Authors and Self-Publishing

[howtodominate]

Okay, I’ll join in. I’ll relate some of my experience in publishing “How to Dominate” and maybe it can be of use to someone.

I’ll categorize publications into three groups, although there are many sub-variations.

1) Traditional. Every writer wants the traditional kind of publisher. But the publisher has to know he’s going to sell books and he turns away a few million manuscripts per day, so to speak. He’ll edit, proof, design, lay-out, graphic design and generally shepherd the book into something he thinks the public will buy. Then he’ll publicize it to the extent he thinks the publicity expense is cost effective. He’s everybody’s kind of publisher but hard to impress. A poker book is a niche book generally viewed as not having universal appeal.

2) The “self publishing” kind of publisher is accommodating but low on services. In order to get a book at a decent price, you’ll have to buy a thousand books when it goes to print. Five thousand books will get you an even better price. Then you’ll have to warehouse the books. You’ll have to sell a big bunch and distribute them before you’ll break even on your purchase price. You’ll spend money on warehousing and marketing and there’ll be time in effort value, as well.

3) Then there is the print on demand publisher, POD. With him, you buy as many books as you like, when you feel like it. This publisher makes most of his money in up front fees. After receiving your money, his enthusiasm wanes. He does this on purpose so he can charge you more for putting you on the “fast track”. The difference, supposedly, will be in converting your program from a six month publishing schedule to only one month. In the duration, he will try to sell you publicity and other services at exorbitant prices, the effectiveness of which you seriously doubt because he is already behind in the agreed upon fast track schedule for publishing the book. Meanwhile, he has your money. Still, POD is the easiest entry to authorship using a small investment, and so you may choose to do business with this vulture. Let the haggling and the threatening begin.

As Mason and TT have ventured, most poker authors don’t write a book as an income staple. I wrote Dominate so I would be published and I wanted to leave a few nuggets for posterity. At the time I started the book, I wanted to do two more things while on this planet – publish a book and be in a movie. Both were accomplished in the poker community with Dominate and Lucky You.

I‘m four months older than Doyle Brunson. We used to cross swords occasionally when we were much younger and it’s fitting that we’re both in Lucky You. Fun stuff. (Lucky You is now on DVD.) But I digress.

Don’t make the following mistakes: One mistake is publishing a book that’s too big. Because it’s a first book, Dominate perhaps has too much content; and so I’m paying for too many pages. It contains a literary apology, lots of poker, a few stories and characters, and even has two glossaries. It was a mistake to write for both the new player and the experienced player in the same book. The problem, of course, is the book is too big and sells for too little. On the plus side, most people say they find something beneficial and most readers say they find a lot. That part is very satisfying.

When we play any game, we like to win big and, often, we’re willing to settle for a little. But we never like to lose. I chose the POD plan for publication because it involves the least in money investment. I chose the smallest investment package possible, adding only the “fast track”. The package included listings with Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders. I turned down everything else Author House wanted to sell me. That meant that I did my own formatting, editing, proofing, cover design, pictures, graphics and copyrighting. The advantage was the lower out-of-pocket costs left me with a break-even of fewer than 200 book sales. Because I got more than 200 orders on the first day, including those from Mike at Professional Poker, my stack started growing with the first pot. Using the minimum buy-in and pushing all-in on the flop proved to be a winner.

My only marketing efforts, to date, are at my site and a couple of other websites with forums. Additionally, Amazon and two other national stores have my book. I personally keep the local independent Las Vegas book stores supplied. Another contributor to my early win is that the book has been well received and has benefited from some good word of mouth. (Nice guess of one thousand books sold, TT, but a little short.) Other results: I’m doing some good coaching for winning players and I’m writing a column for Poker Pro magazine.

Most of the numbers quoted in this thread concerning costs and percentages for books are wrong, with the exception of Mason’s accurate information. Mason knows exactly what he is talking about. (If the café press numbers have been correctly represented here, I would stay well away from them.)

One of the tricks in playing at the table with POD publishers is to make them aware that you are not the usual “vanity” player; you are not grandmother publishing your granddaughter’s high school poems. And don’t bother with the usual “representative” at the POD. Get a supervising floor man to handle your red hot book; you’ll get better and quicker hand decisions and you’ll do better in the game. But you’ll likely still have to use the “L” word now and then. “I’ll have to see my lawyer about this.”

My percentage per book is higher than any conjectured in this thread. While the publisher still gets a good rake, there is enough room for me to sell wholesale to local retail stores.

So, after writing the book, then formatting, editing, proofing, doing graphics, cover design, legal considerations, haggling, and handling the limited marketing, is there a profit?

It depends on the word profit. Anyone can make more money flipping burgers for two years than the money I have made in two years with the book. But authorship is much more satisfying. Feedback from readers is more heartwarming than a Big Mac.

I’m assembling my Las Vegas short stories (thank you, TT) and another poker book. Will I do another POD publication? I doubt it.

Sam