December 26, 2008, Newsletter Issue #6: Traditional Publishing vs. Self- Publishing: How does it affect the sale of your book?

Tip of the Week

Publishing your book with a traditional publisher (Random House, Harper Collins, Simon & Schuster, etc.) will result in better sales than you might imagine.  Let's just say you are an unknown author, but you've landed a book deal with one of the trade publishing houses, which is no easy task.  Your book will be distributed and made available to ALL bookselling outlets, which will include the national and independent bookstores, specialty stores, Amazon/on-line booksellers, libraries and anyone who wishes to purchase a copy, even directly from the publisher.  All of these outlets will have had a glimpse of your book jacket in the publishers' catalogs and/or their website. This amount of coverage is beyond what you could possibly begin to do on your own. And while your book will have tremendous exposure to all of these various bookselling outlets, you will still need to promote your book, yourself.
Some self-publishers or vanity presses have distribution to wholesale book distributors, national and independent bookstores, libraries, and special stores as much as a traditional publisher, but the difference is a traditional publishers’ sales staff calls on the entire book selling channel to pitch your book. Self-publishers do not. The bookstore and other bookselling outlets find out about an self-published author’s book mainly because of the author’s efforts. If you are a self-published author, the best exposure you can create is the following:
·         Connect with your local bookstore
·         Create a website
·         Create a blog
·         Blog on other sites
·         Establish links to your website and blog
·         Create and distribute an e-mail newsletter
·         Send regular e-mail blasts to a targeted list of recipients
 
Whether you are lucky enough to be published through the mainstream publishing marketplace or you choose to self-publish, the success of a book ultimately falls to the author.
 
So, get out there and SELL your book!
 

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