SELF PUBLISHING
BOOK PUBLISHING STATISTICS
Book publishing statistics hardly makes for good bedtime reading, but you do need to undertake some market research if you plan (or are forced) to self publish. Who's doing what and with what success? What are the hot properties at present, the authors and themes whose time has come. In this you'll simply be doing what the traditional publisher does, which is to:
assess the chances of success, i.e. see the particular venture against the general trend in book publishing statistics, and
devise a publishing plan that divides the enterprise into stages with realistic time-spans, costs and revenues.
Anyone can make a detailed and handsomely-presented plan — publishers and financiers see them every day — but such things are worthless unless supported by accurate figures. Getting the facts requires knowing your way round the publishing world, where the following may help:
Market Research: Reading
American Library Association. Several useful publications.
Choice Magazine. Scholarly reviews and articles.
Library Journal. Includes reviews in various categories.
School Library Journal. Schools are big purchasers of books.
Editor and Publisher. Several authoritative yearbooks.
Bookpage. Reviews of American books.
Boston Review. Political and literary forum.
American Book Review. Single issues $4: subscription $24/year.
Atlantic Online. Digital edition of long-established magazine.
The Horn Book. Children and young adult's literature.
New Criterion. Conservative view of the humanities.
London Review of Books. Some articles free, otherwise $42/year.
New York Times Reviews. Free if you register.
Guardian Book Reviews. Reviews from UK's left-wing newspaper.
Times Literary Supplement. Leading review: $135/year.
Contemporary Poetry Review. Current articles free, archives $6/month.
Book Web. Trade news and personalities.
Book Publishing News. Articles and news snippets.
Bookwire. Comprehensive portal of the book industry.
Gale Group. Maintains over 600 databases.
Canadian Authors Association. Very useful articles and links.
Writer's Digest. Packed with advice and information.
Poets and Writers Online. Very extensive articles and resources.
Martin Blyth. A personal view of UK poetry and poets.
Expansive Poetry and Music. New Formalist view: not well maintained.
League of Canadian Poets. Events, publications and resources.
The Poetry House. University of St. Andrew's guide to poetry in English.
Book Industry Statistics. Useful facts and figures.
General Publishing Resources. Long listing: rather a mixed bag.
Self-Publishing Plan
The first thing to establish is the market. How many people are likely to be interested in your book, and how could you convince them to buy?
Take the first. Who actually wants to buy a new collection of poems, or yet another first novel? You can make some rough guesses by:
1. Talking to booksellers or publishers about sales figures.
2. Placing an advert on eBay or in a specialist magazine. Or by using pay-by-click promotion on a website specially created to sell your work. You don't have to deliver a yet-to-be-written book, but you can note the interest. No inquiries, no interest.
3. Reading the trade news.
Having now guess-estimated likely sales, and an acceptable price for the book, you now have a notional sum to accommodate all the other items that have to be paid for, i.e:
1. Your time in writing (and marketing) the work.
2. Photocopying and postage of the MS.
3. Page layout, proof-reading and editing.
4. Design of book cover.
5. Printing costs.
6. Delivery and warehousing charges.
7. Costs of press releases, trade adverts, publishing launches, travel to bookshops and talk centres.
Next comes your time. You'll probably have a day job: how many of your evenings and weekends can you reasonably devote to the project, and when would it be sensible to hand over to professionals with skills you can't match or acquire?
Publishing is no different from any other business, and projects fail for the same reasons: under-funding, over-optimistic hopes, insufficiently-researched markets, poor implementation and/or financial control. But many companies that are now household names began with a plan that was presented not dozens but hundreds of times to sceptical businessmen and funding institutions. Persistence does pay off, and what was difficult at first becomes second nature.