Skip to main content

Be Proud Niche Publishers

So how does your independent publishing company compare with the traditional publishers or authors of traditional publishing companies? Are you one of those who compares and try to justify your niche publishing and marketing with more traditional methods? What if I told you that you might be on the wrong track? What if I told you the service you provide is needed, especially in small markets larger companies can't support. Your customers need you; they count on you.

When I first started writing, I knew I had a great topic. I provide practice test questions for a small group of security professionals. The certification is available for a core group of 3,000 registered members to possibly 30,000 practicing professionals. I approached a few publishers, but they said the market was too small. It would cost too much to produce a book that they may take a loss on.

They also said the book was a great idea. So, I started my own publishing company. I am not paid royalties, but the entire sale of the book minus printing. I've sold hundreds of books, proving I've met customer needs.

The lesson is, don't get caught up in the discussions of which publishing model is more viable; they all are. Value depends on the market, not the provider. Niche and independent and self-publishers should be proud of their craft. Don't apologize for your plan, don't be timit.  Grab and protect your market share. Your audience depends on you.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

3 Ways to Build Credibility By Teaching a Course

Residence classes This is a real opportunity to build credentials and create a real academic presence. Traditional education opportunities are solid and recognized ways to get your message out. Teaching provides a return on investment but takes hard work and persistence to get started. Also there are two different avenues. You can host these classes yourself, or you can get them sponsored. Host the Residence Class Yourself Just like self publishing you can control the product. You have the freedom to create and do not need to seek approval from anyone to get started. You choose to set up the class time, the material, the advertising, and everything else you need to start a successful course. It also means that you have to bring in the resources yourself. For a residence class, you will need a classroom or similar environment, curriculum, projector, screen, training aids, certificates and supplies. There is a terrific possib...

To Self-publish; Reason Number One

Here is an expansion of the reasons you should self-publish. The first reason: You own all the creative decisions. The boss makes the rules. So, if you self-publish, you get to decide. You decide book format, writing and publishing timeline, book and cover design, type of book, colors, page count, page type and on and on.  Many decisions are pretty mundane such as interior design and format. If people like your material, they'll buy it in whatever format it is available in. However, the cover and content are very important aspects to your book that you have to get right. For the cover, choosing the right colors, images and fonts is critical. The book has to look attractive to its audience and must be legible as a thumbnail while displayed in on line book stores. This decision is made easier if you study your niche and look for books that relate to your topic. What colors are favored, what types of images are popular, and what type font matches the competing books? Get t...

Why authors might choose to work with a publisher instead of publishing themselves

  Why you might prefer to publish with another company instead of do it yourself. There are a lot of blog, newsletter, training and podcast information telling the good news about current publishing opportunities. Most tout the benefits of putting your own book on Amazonā€™s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). It is a great resource, but contrary to the popular discussion, itā€™s not the only option. It seems most information coming out seems to publisher shame anyone who does not ā€œdo it yourselfā€. Itā€™s as if the expectation is to self publish and anyone who does not, is a publishing pariah. There are so many published articles describing benefits to putting your own content out though KDP, heck, even I do it. Most build entire businesses around the KDP instruction or consulting opportunities.   However, Iā€™m more concerned with the author who just wants to write and publish their books without the hassle of the publishing business. The author who wants an outlet to make their book ava...