Self-Publishing Question #51 of 52: Why is it important to think of my book publishing endeavor as a business?
You are the publisher and you have a product to sell: your book. You’ve invested hundreds of hours developing your product and hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars in creating and polishing it, turning it into a product that you know consumers will buy. But you would be surprised how many authors fail to think past this point and end up allowing a self-publishing company to “distribute” the book (with average sales of fifty books) or who have a stack of book cartons in their garage, unsold. So, it’s important to think about how you are going to market your book to your potential readers, what price you are going to charge, and then, how you are going to get it to the consumer!
Self-Publishing Question #52 of 52: How long do buyers spend reading the back cover text?
Your back cover text should be short, concise and focused, even while transmitting the benefits of reading your book. For nonfiction books, use bullet points to list the benefits—what the reader will get out of the book. If your book is fiction, provide a brief synopsis of the plot, but don’t give away the entire book. Moreover, know your audience and speak directly to them, and remember that the average book buyer will only spend about ten seconds reading your back cover, so make sure you can get your message across quickly!
