Uncompetitive Retail Prices Set by Self-Publishing Companies

Last post, I mentioned a few issues with some prominent self-publishing companies ... Another huge issue (there are more) is uncompetitive retail prices, an example being a 200-page paperback priced at $20. Many leading self-publishing companies force authors to sell their work at high retail prices. Beware of self-publishing companies practicing this method. Why would readers want to buy a 200-page paperback by an unknown author for $20 when they could buy a 200-page paperback by a well-known author for $14.99?

MindStir Media gives authors the option to set their own retail prices. This method supports book sales. It's true that a couple of MindStir's publishing packages do not include that option, but MindStir will never force an author to sell his/her work at an uncompetitive retail price. The last thing my company wants to do is hurt your sales potential ...

Here's an extreme case of uncompetitive pricing set by a large self-publishing company--a 500-page paperback priced (as of today) at $71.40. I really hope that's just a temporary glitch on the Web site and not the actual retail price for the book.

Fund Your Self-Publishing Project

Have you ever heard of Kickstarter? According to its Web site, Kickstarter is the "largest funding platform for creative projects in the world." Simply start your project on their site and share it with the community. Anyone (with a major credit card), anywhere can pledge to any project on Kickstarter. Starting a project costs you nothing! Check out the 100 most funded projects in Kickstarter history. Why not give it a try? You've got nothing to lose.

Here are the guidelines: http://www.kickstarter.com/help/guidelines. Good luck!

MindStir Media - Self-Publish for $199

I know we're living in one of the worst economies in U.S. history (money is tight for just about everyone), and that's the main reason I decided to launch the $199 publishing option via MindStir Media. Writers with very little income should be able to publish too! Did you happen to see the announcement on Yahoo! News? Here it is. The full $199 is required upfront in order to have your book published, but think of it this way: You'd only need to set aside about $17 per month ... Now that's mind-stirring.

(Keep in mind that the $199 publishing option doesn't include design, editing, e-book, audio book (etc.) services, so make sure you spend lots of time creating the most eye-catching cover you can (packaging, remember?) and revise, revise, revise and get an English professor or journalist or literary friend to edit your entire manuscript (avoid the second biggest self-publishing mistake, remember?))

Free Publishing Consultation

People constantly ask me for self-publishing advice. For the most part, I give it freely. Some people don't know that I own a self-publishing company, MindStir Media, which now offers a FREE publishing consultation. All you have to do is fill out a form. During the consultation--up to 1 hour--you can ask as many self-publishing questions as you'd like. With this free service, you're going to receive valuable self-publishing tips and guidance. Trust me, it's worth your time.

In the meantime, feel free to ask some self-publishing questions in the comments below. I'll do my best to answer every question. Hope you're having a great year!

Yours in success,

J. J.  Hebert
Author and president of MindStir Media

Happy (Belated) New Year

Happy New Year ...

And all my previous posts have suddenly disappeared. I guess this means I need to start over and fill this blog with some solid content. Later ...

See those cool icons and button-thingies in the right sidebar? Okay, cool. I hope you'll give them some attention. They get lonely over there. Especially the ones that say "Receive the blog via e-mail" and "Follow". Why should you take action? Because this is the year--the big 2011--that I'm going to blog like crazy. I'll blog about self-publishing, writing, my work, book marketing, social media, and pretty much anything I find interesting. I might even add some videos and pictures to the blog. If you're lucky. Ha.

So won't you join me? I'd love to build a friendship with you on here. If you've already shown love to the follow/receive via e-mail buttons/links, I hope you'll stick around and also share the blog with your friends. You're awesome! Thanks for visiting my little platform of self-importance.

J. J. Hebert
Author and president of MindStir Media
http://www.jjhebert.net/ | http://www.mindstirmedia.com/