This is a true story about a little self-published book that has made me a lot of money and changed my life… for the better. If you dream of someday writing a book that makes you a lot of money and changes your life (for the better), then I’m sure you will like this.
You will discover that my story is unique because I achieved a satisfying measure of success by developing and publishing my book using an unconventional (and not necessarily recommended) approach. All of which is to say, I do not present what follows as a how-to-do-what-I-did story. It’s just a how-I did-it story. Or, perhaps, it might better be described as a how-I-did-it-against-all-the-odds story.
Nevertheless, aspiring new authors can definitely learn from what I am going to share with you in this series of “Six-Figure” book essays. There are nuggets of pure gold in the form of valuable takeaways that you can mine out of my experience and my measure of success.
This is not a bragging screed, and I hope you will not interpret it as such. My purpose here is to inform, inspire, and encourage anyone who has a hankering to write a book that achieves a measure of satisfying financial success.
Now, mind you, success is a subjective achievement. Compared to some self-publishers, my success has been relatively modest. But it has been tangible, as I’m about to explain, and you can decide for yourself if it is something you would find satisfaction in.
My main point being…. if I can self-publish a ridiculously simple book that earns me six figures, you can too.
The Book
There is, of course, a lot of back-story to this particular book. Much of it is instructive and worth knowing. I intend to share the pertinent details in a future installment of this series. But I will begin here by introducing you to the book…
Anyone Can Build A Tub-Style Mechanical Chicken Plucker (a.k.a., the Whizbang Plucker Plan Book) is a 66-page paperback measuring 8.5” x 11.” It was first published in March of 2002. The retail price is $19.95. I also sell a pdf download of the book for $15.95.
I sell copies of the book direct through my Whizbang Plucker web site, and I sell it at Amazon through the Amazon Advantage program.
Six Figures
As you can see from the cover of the book, it is not a slick, professional production. It has a homemade appearance, and that’s because it was literally homemade in the beginning (as I’ll explain in a future installment). I broke a lot of self-publishing success “rules” by making a book with such a homemade appearance, especially with the cover. Nevertheless, the book has sold far better than most self-published books.
I have lost count of exactly how many copies of this book have sold thus far, but it’s safe to say the number is at least 24,000. I pay less than $4 a copy to have the book printed at a local printer, and they print 2,000 copies at a time.
When I figure my retail sales, wholesale sales, pdf sales, and other expenses (i.e., postage and PayPal fees) related to the cost of this book, I end up clearing an average of around $8 per book. That’s a back-of-the-napkin estimate, and I actually think it’s a conservative figure.
So, 24,000 copies at $8 profit per copy adds up to $192,000 of taxable income from this one book.
Here’s An Important Takeaway For You
If I wrote a memoir instead of a how-to book, my profit would be zero, or almost zero. I know this because I’ve actually written a memoir (titled, Writings of a Deliberate Agrarian). And I know this because, years ago, when I was an aspiring writer, the book acquisitions editor at The Taunton Press told me something very, very important…
Non-fiction books, and how-to books in particular, are long-term sellers. When a how-to book comes on the market, there is typically a small uptick in sales, then it drops down to a lower level and stays at that level for several years. They are like the plodding tortoise in the Tortoise And The Hare story.
But fiction books (novels and memoirs) are like the sprinting hare. They burn out relatively quickly. Even the best of fiction books have a short productive lifespan. Sales spike up briefly, then plummet precipitously.
I emphasize that is the typical sales story of the best of fiction books. Most fiction books, especially the self-published ones, never sell very well at all. The hare is, essentially, a no-show for the race.
Bearing that in mind, if you are just a regular person (not a celebrity) who wants to self-publish a book that actually makes you some money, I suggest that you focus on non-fiction, and preferably a how-to book.
Future Installments
If there is sufficient interest in this subject, I will write more installments explaining how I came to write this book, how I produced it for the printer, how I marketed it, and how I used the book as a springboard to make money well beyond that of the book sales. In the meantime, I am currently posting “This Agrarian Life” vlog episodes to Steemit every day.