Writing a book - publishing advice anyone??

[Mrpartners]

Hello,
I first have to say the Pavlina's rock!! They've inspired me to produce some of my own materials. I have finished one book and am working on another now. With their past experiences, I wondered if steve or erin might have any thoughts on giving away the book for free vs charging for it. Since I am just starting to brand myself, what would be the most advantageous monetarily in the beginning. I get mixed responses some say give it away and build my list others say charge up front to make some money and then back end them. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[WarrenG]

How good is it?

[Mrpartners]

Very good

I'm a web designer and I made a book, complete with a video tutorial and bonuses. However, upon listening and reading steve's stuff, I realized I need to be moving toward my own self help materials (my 2nd project) and not just web stuff, although, I think many could use web services for themselves or to set up their own website business.

[WarrenG]

How long is it?

[Mrpartners]

My making your own website book is about 25 pages, then the video tutorial is about 35 minutes for the visual learners. My 2nd project I'm working on...I made it into mp3's (about 60 minutes worth) then I'll convert it to print

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by Mrpartners

Since I am just starting to brand myself, what would be the most advantageous monetarily in the beginning. I get mixed responses some say give it away and build my list others say charge up front to make some money and then back end them. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

I think this is Steve's answer: How to Defeat Kolrami

[WarrenG]

Originally Posted by Mrpartners

My making your own website book is about 25 pages, then the video tutorial is about 35 minutes for the visual learners. My 2nd project I'm working on...I made it into mp3's (about 60 minutes worth) then I'll convert it to print

OK, unless the book and video are absolutely spectacular and genuinely provide something that people can't get elsewhere, it's probably not worth paying for, because 1, people can get great information on this for free, and 2, you're competing with 200+ page books by established brands that people can get for probably $6 on Amazon.

It's awesome that you've been proactive enough to produce some work that you're proud of, and definitely keep going if you're enjoying it, but I'd give these away rather than charge, and use them to build up the list.

Also, your topics are very broad, "Making a website" is highly saturated and you're up against some big, established names. Is there any way you can scale this down a bit, for example, making a website for small business owners in x area, or making a website for landscape gardeners, etc? It might be worth thinking about, even alongside your more general stuff.

[Mrpartners]

yea, i was kinda thinking that after I had made it

but i agree I may need to try and specify more of a niche. I'm leaning toward

the free approach starting out to build my list. My 2nd project is more toward breaking free and leaving jobs to follow your passion. Similar to his 10 reasons to never get a job, but I talk about other aspects as well. It's 60 min of audio so I will see what that converts to in print. What would you suggest for that one?

[WarrenG]

How good is it?

[Mrpartners]

of course it's even better than the first project

[WarrenG]

In my experience, if something online isn't spectacular or offers nothing you can't get anywhere else, it just doesn't work as a paid product. In fact, I'd even say the same for free content - not that everything has to be spectacular, just that only a small percentage of it does well.

Also, there's marketing to take into account too. I made a product which was far ahead of other stuff in the niche, contained stuff that's not found elsewhere, and presented in a fresh way. But it didn't do well because I wasn't good enough at online marketing to get it out enough. However, if you have something that's genuinely good you can always take it to a publisher and let the experts take care of distribution, which is what I eventually did.

A book called "The 22 Irrefutable Rules of Marketing" is good and I wish I'd bough long ago. It's only a short book, 40 pages or so, but it's a good thing to compare products ideas to, to get a quick idea if there's any mileage in it.

For your new project, it depends on what the other aspects are, but if they are not spectacular or unique in some way, or if you don't already have a base of customers who would be interested, keep offering free content to build up a base of followers that trust you, then release a product that's spectacular.

[Mrpartners]

Ok, thanks for the advice and suggestions. I will try it out.

[Mrpartners]

Oh, one more thing,

As you well know, most authors think their material is spectacular

how do you know when you got that killer book/program? Basically, I guess I mean, when do you stop giving away everything for free? How do you know when to start charging?

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by Mrpartners

Oh, one more thing,

As you well know, most authors think their material is spectacular

how do you know when you got that killer book/program? Basically, I guess I mean, when do you stop giving away everything for free? How do you know when to start charging?

When you feel your book is worth it.

You can always ask a select few to read it (people who are either strangers or honest friends, who will tell you the truth, even if it would hurt) and get their advice.

[WarrenG]

Originally Posted by ssandra

When you feel your book is worth it.

You can always ask a select few to read it (people who are either strangers or honest friends, who will tell you the truth, even if it would hurt) and get their advice.

Yeah, I agree. Give out free copies to people in your intended target audience. I gave out at least 50 of mine away, probably more, and chased them up for feedback. I contacted bloggers and said they could have a free copy of the final product if they gave some feedback. This is also good because some reviewed it on their blog too, and referred a few sales.

If you know anyone who works as a writer or editor, you can get them to look over your grammar, style etc. I though I knew it all until I did this, and they noticed changes in tense, parts that didn't make sense, and other stuff. Sometimes you're too close to your own writing because you know what you mean, so you fill in the blanks when you're editing yourself.

Also, you can compare your product to existing products. I got the idea for my book because I didn't like the ones I found on that topic, so I always knew I was adding something new, and why mine was different/better. Check out the top 5-10 books on your topic. See if yours just covers the same things, see what things they miss. Do they all convey the material in the same boring way? Is yours more engaging, written better, etc. Stuff like that. If you plan to take your book to a publisher, they will probably ask about this anyway.

[JoePike]

Why not self-publish the book to places like Amazon for the Kindle and Barnes & Noble for the Nook once you are sure it's of the highest quality it can be? (Meaning you've had several un-biased people help you edit for content and grammar.) You have nothing to lose.

I would also highly recommend charging around $2.99 for the ebook because at that price point (at least regarding Amazon) you get 70% while they take only 30%. That's around $2 profit per book sold, and you're going to sell a heck of a lot more of them for $2.99 than you would at a higher price point. The key is volume volume volume. You'll make more selling a bunch of copies at a lower price than just a few at a higher price. Plus you'll get your material out to more people which is a win/win.

Within the ebook you can link to the video of the same material which is cool. Just a thought! But if you go this route, make sure you're book is free of typos and make sure you have a professional looking cover...even if you have to pay someone to make one for you. It makes a big difference in sales.

Also, don't be shy about promotion. You need to let anyone and everyone you can know that you have this book available. That means Facebook, Twitter, Kindleboards, other boards you visit, emails, word of mouth, etc.

[Mrpartners]

Thank you to everyone that contributed. I appreciate the advice and suggestions.