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I've self published two books now ("Double Your Freelancing Rate" and "Sell Yourself Online: The Blueprint") Together they've netted me a little over $100k in r
by bdunn 13y ago
I've self published two books now ("Double Your Freelancing Rate" and "Sell Yourself Online: The Blueprint") Together they've netted me a little over $100k in revenue.
1) Don't write in a vacuum. Build an audience of people who want to buy (double points if you presell to them), and deliver value to them once a week in the form of takeaways from chapters you've just written, thoughts you have on the subject, etc.
2) "It's a comedy book" means you're likely selling to consumers, and it's pretty hard to explain the value (e.g. why someone should pay you for your book) when you're selling to a consumer.
3) Don't promote the book, promote blog posts that reinforce what you're writing that end with a call-to-action to join a mailing list.
4) I'd usually say setup multiple packages, but again, I'm not sure if that'd work for a consumer product.
- zerr 13y agoAny data about how much your readers have netted themselves?
- Jem 13y agoNot data in itself or indeed proof of anything I guess, but I bought Brennan's book & immediately put my prices up (not double, but I'm working on it). So far so good though.
- bdunn 13y agoI have a few hundred emails in GMail labeled "Success Stories" — but I have no idea what the total net benefit of my books have been... as that figure goes up each day as my readers bill more time :-)
- desouzt 13y agoThis is really useful advice, thanks. So the book is actually based on a blog that I write and a sitcom that I've had produced (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Eu6EfnsgVUk http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Eu6Ef...) and so I've built a small audience, but a passionate one, and have captured mails of people who want to buy the book. Currently that is sitting at around ~750 people. I'll look to get on the mailing hunt more and do some of the things you suggest above. Thanks!
- smartwater 13y agoThere is a big difference between saying you will buy something and actually buying it. Just a sliver of your overall fanbase will convert into paying customers, unless you've acquired them through something crazy awesome method.
- rpicard 13y agoThat kind of audience is a great starting point for a Kickstarter if you're looking to raise funds. I'm currently in the process of self-publishing a technical book. My Kickstarter is wrapping up soon, and it's done really well [1]. [1] http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1223051718/practical-flask-book-project http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1223051718/practical-fla...
- Luc 13y agoHow much work do you put in promotion compared to the writing of the books, if I may ask?
- bdunn 13y agoOnce the book is done, it's done. But marketing is a long term effort. I've recorded dozens of podcasts and interviews, included call-to-actions in my newsletters, written guest posts, etc. But I'm consistently able to bring in a fairly good income off these two books alone, that when compounded with my SaaS revenue and workshop revenue keep the lights lit.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- _neil 13y agoAlong the lines of building an audience pre-publishing, the second edition of nickd's book about interaction design, Cadence & Slang, is currently on Kickstarter[1]. (I'm a backer) In this case, he's used kickstarter to be transparent about costs and process. He can also offer preview content pre-release to people who have put money down to prove their interest. [1] http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nickd/cadence-and-slang-second-edition http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nickd/cadence-and-slang-...
- pknerd 13y agoI have a couple of questions or I say, requests: 1- Please share your journey/methods 2- As a programmers how I could write ebooks on different technical topics. Will people buy books on programming languages or related things?
- skarmklart 13y agoWow! That is very inspiring! Maybe I could ask you a few questions over email? :)
- bdunn 13y agoYep, email's in profile.