Book Publishing – Helping Thought Leaders-Dropping Bombs Ep 217-Peter Winick

Realistically, I’m coming out with this book. Now, in my mind and I’m no expert I’m gonna self publish. Why? Well cuz I don’t need anyone to publish me. Do I? What do they do? Just take my money?

Well, it’s a bigger question that in your case, cuz I know you, that’s probably the right answer. Because you have a followership, you have a brand, you have all those things. And a publisher is probably not gonna do all that much for you in terms of a big New York publisher.

So what do they do for people?

Well, it’s not a one-size-fits-all. So there are some people, which is less and less and less and less where the big New York publishers make sense. Right. Most people it’s either a hybrid model… So publishing is not as black and white as it used to be. There’s the big publishers, traditional publishers. There’s total vanity press and then there’s all sorts of hybrids. So there needs to be an understanding of your strategic objectives on the front end. So let’s say your objective is to get the book out to as many people as you choose to, in a profitable way, in a way that you have control over. Right. Because if if there’s gonna be an f-bomb in the book and you don’t want Wiley’s, no we don’t have, no we don’t write that way. That’s not gonna work for you. So it might be freedom, it might be speed. Hey I’m gonna get this done in six months versus big publisher 18 months. Could be margin. You do the book yourself. A book doesn’t cost but three four bucks a pop. You sell them for twenty, twenty-five versus making a dollar a dollar fifty royalty.

That’s what I mean. Yeah. And not only that but this publisher because I got a book offer.

Mm-hmm.

And it’s a publisher.

Yep.

Decent one. Everyone’s like, “No way! Oh yeah yeah way! Why is that so freakin surprising?” But they’re banking on I gonna go do all the selling.

So who needs a toll taker.

That’s all I’m saying. What do I need them for?

Well, there’s two things that big publishers are looking at. Used to just be one. What is it? What is it that Brad has to say? Right. So what’s…what’s your… what’s the essence of the book? And do you have anyone to say it to that will actually listen? You’ve got a big following. So they’re looking at it looking at your numbers and your metrics and your downloads going, “I think that guy can sell twenty… I’m just making up a number that guy can still twenty thousand books. Twenty bucks a book that’s a half a million dollars. Whatever the math is. So we’ll throw him X. We’ll pay for the books. Kind no win for us.” And you’re looking at it going, “Well, Geez. If I can sell twenty thousand books, I don’t need a partner that’s taking 80 cents on the dollar.

Not only that, I can pay for the books.

Well, that’s what I’m saying. You could front load the cash.

So is that what a publishers for? To front-load the cash?

In some instances to front-load the cash. It’s distribution.

See that’s what they’re not distributing anything.

Well.

Like I thought a publisher is this: like you go with us kid and you’re gonna sell a million copies. You go try yourself you’re gonna be stuck at a ride around ten or fifteen thousand.

That’s 1994 thinking. It’s changed.

But they want me to go do all the selling and then they want me to call Tony Robbins and Grant Cardone and tell them to pitch my book.

Of course they do.

Which again I can claim that I will and claim and that’ll help the deal get done. Like, oh, if you tell them this they’ll do it for sure. Well number one, I don’t know that Grant or anybody else will pitch my book for me. I’m supposed to tell them that they will.

Well.

Regardless. I don’t do that.

If you publish it yourself. So let’s take Grant for example. Yeah. Are you gonna be equally motivated if you got a dollar a book or if you got $15 a book to persuade Grant using your charm and your persuasion skills.

15.

Yeah. No kidding. Right.

So what I’ve been thinking about doing is before I even finish the book is I’m gonna go put up a good-looking website that says pre-order.

Yeah.

And take their $20 right now. And have a thousand or 2,000 or 3,000 people fund the actual printing of the book in the first place.

You could. You don’t really…It’s not a lot of cash.

How much is it print a book? Well It depends.

You’re gonna want a thousand of them. No. More than that. Now, you probably want a couple thousand.

I mean. I mean minimum.

30 to 50 grand probably to print 5,000 copies of something. But you’re probably gonna need editorial. It’s a six-figure investment to do it right. Because the other thing is, if you’re putting something out that’s representative you’re thinking it’s got to be good.