Ten Things All New Authors Should Know About Publishing

There are a lot of misconceptions about the publishing industry.  New authors publishing their first book usually have an idea of how things "should" work, but these are ideas that typically are rooted in how the publishing industry used to work, or are based upon things they may have read online that just aren't true.

With that in mind, I thought I would address the Top 10 things new authors should know about the publishing industry, and explain how things really work.  Hopefully, this will save you a lot of time, effort and frustration.

1.  Books are not automatically stocked by bookstores.  In 2010, more than 3 million ISBN numbers were assigned.  That means three million different book titles.  The average large bookstore stocks about 110,000 titles.   Not every title that is released is going to be stocked by a bookstore.

2.  Publishers don't control which books get stocked in bookstores.  Bookstores decide for themselves which books they will stock.   The publisher can't make them stock anything.  Publishers submit titles, make them available for distribution and in some cases pay for shelf space, but they do not decide which titles you see in a bookstore.

3.  Most books are not sold in bookstores.  Bookstores sell a lot of books, but most books are sold online or through retailers other than traditional bookstores.

4.  If your book doesn't have an ISBN or distribution, it's not going to get sold through a bookstore.  If you are looking for wide availability for your book, it has got to have the kind of distribution publishers can provide.  There are some titles that are the exception, but that is just what they are:  rare exceptions.

5.  Ebooks are not replacing printed books,  yet.   According to the last figures I saw, ebooks were about 12 percent of the book market. 

6.  Pricing your ebook at 99 cents doesn't mean you'll sell a million copies.  These gimmicky sales strategies work a handful of times.  By the time you have heard about it, it has been done and everyone else has gotten the same idea.  Only eight authors have sold more than a million copies for the Kindle on Amazon.  That's right.  Eight. 

7.  Low book prices don't necessarily translate to higher sales.  This past weekend I shopped at a bookstore that was going out of business.  Every book on the shelf was one dollar.  There were still many books on the shelf that had not sold, not even for a dollar.  If a book is too cheap, many readers wonder "what's wrong with it?"

8.  For the most part, selling books is a slow process.  Many authors expect to sell thousands of books the moment they reach their book's release date.  If nobody knows about your or your book before the release date, they aren't going to know on the release date, either.  It takes time to build your reputation as an author, and sales.  I bought a business book at the $1 sale I mentioned earlier, and after reading it, I thought "this is a pretty good book."  I checked the sales ranking on Amazon:  it was ranked in the 1 million-plus range, meaning it's not moving many copies through Amazon, if any. 

9.  The average book title in the U.S. sells about 200 copies.  More than 651 million books were sold in the U.S. in 2011, according to Nielsen bookscan.  If the 2010 numbers hold up and about 3 million titles were released, that means the average book title sold about 217 copies last year.  The number could be lower, because that 3 million titles figure is only taking into account new titles being released, not titles that were released in previous years that sold in 2011.  A book by a new unknown author is generally considered a success if it sells 5,000 or more copies, UNLESS it's a book released by a celebrity of some kind, then those numbers would be considered dismal.

10.  There is no magic formula for selling books.  I often hear from authors who ask me to tell them how to quickly sell thousands and thousands of books, or make their book a bestseller.  Here is the secret:  write good books, target your niche audience, and work really, really hard to make you and your book known.   You'll sell books, but there is no guarantee you'll become a bestselling author.

Of course, I have covered a lot of this information before in previous blog posts, but I thought it would be helpful to compile a Cliff's Notes version here that would address some common misconceptions.  You can have success as an author even if your book isn't in every bookstore in the country, or you aren't featured on a national TV or radio show.  The publisher I work for recently had a title on the NY Times Bestseller list for non-fiction, but I work with authors who have sold many more copies than that title has, although they have been at it for a longer period of time.  Remember, patience and persistence win the day!

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Authors Need to Think and Act Like Entrepreneurs

Today's guest post is courtesy of Matthew Toone, an entrepreneur and author of Great Games! 175 Games & Activities for Families, Groups, & Children! Keep in mind his figures are averages for the entire publishing industry.
- Terry

Authors Need to Think and Act Like Entrepreneurs

By Matthew Toone

If you are an author, or even an aspiring author, you probably realize that less than 1% of published authors ever make more than $50,000. The vast majority of authors are unsuccessful because they fail to realize that their book is a product and that authorship is a business. Authors often fail because they believe that writing the book is their responsibility, and promoting the book is the publishers. The first step towards guaranteed failure for most authors is to simply write the book, hand the manuscript over to the publisher, and expect the publisher to make them millions.

To put it simply, authors fail because they do not think or act like entrepreneurs! There is a 'secret' that most successful entrepreneurs know and apply that is the reason for their success. This same 'secret' or formula, ironically, is the same formula needing to be applied to be successful in anything in life. Unfortunately, most authors know of and practice only the first few steps, and then they unfortunately stop (or quit) by not putting into practice the last few steps of these secrets for success. To summarize this formula and apply it to authors (although it applies to anyone and any goal), we need to break it down into 5 simple categories:

1) Desire Success

2) Believe in Themselves and their Book

3) Take Action

4) Learn from Failure

5) Persist and Never Quit

The formula seems simple, right? The reality is that there is much more that goes into it, and it is certainly more difficult than these 5 simple steps make it seem. However, most unsuccessful authors stop after step 3. Every author of course desires their book to be successful, they undoubtedly believe in their book, and they put forth the necessary effort to write the book. However, writing the book is half the battle - promoting the book to make money is much more difficult. Thus, most authors fail because they expect or depend upon others to make their book successful, when those 'others' do not have the same desire, belief in the book, and time to put in the effort required to make the book a success.

Keep in mind that best-selling books are best SELLING. That does not mean they are necessarily the best written, most informative or helpful, or even the most entertaining books. Thus, if an author's book is not making money, rather than assuming the plot, size of the market, or front cover illustration or title is the problem - perhaps the actual problem is within - reflected in a lack of the author's desire, belief, and work ethic to make the book successful. Every successful entrepreneur (and author) understands that their potential and success is determined by them alone - not the publisher, not the customers, not the economy, not even the business/book idea. They also understand that work will be required every day, overcoming fear and doubt is a constant battle, getting up after failure is essential, re-adjusting the marketing plan is necessary, not giving excuses or expecting others to make them successful is understood, and persisting until their goal is accomplished is what they are committed to doing.

So, where is the manuscript for your book? Is it collecting dust on the shelf, is it already published and in print, is it just thoughts in your mind, or perhaps you haven't even discovered yet that it is in your mind? Regardless of where it is, the reality is that it can be a success if you personally learn and implement the laws of success to achieve greatness in anything. But never forget that the success of any book is not solely found in the plot, market size, topic covered, or catchy title - it is mainly found and realized because of the desire, belief, and work ethic of the author.

Matt is the founder of http://www.awakeyourpotential.com/ - a website focused on inspiring people to achieve their goals and dreams, live up to their full potential, and learn the secrets for success in anything. As a successful entrepreneur, Matt recently accomplished one of his dreams - to write a book! His book is entitled: "Great Games! 175 Games & Activities for Families, Groups, & Children." To view the book and learn more, visit: http://www.greatgamesbook.com/.

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Why Most Books Aren't Stocked by Bookstores

When an author first publishes their book, they have visions of walking into a bookstore on their book's release date...any bookstore...and immediately spotting their book on the shelf, right there at the front of the store. There may even be a stack of their books in a point-of-purchase display or in the window of one of the major book-selling chain stores. However, unless they are already a best-selling author, a celebrity or infamous (think Tiger Woods or Sarah Palin), this is highly unlikely.

But why? you might be thinking. My book is great! Everybody who reads it tells me how great it is! This may be true, but believe it or not, the decision to stock your book on the shelf has less to do with the merits of your book and more to do with mathematics.

In 2008, there were 560,626 new titles published in the U.S., more than double the number of books that were published just five years earlier. Most of this growth has occurred in self-published or short-run titles. However, despite the growth in the number of titles, bookstore sales are actually declining. Taking into account the number of titles available and the number of actual books sold, the average U.S. book is selling less than 250 copies a year.

When a new title is released, it isn't just competing for shelf space at bookstores with 562,626 other titles, it is also competing with the millions of other titles that have been published in previous years. For every spot available on a bookstore shelf, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other titles competing for that one spot.

Don't just take my word of it. Most of this information was originally written by the president of another publishing company. As for the prime point-of-purchase displays at the front of a bookstore, publishers pay for that space, and that real estate isn't cheap. The major chain stores don't just put the books at the front of the store because they like them.

This information may seem a bit depressing for authors, but only for those that completely depend upon the major chain stores to sell their books. It isn't the fault of the bookstores. With so much at stake, the bookstore buyers must stock books that they feel will have a good chance of selling and making money for the store. A book by a new, unknown author is a gamble, and a big one, for stores that must turn millions of dollars in profit each year just to make payroll and stay in business. That means stocking a lot of titles by famous celebrity authors, or titles that already have a good track record of sales.

Pretend for a moment that you own a video store. Which movie titles are you most likely to stock? Blockbusters like "Twilight," or an independent film featuring unfamiliar actors? This is the same decision bookstores must make, and there are far more book titles released each year than movies.

This is the reason why niche marketing is so vitally important to authors and publishers. One fact I didn't touch upon earlier is that most book sales don't occur at bookstores. Most books are sold through other channels, such as retailers other than bookstores (supermarkets, pharmacies, gift shops, coffee shops), book clubs, online booksellers like Amazon, churches (many have their own bookstores now), home shopping TV channels, etc.

Of course, publishers do want their books to be stocked and sold through bookstores. Bookstores do, in fact, sell books. However, this shouldn't be the only marketing channel used by publishers and authors. Focus on the book's niche, figure out who the audience is for a particular title, and where that audience can readily be found, and you'll have identified your prime market.

Leave a comment answering this question: What have been the best markets for YOUR book?

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