How to Set the Retail Price of Your New Book

When you’ve finished writing your book, and you’ve decided to self-publish, how will you determine the retail cover price for your book? Although current book prices may seem high, when you narrow the cost down to the bottom line, the reason may become clearly justified.

Keep in mind, if you pay a POD publisher (print on demand), most or all of the following may be included in your fee. When you obtain an estimate for POD publishing, check and see if it would be to your advantage to do-it-yourself. Remember, most often, paying a large sum of money to a POD publisher will not buy you any books. After your book is published, you will have to purchase your own books from them.

Starting from scratch, I will attempt to break the cost of book production down to the wire so you can estimate the cover price you will need to charge for your finished book. My estimates will be based on the average expense for a 5.5” x 8.5”, 200 page perfect paperback (soft cover) book.

Editorial cost – Unless you yourself are a professional editor or English major, we will assume your first real expense will be having your work edited. Cost - $400-$500

Layout cost – Although it’s not too difficult to layout the pages of your manuscript in book form, I strongly suggest having a professional do this for you, especially if you have an Index. Book printers take what you give them and print it. If you have even slightly misjudged the setup for your book, it can drastically change the final layout. Cost - $150-$250.
On an added note, visit http://www.48hrbooks.com/Templates.asp for some layout templates you can fill in yourself.

Cover Design – Your cover sells your book. Browsing customers who notice your cover amongst the hundreds of other books are obviously more likely to buy. Before you settle on a cover design, make sure you have researched what your customers will be looking for. Don’t skimp here. Cost - $100-$300

Printing cost – Your printing cost will vary according to how many books you order. For now, let’s assume you order the amount of books the average self-published author sells. We'll say 200 copies. Your cost will be $4.85 per book plus shipping cost.
(Again, 48 Hour Books is my favorite. They are an online company who print quality books for as reasonable a price as I’ve seen. Go to http://www.48hrbooks.com/ and enter the number of books, color pages, and zip code for shipping estimate.)

So let’s recap the cost of our 200 page book;
Editorial - $2.25 per book
Layout - $1.00 per book
Cover Design - $1.00 per book
Printing - $4.85
_________________________
Total cost per book - $9.05

Now that we know our expense for the physical book, what do we charge for it? Here’s where we now have to look at our “selling” expense.

Quite possibly, Amazon.com will be your biggest customer fulfillment source. Amazon charges a 55% commission on sales. Most wholesalers and distributers charge the same; some may be less (40-50%). But it is important to set your retail price where you can show a profit with even the highest commissioned distributor. We are most often responsible for the shipping cost to the distributer as well.

So will all this expense, we really need to set our retail price over $20 per book to make anything at all. But keep in mind; you will sell books to friends, at fairs, libraries, and some book stores, all where you will see a higher profit per book making the averages look a bit more appealing to you. Also, if sales are good, you might need to order more books, now the expense is reduced to the printing and shipping cost—looking better now?

Understand these estimates are for a retail product and do not yet include any type of wage for our time invested. The profit you estimate is your wage (before taxes).

My quotes may seem high at some level and low at others, but realistically, it’s not cheap to produce a book unless you want to end up with a cheap looking book!

Although these numbers may be disappointing to some, maybe we should we ask ourselves why we have the desire to write a book in the first place? If we are satisfying a dream, these estimates and financial mumbo jumbo will simply not matter. So enjoy the dream and if you can make a few bucks in the process, celebrate!

How to Set The Retail Price of Your New Book

When you’ve finished writing your book, and you’ve decided to self-publish, how will you determine the retail cover price for your book? Although current book prices may seem high, when you narrow the cost down to the bottom line, the reason may become clearly justified.

Keep in mind, if you pay a POD publisher (print on demand), most or all of the following may be included in your fee. When you obtain an estimate for POD publishing, check and see if it would be to your advantage to do-it-yourself. Remember, most often, paying a large sum of money to a POD publisher will not buy you any books. After your book is published, you will have to purchase your own books from them at a sometimes not so reasonable cost.

Starting from scratch, I will attempt to break the cost of book production down to the wire so you can estimate the cover price you will need to charge for your finished book. My estimates will be based on the average expense for a 5.5” x 8.5”, 200 page perfect paperback (soft cover) book.

Editorial cost – Unless you yourself are a professional editor or English major, we will assume your first real expense will be having your work edited. Cost - $400-$500

Layout cost – Although it’s not too difficult to layout the pages of your manuscript in book form, I strongly suggest having a professional do this for you, especially if you have an Index. Book printers take what you give them and print it. If you have even slightly misjudged the setup for your book, it can drastically change the final layout. Cost - $150-$250. On an added note, visit http://www.48hrbooks.com/Templates.asp for some layout templates you can fill in yourself.

Cover Design – Your cover sells your book. Browsing customers who notice your cover amongst the hundreds of other books are obviously more likely to buy. Before you settle on a cover design, make sure you have researched what your customers will be looking for. Don’t skimp here. Cost - $100-$300

Printing cost – Your printing cost will vary according to how many books you order. For now, let’s assume you order the amount the average self-published author sells, 200 copies. Your cost will be $4.85 per book plus shipping cost.
(48 Hour Books is my favorite. They are an online company who print quality books for as reasonable a price as I’ve seen. Go to http://www.48hrbooks.com/ and enter the number of books, color pages, and zip code for shipping estimate.)

So let’s recap the cost of our 200 page book;

Editorial - $2.25 per book
Layout - $1.00 per book
Cover Design - $1.00 per book
Printing - $4.85
_________________________
Total cost per book $9.05

Now that we know our expense for the physical book, what do we charge for it? Here’s where we now have to look at our “selling” expense.

Quite possibly, Amazon.com will be your biggest customer fulfillment source. Amazon charges a 55% commission on sales. Most wholesalers and distributers charge the same; some may be less (40-50%). But it is important to set your retail price where you can show a profit with even the highest commissioned distributor. We are most often responsible for the shipping cost to the distributer as well.

So will all this expense, we really need to set our retail price over $20 per book to make anything at all. But keep in mind; you will sell books to friends, at fairs, libraries, and some book stores, all where you will see a higher profit per book making the averages look a bit more appealing to you. Also, if sales are good, you might need to order more books, now the expense is reduced to the printing and shipping cost—looking better now?

Understand these estimates are for a retail product and do not yet include any type of wage for our time invested. The profit you estimate is your wage (before taxes).

Although these numbers may be disappointing to some, maybe we should we ask ourselves why we have the desire to write a book in the first place? If we are satisfying a dream, these estimates and financial mumbo jumbo will simply not matter. So enjoy the dream and if you can make a few bucks in the process, celebrate!

Create Your E-Book FREE!

First, please allow me to apologize for my recent absence from posting. In early March, while attempting to add a chat service to one of my other sites, my computer crashed (or more likely, I crashed it). Anyway, I'm thrilled to be back and grateful to my loving ol man for allowing me access to his new laptop to get things rolling again. Thank you for your patience.

Let's talk about converting your manuscript into an e-book. I've recently received numerous e-mails from writers and authors asking me how to create an e-book and some even went so far as to ask me to do it for them--for money. What an easy way to make a buck! But no fear, it's really quite easy and FREE to do yourself.

First off, go to the following linked page at Microsoft and download the free file for creating a PDF file. This is the link:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4d951911-3e7e-4ae6-b059-a2e79ed87041&displaylang=en

Once you've properly edited and laid out your book, simply save as a PDF. PDF is a fixed format where edits are not allowed. This way, readers are not able to copy or change your work.

An e-book is no different than a traditionally produced book in that it should open as such. For instance, the Bastard Title page, Table of Contents, Introduction, and the beginning of each new chapter should appear on the right side of the open book; the copyright page to the left.

Play with the file until you have the pages in proper order. Quite often, what seems to be the correct layout goes wacky once the file is converted to PDF. You can always re-save again if the pages don't line up correctly for you the first time.

If this is your first book, or you had little success with your first and are attempting another, please consider reading my book, A Book Inside, How to Write, Publish, and Sell your Story. This book explains in detailed and easy-to-comprehend fashion the proper way to layout your book along with many other important facts about publishing.

As always, your comments are welcome and encouraged!

Professionally Edit for Better Odds of Manuscript Acceptance

Everyone has their own style of writing. Some develop their writing skills through experience. Others just write from the heart. Either way, when your script is complete, hire an experienced copyeditor to “repair the damages.”

Publishers of all kinds prefer to see a manuscript edited prior to submission. Whether you choose to self-publish, POD, or submit to a traditional publishing house, your manuscript will need to be professionally edited. It’s well worth the time and cost to present a polished manuscript upfront. A traditional publisher will want to know that there isn’t excess “clean up” involved and will not be distracted from your book’s message by bad grammar, spelling, punctuation, and syntax. At the time of your submission, let the publisher know that your manuscript has been professionally edited. You will stand a better chance of being considered for publishing.

You can help your editor by following some basic guidelines and avoiding some of the common mistakes listed below.

· Format your manuscript using double-spaced Courier New, with one-inch margins. This is how most copyeditors and publishers prefer receiving manuscripts.
· Use one space after periods.
· Italics, bold, and underlined words are more difficult on the readers’ eye, try to avoid overusing them. Instead use stronger words to express a point.
· Be aware of the tendency to overuse the word “that.” See how many you can eliminate without changing the meaning of the sentence.
· Watch for repetition of words and writing patterns. We tend to use the same words over and over, when there are more appropriate synonyms much of the time.
· When referencing other works including statistics, cite all applicable sources either in the text, or in footnotes or endnotes.
· And, just for fun…“Lose” is to win or lose; “loose” is the opposite of tight.

Professional editors charge between $2 and $6 per page. Some charge by the word count. That can cost between $.018 and $.060 per word. It’s possible to get your manuscript edited for a lower price or even for free. Check with local colleges and universities. There may be students willing to work with you to edit your manuscript as part of an extra credit project. Either way, have your manuscript professionally edited.

Carol Denbow is the author of three books and the editor of A Book Inside. Visit Carol’s website at http://www.freewebs.com/authorbox

Vol. 3 / Ducks in a Row - Creating an outline for your book

After you have decided on your books subject matter and chosen a prospective title and sub-title, it’s time to sit down and draw the outline for your book.

It is best to create your outline before you begin to write. Authors easily get off track and lose focus on their real objectives.

The benefits to outlining your story:

An outline can help the writer collect and keep information in proper order and prevent it from being repeated in a non-fiction script. With fiction writing, creating an outline helps you keep the plot in order and more easily develop your characters. Outlining your script creates an easy-to-follow roadmap to your finished and “complete” book project.

How to create a basic outline:

Every manuscript contains an introduction, information, and conclusion, in other words, a beginning, middle, and ending. To start, define each of these categories in relation to your book idea. For instance, a non-fiction book on stress relief may begin with “what is stress.” The middle text may explain “how to relieve stress.” The ending may finish with “now that you are stress free…”

For a fiction book, the beginning may open by developing your characters and their place within your story. The middle is your story line or plot, and the ending is where your story concludes.
Once you have established these elements to your book, you can begin filling in the chapter titles according to the order of your stories events. Choose titles which are clear and define the content of that particular chapter; especially for non-fiction books. Compile your chapters and organize them in a logical order.

When your story goes in a new direction, form a new chapter or sub-chapter to avoid the sudden shift of information. Readers know when they come to a new chapter or sub-chapter; the information will evolve into something a little different. Remember, chapter tiles and sub-titles can be changed up until the time of book submission or production.

When your chapter list is complete, I suggest obtaining a large white poster board and drawing your outline on it. Leave space between the chapter titles for new sub-chapters and late add-ons. The board should be set up in your writing space. Having your outline continually in your sight will help keep you focused. As you compose your manuscript, refer to your outline often.

If you are submitting your manuscript to a traditional publishing house, they will most likely require a chapter by chapter outline of your story. The outline you build to write your manuscript will be helpful in creating a suitable outline for your publishers’ submission package. Your outline can be used to build your table of contents page as well.

Once you have a complete outline finished, it’s time to begin “filling in the blanks.” With a proper and orderly outline of your story, you can flow through your writing process with confidence and ease.

Recommended related information online;

Creating an Outline & Table of Contents
Steps to Creating a Well-Constructed Plot Outline

Click here to send your request to receive this FREE ezine every month!

E-zine Author:

Carol Denbow, Visit Carol's Website
Author, *Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss? (2006 Plain & Simple Books, LLC)
*Stress Relief for the Working Stiff (summer 2008 Publish America)
*A Book Inside, Writing, publishing, and selling your story
(Summer 2008 Plain & Simple Books, LLC))

Interested in contributing to our monthly e-zine? Please send your comments, stories, requests, and questions to

The Editor
Copyright © January 2008 by Plain & Simple Books, LLC
All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher.

We are always happy to share the information provided in our e-zine as long as credits are included. For reprint permission please send E-mail Request

Vol. 2 / Choosing the Right Title for Your Book

Titles:

Most might feel the need to write their book before deciding on a title. But it may be better to decide on at least a tentative title to help you, the writer, stay focused on the subject matter. A title can be changed at any time prior to publication.

If you self-publish your book, you must create a title yourself. If you are published through a traditional book publisher, they may help you choose one. But with traditional publishing houses, the final say-so of title choice will rest on them. Either way you publish, you should have a title reserved in advance.

Your title will decide whether your book sells or not. Your title should be directly related to your books subject. It should be “catchy” but subject related. For instance, if your book is about your dog spot, a title such as, “Spot on the Rug,” might make your reader believe your book’s about carpet cleaning. So make your title obvious to what the book is about.

Titles should be not more than 4 to 7 words and use your sub-title to explain what your book will include.

Sub-titles:

A sub-title is not required with a book, but if you have one, it should tell the reader more about what the book is about. For example, the book titled, “A Book Inside,” has the sub-title of, “A simple guide to writing, publishing, and selling your story” making it clear what information is included in the book. A sub-title can be as many as ten words, offering a good amount of information about the book.

After you’ve decided on a title and sub-title, research the name to be sure the title has not been previously published. There are several ways to accomplish this, including searching through Yahoo or Google search engines, Books in Print, or Amazon.com, or all three. Registering and adding your title to Books in Print will ensure the title now belongs to you.

There are about 195,000 new titles published in the U.S. each year. That’s not say all those books are selling. Seventy-five percent of new releases are self-published and sell an average of 200 copies. Knowing where the book market is strongest can help you write the book that will beat the odds; that begins with choosing the right title for your book.

SIT DOWN & WRITE

Suggested online reading;

6 Keys to Choosing Your Book Title
Titles
Search Amazon for Book Titles

CLICK HERE to request this FREE ezine twice monthly!

Ezine Author:
Carol Denbow
Author, Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss? (2006 Plain & Simple Books, LLC)
Stress Relief for the Working Stiff (summer 2008 Publish America)
A Book Inside, Writing, publishing, and selling your story
(summer 2008 Plain & Simple Books, LLC))

Please visit our websites at:
Plain & Simple Books
Support the Arts
Author’s Den
Oregon Authors
Signed Copies
Author’s Den of Oregon

More Sites of Interest:
Writer 2 Writer
Aptly Spoken
The Art of Pete Bauer

Your related website listed here (Bookstores welcome)! Send your information to Links Request

Interested in contributing to our ezine? Please send your comments, stories, requests, and questions to Contact

Copyright © January 2008 by Plain & Simple Books, LLC
All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher.

We are always happy to share the information provided in our ezine as long as credits are included. For reprint permission please e-mail Reprints

Vol. 1 / Welcome! Who Can Write A Book?

A Book Inside

Ezine
Volume 1

Click here to request this FREE ezine every month!

Who Are We?

Plain & Simple Books, LLC is a small publishing house started by author Carol Denbow in 2005 in an attempt to self-publish her first book, Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss? The plan was not only a publishing success for Denbow, but the company grew to represent and assist several other authors in promoting and selling their books. Today, after being twice self-published, and once traditionally published, Denbow shares her experience freely with new and upcoming authors from around the country.

Welcome!

Welcome to the first volume of our free monthly ezine. This and future newsletters will help you develop your writing skills while assisting you through the process of composing your book and selling your story. Expert contributors will share with you their writing and publishing knowledge and help you stay on the right track throughout. Our goal is to offer easy-to-comprehend information to the subscriber. If you would like to unsubscribe, click here and write “unsubscribe” in the message box, then send.

Who Can Write a Book?

Is there a book inside you? 81 percent of Americans say yes. With so many people having the desire to see their story in print, why does only a small percentage pick up the pen and write? Maybe it’s because writing and publishing a book seems like such an immeasurable task. But with proper direction, all writers have the ability to see their story in book form. A Book Inside monthly newsletter will guide you through the process of writing and formatting your story, the pros and cons of all types of publishing and how to go about the process, and show you the best and most unique ways to sell your book.
You’re not alone in this venture, there are about 195,000 new titles published in the U.S. each year-is yours next?

What to Write?

Do you have an expertise which may benefit others? Has your imagination run wild with thrilling mysteries others may enjoy reading about? Or do you simply have a story to tell? If you feel there is a book inside you, the first step to turning your idea into a book is of course, writing it.
First and foremost, write what you know. With experience comes knowledge, and you will enjoy writing more when you are familiar with your subject. Later, when you are promoting your book, you will need to be very familiar with the information included to be comfortable discussing your book with potential buyers and others.
When you choose your book, the subject matters. Check your resources (library or internet) to make sure the book market is not already saturated with similar books. It’s always good to look for a niche, something new that hasn’t been previously published or puts a new twist on a subject. Make yourself familiar with researching the library or internet; you will be spending many hours there, especially if your choice is to write non-fiction.
Avoid a book idea which requires the reader to make notes in the book. Libraries and some booksellers prefer not to carry books which include several work sheet pages because they lose value once written in.

Who’s Your Audience?

Before you decide exactly what to write, figure out who will be buying and reading your book. If you are writing a family history, for instance, your audience may be limited to your friends and family members, and book sales won’t be a concern to you. But if your plan is to sell your book and make profit, you need to research the market to determine what your audience will want to buy. People buy non-fiction books to learn about something; they purchase fiction books for the pleasure of reading. Consider non-fiction for your first book, they’re easier to write and considerably more non-fiction books are published than fiction. In fact, non-fiction generally outsells fiction by two to one.

Half of all books sold in 2006 were sold to people over age 45. Women buy 68 percent of all books sold, so it might be wise to consider targeting your book idea to include a more mature and primarily female audience as well.[1] The highest percentages of books sold were mass market paperbacks and college text books.
The following are statistics on what age groups purchase which type of books. Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,001 adults, aged 18 and older.[2]

The top three for ages 18-29 were:

· 72% - Biographies or books about history
· 60% - Self-improvement books
· 58% - Thriller or suspense novels
For ages 30 – 49:
· 72% - Biographies or books about history
· 60% - Religion and theology
· 60% - Self-improvement books
For ages 50 – 64:
· 74% - Biographies or books about history
· 60% - Self-improvement books
· 59% - Current literary fiction
For ages 65 and over:
· 76% - Biographies and books about history
· 58% - Religion and theology
· 53% - Current events books and mystery novels

The balance of genre choices in the poll included business management and leadership books, classic literature, horror novels, personal finance books, science fiction and romance novels. All rated between 7 and 48 percent. For a complete list visit http://gallup.com/

How Do I Put it All Together?

Slow down and take writing one step at a time. It may seem like an impossible journey right now, but over time, and following the right cycle of things, you will eventually see your book in print. Stay subscribed to this newsletter and follow the suggested path. Each month, we’ll take you one step closer to your dream. But for now…
SIT DOWN & WRITE

January Suggested reading:

Choosing a Non-Fiction Book Topic
Choosing a Topic for Your Self-Published Book
Search Amazon for Book Titles

Website Author:

Carol Denbow
Author, Are You Ready to Be Your Own Boss? (2006 Plain & Simple Books, LLC)
Stress Relief for the Working Stiff (summer 2008 Publish America)
A Book Inside, Writing, publishing, and selling your story
(summer 2008 Plain & Simple Books, LLC))


Please visit our websites at:

Plain & Simple Books
Support the Arts
Author’s Den
Oregon Authors
Signed Copies
Author’s Den of Oregon
More Sites of Interest:
Aptly Spoken

Your related website listed here! Send your information to cdenbow@plainandsimplebooks.com

Interested in contributing to our ezine? Please send your comments, stories, requests, and questions to cdenbow@plainandsimplebooks.com

Copyright © January 2008 by Plain & Simple Books, LLC
All rights reserved. The text of this publication, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the publisher.
We are always happy to share the information provided in our ezine as long as credits are included. For reprint permission please e-mail cdenbow@plainandsimplebooks.com

[1] Lou Aronica, Publishers Weekly, March 22, 1999
[2] Gallop Poll, Do Reading Tastes Age?, February 4, 2003


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