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Writing and Publishing

Six Downsides of Self-Publishing

In my post “Five Reasons a Writer Should Self-Publish,” I listed several advantages of self-publishing. Although compelling, there are also downsides. Let’s also look at the downsides of self-publishing.

Consider These Six Downsides of Self-Publishing:

1. Quality is Often Lacking

Traditional publishers put their books through several rounds of editing to produce the best possible product. The temptation of self-publishing is to skip these steps. Even if a professional editor is hired, the chance of them catching everything a traditional publisher would in their multiple rounds of review is slim.

But too often, authors self-edit or tap a friend who, although well-intended, lacks the needed experience. From a production standpoint, there’s no reason for substandard output anymore. But it’s too easy and too tempting to cut corners.

2. Credibility May Be Illusive

Although self-publishing no longer carries the stigma it once did, some people still consider it a second-rate option.

3. Self-Promotion Is Required

Self-published authors are responsible for their own marketing, promotion, and sales. No one else will do it for you.

4. The Author Must Become an Entrepreneur

Self-publishing is a business, requiring an investment of time, effort, and money—all with no promise of a return. It’s risky, and you could lose money.

5. Limited Distribution

Although some distribution options are available, they don’t match the reach of a traditional publisher. Don’t plan on your book is in bookstores.

6. No Advances

Self-publishers must shell out money to publish; advances are not part of the equation. You must spend money ahead of time and then hope to earn it back later and make a profit.

These are the six downsides of self-publishing. Consider them carefully and if you opt to go this route, be sure to avoid them.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

The Potential of Artisanal Publishing

In Guy Kawasaki’s new book, APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book, he advances the term “artisanal publishing” as a new way of looking at self-publishing. The vanity publishing of yesteryear can be smartly rejuvenated with a fresh perspective of artistry, hence the concept of artisanal book publishing.

As the distinction between traditional publishing versus self-publishing fade, the evolving consideration morphs into mass-produced book publishing versus artisanal publishing. After all, who are writers, if not artists? So why not extend artistry to the production and dissemination of their work?

The concept of artisanal publishing opens new doors and opportunities for innovative writers who seek to share their writing with others.  Authors should begin to think like an artist and publish books like an artist.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Writing and Publishing

A Traditional Published Author Needs to Be an Entrepreneur

Just like their self-published counterparts, a traditionally published author has much to do besides writing

In the last post, I pointed out that self-published authors need to be entrepreneurs and listed what that entailed. The reality is that a traditionally published author needs to adopt this same mindset, being entrepreneurial as well.

A given requirement is writing a great book.

The next step is finding an agent, who will find a publisher. To get the attention of both, many writers first hire—and pay—a developmental editor, copyeditor, and proofreader to help them make their work the best it can be before the agent or publisher even sees it.

The author also needs to conduct market research to write a compelling proposal. For nonfiction authors, success in all this, however, largely hinges of them having a platform, from which they can sell their books. Fiction authors don’t face as much pressure to have a platform, but it still helps.

Landing an agent, who will hopefully land a publisher, doesn’t mean the author’s job is done, however. Once the book is published, which could take a year or more, the author must also promote, market, and sell their books. Yes, the publisher will do this, but they’ll expect the author to do most of the work.

No one will be more passionate and have more at stake than the author. This may involve hiring a publicist.

In addition to writing a great book, the traditionally published author needs to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, handling the following tasks:

  • Build a platform
  • Conduct market research
  • Hire a developmental editor, copyeditor, or proofreader
  • Find a publicist
  • Handle marketing and promotion
  • Develop and execute paid advertising

The days of sending your manuscript to your publisher and letting them take it from there are over. Even with a traditional publisher, the author still has a lot of extra work to do. Maybe self-publishing isn’t such a bad idea after all.

What if you don’t want to be an entrepreneur and just want to write? There’s another option: become a ghostwriter.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Self-Published Authors Need to be Entrepreneurs

Being a self-published author requires a lot of hard work but offers great rewards

In the rapidly changing world of book publishing, an emerging reality is that a self-published author needs to be ab entrepreneur. Writing a great book is not enough; penning compelling content is only the first step.

Authors who desire to self-publish their work need to view their book as a product and themselves as an entrepreneur; they must develop, execute, and fund a business plan for each book they write and publish.

The self-published author, perhaps better called an indie author, becomes a production manager. This is analogous to a general contractor overseeing the construction of a house, in this case, his or her own house.

So it is with self-publishing. The self-published author/entrepreneur/general contractor needs to direct, oversee, and pay for:

  • Developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading.
  • Cover design
  • Interior layout
  • E-book conversion
  • Printing
  • A publicist
  • Marketing and promotion
  • Advertising
  • Distribution

They must also:

  • Pay all the above vendors before any money comes in.
  • Conduct market research.
  • Handle book returns and technical issues with the delivery of e-books.
  • Collect payments and deal with bad debt (the people who don’t pay what they owe).
  • Set up a business and all that it entails, including licensing, legal structure, payment of taxes and fees, completing required forms and reports, and so forth

As these lists reveal, being successful in self-publishing, aka indie-publishing, requires a lot of work. For the non-business minded, these tasks may loom as overwhelming, sucking the life from your writing and out of your life.

However, for entrepreneurial-minded authors, these activities are invigorating, which offers great potential and reward. The personality and strengths of each writer will determine if the self-publishing road is the right road to take.

As a self-published author, you are in control. You can pick your book title and have the final say over your cover. You set the production schedule and publishing date. You decide how to promote your book, and you can change course and adjust pricing anytime you wish. Your future resides in your hands—not with some publishing company.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

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Business

The Only Constant is Change

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

As I look back, I see how things have changed. I have changed, my family has changed, technologies have changed, my business has changed, and the industries I work in have changed.

Author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

In today’s business environment, a culture of change is essential for every organization. In my younger days, I would recommend change for the sheer fun of it. Now, older and wiser, I only advocate change when there is a real reason to do so.

For most people, change is difficult. Change takes something familiar and replaces it with something unknown. Each organization has people who are change-resistant. And each leader, manager, and supervisor knows exactly who these people are.

With such folks, their aversion to change varies from unspoken trepidation to being overtly confrontational. Regardless of the manifestation, we need to be compassionate, realizing that these reactions are merely their way of responding to fear—fear of the unknown.

To establish a change-oriented culture in our organizations, the first step is to minimize employee fears of change. Generally, employees can accept change if 1) the change is incremental and small, 2) they have a degree of input or control over the change, and 3) the change is clearly understood.

The key is communication. Address change head-on. For every change, employees wonder how it will affect them:

  • Could they lose their job?
  • Might their hours be cut?
  • Will they be asked to work harder than they already are?
  • Will they be made to do something unpleasant or distasteful?
  • What happens if they can’t learn the new skills?

These are all worries, worries about the unknown. As with most worries, the majority will never happen. But with a lack of reliable information and top-down assurances, these irrational worries take on a life all their own.

Successfully orchestrating change requires effective communication. Not once, but ongoing; not to key staff, but to all employees; not by one method, but by several: group meetings, written correspondence, and one-on-one discussions.

A true and effective open-door policy helps, too. Also, it is critical that a positive attitude is set, in the beginning, from the top of the organization, which never waivers. Celebrate milestones, generously thank staff along the way, and provide reasonable rewards at the end.

Successfully taking these steps will send a strong signal to the staff. Even though the change may still concern them, they will be comforted knowing they have accurate information and the assurance that they are safe and will be protected. And for each successful change, the next one becomes easier to bring about.

We will know we have successfully created a change-friendly organization when our employees—all of them—get bored with the status quo and begin seeking change on their own. They will ask for more challenging work, seek to expand their job, and want to add new technology.

At this point, the potential of our organizations becomes unlimited; the personal growth of our staff, unshackled; and the future, inviting. We don’t know what that future will entail, only that things will change for the better.

So, sit back and enjoy the ride, fully confident that the only constant changes.

Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s Sticky Series books, including Sticky Customer ServiceSticky Sales and Marketing, and Sticky Leadership and Management featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an entrepreneur and businessman who has managed, owned, and started multiple businesses over his career. Common themes at every turn have included customer service, sales and marketing, and leadership and management.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Balancing the Pure Artist with the Entrepreneur: Why Book Publishing Requires Both

Last week I shared that the three parts of publishing a book we’re writing it, producing it, and marketing it. Each of these aspects has a creative element and a business element. Balance the pure artist and the pure entrepreneur in a respectable tension.

The pure artist says, “Let me create without interference. I don’t care about commercial viability. Just let me be me.” The pure artist will likely starve or need to get a day job.

The pure entrepreneur says, “I will only do things that will make money, the more the better. I’ll follow trends and jump on any bandwagon moving in the right direction.” The pure entrepreneur may put food on the table, but he will sacrifice his soul in the process, and her writing will have no heart.

The pure entrepreneur doesn’t like the pure artist. But…

The pure artist and the pure entrepreneur cannot survive apart from each other

They must embrace the skills of each if there’s any hope for success —however, they choose to measure it.

Writing

Writing the book is where the artist flourishes, yet the entrepreneur cannot be excluded from this phase. The art of organizing words must be guided by a knowledge of what is able to be reproduced and of potential interest to the buying public.

Production

Producing the book has a creative element, but the entrepreneur should direct it. Yet the entrepreneur must not remove the artist at the risk of producing a bland, boring book.

Marketing

Marketing the book requires mostly the entrepreneur, though the artist needs to add his or her flare, embracing activities that produce energy and avoiding those that are draining. Yes, the author must market, but the entrepreneur needs to guide activities to what the artist can reasonably handle. If marketing kills the artist, there will be no more art.

Publishing a book requires we be an artist and an entrepreneur, embracing both and ignoring neither. May your artist side hear your entrepreneur’s voice, and may your entrepreneur side listen to your artist’s heart. That’s how to publish a book.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Six Flavors of Book Publishing

In a previous post, I talked about traditional publishing and vanity publishing (once the only two options), with hybrid publishing now filling the space between. Hybrid publishing is a combination of the two, with varying options for a book author.

Hybrid Publishing

A common term for this ever-evolving assortment of book publishing options is hybrid publishing. It’s also a descriptive name, with some book publishers opting for other labels.

Entrepreneurial Publishing

One reader mentioned entrepreneurial publishing. I like that. It reminds us that publishing a book is a business. The book author needs to take part in the process in order to be successful.

Indie Publishing

Indie publishing (short for independent publishing) or indie press can take on a wide array of meanings, from a traditional publisher that is small and therefore independent, to a niche publisher, to self-publishing.

Custom Publishing

Custom publishing is a broader term that in addition to books can alternately cover magazines, newsletters, brochures, or whatever else can be imagined.

However, regardless of the label, the main thing is to analyze what they do and don’t do, determine how money flows between publisher and book author (and in which direction), and realize this is a business, for both publisher and author. Then, after finding the best fit, carefully read the contract. Then hire an attorney who is familiar with publishing agreements.

Happy publishing!

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Categories
Business

The Secret to Successful Joint Ventures and Strategic Partnerships

By Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

Astute entrepreneurs are always seeking ways to improve their business, increase revenue, and diversify into related business lines. During this time of doubtful economic conditions, with possible decreased sales and smaller profits, it is even more critical to explore ways to bolster business prospects.

Author Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD

One such way is by working with another organization towards your mutual benefit. This concept goes by different labels, such as joint ventures, business alliances, strategic partnerships, and collaborations.

Often these arrangements are informally structured. At other times there is a more formal configuration, sometimes even resulting in a new legal entity established for this express purpose. Regardless of the name or resulting from, the effective consequence is that you now have a partner.

The results of these business alliances can be a sustained revenue stream, a short-term bump in income—or wasted effort and disappointment. In my experience, it is the latter outcome that is most often realized, but it doesn’t need to be that way.

Careful advance planning can help avert disappointment and facilitate successful results for both parties. However, before I share my recommendations, let’s first explore why things often go awry:

Hoping for a Quick Fix

Most collaborations take time to produce results. The belief that you can reach an agreement one day and see results the next is unrealistic and prone to disillusionment. If you pursue a joint venture as a last-ditch effort to save your business, it is likely too late to do any good.

It is better to seek these types of innovative strategies while you are in a relatively stable position and have the time to nurture and grow them. The payoff will not be imminent, but when done right, it can be sustainable and long-term.

Not Willing to Contribute

Too often people enter into partnership arrangements with the erroneous expectation that with little or no effort they will realize great benefits from the work of the partner company. This is selfish and shortsighted.

Even if results initially occur, they will not last, as the partner will have no reason to persist doing all the work while you reap the benefits.

Pursuing a Win/Lose Agenda

Sometimes one or both parties in a business alliance are trapped in a win/lose mentality. They persist in the belief that the only way for them to come out ahead is for their partner to lose.

Again, even if this works for the short-term, it will not last; the end will most likely be filled with accusation and heartache.

Taking Advantage of Your Partner

Other times joint ventures are sought in order to meet a hidden agenda. Perhaps there is some technology, knowledge, information, or expertise that needs to be provided by one party for the project to succeed.

The partnership is merely a ruse to quickly and cheaply obtain that desired asset. No one likes to be taken advantage of, and when it occurs, ill will is inevitable and lawsuits are likely.

Inequitable Responsibilities and Rewards

Arrangements in which one party is consistently expending a greater amount of time and resources while realizing lesser results is one that is destined for collapse. Business alliances that are comprised of givers and takers are doomed from the start.

Lack of Agreed-upon Objectives and Measurements

If you don’t know your target, how will you know if you reach it? How will you know if the collaboration is working? Stating that your aim is to increase sales is vague and untenable. Remember that a goal must be specific. It also needs to be quantifiable.

Sometimes this is easy; sometimes it is not. Let’s say that the goal is to increase staff morale. How do you measure that? One way might be to track the staff turnover rate, with a decrease in turnover implying an increase in morale.

However, is this sufficient and all-inclusive? Does your business partner concur? If your partner wants to measure morale by the number of employee complaints to management instead, with you holding tightly to the turnover stat, it is not likely that there will be agreement on the efficacy of your venture.

No Exit Plan

It is unwise to assume that a business alliance will last forever. Things change, and what may have been mutually beneficial will one day cease to be. Lacking a clear and defined ending subjects participants to needless worry and anxiety.

Suppose that one company needs to buy equipment, purchase inventory, or hire staff for the alliance to continue to function. If there is concern over how much longer the venture will exist, there will certainly be reluctance to make the necessary investments to continue it.

This results in tentative and halfhearted decision-making and could doom an otherwise healthy arrangement.

With these pitfalls in mind, let’s consider the recommendations of how to embark upon a successful collaboration:

Be Honest about Your Expectations and Contributions

This is not a time to hold back. Be clear about what you expect and what you will do. Insist on the same attitude from the other person. Holding back key information will not give you a stronger position later but rather will make success less likely.

Pursue a Mutually Beneficial Relationship

If you can’t agree to seek a “win-win” situation, there is really no point in persisting with discussions. Mutual benefit and satisfaction is required if the result is to be realized and sustained.

Set Goals

Once it is determined that there is mutual benefit in moving forward, goals or expectations must be established. As previously mentioned, these considerations must be measurable and agreeable.

Do Your Part

Whatever you agreed to do, be sure that you follow up on it—or ensure that someone else is. Often the negotiation for joint ventures is not conducted by those tasked with implementing them.

Therefore, if you are delegating responsibilities that you agreed to, make sure that they are clearly communicated and diligently pursued.

If your team doesn’t buy into the project and is not committed to make it work, the contribution that you committed to will not be rendered, and the partnership will fail.

Discuss How and When the Arrangement Will End

Assume from the very start that the venture will someday end. Discuss what that point is and how to determine it, (which shouldn’t be hard if you were successful with the goal-setting recommendation).

Agree on the responsibilities of each company in dealing with resultant assets or remaining inventories in which one party may have a heavy investment.

Determine how things can wind down in a controlled, ethical, and responsible manner so that minimal damage occurs to any stakeholders.

Conclusion

While there is much that can go awry in pursuing a business alliance, there is an exciting upside when it is implemented wisely.

Aside from producing profitably sustainable results, some joint ventures have been more successful than either founding company; others have been spun off to become their own self-sustaining entity.

By avoiding the preceding pitfalls and pursuing the above recommendations, you’ll set up your strategic partnership for success.

Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s Sticky Series books, including Sticky Customer ServiceSticky Sales and Marketing, and Sticky Leadership and Management featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an entrepreneur and businessman who has managed, owned, and started multiple businesses over his career. Common themes at every turn have included customer service, sales and marketing, and leadership and management.

He shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.

Categories
Writing and Publishing

Book Review: APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur

APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book

By Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch (reviewed by Peter DeHaan)

There are many good (and a few not so good) resources that cover self-publishing. Some are in the form of books, others as podcasts, and more as blog posts.

Book Review: APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur

By far the best I’ve seen is the book APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch. APE is an acronym for Author, Publisher, and Entrepreneur, representing the three phases in self-publishing a book.

As the distinction between traditional publishing and self-publishing fades, the evolving consideration morphs into mass-produced versus artisanal publishing, a term Guy and Shawn advance as a new way of comprehending self-publishing. The vanity publishing of yesteryear can be smartly rejuvenated with a fresh perspective of artistry, hence the concept of artisanal publishing.

After all, who are writers, if not artists? So why not extend artistry to the production and dissemination of their work? The idea of artisanal publishing provides new opportunities for innovative writers seeking to share their writing with others.

APE is an essential guide for the beginner and intermediate level of self-publishers. Even the experienced practitioner is sure to pick up some new ideas. Though I wouldn’t advise anyone to skip the author section, for those with a publication-ready book, the publisher section may be the place to start.

[APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book, by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch. Published by Nononina Press, 2013, ISBN: 978-0988523104, 410 pages.]

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.

Categories
Writing and Publishing

The Ultimate Self-Publishing Guide

There are many good (and some not so good) resources that cover self-publishing. Some of these are in the form of books, others as podcasts, and more as blog posts, all from industry insiders.

By far the best one I’ve seen is the book APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur-How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch. As the APE acronym implies, the book contains three parts. The middle section, P for Publisher, covers self-publishing, giving a thorough explanation of all aspects.

While the coverage stops short of being comprehensive—an all-inclusive manual would be both unwieldy and immediately out-of-date—it offers the best self-publishing resource available. Guy and Shawn share detailed information on the options available to self-publishers, based on research that would be too time-consuming for most people to amass.

APE is an essential guide for the beginner and intermediate level of self-publishers. Even the experienced self-publisher is sure to pick up some new ideas and pointers. Though I wouldn’t advise anyone to skip the author section, for those with a publication-ready book, the publisher section may be the place to start.

Learn more about writing and publishing in Peter’s book: Successful Author FAQs: Discover the Art of Writing, the Business of Publishing, and the Joy of Wielding Words. Get your copy today.

Peter Lyle DeHaan is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book Successful Author FAQs for insider tips and insights.