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If you are looking for a good marketing idea, then this is the one that should top your list!  Extensive time and planning is a must, so grab a pen and paper to take notes or just sit back and enjoy the fun as we attempt to find out what happens if a book could travel around the country and tell us all about where it’s been.  It’s a Book’s “Book Blog,” a travel log of pages read and places seen.  So stay tuned…

The adventure is about to begin!

While I’m certainly flattered and appreciate Mark taking the time to read the diary and write such a nice article about it, I was taken aback by the following comment: “Without a doubt, you have to admire both Yarbrough’s persistence and good nature. On the other hand, in many ways his story is a perfect example of working hard as opposed to efficiently.”

If you read the POD Diary, deep into the heart of it you’ll find me spending lots of time on getting the book cover just right and ordering review copies to edit the book in hand.  Mark believes I could have worked more “efficiently” by sourcing the work out to third parties.  If I had access to vast amounts of cash up front to fund this project, I probably would have paid someone to create the book cover, edit the book, and design a book trailer.  Or maybe I would have taken advantage of all of the other extra services Lulu offers at a hefty fee.  But as I point out in my reply to Mark, working efficiently doesn’t just mean saving time.  It also means being economical.  Here’s part of my reply…

The word “efficiently” is defined as performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least amount of time and effort. It is also defined as being satisfactory and economical to use. So, self-publishing basically comes down to time vs. economics based on these definitions. I admit…I did spend a lot of time on this project. I’m still spending time on it now 4 months after publication of this book. Self-publishing has been a learning experience and maybe I did waste time by editing the book my-self or designing the cover my-self. But I saved money by doing it…yes…my-self. I consider that economical at best. And so, that is efficient enough for me.

In comparing this project to the amount of money I spent on self-publishing my first book vs. the results in sales, I intentionally wanted to keep my expenses low.  For readers, the diary points out lots of good options for doing just this.  I bought a ton of nice marketing materials through VistaPrint at very low prices.  Some of my materials were free from Cafepress.  My largest investment was the BookCoverPro program, but I made back my cost and made a profit from it after offering my services to other Lulu’ers who were seeking affordable help with their book covers.  It doesn’t get more efficient than that!

Of course, my book still has flaws.  There are things I’d go back and change immediately.  Maybe some of the glitches could have been prevented had I hired professional help, but would it increase sales of the book?  Probably no more than the number of copies and downloads I’ve sold to date.

I’ve listened to lots of self-published authors who have contacted me since the conception of this review blog, and their biggest disappointment in choosing to use POD is a lack of sales.  Outside of a handful of friends and family members, no stranger ever buys their book.  And so, they give up.  They don’t have time or money (or hope) to invest in marketing their book to a larger audience.  They think that having their book in Lulu’s bookstore is enough, but we all know it isn’t.

I’m not a bestselling author, but I have embraced the notion that even one reader is a true gem.  Sure, I’d love to sell my books by the thousands and climb the best selling charts.  That’s something I still dream about.  But for now, I’ll take that handful of readers who have bought or downloaded one of my books and given me a review on Amazon.  I’ll take that best friend who went to his local bookstore and ordered a copy.  I’ll take the free copies I gave to my own mother and sister as keepsakes.  A lack of sales and bestselling numbers doesn’t break my heart. After all, the worst thing that could ever happen to a book is for no one to ever read it.

And so, with that said, that’s the reason I created this blog in the first place: to give Lulu authors one single moment to shine, to know that someone took the time to read their book, to have a chance in the spotlight and to get some praise and some feedback.   Because when it’s all said and done, that’s the best feeling in the world for an author.  And at a 46 cent profit per copy of my own book, at the end of the day my own reader’s praise is all I have to show for it.  It’s all I need right now.  And that’s efficient enough for me.

The POD Diary is one person’s experience.  I’m not a pro at this.  I admit my mistakes.  Sure, there are things I could have done better.  If I was perfect at it, I’d be running my own self-publishing company rather than writing about self-publishing my own book.  SELF is a big part of the equation, and if any other author reads my diary and can take away from it hints, tips, or things to avoid which overall makes their self-publishing (there’s that word again) journey a better experience for them, then the diary has served it’s purpose.

You can read Mark’s full article and my reply here.

First, the prize!  We’re giving away a brand new copy of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer.  It’s a brand new copy of the 6th edition of this powerhouse book of tips and tricks on marketing and selling your book!  Every Lulu author should have a copy, but since you are probably investing time and money in marketing your book and can’t afford to pick up a copy, we’re giving away one!  So, here’s your chance to get your hands on it if you need some new ideas to pick up sales.  The list price of this book is $27.95, so here’s a chance to get a copy for free!

Now, what do you have to do it enter this contest?  That’s the easy part.  All you have to do is post feedback on any of the books that have been reviewed on this site.  It can be on any of the past reviews, or on any of the upcoming reviews as well.  Tell the author you liked their cover.  Tell the author you downloaded their Ebook (only if you actually did).  Tell us your thoughts on the review…would you buy this book?  Would you not buy it and why?  But please be honest and sincere no matter what you decide to post.

Authors, you can get in on the action too!  Take time to post on someone else’s book or post updates on your own review.  Tell us about a reading you did.  Tell us where your upcoming book signing is, or how many copies sold this week.  Direct us to another outstanding review on another website or a 5 star review over at Amazon.

The contest starts when the visitor count reaches 9,000, and every worthy post on this blog is an entry into the contest.  The winner will be announced when the visitor count reaches 10,000 or on October 31st, whichever comes first.

So, let the fun, and the marketing begin.  Start posting…

Coming up this weekend are two more book reviews!  Do you miss Anne Rice?  Are you in love with the YA Twilight series?  Then you will not want to miss out on this next review about Vampires!  Sure, it’s an old theme that’s been worn pretty thin, but this book has bite!

Speaking of young adult tales, the other review is an escape from reality…magic, sword fights, villains, odd creatures and more!  It’s a science fiction/fantasy tale for both young and old!

We are also still searching for America!  Read the blurb down the right side of the page and submit your book today!

Happy Friday!

“The book business is getting a little soft. It’s not selling as much as it used to,” Olsson said. “Our music sales went from 50 percent of our business to maybe 15. We lost a lot of revenue, and at the same time rents went up and real estate taxes went up. I don’t know what we would have done differently. It’s a killer.”

Olsson’s yesterday closed its Penn Quarter store, which opened 15 years ago. Olsson said rents and taxes had risen beyond affordability at the store and acknowledged falling behind on payments to booksellers.

Last week, two of its biggest publishers, Random House and Penguin Group, as well as Hachette Book Group petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Greenbelt to place Olsson’s in involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which would force the company to liquidate.

Read the complete story here!

I hear it time and time again.  Tourists and locals love a quaint little shopping district with a coffee shop and an old independent bookstore, but you never go inside and buy anything.  Here’s your chance to save one of your own!  It may be too late to save the business, but money in the till may relieve just a bit of tension this bookstore is experiencing right now.  Heck, it will help keep the employees paid!

“We sort of helped make the neighborhood what it is. And it’s a great neighborhood, but we can’t afford the rent,” Olsson said. A few years ago, the store’s rent in the renovated Lansburgh department store building was $30 a square foot. Now, it has risen to $50 to $60 a square foot.

I’m going out on a limb here, but I’ve got a challenge for you. To the first 5 people who can get to one of the Olsson stores and buy at least $25 this weekend, scan a copy of your receipt and then post a comment below on this post.  I’ll shoot you an email and you can reply with a copy of the receipt as proof.  Then, I’ll send you a crisp 5 dollar bill.  That’s right, I’ll give you five bucks of the money you spent right back to you.

Or do you really want to see your bookstore turn into a Beanie Baby haven?

“It’s hard to compete against megastores like Barnes and Noble,” Gins said. “We’re looking at it positively, and we’re hoping to come out of it. It depends on how many stores we can have.”

Over the years, Olsson’s has battled to maintain profitability, selling alongside its books and CDs such impulse items as Beanie Babies.

Now, get out there and get shopping!  You’ve got a bookstore to save!

Thanks, Mark!

But Lulu has always been a very different star shining down on the great big world of POD by not charging its users any up front fee for producing a product. Lulu basically takes the manufacturing cost and gives the author the opportunity to make money by marking up the product at their leisure. For instance, at present, Lulu’s cost calculator shows the production cost of a 6×9 perfect bound 150 page black and white print trade paperback as being $7.53. If I was the author of such book, I’d probably mark it up at least 5 dollars. That makes the retail price of this book $12.53. That’s not too bad for a trade paperback.  Having no control over pricing when I published with Xlibris in 2003, the retail price of my 176 page book was $19.99 for a paperback.  My cut of a sale was 10%.  End of story.

However, Lulu could easily tack on another 3 or 4 bucks onto this business model, ultimately increasing their cost to counter the fees Amazon will probably bestow upon them. Heck, if Amazon’s fees are going to be as high as most blogs are saying they are, Lulu could double their manufacturing costs to cover their expense. But this would quickly throw them into the expensive pricing realm that authors all too often experience with other POD publishers. Would it even make a difference by now?  Who knows? Only time will tell. But consider this….will this increase only affect authors who purchase an ISBN to get their book listed on Amazon, B&N.com, etc?  If so, that would probably require Lulu to build an additional set of services (and pricing) only for those who plan to get their book listed on Amazon.  For the author who plans to just use Lulu for set-up, binding and printing, but not purchase an ISBN, should an increased pricing structure apply?  Chances are it will across the board just so Lulu doesn’t have to come up with a separate business model for ISBN purchasers.

At this point, I highly agree with Angela Hoy’s advice she gives to BookLocker authors.  I quote:

1. Remove all Amazon.com links from your marketing materials – website, ezine, blog, email signature, press releases, articles — everything.

2. Change those links to your book’s page on BarnesandNoble.com. To obtain that link, search for your book’s title at http://www.bn.com. All Booklocker.com print books are on their website.

3. Don’t forget to contact Amazon to tell them what you’re doing in response to their horrible actions!

Angela has done a magnificent job at Writer’s Weekly of covering this issue. Catch up with her blog here.

As Angela states, the success of a POD book is really left up to the author.  It’s all about self promotion and marketing.  Your readers will more than likely buy the book from wherever you tell them to.  You DON’T have to send them to Amazon.  Almost all POD publishers, Lulu included, support their own online bookstore.  Lulu even prints a link to your book on their marketing materials.  They have free BUY links available to you as well which you build onto your websites and blogs. And if your book has an ISBN, then B&N lists your book as well.

Book Reviews: Check back this weekend for this month’s first review:  OH Brother by Paul Ciccone, Jr.

Amazon claims it can print and bind a book on site in its facility in about 2 hours (yeah, I’m sure that’s quality), allowing it to be married with multiple purchases made at the same time by a single customer and they can all ship together at once.  This will help to save shipping costs and fuel.  I wonder if this savings will be passed on to the customer?  It’s true.  Amazon does already offer free shipping on orders over $25.00, but that doesn’t mean they ship your items the same day.  It also doesn’t mean they use a preferred method like UPS or Fedex.  I seem to recall a multi-item purchase I made once that took 7 days before they shipped it, and they shipped it in two boxes days apart from one another using the postal service although all the items shipped from their Kentucky warehouse.  14 days later I got one box, and the other arrived a few days afterward.  I would have received the items in 3 days had I just paid the shipping.  Amazon might have saved here, but I certainly didn’t.

I wonder if this means they actually have Booksurge printing facilities in every single warehouse?  How much money will they spend on programming to make sure your POD book purchase actually prints in the same warehouse where your other items are in stock to ship?  Will they pass on that fuel and shipping cost savings to the POD publishers, or charge them an ungodly fee for file uploads, storage, and PRINTING!?  If the publishers get hit, you can bet that will then increase the fees bestowed upon the author, and probably the pricing of the actual books as well.

True, Amazon claims you can continue to print your books as you like and just ship them about 5 to keep on hand to fulfill orders.  Hmm..an excellent way to slap POD publishers with a storage fee, inventory upkeep fee, receiving fee, etc.  So, Amazon saves on shipping and fuel, and makes money by charging POD publishers like crazy for their service!  It will be interesting to see if Booksurge soon becomes the preferred method chosen by POD authors and/or who will be the first POD publisher to go belly up (if any).

For now, Amazon is no longer my preferred method for shopping!

Based on their press release, it sounds like PublishAmerica is backing down. They plan to work closer with other distributors and with B&N to combat the issue. Remember a few weeks ago when Starbucks closed for three hours to retrain employees, and all the other indie coffee shops jumped at the chance to gain that business? Let’s hope that B&N comes up with a plan and is ready to step up to the plate!

Although not much has been released as of yet, I’m sure other POD Publishers will be approached by Amazon soon. Who knows what this means for Lulu, but keep your eye on this Lulu forum to find out. Based on a quote, it seems that Bob Young has already been approached. Here’s the quote from the forum…

Publishers will “have to abide by Amazon’s pricing,” said Bob Young, CEO of Lulu Inc, a print-on-demand publisher based in Raleigh, N.C. Mr. Young said he believed BookSurge’s prices to be “slightly higher” than other printers. An Amazon spokesman declined to comment on that issue. “A significant number of our authors do request for their books to be available on Amazon,” said Mr. Young, who hasn’t yet decided whether he will agree to Amazon’s terms.

For someone like me, who uses Amazon almost everyday as a informational book source for work, and is also a POD author with a book on Amazon, this news really saddens me. It reminds me of a move another billion dollar company made a few years ago. It was all the rage on the internet and made lots of money while making lots of shoppers happy. Then, it started raising it’s pricing and making lots of rules, tightening the grasp it already had on the www market share. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? It’s called Ebay.

It’s sad that a POD author’s most valuable online marketing tool, someone we probably thought was a friend to our industry, would choose to do this. So what do we do now? Check out Angela Hoy’s article on the subject if you’d like Amazon’s contact information to send a letter and voice your own concern to them. Good luck though! Amazon’s quite known for not really listening to its consumers. Who knows? Maybe Amazon will become a fad and another site will take over as the ever-growing internet continues to change. I’ve already tried to use B&N and Abebooks a bit more these days for purchases. And I suggest you do the same!

And hey, while you are looking for an outlet to support, try your local bookstore. You know… That building on the corner with bookshelves filled with books. There’s a person standing in it to help. You take the book off the shelf and walk up to a cash register. You reach in your wallet or purse for cash, a credit card, or a check book. That’s right! You have to GO to the bookstore. The postman doesn’t bring the book to you. While you are there, if you are a POD author, take a copy of your book with you and put it in the hands of the manager or community relations manager. Don’t be pushy! As a matter of fact, thank them for being there. Tell them your book is a thank you gift even and that you’d appreciate their support in return. I’ve always thought Amazon might end up bringing about the demise of the brick-and-mortar bookstore, but let’s NOT let it monopolize the POD industry too.