For those of you who didn’t have the opportunity to attend, we certainly missed you.  I hope the virtual author’s assistants who did attend will take the time to comment on this blog post and let others know what they learned and if they felt it was worthwhile attending.

Book Expo America is the big book exhibition in the US every year where all the major publishers come to show off their brand new books (most coming out in the Fall) to entice booksellers to place orders for when the books are available.  For anyone who loves books, this is the place to be.  Not only are there exhibits, there are also free classes and free books signed by the authors.

For anyone wishing to work in the book publishing industry, this is a great place to see how the industry has evolved since the last BEA and this year there were more self publishing firms in attendance and more emphasis was placed on ebooks and audio books, as you might expect.

This was the first year BEA was held in only two days and mid-week, but overall attendance was still 21,000 so the show was well-attended.

This is the second year we had virtual author’s assistants in attendance and this year we had six – up from only two last year.  Janica Smith, Michelle Scappace, Patti Ciccone, Barbara Dunne, Michele Cole and Doreen DeJesus helped the ten authors who were part of my annual BEA Experience group – authors who are looking for established commercial publishers and approach them at the show.  I think several of the virtual author’s assistants met new author clients in our group.  Michelle Scappace volunteered to do some research right on site and helped one of our authors get an email she needed to communicate with a publishing company editor.  Way to go, Michelle!

This is just one of the many ways to find new author clients for virtual author’s assistants.  Writing and publishing conferences, book fairs and even book signings might be great places to find new business, but it helps to be prepared.  Make sure you have business cards and then either postcards or you can use the printable handouts at the Virtual Author’s Assistant Online Headquarters (AuthorsAssistants.org and click on Marketing on the top red navigation bar then scroll down to Marketing Corner and download the four PDF docs below that).  Just make sure you have a professional visual, maybe of your logo or a photo of you, contact information and a description of what you do for authors.

Beyond the opportunity for new clients, each of these events affords the virtual author’s assistant an opportunity to see book publishing and the needs of authors from a new angle.  Listen to the questions authors ask and think about how you could answer their concerns.

One of the things that came up for the virtual author’s assistants at BEA was the idea of how books get from authors to publishers through distributors to bookstores.  There are so many books and only a small percentage ever end up in bookstores.  The best way to get books into bookstores is to work with an established commercial publisher -and even that doesn’t make getting into bookstores a certainty.

If however, you have an author who is self publishing and says “help me get distribution”, one of the best ways you can be helpful is to first understand the distribution process and then consider how Lightning Source can get them most of the way there – at least it is a great first step to open up the possibility of getting into some bookstores because working with Lightning Source (and now working with CreateSpace.com through Amazon) the book automatically appears on the online bookstore ordering catalog created by Ingram (who owns Lightning Source).  We have some brand new training materials on this whole subject of printing books  and distribution.  Go to the Virtual Author’s Assistant Online Headquarters (AuthorsAssistants.org, and put your cursor over VAA Course and click on By Subject – the publishing subjects are about half way down the page).

Continuing your publishing education is one of the best ways to stay in touch with the needs of authors – and meet authors, too!

I think one of the most difficult topics I discuss with virtual author’s assistants is marketing their businesses.  It seems some people who start virtual businesses from the get-go are extremely successful and never at a loss for clients – and others struggle.

Despite your best efforts, if this is the first time you have marketed a product or service, or if this is the first time authors have been your target clients, then you may be encountering the unexpected.

Most marketing challenges go back to three things:

1. Doing the right things – thinking and planning about the best strategy before investing time and money on any marketing effort. What you are considering may sound fun and exciting today but will it really deliver long term?
2. Doing things right – following the full process even if you are tired, bored, discouraged, distracted or impatient.  Taking short cuts or not really putting in the effort will short-circuit your marketing.
3. Giving it time – If you are doing the two things above, then keep doing them and be patient with yourself.  It is easy to expect a lot very soon, but marketing is constant.  Keep going and trust that things will happen.

With these things in mind, let me talk about the most common concerns I hear from VAA’s marketing to authors.

Q: “Everyone I talk to is someone who wants free information from me, not people who can afford my work.  Are there really authors who pay for these services?”

A: Yes!  There are many full-time author’s assistants working with from 4 to 10 authors at any time.  It sounds like you are targeting the wrong groups to networking with or talk to.  It is true that there are plenty of aspiring authors who have no idea about the publishing process and are writing as a hobby or pastime.  Your job is to get in front of the people who are most likely to have the budget to spend on what is part of their professional marketing for their business – authors who are subject matter experts like coaches, entrepreneurs, attorneys, medical professionals, psychologists, speakers and others.  Most of these individuals are writing non-fiction books and do not have the time to do the work you do.   They are out there and you must find them and get in front of them.

So Here’s a Challenge For You:  Brainstorm and write 3 new places you might network or where you might give a short talk where there are professional who are aspiring authors (Hint: find local Human Resources groups and business professional networking groups or even go to your local library or community group)

Q: “I’m getting interest and it looks like the process is going well, but after I make a proposal I don’t hear from the prospect again or he tells me that my services are too expensive.  I can’t afford to lower my prices, but is that what I’m going to have to do to get clients?”

A: Pricing may be the identified issue, but clients will use money to say “no” because they think you are less likely to argue with them or pressure them into something when they that excuse instead of saying they aren’t confidence about working with you.

Don’t decrease your prices (unless they are way out of line with the competition).  Instead, focus on increasing the perceived value of your services.  If clients have been interested enough to talk to you, they clearly need what you do.  Focus on proving that you are worth it by showing how you will solve their problems (not having the time and expertise) and building a trusting relationship.  People worry that they will be taken advantage of and they do not want to spend money foolishly.  If they believe in your expertise and your ability to get the job done (and you have selected prospects who have the budget), they will pay for the work they need.

So Here’s a Challenge For You:  Review your sales material and your web site for things that boost your value and things that might decrease your perception of value.  For instance, your professional insignia boosts your value in the eyes of your prospects. On the VAA Online Headquarters we have articles, special reports, ebooks and many other things you can use to attract authors that are completely free for you to use.  And if you have had author clients, please get testimonials from them and have links from your site to their books.   Think about what three changes you could make in your web presence or in person that would increase your value in the eyes of potential clients.

Q: “I know I need to market, but I just don’t have time. I’m too busy with the day-to-day work to do anything else.  Any ideas?”

A: Yes, call me! I’m happy to set up some time to brainstorm what you need help with on all of these challenges. But first, I want you to do your homework.  First, I want you to set aside two hours to do the things I’m listing below, and once you’ve done them, then the time we spend together will be much more valuable.  Too many people aren’t really doing any marketing because they are afraid they won’t be able to do the job if they get it.  But instead of dealing with that,  they say their marketing isn’t working or that they are too busy to market.  Do the simple and low or no cost things first and then you can advance to those more time-consuming or costly things later.

If you completed the training, then you are ready to do the job.  When you get your first client, if anything comes up you are worried you can’t handle – you’ve got back up – me!

There is no quick way to build a business, despite what you hear.  But there is a way to build a business that will work for you, that will last, and that will be very fulfilling.  Job #1 is to get clients and until you’ve done that, very little else matters.

So Here’s a Challenge For You:

1. Go back through section 4 of the Virtual Author’s Assistant Training Program.  If you took the course over a year ago, that part might not have existed then and it is chock-full of marketing tools and ideas.  Especially get out your prospecting worksheet and make sure you have connected with everyone who you know who is a potential client or might be able to refer clients.

2. Make sure your directory profiles are complete and correct so when clients are referred

3.  Make sure I know you are looking for clients, what kinds of tasks you want to do or what niche you are specializing in.  I refer authors to author’s assistants every day.

4.  You should be sending emails or making phone calls daily or every other day to potential clients or referral sources like book coaches, editors, cover designers or others.  If you need a refresher of how to approach them, many of our specialty classes (like the one in June on working with book coaches) talk about book industry professionals and how to work with them.

5.  Get out where the authors are.  I will be at Book Expo America in New York next month with a group of 6 author’s assistants and at the eWomenNetwork International Conference in Dallas in July.  There are many publishing conferences all over the country – volunteer at one if you can and you will be introduced to many potential clients.

You can do this if you decide to take a leap of faith and work at it (really put in the hours) and think hard about what to do that fits you.  There is no way to create a virtual entrepreneurial business without getting out of your comfort zone, but it is very rewarding when you do!

I want to thank Lyn in Australia for referring me to a blog she read to ask me how I would respond to it.  Her question reminds me to let you know that if you read blogs that make your blood boil with incorrect information on book publishing or if you are asked questions you just can’t answer by prospective clients, please let me know.  I would love to help you prepare just the right responses.  As always, these blogs and my responses are yours to use as you wish in creating your own blog posts or comments on other sites.

The blog Lyn read was Understanding the Myths Regarding Self Publishing versus Traditional Publishing by Cheryl Tardif.  Tardif was responding to another blogger, Eric Rudolph.  Rudolph suggest that  there are 5 Reasons to Self Publish Your Next Book. Tardif’s comments are right on when she suggests that some of the 5 reasons he gives may not be accurate.  But that does not mean there aren’t five great reasons to self publish – just not those five reasons!   Here are a better five reasons to self publish:

1. You keep the rights to your own intellectual property and (as is appropriate) you keep all the profits from your book sales if you self publish. There are some significant reasons you might choose to hold onto your rights instead of selling them to an established commercial (more accurate terminology than “traditional”) publisher.  The greatest of these right now is that in a very short period of time (my best guess is 2 to 5 years), more books will be sold electronically than in print.  If you were to sign a contract today with an established commercial publisher (Random House, Simon & Schuster, Sourcebooks, Hay House, just to name a few), you would probably have royalties of about 10% for printed books (which is about right given the costs and discounting), but you would probably only have royalties of 25% for electronic books (ebooks).  This number is going to go to 50% in the near future.  But if you signed today, you would be stuck with a 25% royalty for the life of the contract (which is the life of the copyright, which is the author’s life plus 70 years).  During this period of big changes in the business model of book publishing, maintaining your IP rights is a very good idea until we see how things settle out.

Another big caveat here is that if you do self publish and you decide to use a POD publisher or publishing services firm, make sure you are signing a non-exclusive agreement to allow them to publish, or at least one that is easily terminated.  In addition, a self publishing services firm or POD publisher should not be paying an author royalties – the author should get all of the profits from sales since that author paid for all the costs of production up front.  Word to the wise:  You can still end up with a very restrictive contract, even if you self publish (and do it with a POD publisher), so you must really read before you sign.  Click on the title to download an Eight-Point Checklist for Working with a Publishing Services Company (“POD Publishers”).

If you work with a virtual author’s assistant to self publish, you won’t need to worry about compromising any of your rights.  A VAA is a professional who does high quality work and leaves all the author’s rights and profits intact.

2.  The time to market is significantly faster if you self publish. Established publishers contract with authors way in advance of the time they want the book to appear on the market – usually 12 to 18 months.  There is an old-fashioned notion in the book world that the publisher has to “prepare the market” by getting buzz going before the book comes out so that the demand will be great when it gets there.  That might be fine for a biography or a novel, but if you are publishing book on iPhone apps, can you imagine waiting 18 months?  I believe this lag time will go away once most books are sold as ebooks, but established publishers are resisting it.  If you self publish, you can get your book to market in 2 to 3 months, faster if you need to.

This is not a license to cut corners, however.  You will need a lot of high quality assistance (like a virtual author’s assistant who can direct the action and refer you to all the right people) so you can produce a professional-quality book, but do it in a more reasonable time frame.  Many freelancers have big publishing company experience but no longer work exclusively for the major publishers.  You can get the same quality help as publishers and not have to pay full-time prices as they do for their employees.

Again, you must be careful if you work with a POD publisher or publishing services firm.  Some of these firms do not commit to a time to market in their contracts or leave themselves plenty of room, like 18 months.  If you work with one of these firms, you should insist on your books being available in under 6 months, preferably in 3 to 4 months – and that should be in your contract.

3.  You can stay flexible with your intellectual property and respond to your target market’s needs if you self publish. I think one of the biggest advantages of self publishing (and this goes along with owning the rights) is that you can change any and all of your book any time the market needs something new.  You can develop workbooks, audio programs, multimedia programs – any or all of which might be prohibited if you use an established commercial publisher.  When you sign a contract with an established commercial publisher you can’t create derivative works (like a workbook or an audio version) because you no longer own these rights – the publisher does.  Publishers generally buy all the rights they can, but most of them never use them.  But they do prevent you from using them so you don’t create products that compete with the original book.

In addition, your book stays on the market, in its original form for as long as the publisher wishes.  The material could be out of date and the publisher might still sell it.  Unless it is selling very well, they may never wish to do a second edition so you are stuck with old material that has your name on it until it goes out of print, which might be years later.  You are prevented by contract from doing your own second edition.

A virtual author’s assistant is someone who is available on the author’s schedule to help meet these tight time frames and who is already trained and ready to do this work of getting the manuscript ready for publication, the steps in self publishing and eventually book marketing, much of it on-line. The virtual author’s assistant makes it easy for an author to quickly make changes in his or her book and get that book out and selling without taking a lot of time away from his or her primary business, work or home responsibilities.

VAAs are also trained in getting ebooks done, and others have expertise in webinars, audio and video recordings, live seminars and many other ways authors can take their IP and create new profitable products.

4.  You can get to a break even on your investment in your book faster if you self publish, particularly if you have a non-fiction book on topic that has a built-in audience and you have a platform to sell it.  Let’s look at a very simple example to make the point.

If you self-publish at $20 per book retail and you sell the book at a  33% discount, the price out the door becomes about $14. Assuming that your financial layout is $10,000, you need to sell about 800 books to break even.

Alternately, let us assume you work with an established commercial publisher. You will still incur some of the costs, so let us assume they would be $3,000 (book proposal coach or writer/editor/marketing efforts). A publisher will generally have to discount as much as 40 percent to 60 percent.

Optimistically, using the same 33% discount off on all copies, that is a price of $14 per book, the same as a self-published book. But your royalty (at 10 percent) gives you a little over $1 for each book sold. So in this case, you have to sell about 2,000 copies before you reach break-even on your own expenditures.

This doesn’t even take into account that because of the faster time to market, the author will immediately get a return for the initial investment, rather than having to wait the 12 to 18 months before book sales can even begin.  The successful self publish author will earn back the investment before the commercially published author has books to sell!

If the author cannot see his or her way clear to selling at least 800 copies, he or she should not be writing and selling a book, if one of his or her goals is to make money.  An established commercial publisher will not commit to publishing a book unless it hopes/expects to sell at least 10,000 copies.  An author contemplating self publishing should be realistic about the financial prospects for the book and as with any other product development business venture, should not do it if the numbers say otherwise.

Working with a virtual author’s assistant can save the self published author money because the VAA knows all the right resources to use – the editor, proofreader, cover designer, indexer, printer, etc.  – the professionals who do it right the first time and are a great value or the money.  The VAA will help the author still to an appropriate budget.

Working with a VAA is also generally a much faster way to market than working with publishing services firms or POD publishers.  Because those firms have so many clients, as I mentioned earlier in the blog, they may not wish to commit to a time frame or the time may be 6 months out or longer.  The VAA typically will help the author get a book from finished manuscript to book in hand in about 2 months.

Finally, VAAs are also skilled in online book marketing, including virtual book tours and other cost-effective ways to market a book so they can help get sales going and keep them going.

5.  You can still get an established commercial publisher later if you self publish first. I suggest to many of my clients that they start by self publishing and many of them have gone on to get a publisher later.   You have the big advantage of getting something to market more quickly so you can start getting media, establishing a larger platform, getting new clients based on the material in the book, doing social networking and creating a large database of followers, doing speaking engagements and making other valuable connections.  All of these will help you get an established publisher when you are ready.  Yes, you could do these things without a book, but fewer people do than when they have something to sell at the back of the room.

There is also no better training for when you have a commercially published book than being a self published author – and publishers appreciate that.  You have a much better understanding of the publishing world and how to leverage your intellectual property when you’ve done it yourself first and you are much clearer on the role of the publisher (not expecting them to sell books for you).

Finally, publishers love not having to wonder, just based on a book proposal, if a first-time author will be able to deliver a great manuscript.  They know – because they have it in their hands – what they will get, so if they like it, they want it.  They likely will change the title and cover, but not much else.

For some self published authors, getting an established commercial publisher is the right final step in the process because getting into bookstores is the one big advantage established publishers have over self publishing.  But because of ebooks this will not be a big advantage for long and bookstore sales are the most expensive, meaning they are far less profitable for the author.

A virtual author’s assistant is trained to help the author prepare a book proposal and can specifically assist with creating a preferred publisher list of target publishers that will be right for the book as well as helping do competitive research – an important component of the book proposal.  The VAA can also do other research like fact checking and can handle the entire permissions process if the author wants to use quotes or statistics that are the work of others.

Self publishing is here to stay and established commercial publishing will become a smaller part of book publishing each year, probably focusing on the development of books that will turn into movies or television series or other high-value products.  Most new authors will self publish and most of them will primarily publish electronically in the very near future.  Learn the basics, get good help and you can profitably self publish a book that you will proud of for years to come.