Self-published niche book rakes in $20K annually

SpeakingOfWealth.comThe odds of landing a traditional publisher for your book have been and always will be astronomical against you. Sorry but those are the facts. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have at it if you think your material is good enough and interesting to a large enough audience to get a sniff from the mainstream publishing industry.

But these days there is another option – print on demand (POD).

That’s what author Jim Novo did with his book Drilling Down: Turning Customer Data into Profits with a Spreadsheet. Novo was in the mix of the early days of the Home Shopping Network as it went through a growing phase trying to figure out how to market itself via live television and over the internet.

As the web developed, Novo began to notice companies making the same mistakes HSN had a decade prior. This motivated him to write the book. He knew offline publishers wouldn’t give him a chance since his ideas were contrary to what everyone though about interactive marketing.

He decided to self-publish, which turned out to be one of the best decisions he ever made. The book nets him about $20K in sales alone but that’s not even the best part. He generates more than that in consulting fees. Novo loves self-publishing because it leaves him to remain in control of all aspects of the product, allowing him to make changes to improve sales results without costing a bunch of money.

When’s the last time you heard of a major publisher allowing an author to make a copy change on a book that just printed two million copies? Not likely. The lesson here is to not get completely hung up on traditional publishing. The self-publishing approach, while no panacea, might be a good fit for you.

The Speaking of Wealth Team


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