RussInCheshireNov 9, 2022

I made my first foray into publishing. It's ... weird.

First: pre-orders for my book exceeded £120k, and top 10 in Sunday Times, which is lovely.

But then I find out that translates to about £8k income for me because

- Amazon take 60%
- Distribution takes 10%
- I have to fund any additional prints of the book
- Publishers take half of what's left
- And I don't get anything - ANYTHING - for a year.

How do people make a living at this? Seriously? How?

Show threadRussInCheshireNov 9, 2022

I'm seriously considering self-publishing from now on. I can design promo and sales websites, design covers, typeset the book, market it via social media.

All I need is a printer and a warehouse, and how hard can it be to get that? Or just do it digital-only.

The entire industry seems swamped with needless delays, needless expenses, and needless layers of managers and editors.

Show threadSharman HagueNov 10, 2022
@RussInCheshire Quite a few replies warning about marketing costs. How much marketing has there been for this book outside your own social media? I loved your ‘It’s my publisher wot made me do it and please donate to local #foodbanks or #TrussellTrust ‘ ends to your threads. Any idea how much of £120K they have received as a result of your efforts?
Show threadRussInCheshireNov 10, 2022

@Sharman I have data for sales through the publisher's site. About 70% is direct traffic from my Twitter. 2% from the publisher's twitter, and another 2% from publisher emails to their customers. The rest is organic search engine traffic.

So I think I've got marketing covered, at least as far as direct (ie not retailer) sales, which is the bulk of it so far

Show threadSharman Hague
@RussInCheshire That’s what I was thinking- you’ve done the marketing yourself through the following that you have built up. Also evident in the 6.4K followers you have here already in the blink of an eye. I’m sure many of us preordered expecting more of our appreciation to reach you as direct funds. Disappointed to hear that even the avoiding Amazon routes don’t give you much more. Is there a way to ask you a question in private here or would you need to follow me at the other place?
Nov 10, 2022 at 2:25pmWeb