Authors are more than just writers; many of them are publishers. Self-publishing is a business, and to be successful, it may take a clear understanding of the vision, i.e., values, philosophy, and precincts. In other words, an author should have a plan reflective of the vision with goals that are specific to the book. The goals should have specific guidelines on how to obtain them, concrete actions to meet them, and periodic revisits of the goals throughout the process to verify they are still reflective of the vision. Thinking like a publisher will save the author time, frustration, and money and may earn the respect of their fellow peers.
Once the book is published, the vision will expand to include where the book will be sold. If a brick-and-mortar establishment is being considered, such as the local bookstore, the strategy will include how to convince the bookseller to work with the author.
The author can impress the bookseller from the start by setting up an appointment to introduce themselves and the book. This will be an opportune time to establish rapport, build credibility, and earn the respect of the bookseller. The prepared author may showcase the book with screen prints from the author’s website and offer the bookstore free advertising on the author’s website. The author may also want to have available several 11 ×14 posters of the book to be posted, handouts to be used as leads to be stuffed in bags, and a customer gift to be used for an in-store drawing. Or better yet, the author can support the bookstore and buy the customer gift from the bookstore and bring an extra gift for the bookseller.
The author may also interest the bookseller by leveraging the price, but the author should be prepared to account for the minimum markup of 40 percent that most booksellers will require and agreeing to allow the bookseller to return all books not sold. Keep in mind that most booksellers have a minimum markup of 40 percent and will want to return all unsold books.