Jim Kukral
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Author of the top selling book "Attention! This Book Will Make You Money".
My first big book was trad published too. But not having the stats absolutely killed me. You can't tell me how many Kindle books I sold at least? Really? Forget it. I am self-pubbing now and haven't looked back. 7 books later.
Jim F. Kukral
http://www.authormarketingclub.com
When can I come over with my fly rod to help you move them one by one? :) I'm just in Seven Hills. Let me know. :)
You don't have to use Amazon, just like you don't have to use Google. Have fun driving traffic on Altavista and Lycos, the same way you'll have results selling books everywhere else.
@jonbukiewicz @blogworld The entire industry does spec work, all day long. Agencies, design firms, you name it, all they do is spec work. It's called "proposals". Same exact thing. Let me do a ton of work for you in "hopes" that you'll choose me for your project. So let's not pretend they're not already doing it and try to cause a big stink over a logo.What Blogworld is doing is just good business. It's good promotion for their brand, with a really nice prize.
You can complain about the state of the industry all you want, but the truth is that this is where we are. It's a buyers market now. Unlike in the past when buyers didn't have as many choices, now they do. Case in point, my former agency used to charge $40k for a design (1999) that you can now buy on template monster for $60 bucks. Am I complaining? No, I just saw the light and decided to make adjustments, and get out of that business.
Don't like spec work? Stop doing it. But don't crap on other people who are using the advantages of it to help their business.
Smart move guys. Love the new name. I'm going to NMX! Perfect move.
@JamesGoiJr Thanks for the great comments James. You don't need permission, you're right! That's what I love about this. The opportunity is there for anyone. I really dislike gatekeepers. :O
@RichGallagher Thanks Rich. Glad to have your comments and feedback.
@AimeeElizabeth Right no Aimee. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
@workingforwonka Actually, it is true. In the grand scheme of things, the VAST majority of people aren't getting deals. I don't want to keep giving hope to people who think they can get a "book deal". It doesn't happen as often as you think. Besides, you don't need a book deal to be successful. See above. :) Personally, I think having a publish is a bad business decision, based upon all the things I said in this piece. Yes, it can work for a few people, but for most, it's better to just do it yourself.
@LearnPleasure Yes, another good reason. Why give up the rights to your content? There's so much you can do with it on your own.
@FranchiseKing I like reading books too. That's why I get all of my books done in print as well as digital using print on demand. No difference. It's about more than the money. It's about opportunity.
@caroljsroth Thanks for letting me post on your blog. You are right, there are arguments for both ways. And I'm both self-published, and traditionally published, so I've seen both sides.
The reality is, however, that most people can't get a traditional book deal. So for most, there really isn't a choice.
Great tips here. I wish I saw your call to action for this as I would have added my own. So I'll add it here instead. :)
My tip: Do It YourselfI've gotten about 3 calls this week from authors who have used services that publish their book for them to Amazon. These authors are quickly realizing that if they want to make changes to the book, like the price, or title, or a new cover or new manuscript, that they have to go through that third-party company to make those changes, which can take days, and they can charge you fees.
It's not that hard. Upload your book yourself. I go in and change my pricing and titles and cover and descriptions almost DAILY to test and see what sells and what doesn't. In my opinion the only way to go for full control is the DIY method.Jim Kukralhttp://www.authormarketingclub.com
Glad to help and be a part of it!
Big things are happening in the industry right now. Hopefully we an discuss it more at the next Blogworld.
Mark could have easily made one call, or one email and had any publisher take his book and make it happen for him. He was simply smart enough to realize that dealing with a legacy publisher is bad business. Mark is a business person. Traditional publishing contracts are bad business deals. No way he would do it.
MackCollier Yeah, it's ridiculous we haven't crossed paths yet.
This is going to be great. The world, well, the Internet geek world, is converging on my city of Cleveland! Can't wait to see you Mack.
Really great post Lewis. Having known you for years now I know you're not a pretender. Everyone should watch what you're doing and emulate it.