Publishing my first book. - Writers Forum

abutov · 07-24-2006, 01:44 PM

I am not a writer per-se, although I have written several published articles.

It has recently been suggested to me that I should consolidate some of my articles on the subject of Software Development on Wall Street into a book.

The basic premise for the book would be an overview of what a recent college graduate (or an experience developer from another domain) can expect if he or she is looking to pursue a career as a software developer in the New York City financial sector. Some topics to cover include required skill sets for this type of work, interview and job seeking strategies, interaction with headhunters, and differences between the various company types (large investment banks vs. small hedge funds) – all from the perspective of a software developer looking to work on Wall Street.

I started on the book about two weeks ago, and progress has been good.

You can download sample sections from here if you are so inclined:

http://www.antair.com/blog/2006/07/1...-introduction/
http://www.antair.com/blog/2006/07/1...n-of-the-book/

I’ve been giving some thought about publishing options. I’m fairly certain (if not completely delusional) that I can find a reputable (meaning non-vanity) publisher for this book, but the royalty levels are laughable (maybe they’re industry standard, but the reported 8% is laughable at least to me).

My original intention was to self-publish through Lulu.com. That way, I can write the book I want (without editorial scrutiny – aside from my wife), and I can offer it as an eBook and as a physical copy through Amazon (Lulu has a $99 package that distributes the book to Amazon and B&N – if they choose to accept it – which they do with almost all submissions). Aside from that, Lulu charges only for the cost of printing, and it does so per copy, on demand. My initial calculations place the cost at around $8.50 per copy for a black and white print with perfect binding. Aside from this, the author (being me) retains the remainder of the revenue. This has to be a huge advantage over a standard publisher.

But wait you say, the publisher will do some promotion for your book and get it into more places.

But this book is not a work of fiction that requires me to go cross-country on sign and read tours in order to build hype. If it were a work of fiction, I can see how it would have trouble standing out as a self-published book. But I can’t see the benefit of having this book be located on bookstore shelves when the majority of its target readers will be doing a Google search on the topics it covers anyway. At the very least, those readers that search Amazon will find the book there as well.

So now the real reason for my hesitation comes to the surface … status and prestige.

When I sold my first article for Dr. Dobbs, and the check arrived a year later, it wasn’t the money that made my day, it was the fact that I could call myself a published author.

I guess self-publishing this book will not take away my ability to call myself that – I have sold several articles since – but it would still be nice to be able to say that a reputable publisher accepted the book.

I would love to hear your thoughts...

- Andrey (andreybutov@antair.com)

mammamaia · 07-24-2006, 06:29 PM

andrey [are you russian?]...
i know all here will not agree with me on all the following points, but this is how i see it...

the prestige factor is definitely one reason it's best to go with a 'real' publisher, if that's important to you... you can call yourself whatever you want, but to those in the publishing industry and to established critics, if you self or pod publish, you won't be considered a real 'published author'...

other major factors are pr, marketing and distribution, none of which self/pod outfits provide... simply listing your book on amazon and b&n won't get you all that many sales... having it stacked in the 'new' section in the front of bookstores and being sent by a reputable paying publisher to the reviewers of wall street type stuff is much more liable to sell a decent number of copies...

however, if you're willing and capable of doing your own pr, marketing and distribution, and if you have enough good contacts in the financial world, you might be able to sell a decent number of books... but you probably still won't end up making more than the advance and royalties paid by a traditional publishing house... and you'll have to 'go on the road' on your own dime, to book signings, seminars, conventions, and any other place where folks who read that kind of stuff gather, to do it, all of which will eat into those 'higher' profits you'll make w/o paying the publisher its major cut...

finally, the quality and retail price of the books should be considered... you won't get a nice, prestigious hard cover unless you go with a paying press, or pay for it from a printer... pods and most of the other 'vanity' press venues generally turn out paperbacks... and the prices set by them are ridiculously high for pbs, so few but family and friends are willing to cough up that much for a book by an unknown writer...

plus, you'll have to lay out the cost of however many you have to market and distribute yourself, in all those places i mention above, hoping you can resell them for enough more to break even, much less make a profit...

all that said, some have gone with self or pod publishers and succeeded in selling a fair number of books and making some money... books like yours have a better chance than novels, certainly... just make sure that you take all the ups and downs on both sides into consideration and don't just poo-poo that measly 8% w/o looking at what they do for you and your book with the other 92...

best of luck with your book, whichever way you go... don't forget to have it looked over carefully by someone other than a relative, before submitting, in any case... if you want a neutral assessment of the writing quality, structure, or whatever, just drop me a line...

love and hugs, maia
maia3maia@hotmail.com

Mike C · 07-25-2006, 05:05 AM

I'll echo much of what Maia says, with caveats.

Your book, it seems from your description, is going to be more niche than bestseller - you have a fairly narrow market which it should be easy to target. In cases such as these, self-publishing is often an acceptable way of getting your book out - you may find, unless your book has broader appeal than I'm thinking it might, that publishers may not be interested.

If you choose to self publish, draw up a realistic business plan before you start. Who is your target customer? How many? Where do you find them, and how do you alert them to the availablilty of your book, and convince them that they need it? Is your market price sensitive (ie students)? What will it cost you to promote the book (just having a website isn't enough - you have to drive people to it).

If your business plan is realistic and honest, it may suggest various courses of action:

1 Traditional Publisher
2 POD
3 Self-publishing - fund a print run yourself. Higher risk, but higher profit.
4 Write something else (your business plan should always have a contingency for failure)

FrankBlissett · 07-25-2006, 09:54 AM

Ditto the previous comments.

If you are willing to do the leg-work, then you need to do a business plan. 8% may not seem much to you, but what are your promotions costs going to be? It could end up being that for every $20 book you sell, you'll have to pay $18 in printing (even POD has printing fees), travel expenses, time off work etc - often BEFORE you make the sale. In such a case, 8% with little financial risk may be better than 10% with large risk.

As Mike noted, though, niche non-fiction is the easiest for self-publishers to market.

pjune · 07-25-2006, 10:05 AM

Great advice from everyone!

One additional point - Many publishers will do little or no marketing for you. It's basically up to you whether you go with a traditional publisher or self-publish.

So be ready before the book is available to go forth and market.

Take care,
June

Kane · 07-25-2006, 11:04 AM

I don't know if it has been said or not, but if you want to have the book published, refrain from posting too much more of it on the web, or refrain from doing so at all. Most publishers won't publish a book that has already lost first rights.

FrankBlissett · 07-25-2006, 01:31 PM

Kane makes a good point, but I wonder how true that is with non-fiction. It's not uncommon for non-fiction writers pull a chunk of their material from magazine articles of newspaper columns.

I'd be inclined to guess that it's not as important for non-fiction, but stand to be corrected.

-Frank

mammamaia · 07-25-2006, 07:19 PM

ditto all of the above... with the same reservations...