Earn 400% More Royalties with Outskirts Press

An author recently brought his book to Outskirts Press from one of our competitors where he was earning around $3.50 with each book sold through Amazon.com. Now, with Outskirts Press, he is earning $13.76 for each book sold through Amazon. Same book, same retail price, nearly 400% more profit! So far he's been selling about 200 books a month on Amazon. Do that math in your head and see the advantages of Outskirts Press!

Visit this link to see calculate your own pricing when publishing with Outskirts Press: http://outskirtspress.com/pricing

2006 promises to be just as exciting as we launch our monthly Tele-seminar tour for our published authors and registered writers. More information about all the marketing initiatives we offer can be reviewed here: http://outskirtspress.com/marketing.php

WIN A BOOK PUBLISHING DEAL

Win your chance at over $500 of gifts and services in December when you get a copy of "Self-Publishing Simplified" from Amazon.com for just $5.95.

Click the link below for the easy details:

Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing Simplified

Self-publishing is what we do. It doesn't have to be difficult. That's why we've launched a new catch phrase called Self-Publishing Simplified to describe exactly what Outskirts Press is all about.

It's different for every writer. Some are waiting to secure a contract from an old-fashioned publisher. They could be waiting a long time. Others don't want to purchase 10 ISBNs from Bowkers just to self-publish one book. We provide single ISBNs.

Others don't know how to obtain and EAN barcode (or even what it is or why it's important). We do all that for them.

The Gem of Custom Publishing is who we are. Self-Publishing Simplified is what we do. Outskirts Press. What do you think?

Author Interview

There's not enough time in a day. But these blogs are important -- if not now, perhaps someday. It's providing content for some of our e-gems and I've linked to one of my blogs from within the OP Author's Center as the starting point for the new networking page. This is where author's can add their own blogs or webpages. It's just launching and has some more work to do.

A gentleman from the Denver Business Journal contacted us on Friday about Publishing Gems. We'll be conducting a phone interview today to discuss it. I'm curious how to found out about Publishing Gems, as I haven't sent out the press release yet. I have one version of the release, but I'm waiting to ask him how he heard about it before possibly rewriting it. Two different slants -- maybe I'll distribute both.


OutskirtsPress.net is up and operational and submitted to the search engines. It duplicates some of the amazon.com promotion we're doing so we'll see if we get an effective "cross trump" going.

Online Promotion on Amazon.com

I'm also busy enhancing my "profile" on Amazon.com to add some articles and listmanias to further promote Publishing Gems and some of our other titles. Yesterday I submitted 11 "So you'd like to..." articles about various self-publishing topics ranging from plotting fiction to choosing a publisher. This feature on Amazon offers another way to promote books on their site and I'm going to give it a thorough test to see if it translates to more sales of Publishing Gems, which is already being sold online on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Although the cover has not been uploaded for either yet. They're resolving that today back at the office so that both online listings are complete, hopefully before the CIPA awards (after all, a complete online listing is one of the elements I stress for important book promotion in my book. Might be a good idea to put my money where my mouth is).

Final edits are ongoing for Adventures in Publishing: An Interactive Guide to Book Publishing With Outskirts Press. I plan on completing them today. Then we just have to do the index and that interior is complete. THe front cover is done. We have to finalize the back and spine and it'll be ready to go to print. We're going to change the file pretty considerably for the e-book version, but hopefully I can pull that off this week and it up and freely available from http://outskirtspress.com/publishing before the college, which begins this Thursday. Jeanine is going to the Thursday afternoon Newbie classes, and then we'll both be there all day Fri and Sat. It's at the Red Lion Inn in Denver, Colorado. Come see us.

Insider Information for the Self Publishing Writer

Finally! Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer is done and on press. It should be published within the week. We'll definitely meet the CIPA deadline. Now on to finalizing Adventures in Publishing, including decided how we're going to distribute it, to whom, and whether there will be a cost. We're having a short BOD lunch meeting today to iron that out.

Here's the cover of Publishing Gems. I'm very happy with it. Now, the work of promotion begins in earnest.

So much to do

I have to determine what to do with these blogs vis-a-vis the website. We already know they'll eventually serve a SEO purpose, but they might be a nice addition to the author center, along with instructions for Authors to create their own blogs. Or, we might use the RSS feed, so the OutskirtsPress.net SEO site has more dynamic content. The SEO was determined to be a pretty high priority, and falls close to the top of my list after the books and fixing the cookies.

Speaking of the books, hereI'll try to get the back of Publishing Gems uploaded soon. I also have a better look of the Adventures in Publishing book -- the one we'll use for advertising. The back will be done this week. In fact, everything with both of them will be done this week because we have to get Publishing Gems into the distribution network with Ingram before the CIPA college on the 17th. I also need to look into the premiums -- shirts, mugs, etc -- with the OP logo. Lot's to do, which means updating the blog may come lower on the list.

Self Publishing Guide Book

I mentioned the cover in my last post. Here's a low-res image of Adventures in Publishing: An Interactive Guide to Publishing Your Book. I have to use low-res so it doesn't take forever to load.



Adventures will have a retail price of $10.95 through normal distribution, although our BOD is still trying to determine what methods we will use to get this book into the hands of writers. There will probably be more about this book and distribution of it and the software (which I'll get to once it's published) at OutskirtsPress.net.

Maximize yourself on Amazon

I've read several articles where some of the "tools" or "resources" available on Amazon.com help drive traffic to books, and secure people as experts. In the interest of experimenting with this phenomenon first-hand, I've established an Amazon.com "personality" with the screen name of outskirtspress. I'm creating some lists in "listmania" and writing some articles under the "So you'd like...." section. Like all things SEO related, this could take some time and it'll be 6 months or more before I know whether or not it was time well spent.

To create your own lists and articles on Amazon, which are then (reportedly) shared throughout the Amazon.com network, simply create a Friends and Family page -- or is that a cell phone plan? It's something like that. Nothing on Amazon is very challenging, so have fun.

Self Publishing on the CHEEEAP

I always get a kick out of checking out some of our competitors. There are a couple of dot-com publishers (who I differentiate from the POD publishers since the dot-commers at least understand the necessity of a new pricing model, to some extent). They offer to publish your book for free (with a whopping 3-4 (I think) different formats, rather than the 15 offered by Outskirts Press. But here's the kicker. Your BASE PRICE (the amount you have to pay for each book) is at least $10. At least! Ouch. Who's going to buy that? Oh, right ... nobody, because in addition to gouging you on the price, they don't distribute your book anywhere.

Just for kicks and shingles, I signed up to see how their interface worked. Maybe it was a work in progress, but I was hopelessly confused -- and I'm a relatively savvy fellow in terms of web design AND publishing. Who would deal with them?

Yet, lots of books are being published in that sad, sad manner. I just don't understand.

On a happier note...

Judith Briles, the president of CIPA, will also be providing a cover blurb for PUBLISHING GEMS. I've asked her if she would consider writing the forward -- no word yet.

And just cuz I gotta --- OutskirtsPress.net.

Adventures in Publishing

Adventures in Publishing, also referred to as our publishing guide, is nearly complete. I had to basically rewrite it when we changed the site. The cover concept is complete too -- it closely resembles our current Writer's Digest ads.

Promotion in Industry Pubs Paramount

You can never get enough promotion and exposure for your book.

In collaboration with Publisher's Weekly and Publisher's Marketing Association, we're offering an opportunity for our published books to be mentioned/promoted within the pages (or on the cover) of Publisher's Weekly. The details are within our free email newsletter, which comes out every 10 days. Here's the story:

Your Book on the Cover of PUBLISHER'S
WEEKLY

Would you like to see your published book on
the cover of the March 7th, 2005 issue of Publisher's Weekly?

Outskirts Press has an exciting offer for you
in association with the Publisher's Marketing Association.

10-12 covers will be featured on the cover of
the premier publishing industry publication. Publisher's Weekly
will also feature 8-10 titles per page on subsequent pages throughout
the magazine.

Each title placement includes a picture of your
cover and ordering information about your book, including your
OP Webpage, ISBN, and price.

If you have published your book with Outskirts
Press and would like to participate, we need to receive your reservation
by no later than February 5, 2005.

Please note: We CANNOT guarantee placement on
the cover since only 10-12 titles will be featured on the cover.

All other titles will be placed in their specific
genre directly following the front cover. All books will be displayed
in 4-color. We will inform you by no later than February 25 if
your book is among those chosen for the cover.

Cost for this opportunity is $600 per title.
If you would like to request the front cover of Publisher's
Weekly, there will be an additional $500 fee involved, bringing
the total cost to $1100 if your cover is one selected for the
cover.

We will refund the $500 cover fee if your book
is not chosen for the cover. We will refund your payment in full
if your book is not chosen to be included in the the publication.

If you would like to participate, please notify
us at info@outskirtspress.com
and we will update your author's center for secure payment. Indicate
in the email whether you want the Front Cover option. We must
receive payment prior to February 5 if you wish to see your cover
in the pages (or on the cover) of Publisher's Weekly.

Here's the link to our newsletter in its entirety. You can subscribe for free from our website. February 1 Newsletter.

Other updates on the Writer's Digest publication, their contest sponsorship, my book, getting blurbs, press releases, and more... coming... later.... to .... much... to .... do.

Self Publishing and Copyright

Authors who would be extremely agitated if someone stole their work seem to have no problem "borrowing" the work of others.

Most publishers receive manuscripts filled with copyright infringements, and they do not publish such material. Justification ranging from "Bibliography Use" to "Fair Use" claims don't hold water and if argued, should at least contain the flip side of the coin - the fact that copyright infringement is illegal and could ruin an author's reputation as well as bank account.

Why do colleges encourage this copyright infringement abated with their "bibliography" requirement, which then leads professionals to believe that they can copy as much of somebody's work as they want, provided they "reference" it within the form of foot notes or bibliographies. Perhaps for college papers that is true, but for professional works that are sold for profit, that is not allowed. This should be something professors and teachers inform their students.

I wonder if the POD guys have this problem -- or if they even care about it. Things that make you go hmmm...

Acquiring Cover Quotes

As "Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer" nears official publication I've been working on solidifying the cover. This includes both the design/layout as well as the copy. The front layout is complete, although I want an industry endorsement on the front.

I want some on the back, too.

So I've contacted some other well-known industry professionals associated with self-publishing: Judith, the current president of CIPA; Dan, the man who literally wrote the book on self-publishing, and Jan, the executive director of PMA.

Judith and Dan are maybes. Jan is a no. It's not PMA's policy to endorse their member’s books. Two out of three isn't bad if they pan out -- plus I'm taking advantage of services Outskirts Press offers to all its offers by securing a guaranteed pre-publication book review.

Its imperative (borderline imperative) that how-to or reference books covering a particular field feature industry endorsements on the cover.

Dan Poynter was very gracious. He suggested I send him the pre-pub galley in PDF along with a draft of the testimonial that he would edit to his liking. Prompt, professional, perfect. I have a space reserved for his quote above the title of my book, so I hope it's good.

Need Help With Publishing?

Now that the Publishing Gems book is complete (I've passed it to our production department for interior layout and galley cover design), I've been able to focus more on the true Outskirts Press publishing guide, entitled Adventured in Publishing, An Interactive Guide to Publishing Your Book. Don't have a date on that, yet. Publishing Gems will have an official publishing date in April to allow enough time for reviews to be posted and published, but a sneak peek of the published book will be available at the CIPA college in March. I haven't decided whether to charge or give it away yet. I visualize the cover, and will be able to post the .jpg of it here, soon.

Both the Publishing Gems book and the Adventures in Publishing Interactive Guide are designed to help the self-publishing writer choose the right path when publishing his or her book. Here's a sample from the former:

ELEVEN TIPS FOR ENHANCING YOUR DISTRIBUTION

1) The higher the retail margin, the greater the distribution

It should come as no surprise that the amount of distribution your book enjoys rests largely upon its retail margin. There is an acceptable range, but generally, the book retailer is looking for an industry standard of 37% or higher.

2) Distributors want to make money, too

While your book's margin is but a piece of your pie, it is the entire cake for distributors and retailers, who together must split the take. The greater the margin, the larger the cake, and the larger the piece for the distributor and retailer to share. Hence, the greater incentive they have to distribute your book, sell your book, market your book, etc.

3) The optimal trade discount is 50-55%

Most distributors expect to see between a 50-55% trade discount, which enables them to take a respectable piece and offer the book to the retailer at 40% off retail. For example, the Amazon Advantage program mandates a 55% margin because many self-published authors deal with the online retailer directly.

4) Lower your margins by publishing with an established online publisher

It’s not hard to see that once you factor in man-hours of facilitation, postage costs for shipping the books to Amazon, and a 55% margin, selling books through Amazon’s “Advantage” program is to their advantage, not yours. This mathematical fact alone is one reason many self-publishers are turning to alternate publishing companies.

5) Leverage a publishing company’s relationship with Ingram

Because of their relationships with Ingram and other distributors, print-on-demand and custom publishers can list an author’s book on Amazon.com for a mere 20%. Doing so means the author no longer has to worry about inventory, shipping, and invoicing issues. These advantages, not to mention the substantially lower margin, are reasons enough to investigate custom publishing options.

6) Understand the relationship between margin and price

For self-publishing writers, the proper retail margin depends upon each author's intentions, and can vary from author to author just as readily as from book to book. In most cases, the higher the retail margin, the higher the cover price, so authors interested in maintaining the lowest cover price possible will often opt for a lower retail margin. Self-publishing through a custom publishers provides the writer with this flexibility.

7) Set your margin according to your distribution goals


Conversely, those authors who long for the best distribution possible will elect a higher retail margin, even though their cover price will increase accordingly. Non-fiction or niche-markets are less affected by higher retail prices and benefit from the improved distribution resulting from offering the highest possible margin.

8) Know when to say when on discounting

For those custom publishing companies that allow the author to set their own trade discount (and there aren’t many – Outskirts Press is one), margins are capped at 55%. Even though the ultimate difference between retail margin and trade discount is the result of a proprietary negotiation between the distributor and retailer, 55% typically results in everybody being satisfied. Anything higher becomes superfluous.

9) Don’t underestimate a low retail price

Websites like www.froogle.com allow readers to price-shop before buying, so sometimes a lower retail price takes care of the distribution (or at least exposure) all by itself. A reasonable cover price is also one of the criteria most chain book buyers look for when deciding whether to stock a book on their shelves.

10) Don’t overestimate a high margin

While it’s true that most book retailers will most likely refuse to order, sell, or even stock a book unless it meets a minimum retail margin, a book’s margin is only one of the criteria they look for. (See Five Criteria for Getting Shelf Space, page ______).

11) Understand industry standards

As we learned with the movie, Spiderman, "with great power comes great responsibility." Self-publishing authors who have the power to set their own margins need to understand the standards expected in the industry. Industry standards for retail margins are difficult to define because, ultimately, it comes down to negotiation between all parties involved. Publishers have the power to negotiate with distributors, who have the power to negotiate with wholesalers, who have the power to negotiate with retailers, who have the ability to modify the retail price to anything they want.

The minimum "industry standard" retail margin is 37%, but it's safest simply to round to 40%. A 40% retail margin is the best compromise between optimal distribution and reasonable retail price. And as stated earlier, in order to ensure a 40% retail margin by the time the negotiation ends between the bookstore and the distributor, an initial trade margin of 50%-55% is recommended.

How a Blog Can Help You Promote Your Book

Search engine optimization was one of the motivating factors for my taking the time and effort to start a blog for Outskirts Press.

It can work for promoting your published book, too. When you publish with Outskirts Press, you receive promotion tips just like this, and then some.

It seems to be working. I've been posted 1-3 posts a day since January 4th (it's now the 19th), and this blog comes up number 6 overall on a Yahoo search for Custom Book Publishing based solely upon content.

The beauty of XML and other "feed" blogs is they generate links dynamically and automatically, one of the difficulties in creating valid search engine optimization for algorithms like Google.
Another advantage is that, while "Custom Publishing" was taken as a domain name, it was available as a sub-domain name for my blog. So were "self-publishing" -- a highly sought after position for our industry. Now it's ours and we'll soon contribute to that blog to create contextual search engine placement.

I'm contemplating open a general blog for all Outskirts Press authors so they can all log in and post their promotions, or thoughts, or feedback. While there's no shortage of positives for doing this, the potential negatives are making me think it out more thoroughly. For one, from what I can tell of this Blooger.com service, once a person has access, they can re-edit previous posts to their hearts' content. Fine for me since I like being able to adjust my typos, but bad if Joe Schmo logs in and places his post and then alters Jasmine's. I could program our own blog for Outskirts Press, and this may be ultimately what we end up doing so I can have full control over the look and functionality, but that's waaaay--aaayyy down on the to-do list.

Brent
CEO
http://outskirtspress.com