Tips On Making A Profit On A Self Published Book

Self-publishing has turned the publishing world upside-down, with lots of new authors coming to light. Mastering the technical side can be challenging and making a good profit can be tough on a 350 page novel. Here are some hints on improving the profits. Surely, self publishing is very profitable? No, not always. Why so?

Well, the variable costs can be substantial for a decent-sized novel using POD publishing. The fixed set-up costs are, overall minimal, though a really good book cover will cost a few hundred bucks from a good professional designer. Let's look at the costs a self publisher faces, using a company such as LSI in the UK, round figures only, and short run POD printing (though these costs are broadly applicable in other currencies, after conversion):

Variable Costs (per copy):

Base cost £ 0.70, 350 pages @ £ .011 £ 3.85. This makes a total variable cost per copy £ 4.55

Now, to get this stocked by the retail trade, we have to offer a reasonable margin, say of 40%. So, the variable print cost of £ 4.55 is 60% of the final cost, and £ 3.04 is the 40% margin for the bookseller, making a total of £ 7.59. Most of the major bookstores will only take books sale or return, and the author / self publisher will have to take a risk.

Now, how much 'profit' does the author expect to make on the book (ignoring the fixed costs recovery for now)? Is 40p reasonable? That would put the shelf price of the book at £ 7.99.

So, how can an author improve his profits?

Of course, if the self-publisher sells the books directly - say from their website, then they will themselves get the 40% trade margin. Volumes though are likely to be small, require development of a website and some internet and/or offline marketing.

Format

Profit can also be increased by careful layout. Cut ten pages from the book and the profit goes from 40p to 50p, an increase of 25%. Now, authors may be reluctant to make such a cut in the text, but by combining the header and footer (or eliminating them altogether), and careful adjustment of the fontface, then it's easy to cut ten, even twenty pages from the page count, without loss of text. It is important, though, to make sure that the page is relatively easy to read. 11 point text is what some regard as the minimum fontsize, but you will occasionally see books printed with less than 10 point, which are hard work to read - the story has to be really good for the reader to persevere.

It's vital for a new author to build loyal readers who will come back for more, so besides the quality of the writing, these other aspects must be considered.

If the self-publisher is squeezing the margins down, then a proof copy is essential. People will quickly tire of reading a book which has no gutter and has to be prised open to read. LSI recommend 1.3 cm margins and that's close to the minimum that works, as they have a 2mm tolerance in trimming the pages to size.

Using a 216mm x 140mm trim size, it is possible to produce a 150,000 word novel, with a few illustrations, in 10 point font which is just comfortable to read, in 360 pages, and return a profit (excluding fixed cost recovery), of about 80 p per copy.

The best way to increase profit though, is to get the sales volume up and invest in an offset printing run, which can reduce the cost per copy to £ 1 or much less for a 350 page novel. This gives more flexibility to work at a lower cover price and at the same time make £ 3-4 per copy profit. This will require an investment in maybe a couple of thousand copies.

There are other format and layout variables which can help the new author to improve profits. There are many smaller POD printers, but using a major player means you can get better exposure through their existing trade links. This helps the marketing of a new author. To make it easy, package deals are available from some publishers - these include ISBN, cover design and editorial services, getting listed on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, marketing advice and a whole lot more, taking the 'tech' out of the whole process. Authors just want to write, not fiddle with margins!

Phil is the managing editor Ezeebooks, and has recently published 'Gate of Tears' for James Marinero. Ezeebooks takes the 'tech' out of publishing, for authors who just want to write. Click over to self publishing tips and find out more.