My understanding that, in this market, sales of e-books have not dropped off as much as hard copy paper book sales. So, provided that you have found a place that wants to publish your topic or title, you still have to deal with the book market itself.
Average sales of a book title is about 3,000, unless you are someone who is famous like Madonna or Hilary Clinton, et al. So you must take into consideration your costs of publishing and the likely event that you will ‘only’ sell 3,000 books… maybe.
If you list your book on Amazon, they can discount your title (say your book is $20, they can list it at $14.99) which makes it appealing to buyers. Depending on how much you are making on the book - if you self publish - that discount will be cutting into your profits. Supposedly, having it listed on Amazon and the ability to make more sales makes up the difference. (More books sold at $14.99 = more money than less books sold by you at $20).
As far as having it ‘Kindle ready’ Billy and I were discussing this topic with a friend who send us the following insight which I think is worthwhile to read:
The majority of time people read a book once, and then they are put away. However, a book has some value and it can be sold or given to someone else who has expressed an interest in the topic of the book or in something by the same author. You purchase a book and it is your property to dispose of as you wish when you have finished with it.
A book purchased from the Kindle bookshop for your Kindle can only be used on that Kindle with your account and not on any other. You have no rights to the text to sell it afterwards, or even to give it away. There is a promise from Amazon that in the event of your Kindle being stolen you can block the old machine and have all the books you have purchased from Amazon downloaded onto the new Kindle you buy from Amazon. After you die there is no residual value for anything on the Kindle. If you want someone else to read a book on the Kindle then you have to lend them yours, you cannot loan the book to them or sell the book to them.
Whether or not that’s an issue to you particularly, is anyone’s guess. But I think many of us have had the experience of either selling books to a used book store for a bit of cash, or gifting them to friends. Once a book is on Kindle,… it ‘dies’ there. No more value to you or anyone else, unless you give them your Kindle.
There are many advantages of self-publishing. You control your content 100% - no editor will be able to water down your message or story. You make more money on each sale. If you publish on digital media, you can upgrade or update your information pretty easily and keep it current, have it interactive, add video and sound. Whereas on a hard copy book, you have to publish a minimum amount of books, and making changes is laborious and costly. BUT you have a publicist who will get your books into bookstores, into libraries and onto Amazon. They might get you a book tour where you present your book and sign them. You pay them a percentage of your book price for those services.
There are several other issues you need to consider as well - how you will market your book, to whom, and where. How you will distribute your book, and if you will make a download version (assuming you wanted a digital medium). And things like - do you want to purchase an ISBN number, donate several hundred of your books to libraries to have them available and get your name out there, and if it is a digital product, things like copyright security.
I think if you have a dream of publishing a book, certainly go for it. It is a very rewarding experience on many levels and you grow as a person and as a writer.
Best of luck! Don't let anyone steal your dream.
Akaisha
Author, The Adventurer’s Guide to Early Retirement
