Beyond Dawlish

There's every reason to want to earn meaningful income from your self-published book, and finding ways to do it isn't hard. Paying as much attention to printing, book fulfillment, and marketing as you do to writing will improve your chances of success. People care less about how books are published than they do about quality. If you write on a compelling nonfiction topic or pen an exciting story, you'll have something competitive to sell. Then, ensuring that the other decisions you make position your book for brisk sales is essential. Marketing and selling in multiple retail channels helps.

The 13,000-pound gorilla in the room for self-published authors is print-on-demand. It promises to take multiple responsibilities off your hands – printing, order fulfillment, inventory investment, etc. Indeed, it's easier to go that route, but you put your book in a template-driven system and sell it only online in specific places. It might be the way to go if you want little more than the satisfaction of saying you're a published author. But think twice if you want to maximize the benefits of writing and publishing a book. Selling your book in multiple retail channels is the way to ring up bigger sales for nearly every author.

When you go with an accomplished book fulfillment house, many offer other services like book printing. Some can also ship collateral with your orders, allowing you to upsell your customers. It's a profit-building advantage and allows you the freedom to add personalized touches like branded packaging that you'd never have with an on-demand printer. It's also trending for coaches and self-help gurus (and some companies) to give away books to win new customers. Books are excellent ways to communicate extended messages about your products and services when they are well-written.

Availing yourself of the many book content preparation professionals available today can also help your self-published book. For example, working with a seasoned editor who knows your genre can boost your writing. The same goes for cover designers with experience with titles in your genre. They understand what draws in readers and how to get online browsers and store shoppers to stop and look at your book more closely. Lastly, don't forget about the value of publicity and marketing. Finding ways to reach your target readers with news of your book's publication always helps spark sales over time.