Marketing a Self Published Book

Posted by Jerry Lopper Dec 26, 2007

In the last entry I put the finishing touches on the cover.

Now it's time to decide how I'm going to market the book. This is an important decision because there are some up-front costs associated, and once picked, revisions are expensive.

Buy an ISBN?

An ISBN is a thirteen digit number uniquely assigned to a book. This number, once purchased and registered, permits any book seller to purchase the book from its publisher by the number alone. The first ISBN decision I must make is whether to purchase a number.

Lulu will carry my book in its online store without requiring an ISBN. I can purchase copies at my cost for resale and I can link potential purchasers to Lulu's online store without an ISBN. However, I will not be able to sell through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or any other book seller.

I decide to purchase an ISBN number for $99.95.

Next I must decide on the retail price I will charge. Lulu provides a retail price calculator to clarify the inter-relationship between manufacturing cost, my profit, Lulu's cut, and final retail price. Wholesalers will purchase the book for fifty percent of the retail price, which must be high enough to cover manufacturing, my profit, and Lulu's profit. The book must also be priced competitively.

After factoring all this together, I select a retail price of $11.95.

The final step is to purchase an approval copy, read through it carefully, make any changes necessary, and give final approval. It's now a finished book. Any further revisions will be expensive or impossible, depending on what I may choose to change.

So this is it:

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT: 40 BEST ARTICLES ON Cheering Up,Positive Attitude, Goal Setting, and much, much, more.