Re: poor child...
www.publishamerica.com/cgi-bin/pamessageboard/data/lounge/5688.htm Where do they get fed all the bad information?
Message:
Perhaps someone more aquainted with the business/economics of PA may be able to answer this. How does PA recupe the cost of the production and printing of their books if they do not actively help to promote the books they produce? Isn't the only way that PA can actually make money is if its authors sell books? Now in my situation: (1) I do not have the funds to purchase copies to set up book signings locally. (2) Every major local bookstore either does not carry non-returnable books, or, will not carry a book by an unknown author unless said author furnishes his/her own copies (see #1). How does PA stand to gain profit from a slob in my situation? That is not to say I have not taken any steps towards promotion; brochures, web site, etc., but this falls far short of what is needed for a successful marketing campaign. That being said, has anyone tried literary grants to help finance the purchasing of copies? If so, I would appreciate any information on grants that you may have.
8/29/2004
07:32:09
RE: Somewhat Confused
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Just as you get a royalty on every book sold so does PA. You take the cost of the book, deduct the cost of printing, deduct the royalty and what is left over is PA's.
A lot of authors do a great job of promoting their books but I am going to guess that most of us are no where near the 10,000 range that a traditionally publishing house, one that is not a POD, prints in order to pull in a profit. I have another post about this on the Original Message Board called "something I learned." But you may have heard that PA has printed more books this year than any other publisher so that's how they do it. Joyce Ann had a post about counting all the new releases each week and the number multiplied by 52 was phenominal. That way if I sell only 200, someone elses sells a couple thousand and so on and we come out to the same number of books another small house sells.
They put faith in the little guy to sell books and that's not something to shake a stick at. With the traditional method of printing only 1% of all books that are written get published. That means mostly celebrities and well established writers like Steven King. Kind of like a good old boys club with no room for anyone else. PA is trying to change that and they are making a big splash. That's why the NY Times is being so cozy with them.
Hope that helps,
8/29/2004
09:24:54
RE: Somewhat Confused
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They probably break even at about 50 copies sold, which will most likely come from friends, family and the authors themselves. Once the initial costs for editing, artwork, plates etc. are covered, the rest is gravy until they sell the first batch, at which point they have to decide how many to print on the next run. Their business model doesn't have a budget for spending a lot of money on individual titles for promotion, but this also allows them to release many more titles than the big guys. It means we have to do a lot more work on our own, but it's a small price to pay for getting our books published. If they ever do radically change their approach, spending more of their profits promoting books, there will be far fewer people posting on these boards.
8/29/2004
09:59:20
RE: Somewhat Confused
Message:
Steve, how much do they print on the first run?
Mike, I'm in the same situation as you, not a lot of money to play with. I gave PA a full 100 names to send flyers to, so I hope that works. The no return policy, I don't know how to address when asked about it. Which is why I'm going to email support and see what they suggest my reply be.
8/29/2004
10:36:37
RE: Somewhat Confused
Message:
Mike ,
Many other author's posts are busy with myself on
this marketing topic ...
Go to " original author's message board " and check in particular these posts from Joan ,
" something I learned " , and " helping one another " by Sara Price .
Join the exchanges , by all means .
8/29/2004
11:36:18
RE: Somewhat Confused
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I am in the same boat here....not enough funds to self-promote...i guess a little luck and of course some creative writing is really the key
8/29/2004
13:08:20
RE: Somewhat Confused
Message:
Keep in mind that I'm only speculating, as I have no direct info on their approach. That being said, I would not be surprised if their average first-run quantity was 500, since that seems to be a sales milestone for possible inclusion by Independance Books. Sales forecasting, regardless of the product sales history or fancy computer generated models, is voodoo at best. If unsold inventory rises to a certain level, they will institute a higher discount program. By the same token, when inventories are thin, no amount of begging will get you a better discount rate. The smart approach for authors would be to wait for the special rate, purchase enough books to get by until the next "special" is ran, and so on. Trying to figure out the formula for that will give you an idea of what PA deals with managing iventory of so many titles. Much harder than actually writing a book.
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