How to Organize Your Small Book Project

by Patrica Fry ~ August 10th, 2009. Filed under: Publishing Basics.

Are you one of the growing number of individuals who has just one book in them? You have something to say—information to share—but you aren’t a writer and you don’t want to get involved in a complicated publishing process.

Most likely, you have a niche audience. You know who they are, and you can envision the book or booklet that you want to produce. But beyond that, you’re a bit confused and maybe even a tad overwhelmed. You just don’t know where to start or what steps to take toward your goal.

I’ve worked with clients on one-book or booklet projects related to elder care, how to use credit, local history, hiking trails, natural beauty secrets, spiritual matters and even poetry, memoirs and children’s picture books. And here’s what I advise:

Consider self-publishing. By this, I mean arrange for the printing and binding yourself. If this is a one-of-a-kind book(let) which is needed or desired by members of a niche audience who are easy to access, you probably don’t need to fancy it up. I have published two small books profiling the earliest burials in our local cemetery. These books are of interest to a few very specific consumers. Basically, it’s researchers, historians and those who are conducting genealogy. What are they interested in? The information. It would have been a waste of time, effort and money for me to hire a cover designer, for example. In fact, I designed a simple cover and had these books (Nordhoff Cemetery: Book One and Book Two) printed and assembled at a local business center for around $1.50 per book.
Once you know how many actual book pages you’ll have, start getting price quotes for printing and binding the book in a variety of ways—saddle-stitching, comb binding, spiral bound, etc. Check with a few printers as well as the folks at a local business center.
If you are going to sell the books yourself and if you don’t already have a business, you need to establish one. Apply for a fictitious business name through your county clerk, and get a resale permit through your State Board of Equalization so you are prepared to collect and pay sales tax.
Hire an editor to look your manuscript over. This could cost you anywhere from $200 to $800 (or more). But if you connect with the right person, it is well worth the investment.
If you are not skilled at page layout and design, hire someone to do this work, as well. Check with your editor for referrals. Make sure he/she knows that you just want something plain, simple and effective.
While your manuscript is with the editor and/or design person, start approaching your customers. This might be those individuals who have asked for this book as well as the organizations, associations, agencies and institutions who would be interested in it. Develop some marketing material and hone an elevator speech or a 30-second commercial that you can present by phone and in person. And get as many pre-publication orders as you can. I once paid over half of my printing bill for a book through pre-publication orders.
Keep accurate and complete records reflecting who you contact and when, their response, when you make follow-up calls, how many books they ordered, your price quote (for bulk orders), whether or not they paid up front and so forth.
Concentrate only on local sales for now. But always ask each individual you approach for referrals. Organizations and institutions may have affiliates or branches. Get contact information.
Once the book is a book, make sure that your customers get their orders. Then deposit any checks you collected for prepublication orders.
After you’ve pretty much exhausted your opportunities to sell books locally—through cold calls, mailings, emails, a targeted newsletter, live presentations, events related to the topic (health, senior, the environment, etc.)—branch out. Now start contacting appropriate companies, organizations and agencies throughout your state and beyond.

If you just have one book in you—one message you want to share with a small group of people—there may be no need to write a book proposal, get a block of International Standard Book Numbers, get listed in Books in Print and so forth. And there may be no reason why you should pay big bucks to have a self-publishing company produce your book. It’s possible that you can keep it simple and inexpensive while still experiencing great satisfaction and joy and maybe even making a little money. It’s all in the approach.

Patricia Fry has been writing for publication for over 35 years. She is the President of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) www.spawn.org and the author of 29 books. Her hallmark book is “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book,” www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html. Visit her informative blog often: www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog.