I decided to offer the books in another form on Amazon.com to see if I could get more quantities going on, and to offer something to people who weren’t comfortable sending me a check personally. I wanted to offer brand spanking new books with the option for an autograph to the customers.

That was my intention, because when you order books from createspace as an author, you get a bit of a discount. I thought it would be enough to offer the book for $5.99 (plus shipping, which is what I’m offering it for direct from me) with an option for the autograph, but Amazon charges a bit for listing in the marketplace.

I found out all said and done that with their percentage taken away, I would actually be losing money by selling new copies for a dollar cheaper than amazon’s new price. When all is said and done, and the extra hassle of shipping the book is taken into account with an authograph, I had to list it at the same price as a new book (which essentially it is, with an autograph). If I listed it lower on Amazon, taking into account their cut, I’d make approximately negative money when all was said and done.

That’s an important lesson for trying to open up new options for the customers: it’s very difficult to know how much things will cost, and how much you can take it down when dealing with online marketplaces such as amazon. However, that shouldn’t mean you should not list things with the offers like the one I have listed.

Because the more options that people have when purchasing your books, the more chances you have to sell. And it always is important to take a gander at the bottom line on pricing so you are getting at least your time’s worth out of it. I think that’s the most important advice I can give you when it comes to new options for your books: check the bottom line to make sure two things: A. you’re not losing money by opening up a new venue, and B. you’re getting your time’s worth out of it.

Keep on writing!

This is the second of the three things I want to talk about regarding self publishing, and something that is a bit of a sore spot with me. The bottom line is this: YOU AS AUTHOR have to let people know you’ve got a book out there!

There’s no way around it. I noticed the uptick mentioned previously when I advertised my book on my other blog with a simple “BUY MY BOOK” link list at the top of the sidebar. That, and an occasional comment left on facebook got a lot more people informed. Now, of those lots more people, only one or two bought books, but this was a huge plus: I had sold none the year previously.

So advertising: you’ve got to do it. Me, being from Minnesota, it is difficult to talk myself up, or to toot my own horn if you will. I don’t like talking about my achievements or things I’ve done for the reason that it may offend someone and sound like bragging. Here’s something I realized though: no one who doesn’t know you will give two cents worth of their time if they aren’t aware of what you’re doing. Hell, I’ve got a doctorate now, and even the people I KNOW and talk to regularly aren’t too well informed on that.

The long and short of the point I am making is that when you self-publish you’ve got to put on more than just the author hat. You’ve got to go and do as much as you can via whatever means necessary to get the word out. For me, given the amount of time I have, that was usually via my blog or facebook. However, I’ve got Myspace and twitter as well…and those are huge venues in order to get the word out because people who are friends of friends will be able to see posts at times (dependent on your privacy settings of course). There are other methods, of course, that I am in the throes of testing, and I will let you know how those do as soon as I’ve got some hard data in.

But the best advice I have for this is that if you want to sell books, you need to get the word out. Heck, stand on a corner with a billboard if you must (provided you have the necessary permits from your city/county) but the only way you are going to sell to strangers is if they hear about your work.

That’s all for now, you keep on writing!

Over at Artmark, there’s a good article giving some more indepth details about Lulu for self publishing.

In summation, it seems that in addition to publishing, they also have a little side deal going where they “guarantee” clicks to your page listing your work. I’m agreement with the author, I’m not sure how that would work out, and it’s something to probably avoid. 30 clicks for $45? That’s ridiculously high priced.

One thing I’ve thought about with audience on both the Lulu site and the Createspace page selling my book is that those sites are made with the authors (or creators, as the case may be) in mind. They showcase the work that can be done for your art, and not much else. Contrast this with Amazon, which is made SOLELY with the customer in mind. The focus of amazon’s site is purely to sell items that you may be interested in. Sure, it’s evil capitalism, but when you’re trying to make a living off your book, do you want to invest money selling it to readers, or selling it to other writers?

It seems to me that advertising your book on lulu or createspace is akin to trying to sell knives at a blacksmith convention. Sure, they’re your knives and there aren’t any like it, but the blacksmiths can make their own, and aren’t really that interested in buying yours. Compared to amazon, which is akin to selling knives at a chicken roasting convention. The audience WANTS your product.

Keep that in mind when promoting your book: put money towards the correct audience, and avoid blacksmith conventions like Lulu.com for advertising.

Comments? Questions? Want me to babble about something? Drop me an email, or leave a comment.

That’s all for now, you keep on writing!

The basic difference between Amazon.com and Createspace is amount of money that I, Sean Froyd, the author get. I believe there is a fifty cent difference, Createspace pays more.

BUT

when it comes down to it, I’d prefer you order from Amazon.com

Why, if I don’t get as much money? Several reasons:

Amazon.com offers returns…if there is something wrong with the book, amazon will take it back. Createspace will not.

Amazon has several different shipping options, you can even get shipping for free if you order other books for a total order greater than $25. They also have other ways to ship…createspace does not.

Amazon is better for you as the customer than createspace. They have more possible ways to help you out. Even though createspace is owned by amazon, it doesn’t have as much help for you as the customer.

For these reasons, I’d prefer you order from Amazon. And I really appreciate all of your orders! If you have any other questions, please email me at froyd@inanisthehooded.com

That’s all for now, you keep on writing!