In every situation, the bottom line is always the bottom line!  You can measure the success of any enterprise by asking that awkward question. “But are you making money?”  If you ask authors that question, you won’t get a straight answer, because mostly, they are not. If you then ask a publisher the same question, the answer will likely be the same.  For years, the margins left from a book trade sale have been wafer-thin for both authors and publishers, and now, with recent increases in paper costs and printing, they have just evaporated.  Something has to change.

Of course, most authors will tell you that they are not in it for the money, which is probably just as well. However, is that fair?  It takes months, if not years, to write a book, and authors rightly deserve to get their just rewards for all of their time and creativity they have invested.

Sadly, it is not just a case of shopping around between publishers to get a better deal. Everyone is in the same boat. It is the publishing business model itself that is broken.

The entire self-publishing movement has grown out of desperation, as established publishers, for financial reasons, became increasingly selective about the titles they accepted, resulting in almost everyone receiving a rejection slip. This resulted in thousands of talented authors with potentially successful titles left high and dry.

Originally, “Self-Publishing” meant that the author would publish themselves and do everything that the publisher would have done.  It didn’t take long for authors to realise that they didn’t know enough about the process and needed help.  As a result, a number of publishers, including the big global retailers, adopted the term “Self-Publishing” and applied it to the publishing, printing and distribution services they offered.  Authors took up these services believing they were self-publishing, but they weren’t. Big business had reinvented itself and was back in control, earning the lion’s share of income.

Authors have always been at the far end of the food chain. It is the publishers, distributors, and printers who are first in line to be paid.  As has always been the case, the authors are left with pennies. This cannot continue.

But the reason that authors are not being paid properly is simply ignorance as to how the book trade really works and what levers you need to pull.  Authors need to understand the big picture and have a strategy to regain control of their work.

Did you know that the highest paid self-published author is Taylor Swift! She turned down the approaches from all the big publishers and opted to publish her books directly to her fans. As a result, she is keeping all the sales income herself.  She had the knowledge of what to do and created a strategy to implement it.

Many authors complain that the reason they are not generating sales is that they don’t have a large following or a substantial list to sell to. They are missing the fact that the way people buy books has changed, but they haven’t. Using the power of the search engines, every author now has a global marketplace. However, you do need the advice of an Author Commercial Coach to help you create a strategy.

It is perfectly possible to make a good income as an author, but only on your own terms. If you abdicate your author business to the global publishing giants, you will only get the pittance they are prepared to pay you. You need a range of creative strategies to access those parts of the market only you can.

Instead of self-publishing, the current trend is for Curated Publishing, which is more author-centric and puts the author back in charge.  You should not need to give up your rights and your royalties to get the knowledge you need to take back control of your book.

In short, by discovering how the book-buying marketplace has changed, and applying a range of new strategies, you can take your expensive author hobby and turn it back into a proper business!

The good news is that people are buying more books than ever before, but in new formats and from new places. That is where you need to be.

Chris Day, past Publisher of the Year and Author Commercial Coach.

chris@filamentpublishing.com