books Archives - Stew Ross Discovers

Pachino — A mold of Al Pacino’s face from the *Godfather III*. Photo (2013). Pollack man34. Creative Commons. Wikimedia Commons.

Remember when Michael Corleone uttered those words in Godfather III?

Aren’t there times when you feel the same way? Every year when you look back and think, “Next year can’t get any crazier than the one I just went through” and then it does—they pull you back in.

Never in my wildest dreams did I know what I was getting into when I began writing the non-fiction book proposal in April 2012 for my walking tour book on the French Revolution. Now here we are, the first two books (Where Did They Put the Guillotine? —Volumes One and Two) have been published in 2014. The third book, Where Did They Burn the Last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar? —A Walking Tour of Medieval Paris, will be published in March 2015 while the fourth book, Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? will be published in December 2015.

What I really didn’t comprehend at the time was the complexity of taking on all of the publishing components. It has been quite a journey and one that I’m glad I took. I’m not done yet. Now that we have product, we’re entering into the fourth and fifth component of publishing: the distribution and marketing/public relations. Like the music industry, the distribution component is the one that the traditional publishing industry is having a hard time getting its arms around.

Everything’s a process…

Do Authors Make Money?

I was having a cup of coffee with a woman who owned a public relations firm in Nashville. She specialized in handling authors with the marketing of their books. So I asked her, “How do authors make any money on their book?”

She answered, “They don’t, at least not until the third or fourth book.”

Huh?

She went on to explain that the economics turn positive when a self-publishing author writes a series of books as opposed to a “one and done” book. As the author builds their audience (or tribe) over a period of 18 to 24 months, he will have probably written his first two books. By the time the third book is written and published, the audience is there, and they begin to buy the third book. If they like it, they will go back and buy book numbers one and two. She said this is when the author begins to make money.

Photo by Scmagnetismo (2008). Wikimedia Commons

So I have this series of three walking tour books in Paris planned for publication over the next two years: Where Did They Put the Guillotine?—French Revolution (1789–1794), Where Did They Burn the Last Grandmaster of the Knights Templar?—Medieval Paris (987–1547), and Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters?—Nazi-occupied Paris (1940–1944). Keeping in mind what my friend the PR lady said, what is the sequence I should pursue as far as writing and publishing these three books (keep in mind, it’s really four books as the French Revolution turned into two separate books/volumes).

Tag: books

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in

Everything’s a process…

The Eyebrow Effect

Do Authors Make Money?

The Eyebrow Effect

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