The profitable world of self-publishing

by Mike Moore

Five years ago I was a professional speaker desperately in need of my own book. After each presentation members of my audience would approach me and ask if had a book or a tape for sale. The need was obvious. The market existed. All I needed to do was write a book and bring it to my audiences. This is how my first book was born.

I wrote nonstop for two months and finally had it written and illustrated with my own original cartoons. The question facing me now was who would be chosen from among thousands of publishers to bring my masterpiece to the waiting, eager multitudes. After many submissions to numerous publishing houses and many rejection slips, I finally found one who agreed to publish my book. The problem was that they couldn't get around to it for about a year and a half. I would receive 20% of the retail cost of each copy sold and would have to do most of the promotion myself.

This arrangement just wasn't satisfactory. I needed the book as soon as possible and I wanted to receive more than 20% of each copy sold. It was then that I decided to enter the world of self publishing and started Lifeline Publications.

Five hundred copies of were printed as a test run and I sold them all within the year as " back of the room" items at my speeches and seminars. Since I wasn't on the road speaking 365 days of the year I wanted to have my book available for purchase seven days a week whether I was speaking or not. I had my webmaster create a store for me and connect it to my speaking website. I was in business.

With well chosen and well directed advertising online and off I began to receive orders in my mailbox and by email. As sales increased so did the number of published items in my store. At present I have a total of nine information products, manuals, books, tapes, and special reports available for purchase.

In my first year as a publishing tycoon I sold 300 copies of my products online alone and another 100 offline. Add these sales to those at my talks and you can see that I was off and running as a self publisher. The orders seem to increase in number each month.

Writers are no longer dependent on the acceptance and approval of editors and publishers. Using the internet as well as offline classified ads in popular magazines you can bring your writing directly to a wide and eager market. People are always seeking " how to" information. In fact the most sought after items on the internet are information products. So if you research peoples' needs, wants and interests then write to satisfy them you are going to sell effectively..

Self publishing is simple and cost effective especially if you print on demand. You don't print a copy of your product until you get an order for that product. By doing this you avoid the cost of having 500 copies printed plus having to find storage space in your already cluttered basement.

If you have the writing bug and have received enough rejection slips to wallpaper a bedroom, try self publishing. When that first order comes in you will feel great satisfaction and a surge of self confidence which will, inevitably, result in more sales. You will be on your way to conquering the world of self publishing. GOOD LUCK!