If I was to self-publish, how?
I have some experience with web promotion because of my webcomic, the pages uploaded on Tokyopop.com and with the silly videos I’ve uploaded to Youtube. I've also been watching POD technology since Lulu.com came out and how it's been working for some people. I can probably use this knowledge to build an effective marketing strategy.
To do this, I’ll identify the biggest problems I see with trying to self-publish and be successful (i.e. actually be able to live off the earnings. Not driving sport cars or owning mansions, but just being able to focus on writing 24/7 without going homeless or starving. The kind of thing book advances are supposed to help with.).
Problem #1: Traditional methods of marketing and book promotion will not work. I just do not have the money.
Solution: Non-traditional methods of marketing must be used. I will need to fall back on my background in film production and game design. I do know artists and programmers. I have some very talented film school friends. Youtube “book ads” are do-able, although I’m not convinced how useful they actually are given the differences between the two media. Viral marketing or astroturfing most likely works better, but it's getting harder to do that.
I know two individuals that each developed modest online game engines in their spare time. Small web-games are do-able, but it will cost money for at least the server bandwidth and that money needs to be recouped somehow. I can design F2P system for an MMO, but nothing for small online games that I think would actually work. Money is a hurdle for taking advantage of this resource.
I write game reviews and strategy guides. I can very easily put links to my novel website into these products. The marketing won’t be significant but it’s better than not having it. I used this strategy for my webcomic and I still get hits from my reviews and guides.
There are some self-published review sites out there. I can submit the books to them, although there’s no guarantees the reviews will be effective marketing for the target audience. I guess it would still be better than not having it at all.
Problem #2: Lack of a publisher means lack of an in-house professional editor. No matter how talented a writer, novels are large beasts that are difficult to examine. Another pair of eyes is always needed to catch mistakes, typos and plot inconsistencies.
Solution: Beta readers, although this won’t work forever. It absolutely won’t work if the series becomes popular as roughdraft manuscripts will get leaked before they are polished. A professional editor will be needed by or after book three. This will cost money.
Problem #3: I will not be getting my books into bookstores.
Solution: Even if I did, I doubt I would make any profit off the sales anyway, and it is simply too much work for me to drive around the country convincing every bookstore to stock 5 or 10 books.
For a self-publisher right now, having a book in a store is more about vanity. I don’t want vanity, I want long-term success but I need to start building it now. Internet sales need to drive everything.
Problem #4: Young adults don’t buy items online as frequently as adults. This is because they rarely own credit /debit cards. Certainly, adults can purchase my books for themselves, but they aren’t the target audience.
Solution: This is a hard one. They clearly can get parents to pay for their online game subscriptions, so ordering a book online doesn’t seem out of the question. However, I haven’t found a lot of reliable data on young adult online spending habits. I really need more information about this.
Conclusion:
Any business plan is going to have to come down to merchandising. Trying to make a living off direct book sales seems unrealistic. It’s merchandising that needs to bring in the money. This is how successful webcomic creators make a living off their work.
Unfortunately, to merchandise effectively, it pretty much needs to be a series. I will likely need to write three books to really start building a fanbase large enough to market to. However, these books do not necessarily need to be novels. They can be one novel and several game books.
My primary merchandising strategy will need to be based around games. This is what I do best.
Other merchandising resources like CafePress and similar services exist that have no start up fees. At the bare minimum, t-shirts and coffee mugs cost artwork. There is a vast army of artists available through sites like DeviantArt that are hungry for work. Artwork is not a problem in itself, but the ways I can merchandise at the moment is limited because of financial restraints.
Other than game books, posters are likely the most effective merchandise I can market at the initial phase.
Posters cost artwork, but posters can use the same artwork that the game book and book cover uses (repeatable content, heh. I smile each time I realize the same principles I use to design games can be applied to other things, too).
Short term goal ) Complete the roleplaying game system product.
a) This is more difficult endeavor than it may appear, but I can certainly write an RPG book by myself. I’ve done it before.
b) Distribution is not difficult. The same POD and eBook distribution systems that I use for the novel can be used to release the game book (Amazon.com, RPGNow, etc).
c) The difficulty in publishing an RPG book comes from playtesting and purchasing artwork the final product will need. Gamers expect a lot of artwork, especially for the monster manual. Quality artwork costs money, although it is not difficult to find. The problem is the quantity of artwork that is needed. Also, part of a quality game book is that the rules are easy to understand yet cover all conceivable areas of gameplay. That requires playtesting, which takes time. Consumers have very high standards for roleplaying game products. I cannot half-ass this.
d) Releasing expansion products will not be difficult if I build even a small fanbase for the games. Fans can create expansion products and I can put my stamp of approval on them. Even if I don’t’ make money off the sales of their expansion products, the value of my brand does increase. The more people playing my system, the more valuable of a license that brand is.
e) It would be best to hold off releasing the novel until I can release the game book in order to maximize marketing efforts toward both products.
Long term goal) Conversion of roleplaying game system into online videogame product.
a) There is very little money in roleplaying game systems by themselves. However, roleplaying game systems that have an established brand name (such as Champions and Dungeons & Dragons) are valuable commodities for online game developers wishing to create MMOs. A roleplaying game system with a series of fantasy novels that help promote the game system and help developers flesh out the virtual game world is an extremely valuable commodity.
b) However, it is only a valuable commodity if you have a reasonably large fanbase. A large fanbase comes down to building a quality product and being able to effectively market it.
So to summarize things, I’ve concluded there is very little money in self-publishing a single novel. Any self-publishing business strategy will need to be aimed toward creating quality books that market a game system that will be used to market an online MMO in the distant future. This is at least a ten year project.
Luckily, I have 80% of a game rulebook written already, and I’ve drafted it to help me design the content that will appear in the other books. The game book isn’t created after the novels are written, nor is the novels written after the game book. They are both created at the same time and therefore possess synergy most tie-ins won’t have because they are traditionally created as separate products.
However, the game book needs some playtesting, and after that it needs editing.
What I don’t have is money for large amounts of game book artwork. Even at, say, 20$ per black and white image, every character class, race and monster needs an image. This doesn’t include the necessary maps either. I can estimate that artwork for a book will cost at least $1,000 at the cheapest, unless I can convince someone to work for free (highly unlikely due to the quantity of artwork needed) or barter in exchange for something else (case by case basis; not something I'd plan around).
I have to sigh here.
Every idea would be feasible if there was enough time and money.
Like many things, there probably is some solution to the money issue that is my greatest hurdle. I just need to approach this as if it was a game design flaw and figure out how to design around it.
Even if I do get traditionally published, it doesn't change my long term strategy. I need to build a brand either way.
I have to wonder how the Disney brothers would go about this? I always tend to refer back to thinking about Walt and Roy Disney because I truly admire what they accomplished with their company. I know they didn't begin as their own distributor when they started out, but what if they had to? How would they go about it? Hmm..