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Success in self-publishing – it’s more complex than you think

Success in self-publishing – it’s more complex than you think

Success in self-publishing – it’s more complex than you think. There are many reasons to write a book, and there are just as many ways to gauge how successful your book is.

Defining success by how many books are sold is a crude measure. ‘Success’ is really whatever the author wants to achieve, and many don’t care about publishing a bestseller or getting rich.

Some authors write and publish books and drive business to their professional practice, using the book as a business card of sorts. One of our authors sold just 392 copies of her book and made over $2,000 in profit directly from those sales. But from those sales she gained three new clients in just the first year of publishing her book. ­Those new clients together spent almost $90,000 annually on services provided by her company.

Even still, monetary success doesn’t have to be the only form – recognition from peers is just as valid a way to measure the success of your book. Another author we’ve worked with wrote a family history in the weeks following a near-death medical episode. ­The book was launched at a family reunion and received a standing ovation.

Want to read more? This excerpt is rewritten from our Big Book of Little Publishing Tips. Enquire with Green Hill Publishing today and get your copy.

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Is the medium always the message?

Is the medium always the message?

Pile of books with differing quality print

Photo by Mahendra Kumar on Unsplash

Is the medium always the message? Publishing a book is not just about graphic design. A book is so much more than the visuals – it is also about touch.

Print remains the most universal and popular format for publishing a book. Despite the rise of audiobooks and ebooks there are more books printed each year in the history of planet Earth. And that’s where paper comes in.

Paper is a major variable in determining the print price of any author’s book. Depending on the paper type, it can add as much as 100% to the print price (regardless of whether it’s full-colour printing or just black). As dealt with in a previous book publishing blog, choice of production quality (including the paper) can destroy the economic viability of any project.

If you are doing a business book or a work of fiction, we always recommend using a budget paper stock so there is enough profit margin, i.e. retail price minus cost of production.

If it is an art book or poetry, then you can consider high quality paper. As Marshal McLuhn famously said “the medium is the message? In book publishing this might mean that a book is considered in its totality – the words, illustrations, the binding, and the paper.

In my mind, the jury is still out on McLuhan. Is what he said true in every situation? My emerging view is for fiction and many non-fiction genres (where the content and written word has primacy) the medium is not the message. Print cheap and profit.

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Interested in publishing your book but unsure where to start or what is even involved? Tell us about your project and we will post you a copy of our:

 

The Little Book of
Big Publishing Tips.

 

In just a quick 8,000 words, this little book will equip you with the knowledge you need to successfully publish your book.

The Little Book of Big Publishing tips goes into the essentials of self-publishing a book, outlining the business and financial side of publishing, legal issues, design, editing, sales and marketing. There's even a section on how to identify a vanity-publishing scam.

submit your project details

What is a metaphor for?

What is a metaphor for?

Stepehn wales Unbreakable self-published author

This book cover uses metaphor

What is a metaphor? Metaphors are undoubtedly a master communication tool and use in book publishing is no exception.

A metaphor can be described as:  a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison. https://www.grammarly.com/blog/metaphor/

‘Heart of stone’ and ‘heart of gold’ are two common ones. These present images that convey quite complex abstract concepts. Instead of saying ‘he is a very good person with good motives’ we say he has a ‘heart of gold’.  The first is long-winded, ‘heart of gold’ is interesting and colourful.

The fisherman book cover

A boring cover image for a boring book

Its not just about words – metaphors are a good cover design technique.

Some of the best book cover designs we have accomplished use metaphor. This avoids the book publisher’s curse – trying to convince authors not adopt a book cover with literal imagery. One author wanted this image on their book called The Fisherman – this was a literal title. Guess what the book was about? It was about a fisherman. The fisherman went to the river and fished for fish. The cover (according to the author ) needed to have a picture of a man fishing i.e. a fisherman. The result – boring, boring, boring!

When we conduct a creative brief where you the author and we, the book designer discuss how the cover design will play out –  it will pay for you to think about the designer using metaphor.

Here’s a little more from Grammarly:

  • A metaphor states that one thing is another thing
  • It equates those two things not because they actually are the same, but for the sake of comparison or symbolism
  • If you take a metaphor literally, it will probably sound very strange (are there actually any sheep, black or otherwise, in your family?)
  • Metaphors are used in poetry, literature, and anytime someone wants to add some colour to their language

Featured Blog Posts

No Results Found

The page you requested could not be found. Try refining your search, or use the navigation above to locate the post.

Interested in publishing your book but unsure where to start or what is even involved? Tell us about your project and we will post you a copy of our:

 

The Little Book of
Big Publishing Tips.

 

In just a quick 8,000 words, this little book will equip you with the knowledge you need to successfully publish your book.

The Little Book of Big Publishing tips goes into the essentials of self-publishing a book, outlining the business and financial side of publishing, legal issues, design, editing, sales and marketing. There's even a section on how to identify a vanity-publishing scam.

submit your project details