Rochelle, with her co-author Linda Gast,  has self-published a children’s book, “So What, Saw-Whet? “and sold over 1,000 copies!    True, it has taken four years to make those sales, but it’s still an impressive achievement for a self-published book.

Her HubPages article about her experience explains exactly how they achieved it.

It’s very tough to get poetry published by a mainstream publisher - they simply don’t consider it “commercial”.  So unlike my other interviews, I didn’t even have to ask Joan why she chose the self-publishing path.

How did you decide to use Shadow Poetry? Did you consider other publishing houses?

I spent about three months researching publishing venues.  My main concern was that I have as much control as possible over the publishing process.  I actually considered publishing the book myself from scratch however after crunching the numbers and considering my time, I decided to have it done professionally.  I chose Shadow Poetry because they offered almost complete control over the process allowing for my input throughout.  Plus, after I placed my order with them, I received my initial copies of the book within eight days.  They are amazing.

What marketing strategies have you used to promote your book (either online or in your local area)?

I almost exclusively use online methods.  I place ads, promote, network etc… all over the internet and it has served me well.  In my local area I have placed a number of books in local independent book shops on a consignment basis.  Although I enjoy poetry readings, I am deathly afraid of publicly reading my work.  I have in the past and it was a disaster.  If I could get over that fear, then poetry readings are the way to go.

Are you happy with your experience? What will you do differently next time?

I am extremely happy with the experience and probably would not do anything differently.

Thanks Joanne!

Joanne’s books are available from Shadow Poetry.  Please check it out - you can read excerpts from the book before buying, which is a great idea.

For more information and further writings, visit Joanne’s website and blogs at:

Poetic Creations

A Poet’s View Today

In San Francisco Today

Poetic Shutterbug

Did you look at other publishing avenues before settling on Lulu.com?  What led you to pick Lulu?

My journey began, as many do, at google. This of course was after I gave up on traditional publishing. I gave up on that pretty quick, after seeing the submission hoops that most publishers make you jump through, and the year you wait just to hear anything back. To heck with that…

After looking through a bajillion self publishing companies, including (off the top of my head) Xlibris, iUniverse, Vantage and Booksurge, I was seeing a common thread. “Invest a huge stack of cash, and WHEE! You get 20 copies FREE!”

Ehhh, no. I was whining about that in a forum on DeviantArt, where I had submitted a handful of short stories, when someone pointed me at Lulu. No startup fee, and nobody PHONING ME to upsell me? Sold.

You mention your graphic art background was an advantage in publishing with Lulu.  Why?

Custom covers, mainly. The card I gave out for my (now closed due to fatherhood) graphics business said on the back, “No clip-art. No templates. EVER.” It was my cause. I’ve been known to do business cards for the cost of printing, just to stop people using those sheet kits from staples. So you can imagine how I felt about a clipart cover on my book.

Design was one thing, but conforming to the measurements, formats, cutoff margins, and all that… it was messy as heck! A novice would have likely ended up either hiring out to a person like me, or going with the clipart.

You say you’re looking at Createspace now.  Is that for a different book or the same book?

Same book. There is another one in the works, mind you. I became aware of CreateSpace a little while ago, and their pricing looks really favorable against Lulu’s, which I had always held as being the leader of the pack. Most of my sales are done personally, via friendly local stores, or conventions. It looks like I can stock myself at a much lower price, and set a lower retail price… with is a ratio that is currently pretty tight when selling through a store.

How easy have you found it to market your book?  Any tips?

Ack. Marketing was never my strong suit. To make it worse, I’ve become a stay at home dad for a daughter who is 20 months old, and has just given up naps. Add my disability (paraplegia from a spinal injury), and marketing gets put on a distant backburner. BUT…. 

Know your target audience. I sold horribly at a Blackbond books, (don’t get me started - that’s another story), but do nicely at a shop that specializes in tabletop and roleplaying games. Don’t advertise to the general public, when you can aim at your niche.

Pimp it out. Don’t cram your book down people’s throats, but be ready with:

-website: preferably pay for a site so you can have your own name on it, no ads, and no address like www.yahoogimmiefreewebbs/35638462/whee.com.  You don’t need a lot of space. A cover shot, maybe your mug, a description, maybe a few excerpts, links to buy, etc. If you’re feeling cheap a freebie site is  better than nothing.

-Business card: This is a card for your book. Your name is on it, sure, but the card is about the book. Title big, a nice graphic, web address, etc.. My rule is: Front side clean and pretty, back side crammed with info. Be ready to hand one out at the drop of a hat. (vistaprint.com is a great place to get cheap cards)

-Postcards: Again, simple on the front, crammed with info on the back. (again, vistaprint have magnetic or huge oversized postcards) Mine are pretty enough that people at a convention grab one and go, then come back after they read the back as they walked around. Postcards make good bookmarks as well, but if one wants a cheap source of traditional (kinda) bookmarks, you can make a design that prints 2 on a postcard, and cut em in half.

Did I mention I’m cheap?

-Vistaprint also does these cool corrugated plastic lawn signs. I took one to the last sci fi convention, and perched it on my table. Just a splashy logo and a catchphrase.

Another thing I’ve done… well, I can’t say it’s a sound marketing technique, but it has gotten me a handful of sales for something I was going to do anyway. I was very excited for a game called littleBIGplanet on the ps3. The big feature for me is the ability to make your own levels. Being my own biggest fanboy. I set out to create a series of levels that retold the book… in a very rudimentary, and cute-ified way. I also have done two contests, where they highest score after a week on a level I set up for it, got a copy of the book, a t-shirt, etc. That was a blast. (any LBP players out there should do a search of my PSN, ozero, and play my book…!)

Currently I’m researching options for online advertising…

Thanks Joseph.  Your experience illustrates why science fiction is one of the two best genres for self-published authors! Science fiction and fantasy fans congregate.  Conventions give sci fi authors a rare chance to meet a large number of readers face-to-face. If only they held thriller conventions, or whodunnit conventions! You don’t mention science fiction and fantasy forums, which offer similar opportunities online.  The gaming connection is a fantastic idea and may work better than you think!

Joe’s book is available at Lulu.com.   Here’s a taster :

Lifehack  

She lost her brother.

She learnt to fight a legion of dead.

She spent two years alone, scavenging to survive.

Then to make things difficult,

                           …she fell in love with a straight girl.

Microscopic technology is making leaps and bounds. Unseen robots, or ‘nanites’ already work many mundane tasks, creating materials previously impossible. In the near future, advanced nanites will become the weapon of choice for a man with no purpose other than bloodthirsty mischief - and millions will pay the price. When a city is overtaken by vicious puppet corpses, the only defence is quarantine.

A debt to a brother, duty to the military, and a feeling of responsibility for one who’s been wandering in quarantine since the outbreak - all fuel the need to resolve a crime against humanity that has had the corpses of its victims roaming the streets of a damned city for two years.

As the puzzle pieces begin to click, an unwanted love constantly gets in the way, between the woman who can’t stop loving, and the woman who can’t accept it.

…meanwhile, a cruel imagination considers its next step…

Did you consider other types of publishing before you chose Lulu? Why did you settle on Lulu?

I considered going the Agent/Publisher route, but kept coming across folks that wanted me to give them payment before they even saw word 1 of my novel.  I chose lulu, both because of the relative ease in which the site worked… plus I enjoyed the freedom of being able to design my cover/spine.

No reputable agent or publisher would ever charge you to look at your novel, so just as well you didn’t part with any cash!  Are you happy with your Lulu.com experience? Have sales met your expectations?

So far, so good.  Of course I wish my sales were higher, but that’s something I’m working on now.

What kind of marketing strategies would you recommend?

Networking if you can.  I think on the Internet, word-of-mouth is an invaluable asset in marketing.

Thanks Chris.  For those of you who would like to know more about Straitjacket Vacation, here’s the “blurb”:

Craig, the newest resident in the behavioral health unit. A man displaced, without a clear destination. Should he remain in an environment which he sees as sub-par, or risk returning home to an even less clear future? Taken very much out of his element, Craig will be placed under observation. He will meet varied eccentric characters, and may ultimately wind up becoming one himself. He will repeatedly make a spectacle of himself in the name of better living conditions for his peers. Will his “One Man Revolution” be successful, or will it only serve as a deflection for his own problems?

Did you consider any other methods of publishing before choosing Lulu.com? Why did you settle on them?

I never considered another way to publish my books. I was a professional riding instructor at the time and I used Lulu.com to supply my trail riding guidebook to my students. I also published 2 calendars with them, to use as publicity for my horseback riding business. I also wrote a family history book, which I published through Lulu and distributed copies among the family. During the time I published with Lulu I did not actively advertise my books. With Lulu you had to advertise heavily to get any sales at all.

That’s a great example of where self-publishing works perfectly - for small print runs with a ready-made local audience. Why are you now considering the Amazon alternative?

I am considering finishing up a work of fiction and if I publish it I might go with Amazon this time, because they will do the advertising for me. Amazon has a self publishing unit that operates like Lulu but has different layouts, book types and prices. The books look to be of a higher quality than Lulu.

I wasn’t aware Amazon did any advertising for their writers.  I’ll have to research that!  Any tips for authors considering following your example?

Get a following of fans before you publish your book. Start a blog and interact with your visitors. Write for Associated Content and develop a following. When you are ready to publish your book you will then have a group of customers waiting for it already.

That makes sense.  Writers outside the US might find HubPages a better bet than AC (which only pays US residents).  I would add - write/blog about subjects that are relevant to your book, because there’s no point creating a customer base that likes (say) chocolate and then trying to sell them a book about custard.

Thank you Jans for providing the interview.  Dear readers, please check out Jans’ blogs, All The Creatures and All the Creatures At Today.com

I’m hoping to get back to blogging next week, and to bring you some refreshing guest blogs into the bargain!

However, as I said, sometimes a writing break can be a good thing – especially if you’re writing a novel.  It gives you a chance to get some distance. When you come back to your manuscript after the holidays, you’ll see it with fresh eyes and it’ll be much clearer what needs to be improved.

Happy holidays!

This rant about selfpublishing is worth sharing!

 “When these names get brought up over and over, it gives the impression it happens all the time. But when you have to dredge through millions of authors who have produced work over TWO HUNDRED years….then it’s the equivalent of saying a person can strike oil while digging a swimming pool.”

She has a point - but there’s more.  The world of publishing has changed a lot in that time.  Two hundred years ago, there were far fewer books on the market and far less people who could afford to buy them.  It was quite possible for an author to get a book printed and circulate it around the litterati in (say) New York or London, and that meant they had reached a big part of the world’s influential readership - which would be enough to make the book a sensation.  These days, there’s a lot more competition, and it’s much harder for your book to get noticed.   So you can’t really compare the successful self-publishers of yesteryear with today. 

Worth bearing in mind if you’re tempted to get sucked in by the “instant fame” syndrome!

Here’s an interesting one I came across recently - a guide for self publishers from ISBN Australia. If you’re wondering what an ISBN is, it’s basically a reference number that uniquely identifies a book.  It’s used by all the libraries and bookstores to order books, so it’s pretty important to have one.  The more reputable POD and self-publishing houses will organise a ISBN for you (they will charge you a fee because the ISBN agency charges a fee), but if you need to organise one yourself, this guide tells you how - and gives other useful advice for self-publishers into the bargain.  Worth a read!