simplify your author life with lean book publishing
TRANSCRIPT
SIMPLIFY YOUR AUTHOR LIFE
LEAN BOOK PUBLISHING WITH
LEAN BOOK PUBLISHING
WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT
Every year more than 2 million new books get published worldwide.
Source: Wikipedia 2013http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_published_per_country_per_year
However the average book gets sold/read no more than 250 times.
Source: Huffington Post 2012http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bj-gallagher/book-publishing_b_1394159.html
This results in:
-> Unhappy authors -> Wasted resources -> Lost knowledge
Source: Lean Book Publishinghttp://www.leanbookpublishing.com
To solve this problem:
-> It is time for the creation of a new way of book publishing…
…which focusses on publishing books that readers want.
Our solution is Lean Book Publishing
A new way of book publishing that focusses on:
Publishing books that readers
want/like/buy/read
Thereby we aim for:
-> Making both authors and readers more happy
-> And improving the efficiency, quality and satisfaction of the book
publishing industry in general
That is the core of Lean Book Publishing:
-> Publishing what readers like
-> Thereby improving reader
and author satisfaction
What Lean Book Publishing wants to achieve:
1) Raising the total market share of book sales by 10%* till 2020
-> as a result of amazing books
* Total U.S. book market $27.12 billion in 2012, Source: BookStats via Paid Content – Laura Hazard Owen: http://paidcontent.org/2013/05/15/ebooks-made-up-20-of-the-u-s-consumer-book-industry-in-2012-up-from-15-in-2011/
What Lean Book Publishing wants to achieve:
2) Raising average book reader satisfaction by 25%* till 2020
-> as a result of amazing books
* A survey estimating current reader satisfaction rates is currently in the works
Source: www.leanbookpublishing.com
What Lean Book Publishing wants to achieve:
3) Educating self published authors
so that the differences in sales* decrease by 25%** till 2020
*Differences in sales numbers between self-published and traditionally published authors ** UK Sales market share of self-published books only 2% in 2012, Source: Bowker Market Research via
The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/11/self-published-ebooks-20-per-cent-genre
Lean Book Publishing focusses on publishing
books that readers want
LEAN BOOK PUBLISHING
THE TEN LBP PRINCIPLES
“Having a great book is the foundation for book success“
TITLE | COVER | TEASER | BLURB MARKETING STRATEGY
“Engage with readers from day one to validate your book idea and
to improve your book constantly“
BUILD –> MEASURE -> LEARN
“Having an audience is the most important strength of the modern author“
“Reduce waste as much as possible in order to sharpen your saw and
to focus on what is truly important.“
“Reduce your tasks, messages and efforts to their essence.
Do less and achieve more.“
-> Get the big things right -> Never loose them out of sight -> Act top-down consequently
“It takes decades to master a field“ -> Get expert advice early
-> It pays off in the long run
“Learning is an essential part of Lean Book Publishing - Just as failing.“
LEAN BOOK PUBLISHING
SCIENCE – NUMBERS AND CONCLUSIONS
Every year more than 2 million new books get published worldwide.
Source: Wikipedia 2013http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_published_per_country_per_year
However the average book gets sold/read no more than 250 times.
Source: Huffington Post 2012http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bj-gallagher/book-publishing_b_1394159.html
This results in:
-> Unhappy authors -> Wasted resources
Source: Lean Book Publishinghttp://www.leanbookpublishing.com
FACT IS:
-> Successful book publishing is hard
-> And that it is time for a new way of book publishing
Our solution is Lean Book Publishing
A new way of book publishing that focusses on:
Publishing books that readers
want/like/buy/read
Thereby we aim for:
-> Making both authors and readers more happy
-> And improving the efficiency, quality and satisfaction of the book
publishing industry in general
That is the core of Lean Book Publishing:
-> Publishing what readers like
-> Thereby improving reader
and author satisfaction
What Lean Book Publishing wants to achieve:
1) Raising the total market share of book sales by 10%* till 2020
-> as a result of amazing books
* Total U.S. book market $27.12 billion in 2012, Source: BookStats via Paid Content – Laura Hazard Owen: http://paidcontent.org/2013/05/15/ebooks-made-up-20-of-the-u-s-consumer-book-industry-in-2012-up-from-15-in-2011/
What Lean Book Publishing wants to achieve:
2) Raising average book reader satisfaction by 25%* till 2020
-> as a result of amazing books
* A survey estimating current reader satisfaction rates is currently in the works
Source: www.leanbookpublishing.com
What Lean Book Publishing wants to achieve:
3) Educating self published authors
so that the differences in sales* decrease by 25%** till 2020
*Differences in sales numbers between self-published and traditionally published authors ** UK Sales market share of self-published books only 2% in 2012, Source: Bowker Market Research via
The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/11/self-published-ebooks-20-per-cent-genre
Additional data characterizing the current book publishing landscape
with a focus on self-publishing
80% of all self published books sell less than 100 copies in total
Source: Laura Howard refering to Amazon Inchttp://laurahoward78.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/five-secrets-to-successful-self.html
More than 80% of all books are self published*
-> however they only make up 2% in sales in most countries (U.K. in 2012)**
* Source: Estimate: LBP 2013 www.leanbookpublishing.com | Source: Wikipedia 2009 (76% in 2009):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-publishing
**Source: The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/11/self-published-ebooks-20-per-cent-genre
Ebooks made up 20% of the U.S.
consumer book industry in 2012
* Total U.S. book market $27.12 billion in 2012, Source: BookStats via Paid Content – Laura Hazard Owen: http://paidcontent.org/2013/05/15/ebooks-made-up-20-of-the-u-s-consumer-book-industry-in-2012-up-from-15-in-2011/
LEAN BOOK PUBLISHING
LEAN BOOK PUBLISHING TOOLS
Lean Book Publishing Tools help you to publish more successfully and to incorporate Lean Book Publishing Principles into your book project
Create your Minimum Viable Book Product(s) [MVBP]
Creating Minimum Viable Book Products help you to strip your book product to its core and to test success probabilities at
different book lifecylce stages at low cost.
Ideally you are using between 5 and 20 MVBPs throughout your book lifecycle.
Each MVBP is a minimum version of the bigger product you are trying to create
or testing at certain stages.
MVBP(s) throughout book lifecycles:
1) First book idea 2) First marketing idea 3) Proposal 4) First pages 5) First Cover
6) Marketing strategy 7) Chapters 8) Manuscript 9) Cover/Layout
10) Final Book
With MVBPs you are testing:
-> weather a thing will work or not -> what kind of improvements you need
-> if it makes sense to go further or not -> what your market really wants
-> where to invest / what to skip
1) First book idea: Your book in one sentence „A book about a girl who wants to draw her life on one sheet of paper.“
2) First marketing idea: Your hot marketing idea „A contest where readers can win a prize for their own drawing.“
3) Proposal: Your mini business plan* Contains all esential elements of your book project – Shows you if on track
Read more here: http://michaelhyatt.com/writing-a-winning-book-proposal
4) First pages: Your first 3-20 pages Used to ask readers if they are interested in reading more or not
5) First cover: Your inital book cover idea This should be a draft presenting the inital idea to get first feedback
6) Marketing strategy: Your core marketing Ideally you only need to focus on 1-3 things to get traction (simplify)
7) Chapters: Important chapters
Used to ask readers for their feedback and to enlarge your audience
8) Manuscript: Your book manuscript Your finished book - ready for feedback and further improvements
9) Cover/Layout: Your book cover & layout Used to test weathe your book cover and layout are working
10) „Final“ book: Your finished book Your „final“ book + Your „final“ book marketing
Why using MVBPs?
-> being in the know early saves time and money -> getting early feedback improves „final“ results
-> thinking top-down sharpens your saw -> reducing waste helps to focus
-> constant learning creates better books -> drastically increase your success probability
Tools, Groups and Services for measuring book success
1) Your book publishing team 2) Your strangers council 3) Analytics (Services) 4) Feedback (Services)
5) YOU – Ask the magic question
1) Your book publishing team
Engaging with a close group of advisors right from the start is a critical success factor in LBP.
Ideally your team consists of 2-5 experts in the field of book publishing and book marketing.
-> Get expert advice early!
2) Your strangers council
In the end your book will be judged by strangers. Be brave and seek feedback from strangers as soon as possible. Getting harsh feedback in the beginning
is better than in the end.
-> Seek feedback from strangers early!
3) Use Analytics (Services)
Use analytics to measure your progress/success.
-> If less than 100 contacts – measure manually -> If more than 100 contacts – measure automatically
- Measuring web behaviour -> Google Analytics / Surveys / Interviews - Measuring book sales -> Booktrakr / Amazon / Sales Data
- Measuring feedback -> Excel Charts / Get Satisfaction / Email - Measuring progress -> Excel Charts / Goal Setting / Follower Growth
Try to measure only 1-3 highly important factors –> Skip the rest. -> Measure manually -> Listen
4) Use Feedback (Services)
Getting feedback is one of the most critical elements of Lean Book Publishing. Use simple
services such as email, phone, chat, talk whenever possible. Online services where you can present
your book (to strangers) are your website, Amazon, Smashwords, Leanpub, Kickstarter or Bookslush.
-> Get feedback whenever possible -> Learn.
5) YOU – Ask the magic question
Ask yourself constantly the magic question:
Would I?
Would I buy this book/love this cover/do XY, etc.
-> If you don‘t think your book is hot -> Then you are in trouble in 99% of cases.
The Lean Book Publishing Checklist
Do I create and test MVBPs?
Do I measure my success?
Do I have a book publishing team?
Do I ask strangers for feedback?
Do I learn from failure?
Do I constantly get and process feedback?
Do I constantly try to reduce waste?
Do I ask the magic question -> Would I?
If YES -> good | If NO -> change/go back to the start!
FIND OUT MORE:
www.leanbookpublishing.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Albert Griesmayr is founder and CEO of Scribando, where he helps writers to stay up-to-date on how to succeed in the fast changing world of book publishing.
Scribando was participant of Go Silicon Valley 2013 and is used by more than 10,000 writers. Visit www.scribando.com and www.albertgriesmayr.com.