Fall forward into book marketing!

Production of "Living Into the Truth" is almost done so my focus is slowly turning to getting the word out. Watch my first unboxing video!

I know it’s cliché to say, “I can’t believe it’s the beginning/middle/end of [insert month here] already,” but clichés have their place. I can’t believe it’s the middle of September! Here in Virginia, the temperatures have moderated and become almost San Diego pleasant. One or two leaves—not an exaggeration here—have changed into their autumnal colors and dropped to the ground.

The Rudbeckia laciniata (cut leaf coneflower) in my backyard is in full bloom and calling to goldfinches to camouflage themselves among its yellow flowers. The purple fruit of the Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry) is beckoning the American Robins, Brown Thrashers, Purple Finches, and Eastern Towhees to enjoy its tasty offering. It won’t be long before flocks of Canada geese squawk their way across the sky as they head for warmer environs.

Flowers and berries in my fall garden

And while birds and mammals are scurrying around preparing for winter, I’m scurrying around trying to get my book printed in time for the James River Writers Conference on October 5 and 6^th. When I last wrote to you, I had just begun the journey to independently publishing my memoir, Living Into the Truth: A Daughter’s Journey of Discovery. I had designed and printed the first draft of the interior of the book, but I still had a lot of revisions to make and a cover to finalize.

Little did I know then is what a challenge finishing it would be. Each printer has its own unique requirements and specifications that must be followed to the letter. I never would have imagined, for example, that the cream paper used by Amazon is thicker than the white paper and therefore requires a wider spine. In fact, I hadn’t really given much thought to book spines before now. Thanks to my incredibly patient and talented design partner, Phil Hilliker, though, I got the cover in good shape, which meant I could order galleys from Ingram Spark and Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

Sunday, I held the KDP version of my book in my hands for the first time (see unboxing video below) and today I’ll see the IngramSpark version. Why two versions, you might ask? Well, as I’m discovering more and more each day, the book industry is a wild and wooly place. Books printed by IngramSpark make their way to independent bookstores, libraries, and other distributors. Book printed by Amazon KDP are primarily sold by Amazon (you can choose wider distribution, but most independent bookstores won’t purchase books from Amazon because well, you know, it’s the evil empire). And although I could sell my IngramSpark books through Amazon, the title might be listed as out-of-stock because IngramSpark prints on demand, and no one demanded that they print a copy. Confusing? Mind-bending? Impossible? Nearly so. However, I’m still glad I’ve chosen the independent publishing route. Here’s why.

If I’d decided to go the traditional route, I would have first had to pitch my book to agents. An agent who liked my book enough to take a chance on it would most likely expect/require that I make substantive changes to it to make it more appealing to publishers. Once satisfied with the manuscript, the agent would then pitch it to the Big Five publishers (Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette Livre, Macmillan Publishers, and Simon & Shuster) and their appropriate imprints. Maybe they would be successful in selling it in the first round, but chances are they would have to recalibrate and pitch it to smaller and smaller publishing houses until they finally got a hit—or gave up trying.

Let’s say one of the Big Five, or any traditional publisher, decided to take a chance on my book, they would then assign inhouse editors who would again require changes to craft the manuscript to their liking. When it finally met their approval, they might choose to re-title it and then would assign a cover designer. Depending on that arrangement, I might or might not have much say in the title or the cover.

Once the publisher scheduled a release date, which might be months in the future, I would still be responsible for generating publicity and promoting my book. Sure, the publisher would promote it too but with publishing budgets being what they are, I could only expect a tiny fraction of the attention a big-name author might receive. And after all that, I would optimistically expect to sell only 1-2000 copies at a much lower royalty rate (10-15% vs 50-70% for self-published).

Most self-published authors sell only 300 copies of their books on average. That’s not a lot of books. But I’m confident that, with your help, I’ll exceed that average. And, even if I don’t, that’s 300 people who have my book.

What I’ve described here is only the tip of a very large iceberg of contingencies, issues, and concerns. I have to admit that I like the control that indie publishing gives me. I like the fact that the timeline is mine, and I like the fact that if my book succeeds or fails, it’s on me. And I already know it won’t fail because just getting it out there is a success for me. I’d be thrilled with 1,000 readers. Heck I’d be thrilled with a hundred readers, and I already many times that through the Substack serialized version. I can’t thank you enough for that! So, yes, I’m already thrilled!

You’ve been my beta readers, my supporters, and my cheerleading squad. And I know you share in my excitement as I hold my first galley in my hands. I hope you enjoy my VERY INFORMAL (check out my slippers!) unboxing video!

My first unboxing video

Readers Survey Responses

Last month I launched a readers survey to get a sense of how you read, where you get the books you read and what you do with them when you’re done. This will help me as I develop and implement marketing plans for my book(s).

Thank you to all those who responded. Although this is absolutely not a scientific study, here’s what I learned from those who responded.

Most of you are avid readers, reading more than 10 books per year with a clear quarter of you reading more than 50! Wow!

Print and audio formats outpace eBook reading by a significant margin. Over 45% of you like to hold a book in your hands and over 36% like to hold it in your ears!

A fair percentage of you—over 60%—engage with your public library to get some of your books.

Some of you still love shopping in physical bookstores and get up to half of your books there.

If you do read eBooks, Kindle wins out—36% to Apple’s 27%.

Most of you like autographed and inscribed books, which makes in-person events even more important. I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

A bunch of you (36%) are book hoarders, never parting with a book, although the majority of you generously share them with others (Note: I’m not saying book hoarders aren’t generous, but maybe not in this way.).

There’s still time to win A WordsWomen Press T-shirt! Survey closes October 31, 2024.

Please take a minute to respond to this brief survey. This will help me make well-informed publishing decisions as I go forward into this wild world of indie-publishing.  Everyone who completes this survey will be entered into a drawing to win a free WordsWomen Press t-shirt (once they’re designed). Thanks for playing!

Here’s the link: WordsWomen Press Readers’ Reading Survey

Thank you again and again for being part of my reading community.

Free Books

For those of you who were paid subscribers before 5/31/2024, you’ll be receiving a free autographed print copy sometime before the holidays set in. Look for an email with a request to get your mailing address and how you want the book inscribed.

There’s still time to get a free eBook version of this book and any books I publish during your subscription period by becoming a paid subscriber today.

Have a great autumn! And make sure you take a little time outside!

Annette