Unlock the Secret: How Writers Can Avoid Draining Their Profits to Retail Giants
Ever found yourself pondering over a stack of books, thinking, How the heck am I supposed to make any real money from these? Here’s an odd thought: You could probably make a decent penny by starting a business about books rather than directly from the pages you’ve poured your heart into. But is there a magic formula to turn those ink and paper babies into cold, hard cash? Well, let’s dive into that — and maybe you’ll discover a strategy that doesn’t require you to compromise your indie publishing ideals for a quick buck. LEARN MORE
THE RECKLESS WRITER
What’s the best way to earn a profit from the written word?
I recently sent out a review of a small press book to my newsletter. I wanted to place a purchase link at the end, but I found myself conflicted. Major online retailers are the most convenient, but they run contrary to the ideology of independent publishing.
People often say, “Inquire at your local independent bookstore.” But how practical is that? As for me, I don’t have an independent bookstore in my area. Even if I did, where are they likely to get the book?
These days there are quite a few small publishers that use some form of print-on-demand technology. In fact, print runs have become rare. Therefore, even if you inquire at an independent bookstore, it’s likely they’ll turn around and make an order at the same major retailer you were trying to avoid.
The simple fact is that it’s not so easy to remove major retailers from the equation. If that’s our objective, then we’ll have to embrace a brave new strategy when it comes to publishing.
Finding the money in publishing
There is only a limited amount of money to go around. We talk about “profit,” but major retailers are clever in that they figure out how to get their cut before profit is even calculated.
Their cut is a production expense. That’s where the money is.
From a pure business model, books are a hard sell. Ideally, you want to be able to make something for a penny, and sell it for a hundred dollars. That’s not possible with books.
Books cost a lot of money to make, and they’re expensive to ship. From the outside looking in, you’re much better off creating a company that earns its profit through the creation of books, rather than through writing.
The problem with print-on-demand
The only way to make any money selling books is through economics of scale. You have to reduce the unit cost of each book so you can maximize your profit. Again, writers are paid from the profit end of the equation. They don’t get anything from…
