Publishing School 295: Financing your book and your publishing business

Don't count on self-publishing as a ticket out of poverty because it almost never is

When jobs are scarce, you will almost certainly come across a suggestion that now is the time to write a best-seller. After all, it takes just as much work to write a book that sells thousands of copies as it does to write one with sales of less than a dozen or so.

The field of publishing is rugged and gives up profits reluctantly. Don't let your desperation to make money lead you to borrow heavily or use up your life savings to produce it. Some publishing services, including Griffith Publishing, will not accept your book if we find out you are funding the project with money you need for everday expenses, counting on the book to pad your bank account later.

There are ways ways to finance your book with relatively painless funding. Here are a few.

Pre-sold books. You can be confident of financial success if a person or organization has agreed, in writing, to buy a quantity of books at a price that will cover your costs. Another plan that can works is to be a broker or service provider for other authors with similar content interests and build your own publishing business. Print a catalog, charge for display ads by other authors, and all of you benefit. A solid marketing plan with promotional costs built in will boost your chances of making money with your book. People who love to interact with other people also tend to do well with their books. Make a million friends; sell a million books!

Joint venture funding. With a joint venture, you share costs and revenues. You still have costs, but they're softened by dividing them among two or more people. Heavily illustrated children's books are often produced by a partnership between the author and the artist. Collections of poetry or art can also be successfully published by a group of individuals who band together to form a publishing entity. Co-authored books are often joint ventures as are family histories, stories of communities, and biographies of local leaders. Just be sure to spell out the agreement in writing and obtain signatures for everyone involved.

Corporate sponsorship. Businesses publish books! Besides employee manuals and technical user guides, businesses produce books they can give to their employees, sales team members, stockholders, prospective clients or other groups important to them. Banks, insurance firms, real estate companies, legal firms, hospitals and all kinds of professional associations are only a few examples of the types of businesses that could be interested in your book. Your book may be a candidate for corporate sponsorship if it--

Opens doors
Solves problems
Answers questions key people are asking

Your corporate sponsor usually "owns" the back cover and may want to insert a post card or other advertising material in the book as well. Also, since they are paying the bill, the sponsoring corporation may want you to make editorial changes in your book. Work with them as much as you can.

And what about your book?

Tell us about it.

We'd love to hear from you. Call us any time at 800 359-9503. Or send us email (hodi@mindspring.com).