My Blog

Barefoot Books!

04/30/2011 21:47:00

Well,it's not what you think. haha, They didn't sign me to write for them, but I am selling for them. I absolutely love their books and own many of them already, so it's a perfect fit. You can check out the selection at my link below and I'll bring them along with me to appearances too...fun fun fun!

Online Book Release Party Plans

04/30/2011 12:51:00

So, I'm getting pretty excited to release my latest, self published picture book, Grandpa's Loud. It should be out soon, but there was a pricing error that needs to be corrected first. Then we'll be all set to go!

This was a pretty cool week. My Facebook fan site has gone up to over 1000 fans! My thousandth fan was the lucky winner of a free book of her choice. If you haven't visited it yet, please join us for some fun giveaways. https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Mommy-Takes-Away-by-Sharlene-Weingart/356903381949

I have been sponsoring quite a few giveaways and it seems to be helping to get my name out there. The thing about self publishing, or any type of publishing I suppose, is that you have to be marketing yourself and your work all the time or else your books just don't get into the the little hands they were meant for.

This week I was featured on www.babyheist.com for a 24 hour sale. That was great fun and we sold 60 books to families all across Canada. It was fun to wrap them all up and send them off.

But, now it's time to get outside and look for more story inspiration with my Miss Muffet, Katie May!

Happy Spring everyone!

Shar

And the winners are...

03/29/2011 22:11:00

So, my facebook contest ended early because the rules are changing and I didn't want to get caught up in all that...I counted up the results and the winning schools are now listed on my facebook page.TD Michael in Big River Sask, Parkland Elementary in Farmington BC, Canalta Elementary in Dawson Creek BC, and Notre Dame in Dawson Creek BC. Congratulations! I will be sending out books later this week. Right now I have been busy busy busy with marketing and finishing up my next book. I designed my first full page magazine ad that will be out in April. I hope it turns out alright. I have never created an ad before that had to be "camera ready" and I'm still not even sure what that means. But, I put it in a pdf file and left lots of room in the margins and am hoping for the best. I could spend so much time on marketing...it could be a full time job. I think that is a big secret to success in the publishing industry. You could have the best books and if you don't find away for people to get their hands on them it doesn't matter. It's frustrating to see that books that are less imaginative than my own (that share the same title) are in big box stores, while I am turned away. Not that I think my books are the best out there, but I know that little kids have been connecting with them and choosing them over other books. Sometimes I want to whine...but it's not fair....why don't stores take my books...just because I self published them...that's not a good enough reason...MANY reviewers even turn down books that are self published without even looking at them.

Whatever.

Then I think to myself, well, it is my job to get my books into the hands of children and I need to find creative ways to do it. I don't have a publisher that automatically includes me in a catalogue...so it is all up to me.

Today I contacted www.babyheist.com to see about getting my books in for a heist...greatly reduces the profit margin...but I think of it as a marketing expense and then it sounds like fun. I hope that we can work something out. The first amount they wanted to discount the books is lower than the actual cost, so I hope they are open to work out a fair price. The books were suggested to retail for $15.99 but I just thought that was WAY too much for a paperback...so I paid to have the price lowered to $12.99 which is the lowest I could get it. Funny how the company I published through makes you pay to lower the cost of the books. They are so good in other ways, I'm overlooking that fact. They are definitely making their money from the authors...but I plan to be an exception. I would like them to make money from selling my books. They get a cut of all the profits, which is why they can't lower the price of the books more than I have already.

Right now I am also looking into getting an animated iphone app done of one of my books. I am pricing it out between the company I have been using and another business that does this. I don't even have an iphone, but am getting one so I can do more research into what makes an good iphone app for kids books. I like the idea of using it while kids are waiting for a doc/dentist appointment, etc. I love the books lit up on the iphone and my daughter loves them too. She comes running to see what I'm doing when I'm researching them. I will always love books, and continue to fill my house with them, but this will be a nice edition to my collection. Does anyone who has been so bored that you have read all this rambling have any favourite picture book apps?? I like Cat in the Hat, it's cute...What makes a great picture book app for kids?

Scholastic Canada say's, "no" and I say, "Free Books!"

01/30/2011 19:16:00

So...the big let down...my inbox contained the form letter rejection from Scholastic Canada...so I'm still on my own for distribution.

Rather than get down about it, I've decided to celebrate something that I love and that is Schools...For the time it takes to reach 1000 likes on my face book page everyone is welcome to leave a love note for their favourite school. The five most loved schools will win a set of my books. Please get involved and share a love note of your own!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mommy-Takes-Away-by-Sharlene-Weingart/356903381949?ref=ts

Your books?

01/15/2011 23:51:00

Please share a link to your website here...I'd love to see what everyone is writing and publishing. I like to support self published authors and am always looking for a good book to read.

Suggested Retail Price

01/15/2011 17:20:00

xlibris set the price of my books at 15.99 US. For a price (about $150) and a reduced royalty I was able to set my own price to the lowest they allow: $12.99

This is one of my curiosities about printing on my own. I feel like they are probably taking such a high cut above the price of printing that it forces the books to be priced higher than other paperback books of similar size. It is a frustrating point but at this time I don't know what else to do about it.

When selling through a store you can expect to provide a wholesale discount of 40%, even 45% at one major retailer, so there is only so much you can do and still break even.You also have to take into account shipping books or delivering them to local locations. These are some extra costs that come off the bottom line.

I was really lucky to have some local stores take a much smaller profit on my books (20%) for awhile -- really nice because I had paid so much more for my first batch of books in my big hurry to order them. But as soon as I received a better deal ordering books I increased my wholesale discount and threw in some free books to make up for the difference. Retail stores that showcase my books are wonderful because it reduces my shipping and delivering while opening up my market beyond those who know me.

Depending on your goal you may want to consider selling to directly to buyers to gain the best profit margin...but there is always the idea that if I sell a million copies and receive a dollar a book...hahaha

I have tried to keep my price as low as I can and worry about building popularity rather than trying to make more money on each book sold. And of course, I won't quit my day job. LOL

Have you got tips on setting the price for your books? Do you have advice on improving the profit margins? Please, share!

Print On Demand

01/15/2011 17:07:00

xlibris uses Print on Demand technology and this provides me the ability to order whatever number of books I require without having to store excess amounts or carry the cost of huge orders that haven't been sold. However, the more books you order at a time the better discount you receive. Sometimes free shipping is also included.

This is another lesson I learned the hard way! I was so excited to order Mommy Takes Away when I finished the publication process that I ordered online. I didn't know that if you waited until office hours and talked to a representative you can get a much better discount and free shipping. So, I paid a higher price per book, plus another dollar per book for shipping. It was well worth waiting for a promotion to be offered and to talk with a book sales representative.

I have always felt that if I were to have the books printed directly through a company such as lightning source that I could get them printed cheaper, but I have not been able to get a quote on them while they are carried by xlibris. So, for now the ease in ordering from xlibris is enough for me to stay put...but I'm always considering my options.

The Price?

01/15/2011 16:57:00

The cost of self publishing can vary from company to company so I can only speak to the price that it cost to publish my books and what was included.

First of all, I published through xlibris.com and they have speciality packages for children's picture books that include access to their art department. I chose to take advantage of this as my illustration sketches were cute, but they were not professional in any sense. The art department took my sketches and all of my comments and feedback to provide polished illustrations that meet all of my expectations. For this reason alone, I feel like I had a pretty good deal for my book packages. I paid 50% off the price listed on their website, so it was around $1500 a book. This included everything to do with the publication process and illustrations, as well as a few "free" book and some marketing stuff. (posters, book marks and business cards)

Once you have completed the publication process and signed off then extra charges for corrections can occur. I missed things that I assumed a person on the other end would have noticed. I learned to assume nothing and triple check everything. I spent over $1000 due to my assumptions and the company policies. They would not split the difference with me. Aside from that extra cost, there were no hidden fees that popped up. Everything was upfront and they even offer a three month payment plan if necessary for a small fee upfront.

One catch is that I don't own the digital file that they created. So, although the copy write is mine, I can't just take a copy of the file and get it printed somewhere else on my own or get it made into an app on my own without recreating the file...which I don't really know how to do aside from scanning the books. So, they do retain some control in that sense. That said, the use of the art department is worth it to me, so I am using the same process for my next book. I feel that I get a good value for the money invested.

Have you paid to publish a book? What did it cost you and would you do it again at the same place? Did you figure it all out and do it on your own?

the Stigma

01/15/2011 15:08:00

I have experienced the stigma of self publishing and find it frustrating to deal with. Yes. I did pay to have my books published. It isn't a free process. I came to the decision to publish on my own after doing research and finding only two publishers accepting submissions of picture books. I did send in my manuscript to both of these publishers and received back a standard form letter rejection stating that they only publish a few picture books a year and that mine would not be one of them, that this had nothing to do with the quality of my work, blah blah blah.

So I was left to make a decision. Leave my story in a drawer...or find another way. Why should I have to wait around for other companies to decide they were ready for more submissions only to be rejected six months later in a form letter?

I found a different way...possibly a way that will become widely accepted and rather than allowing a few acquiring editors around the country to decide what is worth publishing... it will let the readers decide.

I started with a manuscript and sketches for my illustrations and found a company that provides illustrations through an art department. Every single aspect of the book and illustrations are based on my instructions. For a flat-fee I was able to publish my book at a top level professional quality.

So. The Stigma. Is the process I followed based on vanity? I don't think so. I think the term "vanity press" comes from fear by the publishing industry that perhaps the industry as it is known today could come apart at the seams... If an author does not require their services to put a book on the market that could completely cut Publishers from the process. Now books can be published directly by an author and the readers can decide if it is worthy of being read...or not. It is up to the individual author to assume the risk and deal with the stigma attached...and hope that down the road it will diminish. If you are willing to work hard to market your books and you have an audience that will buy and read them it won't matter how you went about publishing them. That said...there are ways to minimize being tarnished with the Stigma.

1. Quality Counts! Make sure that your illustrations are professional. Hire an artist or choose a company that will provide an art department.

2. Focus! Resolution and images should be perfectly focused. Nothing shows an unproffesional product like blurry illustrations or photos.

3. Edit! Hire an editor if necessary. I completed this process with my first book and still felt like I should use my finished copy to try and find a publisher to accept the book. I was shocked and excited when I met with a prospective publisher only to be told that I Didn't Need Them! I had already done all the work that they would have offered...It was time for me to distribute. The "publishing" was done. So, I continued on my distribution journey and kept my chin up. Yes. I self published. And lots of people like my book. In fact, my books have been recognized with some awards...so now it's up to me. Time to market and distribute.

Have you been down a similar path? Do you have something to share? Please post!

My Publishing Adventures...

01/15/2011 14:15:00

So, if you are reading this you either know me and wonder what I've been doing for the past year...or more likely, you are trying to self publish or market your book and you came across my website by fluke. Or, hopefully not by fluke.

I have self published three picture books in 2010 and have had many ups and downs along the way. I'm working on the fourth and will share my thoughts and process along the way.

Overall I've been happy with the process and decision I made to publish independently ... wherever you are in the process feel free to share, comment and chat.