WaveCloud's Wednesday Webinar Series. This webinar is intended to introduce self-publishing authors to the industry standards and requirements for well received published books.

1. Self-Publishing Wednesday Webinar:
Increase Your Success by
Thinking Like A
Publisher
Bill Van Orsdel
(303) 974-7845
Bill.VanOrsdel@WaveCloud.com

2. Checklist:
ü You are planning to self-publish your book
ü Fiction and Nonfiction have DIFFERENT approaches
ü You are approaching this as a business
ü Not a discussion of “business”
ü You are ready for the zone of discomfort
Before we get started…

3. — WaveCloud is an Author Services
platform and an ebookstore
— Helping writers become successful
authors is our #1 priority
— Not a “How To Do”, but a “What To Do”
— Watch this webinar: Increase Your
Success by Thinking Like a Publisher
A word from our sponsor
Bill Van Orsdel
WaveCloud
CMO

4. Key Points
A. Critically self-evaluate your book’s prospects for success
— Unique book?
— Compelling book?
— Addressable Audience?
B. Make a plan for your publishing business
— Profit Projection
— Business Plan
— Investment Budget
— Production Schedule
— Marketing Plan
— Launch Timeline
C. Produce at the highest quality level your budget allows
— Prioritize spending: Editing, Packaging, Promoting
D. Monitor, Adjust, Monitor, Adjust, …..
— Publishing is a Process
— Bringing a book to market is a Project
CreateSpace is a trademark of On-Demand Publishing LLC.

5. 1,500 books are traditionally published every
single day by profit-seeking, professional
organizations
Why does this matter?
• Goal: Be competitive & profitable
• Profitability = more budget for more
books = more profit = more books =
more profit = more books …..

6. — How is this book unique?
— Your Memoire!, Space Raccoons!, Vampire
Academy!, High Wire Yoga!, etc.
— What is compelling/unique about this book?
— Will it generate Positive Word of Mouth?
— Who is the audience for this book?
— How will the Author reach the audience?
Acquiring the Editor Hat…

7. Defining the Target Readers
— Who are the target readers?
— NOT EVERYONE!!!!!!
— i.e Left-Handed, High School Tennis Players!
— How many target readers out there?
— How many readers are “addressable”?
— How many readers is the Author already connected to?
— How will the Author connect with the rest?

8. Profit, by the numbers
Sales: Estimated Unit Sales
Net Revenue (per
book):
Book price * royalty or processing cost
Projected Revenue: Sales (units) * Net Revenue (per book)
Projected Costs: Advance + Editing + Production + Marketing + Overhead
Total Profit: Projected Revenue – Projected Costs

9. Amazon™ book sales rank affects potential # of book sales
• Your book sales rank: between 5,000 – 10,000
• Because of this, you achieve about 6,000 total book sales in the first year
Profit, by the numbers
Example – Setting the Stage
• Book price & royalties
• eBook - $3.99, 70% royalties
• Print book - $6.99, $3.40 processing fee
• Sales:
• 75% of your total sales are ebooks
• 25% of your total sales are print book
• Projected costs:
• Advance: $0
• Editing: $2,500
• Production: $1,000
• Marketing: $1,500
• Overhead: $500

10. Profit, by the numbers
Example
Ebook Print book Total
Sales
(Estimated
Unit Sales)
4, 500
= 75% * 6,000
1,500
= 25% * 6,000
17 books/day
6,000 total books in the first
year
Net
Revenue
(per book)
$2.79
= $3.99 * 70%
eBook price * royalty
$3.19
= $6.99 - $3.80
Print book price * processing fee
Projected
Revenue
$12,555.00
= 4,500 * $2.79
Units sold * Net revenue per book
$4,785.00
= 1,500 * $3.19
Units sold * Net revenue per book
$17,340.00
Projected
Costs
$0 + $2,500 + $1,000 + $1,500 + $500
Advance + Editing + Production + Marketing + Overhead
$5,500.00
Total Profit $17,340 - $5,500
Projected Revenue – Projected Costs
$12,440.00

11. A Business Plan, really?
• Vision Statement
• Organization Form and Ownership Structure
• Forecast for Producing Books (#/year)
• Annual Budget to Bring Book(s) to Market
• Book(s) Sales Forecast(s)
• Competitive & Target Market Research
• Production Timeline(s) for Book Production(s)
• Marketing Plans & Marketing Budget

12. Forecasting Books,
Revenues & Costs
• How many books to market per year?
• How much are you going to invest per book?
• Editing, Production, & Marketing
• How many of each book will you sell during its
first twelve months in the market?
• How much (net royalty) do you expect to make
per book sold?

13. Competitive & Target Market
Research
• Amazon™ “Browse Paths”, Book vs. Kindle
• Genre “norms”
• Cover Design
• Length
• Trim Size
• Common promotion methods
• Target Audience addressability

14. Sample Book Production Timeline
Write: 4 months
Self-edit: 1 month
Professional edit: 1 month
Production: 1 month
Pre-launch marketing prep: 2 weeks
Post launch marketing: 2 months+
Fiction vs. Nonfiction will vary

15. Marketing Plans & Budget
(Sample)
Anchor Site creation/update $1,500
Paid “Professional Review” $500
Paid ARCs sent (print + postage) $100
Goodreads Ads and/or Giveaway $250
Bookbub (or similar) campaign $650
LinkedIn/Facebook promoted posts $300
PPC Campaign Google/Facebook $500

16. Monitor & Adjust
þ Is your writing output meeting your forecast?
þ Are your sales meeting your forecast?
þ Are there production things you can execute?
þ ALL marketing should have a digital component for
traceability, otherwise skip!
þ Are you capturing DAILY sales from Amazon™ and other
distributors (to track against marketing)?
þ What “free” marketing have you missed?
þ How effective are your price promotions?

17. Final Recommendations:
A. Critically self-evaluate your book’s prospects for success
— Unique book?
— Compelling book?
— Addressable Audience?
B. Make a plan for your publishing business
— Profit Projection
— Business Plan
— Investment Budget
— Production Schedule
— Marketing Plan
— Launch Timeline
C. Produce at the highest quality level your budget allows
— Prioritize spending: Editing, Packaging, Promoting
D. Monitor, Adjust, Monitor, Adjust, …..
— Publishing is a Process
— Bringing a book to market is a Project

18. — Enjoyed
this
webinar?
WaveCloud
has
more
online!
Addi<onal
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WaveCloud Self-Publishing
Wednesday Webinar Series:

19. Questions?
Bill Van Orsdel
(303) 974-7845
Bill.VanOrsdel@WaveCloud.com

20. Other Resources
— Dean Wesley Smith’s Blog “Think Like a Publisher”
— www.DeanWesleySmith.com
— Jane Friedman’s Blog “How to Write a Book Proposal”
— http://janefriedman.com/2012/11/09/start-here-how-to-write-a-book-proposal/
— “How to Write a Book Proposal”
— http://www.hiwrite.com/pro.html
— Internet Search on “Sample Book Proposal”