NUMBERS IN BLOCKS OF 10:  $325.00 (Barcode Graphics $25.00 each)

POD Set Up Fee – $0 – $75.00

Purchase License for each iStockPhoto Artwork $1-12 for Standard License, less than 499,999 copies. After that it can run anywhere from $75.00 to $250.00 per picture for the extended license.

Before you jump into the self-publishing pool, ask yourself these questions:

1.  Is the book finished?  Yes, finish the book first and make it the best it can be.

2.  Has the book been professionally edited?

3.  Is the genre defined?

4.  Who has read your book?  (Your Mom doesn’t count)

5.  Who will buy your book?  Target Market?

6.  Will you be writing a series of books?  Have you thought about “branding?”

7.  Have you decided about hardback, paperback, ebook?

8.  What size will the book be?  Does it need to be formatted?

9.  Does the interior have pictures inside?  (Color, B/W)?

10. Do you need the cover designed?

11. Do you own or have rights to (license) the artwork?

12.  Have you researched the difference self-publishing companies available?

13. Do you know what an ISBN number is? What about barcodes?

14. Have you researched and/or approached traditional publishing companies (literary agents)?

15. Have you thought about your distribution channels? (Amazon, Bookstores, etc.)

16.  eBook distribution?

17. Do you have a business and/or marketing plan for your book?

18.  Are you social networking? Twitter/Facebook, Blogs, Websites, etc.

19.  Are you prepared to shamelessly promote your book?  Can you sell yourself?

20. Are you willing to give away your book for free! (reviews, word of mouth)?