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Side Hustle 3: Book

Passive Income via Writing

While writing remains a possible side-hustle to earn extra income, I must admit that there is another reason for writing, i.e. to have a published book in my name is on my bucket list. With the publication of Simple Project Management, this means I have 2 things was struck off in my bucket list, the other being having a patent.

So, how do we even begin if we wish to have a book published?

There are 2 ways: 
  1. The traditional method
  2. The recently available route of self- publication
The traditional route is the one where one writes a manuscript (the term refers to the written work) and then submits to various publishers, hoping that one will pick it and publish it into a book. One has probably has heard of the story of JK Rowling who did her writing at Edinburgh's Elephant House café and submitted her manuscript to many publishers. Most rejected her until Bloomsbury said "yes" to "Harry Potter" - the rest is history. 

One can still can go this route - minimal upfront cost since it is the publisher who picks up the cost of getting the book to print. Royalties-wise, each book will bring one about 10-15% of the book. 

The 2nd method will be self-publication which again can be split into 2 types: the traditional publisher and the Internet publisher. 


Self-Publishing via the Traditional Route

For the traditionally publisher, it is very similar to the first EXCEPT that the author (or the sponsor of the author) pays for everything and yes, this means everything. Royalties-wise, each book will bring one about 20-25% of the book. 

This will include the design for the book cover (and how many versions to choose from), the distribution to the various bookstores or distributors, creating the book website, SEO, the actual printing of the physical books, editing, professional reviews, etc. Obviously, there are various packages that caters to this. Frankly, there is no limit to what the publisher will ask for and they are all justified. The big question is how effective every item contributes to the sale of the book and how many physical books the author will receive.

I suppose that if the goal is just to have a book published, one can just go for the lowest-priced package - typically between $1,000 to $2,000. But if one wishes to improve the quality of the cover, professional editing, SEO...well, you have to pay for this. 

E-book

The alternative method is to have the book published via Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) or Rakuten Kobo. They both work the same way - start by finishing the manuscript and then add a book cover. Once the manuscript is completed, you can go the Amazon KDP and Kobo and upload the book there as a e-book. If there is interest from buyers to make it into a physical book, KDP will help with the printing. Similar to the self-publishing route, one has to do everything. 

Note #1: there are many authors on the Internet that say they made $ selling low-content books via Amazon KDP. These are notebooks with a cover and nothing inside, or a coloring book for kids/adults. Nothing against these (I am sure they make some income...some actually do make a lot  at Amazon KDP) - but these are not for me

Note #2: based on my research, the books that sell well have 2 things in common: 
They have a target audience in mind (kids, teens, adults, parents, business professionals. etc.),  
The reader must be able to be a better person (more knowledge, feeling better) and before reading the book. 
It's probably logical to deduce that if one does these 2 things well, then the road ahead should be a lot smoother, versus a crappy book. 

Marketing

This is work in progress - it is one thing to publish a book, and another to make it known. Will update as and when I have seen results in my Marketing efforts. Yes, there is lots to do....

To be continued...


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