Publishing Options | The Creative Penn

6 Tips for Successful Self-Publishing Outside Your Home Country

August 10, 2017 by Joanna Penn 9 Comments

Regular readers of the blog and listeners to my podcast know that I am always excited about global opportunities for writers.

I have recently started using PublishDrive to get my books onto Google Play and so of the other international retailers that are hard to reach through other (primarily US based) distributors.

In today's article, Zsofia Macho from PublishDrive offers some thoughts on how to reach international markets.

There is a rule every aspiring international writer is told early on.

Learn English. Read in English. Write in English. Breathe in English.

It seems cruel and unfair, but that doesn’t make it any less true: English is primary or official language in 67 countries worldwide and is estimated to be spoken by at least 1.5 billion people either as a primary or a secondary language.

This is a giant market, hungry for easy to access and relevant English language content. So you can write and self-publish happily in English and you will reach a huge share of the book market.

But let us not forget about the other big (or small) languages: according to the Global E-book Report, the US and the UK together are only 29% of the global ebook market.

The other 71% is divided by China, Germany, Japan, France and the rest of the world.

While translating self-published books used to be out of question even 15 years ago, a lot changed in the last couple of years. It is still not easy to become an internationally recognized self-published author, but it is definitely not impossible.

In the following, we are going to share six tips every indie author setting out to conquer the world should know – both those writing and marketing exclusively in English and those working with a translator and aiming for foreign language markets. Due to lack of space, we won’t talk about foreign rights agents and contracts, only self-publishing.

[Note from Joanna: I have sold books in English to 83 countries, so I recommend that most authors start by considering the global market for English books first. ]

1. Only target one market a time

Don’t fall into the pitfall of wanting too much at once: you have to build up your reputation step by step in each country. Just like big companies do: they are researching the market for years before deciding to open a shop.

You won’t need years, but a little planning won’t hurt.

Once you are established in your home country (or in your main market), it is time for you to start looking into several directions. If you are writing in English, consider checking the other big English language markets first: Australia, India, Canada.

Research the market thoroughly: some markets are more open for nonfiction, others are all for religious books or women’s fiction.

Find out which books are leading the bestseller lists.

Who are the most popular writers of your sub-genre and what are they writing about?

Is there something you can bring to this market that hasn’t been there before?

2. Start with the biggies – but don’t forget the little ones

Luckily for you, all big booksellers are expanding to foreign markets, making it easier for you to sell your books.

In addition to Amazon and Google, who are opening up new stores at a fast speed, Apple and Kobo are also selling literally everywhere, the latter teaming up with local stores in 190 countries.

Once you are already on Amazon.com, it is easy to start selling your books on Amazon.de or Amazon.in, just remember to create an author page in every language you are selling on. With Kobo, you can also easily select the countries you would like to be sold in and set the price for each country separately.

When you do your market research, make sure to check out the local stores as well, especially if you are planning to get your books translated.

While the big bookstores may have the biggest market share in the UK and US market, this might not be so for other countries. In France, for example, Amazon only has a 40% share of the market, and there are three major sales platforms (Numilog, Eden Livres and E-Plateforme) working together to take the rest of it.

While it would be the best to sign up everywhere, it is extremely difficult to manage several separate accounts, follow up sales and invoices and make sure that you don’t accidentally violate any law or regulation. (Or not try to sell your book in a shop directly where you already sell it through Kobo.)

This is the point where aggregators, such as PublishDrive come handy: they have contact with hundreds of stores worldwide, from the biggest ones to local stores and provide you with a simple platform to manage it.

You just upload your books once, select the countries and prices and you are good to go.

3. Check your rights, prices and taxes

Whether you are a self-published or a traditionally published author, if you have sold any books, you have given away rights.

Remember to check with your publisher or self-publishing service provider whether you gave your international rights away, and if you did, how can you get them back.

If you are just about to sign a contract or sign up to a service provider, make sure you read the small print about international rights.

When it comes to pricing, you are also in a challenging situation: you can’t just use the current foreign exchange rate to determine the price of your book in a foreign currency.

The amount people are happy to pay for a book is different in each and every country, and this is not independent of the purchasing parity of the currency.

You can use certain guides, such as the Big Mac index to help you in pricing, but you are also recommended to just go and check it out for yourself.

Also look out for local regulations that might affect your pricing decision: for example in France retailers can’t change the price given by the publisher.

I know these are the nasty bits nobody wants to hear about, but also make sure to check the rules of receiving foreign income in your home country: in some cases, it can affect your tax rate.

4. Find the right translator

It's not necessary to translate your books, as you can sell globally, but if you are considering translation, then it's important to find the right person to work with.

The translator has a double duty: she or he has to convey not only the message of your book but transmit culture and the soul of your writing. Without the right translator, your carefully chosen words are all for nothing.

If you don’t speak the language, you have no way of checking if they did a good job. So what can you do?

Believe it or not, there are some people out there who might translate your book for free! Aspiring translators are easy to find if you join a Facebook group for international writers.

You can also try a translation service company like BabelCube: the translators here work for a share of royalties, so they are interested in your success. Apart from offering translation services, Babel Cube also distributes the translated books.

But the safest way is to hire a translator, and there are millions of places where you can find one. This list will help you get started.

Remember to also look for an editor: there is always a need for a second pair of eyes so you end up with a quality product.

Don’t rush finding the right translator: you can exchange emails with multiple people, find the one you feel most comfortable working with – it is likely, that the two of you will have a close connection.

Apart from translating your books into a foreign language, they can offer valuable insight into their culture, help with marketing and distribution. Even if you get close, however, remember to fill out a contract, stating not only payment but the rights of the book translated.

5. Get marketing

Don’t expect sales to come in as soon as your book appears in stores: you have to work on building your reputation (starting almost from zero) and get the word out about your book.

If you are writing for the English language market, you can use approximately the same strategies you are using in your home market. It’ll also help that people can see reviews of your book from the UK store in the US and vice versa; bear in mind though, that it doesn’t work in the other stores.

Try using one of Amazon’s great discounting or giveaway services at the beginning to boost your launch day sales and get some reviews under your books.

Remember, that there is no silver bullet: people in different countries can react to the same thing very differently. Try to find the right Facebook groups where you can make useful contacts and some friends in the target country who can help you with advertising.

If you try doing your marketing without the help of someone who speaks the language or understands country specific behavior, things might turn bad. It can help if your translator knows something about the book market in the target country and can help you find your way around.

For translating short texts, such as blurbs, reviews and marketing material, you can hire translators from Fiverr. You can also use Google Translate (or your browser’s built in website translate) to communicate with your fans in their own language. Even if you don’t get the grammar right, they’ll appreciate it.

6. Create an Author Central page

Amazon is a great place to sell and market your books. The Author Central pages work like a private website without all the website-building pain.

They provide authors with a great platform to share pictures, a blog-feed and up-to-date information on new books and other content. You can create your Author Central page by using the same login as you would use as a customer.

A lesser known fact, however, is that Author Central pages are not international: you have to log in on each of the regional Amazon sites having this service (currently UK, US, Germany, France and Japan) and type in your information. Don’t worry if you don’t speak either of these languages: the layout of the web pages is the same, so you just have to open you original UK or US page and copy and paste the information into the right boxes.

So, what are you still waiting for? Go and find yourself an amazing translator, because achieving international success might be easier than you think. Happy publishing!

Are you already selling to international markets? What has your experience been or do you have any questions? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Zsofia Macho is a bookish person: she writes, edits, translates and proofreads books and articles. She also likes to read them. Currently finishing a linguist MSc at University College London, she has a tough time displaying scientific journals on a traditional Kindle. When she is not writing for PublishDrive, she spends her time playing co-operative board games or badminton.

PublishDrive is a fast-growing and intelligent ebook publishing platform that was created with international publishing in mind. Allowing publishers to offer their books in 400 bookstores and 240k digital libraries worldwide with one click, it simplifies the process of going into foreign markets. The new Advanced Pricing feature provides publishers with the option of setting an individual price for every currency separately or choosing a straightforward conversion using actual exchange rates – but still receiving royalties in their own currency.

In addition to this, PublishDrive lets publishers to easily control production, metadata management and distribution, with cutting-edge business intelligence analytics, sales reports (including real time sales data by countries and stores) and billing.

Balancing Ambition And Contentment. Lessons Learned From Thrillerfest 2017

July 24, 2017 by Joanna Penn 45 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 54:08 — 43.4MB)

Subscribe: Android | RSS

In today's show, I talk about my lessons learned from Thrillerfest 2017 on balancing ambition and contentment, the current publishing and book marketing environment, writing craft tips, the ethos of the working writer, and more.

In the introduction, I mention how China's online reading and digital experience is challenging the Kindle (Forbes), how second-hand ebooks might work now they have been ruled as legal in the Netherlands, and how Findaway voices will waive their audio book admin fee for Draft2Digital customers.

Today’s show is sponsored by my non-fiction audiobooks, How to Market a Book Third Edition, Business for Authors, How to Make a Living with your Writing and The Successful Author Mindset, available now on Audible. If you need some more inspirational audio that will give you actionable tips to make more money with your books AND stay sane while doing it, check them out here!

J.F.Penn at the top of the Empire State Building

Today's show is presented by me, Joanna Penn (writing fiction as J.F.Penn).

You can listen to today's show above or on iTunes or Stitcher or watch the video here, read the notes and links below. Click here to see my photo album of the trip.

Balancing Ambition and Contentment. Lessons Learned from Thrillerfest 2017

Today’s show is a bit different as I am giving a round up of my 10 days in New York City. I was there for Thrillerfest, the annual conference of the International Thriller Writers but we also had a few days sightseeing as well. These are some of my thoughts on the trip and a big hello to the listeners of the show that I met there 🙂

[NB: These points are from my handwritten notes so there may be some error in reporting.]

(1) Balancing ambition and contentment is a never-ending task!

J.F.Penn, with James Scott Bell winner of the Best Ebook Original award

So first of all, I didn’t win the award for Best Ebook Original. James Scott Bell won, a great thriller writer and many of you will know him for his fantastic craft books. Jim is a hybrid author and a supportive member of the indie community, so it’s awesome that he won. And after all, how could I compete with a writing teacher!

You can listen/watch/read to an interview with James Scott Bell on writing discipline and mindset here.

The awards topped off a weird week for me. I spent a lot of it with chronic anxiety – what if I won? Should I immediately use that as a springboard to pitch agents, or do some kind of press release? What if I lost? Should I enter again? Should I try and win other awards? What did an award mean anyway? Was I really so insecure that I needed the external validation of an award? And on and on … 🙂

When I didn’t win, it was almost a relief, because I didn’t have to go on stage and give a speech in front of several hundred top thriller writers. But of course, I was also hugely disappointed, because I REALLY wanted to win. Awards are validation that our writing is getting better, and I’m taking the nomination as a sign that I’m on the right track.

Thrillerfest is always complicated for me and it generally sends me into a bit of a tail-spin.

Big name authors: Sandra Brown, Lee Child, David Morrell, Nelson De Mille, RL Stine, Heather Graham

On the one hand, it makes me dream of the lottery ticket that is traditional publishing mega-success because so many authors there are big names with big deals. I go through the usual imposter syndrome and extreme comparisonitis, and then an overwhelming desire to make it to the A-list table which means I start wanting an agent and a traditional publishing deal.

It’s like there are two of me. The introverted creative who wants to stay home and write in the quiet, to live simply, to practice yoga, walk along the canal, and build a long term career slowly by publishing the books I want to write and being in control of it all through my happy indie way. That side of me is an artist who values craft and is content with the satisfaction of producing a new book in the world.

Then there’s the other me who wants excitement and awards and cocktails and parties and applause and a seven-figure deal with TV and film and games and everything! Thrillerfest taps into this ego-centric part of me – but perhaps that’s normal. As writers who publish our words into the world, we all have to balance massive ego and crippling self-doubt, which I wrote about in The Successful Author Mindset.

I’m clearly not the only one. In a panel with some of the big names, someone asked, “At what point did you realise that you were a successful writer?”

Sandra Brown, romantic suspense author of 68 New York Times bestsellers said, “I don’t feel as if I am ever quite there. I live daily with the fear that I will never write another word.”

Heather Graham, award winning author of over 200 novels said, “I’m still waiting.”

David Morrell, author of First Blood, which became Rambo, who has won pretty much every award going with forty plus years as a writer said, “I’m stricken with inadequacy.”

J.F.Penn with David Morrell

And is there ever really a ‘top of the pile’?

I went to a panel on switching publishers and bestseller lists and listened to some very big names discussing how unfair the New York Times list was and how they had to keep trying different things to make it to #1 over and over again. One of the authors (who shall remain nameless) talked about sending people out on launch day into bookstores throughout the country to buy his hardbacks, then moaned a few minutes later about how self-published authors are getting reviews so soon on launch!

They discussed the honeymoon phase with a publisher and then the sales plateau moment when moving publishers can help to get fresh eyes and fresh energy involved. And to keep the money coming in. It was interesting because they sounded just like indies do when discussing the charts and money 🙂 Lisa Gardner said “This stuff will drive you crazy. Find the things that make you happy in your creative life.”

A number of them talked about the curse of the huge advance because they are so hard to earn out and it means the next contract is tougher. I also talked to a couple of authors who were doing really well in traditional publishing a few years ago, but now the money is a lot less. If the publisher moves the publication date, then the author doesn’t get paid that chunk of money and it’s out of their control. Many authors are looking at what they can do with indie, but the conference, in general, was a very traditional publishing focused zone this year.

So after all that angst, I return to my own definition of success, which has always been freedom.

Freedom of time, to never have to work for someone else again. I was even more aware of this when passing by the huge

Office blocks on 6th Ave. I am SO happy not to be in one of those anymore!

skyscrapers on 6th Avenue that looked like a server farm, wondering how many of those who filed in every day were happy.

Freedom (to me) also means earning enough to live a good life, to support my family and travel when I like. I also measure my life by what I create, which means writing and producing and aiming to stay separate from the outcome of what happens after the creation is in the world. I’m actually living that life now, so I am content. But perhaps we all need a streak of ambition!

(2) The ethos of the working writer

I love going to Thrillerfest because the ethos is all about authors teaching authors and helping new writers. ITW is very welcoming to new writers, however they publish, and I have only ever had encouragement from the authors I’ve met there.

Lee Child was honored as ThrillerMaster this year, an award for those with over 20 years in the industry who make a significant impact in the field. He also taught a Masterclass, a full day session with a load of new writers, plus he spoke multiple times at the conference. He doesn’t have to, he’s rolling in it, but he continues to give his time and tries to help others.

The big names also launched Match Up, a book of short stories matching male and female thriller writers, the proceeds of which go to keeping ITW free to Members. Again, those writers don’t have to do it, but it’s giving back to the community, and that is fantastic.

This is the same ethos that we have in the indie community, at least that part of the internet that I live in! So let’s continue to share, to help other writers through our books and events and podcasts and Facebook Groups.

It was also interesting to note the difference between questions asked by new writers and those who know what being a writer actually involves. The professional writers are very clear about working hours, with most citing regular times and a clear number of hours or pages per day.

No working writer would countenance discussion of writer’s block. “Have you ever heard of trucker’s block?” as Lee Child said. The professional discussions were all about contracts, money and marketing more than craft or sub-genre.

J.F.Penn with Boyd Morrison, who co-writes with Clive Cussler

There was a session on co-writing, and there is a lot going on, much more than you would expect. That includes the bigger brand names like Clive Cussler and Wilbur Smith, who are following in the tradition of James Patterson to expand their brand offerings under the big names, as well as those writing under one name and pairings of better-known names. Indies are doing a lot more co-writing now, and this is definitely a way to get more books out there faster. I’m doing more of it myself these days.

I was also encouraged to meet new authors who I had never heard of, who are making significant amounts of money and living a creative, happy life. This is a huge industry with many small niches and a lot of voracious readers around the world, and you don’t need to be a household name to have a fantastic career with readers who love your books.

One noticeable aspect of the conference was how much older the demographic was. It might be the cost of the conference but I was one of the younger crowd at 42. So where are the younger thriller writers?

(3) The Lee Child approach vs. the Heather Graham model

J.F.Penn with Lee Child

I love Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books and he is always an entertaining speaker, but Lee said at one of his sessions, “My career could not exist if I was starting today.” When he was interviewed in a separate session, he explained in more detail. His success was “a classic last era career in publishing.” His first print run was 18,000 copies and grew slightly bigger with each book. It took 5-6 books for him to break out, mainly through word of mouth in the independent bookstores. That eco-system has almost disappeared now and most publishers won’t invest in a new author for that long anymore. Lee has 21 books, all in the same series, and writes one per year.

He also said that there is, “No correlation between the quality of the book and success. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Compare this to Heather Graham, ThrillerMaster in 2016 in recognition of her incredible career. Heather has over 200 novels in multiple genres, spanning thriller, horror, romance and more. She writes cross-genre, multiple books per year and (it seems from the outside) she just gets on with her writing and family life.

You can’t plan a career like Lee Child’s, but you can plan a career like Heather Graham’s. It means writing what you love, year after year, and building an audience slowly. I was thrilled to be on a panel with Heather as the chair because she demonstrates what is possible, and she writes supernatural thrillers, so she is a great role model.

As I’ve mentioned before on the show, I am researching investing at the moment and there are a lot of parallels to publishing. If you put a monthly amount in a low-cost index fund every month consistently for years, you can retire wealthy. (I mention the great documentary, Becoming Warren Buffett.) It’s boring, but it’s almost guaranteed. Read Unshakeable by Tony Robbins for the details. [I’m not a financial advisor, this is not advice etc etc … :)]

Or you can chase that magic stock or bet your money on an IPO or trying to invest in something that beats the market somehow. It’s like the lottery ticket of traditional publishing. It can drive you mad trying to get something that is outside of your control. So, the lesson is to just to keep creating over time because building your backlist, becoming a better writer and continuing to build your readership will pay off in years to come.

Like diet and exercise, relationships and investing, slow but steady growth is effective and won’t drive you crazy. My message to myself is: don’t be sidetracked by the possibilities of success. It’s not in your control. Focus on writing the next book and serving readers.

Starry Night by Van Gogh

We don't know how our creative work will be received. We went to the Museum of Modern Art, which is packed full of big name artists. I go every trip to visit Starry Night by Van Gogh, and it’s the only painting with its own security guard and a queue of people wanting to take selfies with it. It’s surrounded by Picasso and Matisse and many other famous paintings, but it is this one painting that inspires adoration. There’s no way that Van Gogh would have known how it would impact people when he painted it. So keep creating and putting your art into the world, because you never know what people will love. It might be the book you haven’t written yet.

So keep creating and putting your art into the world, because you never know what people will love. It might be the book you haven’t written yet.

(4) Getting to yes. Turning browsers into book buyers.

There was a session by a data group where they presented a recently updated study on the reading habits of thriller and suspense readers.

Physical retail is in decline, a trend that I saw in New York as well as here in the high street in Bath. What physical retail there is trends towards higher profit, higher velocity goods, which books are not!

J.F.Penn with Peter James

There is an increasing fragmentation of the market. There is no longer the same volume of sales for the big names and it’s harder for mid-list authors to break through. The cultural imperative around what to read has shifted and not everyone is reading the same thing anymore.

Not everyone who reads, buys. Only 1 in 3 books read are new (29%), with 52% free (libraries, giveaways, free ebooks), 11% used, 4% gift, 3% subscription. But as commitment increases, revenue increases, so turning browsers into fans is the way forward.

Discovery is broken. Even major New York Times bestsellers are not known to interested buyers, so discovery is the big challenge. Discovery sources i.e. how readers discover a book, break down as follows:

20% physical bookstores. This figure was previously 40% so this is a significant reduction. This was the main finding that people talked about. With physical retail in decline, how can books be discovered?
19% author marketing
11% recommendations
11% digital marketing
10% e-promotions
8% e-tailer browsing

My new introvert hat, from Chelsea Markets

The lower the price, the lower the barrier to buy. 62% would buy a book under $2 immediately as an impulse purchase. 26% would buy a book over $16 immediately.

Conversion to buy factors, i.e. what turns an interested customer into a buyer:

31% book message – includes cover, title, description, category, topic, author story, branding, it ‘speaks to me’
26% known author/series
15% recommendations
8% special price (going up to 11% for an unknown author)

But 63% will buy if there is an author/brand/series relationship already, so the holy grail is to convert readers to true fans and maintain an ongoing relationship with them so they buy your books again and again. Indies know this and if you haven’t started an email list of readers already, get on it!

(5) Back to the bookstore: Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble

The discussion on the decline in retail was interesting, especially as I visited the Amazon bookstore inside the Columbus Circle upmarket shopping center. It was Prime day when I went, which was hard to miss as six different people tried to sign me up even though I’m already a Prime member.

The front of the store was dominated by devices, Kindle, Fire and Alexa. You could get a discount on everything as a Prime member and you could check the prices online with a scanner. It was definitely a funnel towards online and digital with clear links into the online store.

The array of books was dominated by traditional publishing titles and a lot of hardbacks, but the main difference to Barnes & Noble was the emphasis on reviews. There were sections like ‘Books with more than 10,000 reviews on Amazon.com,' and ‘New Hardcover fiction selected using customer ratings, pre-orders, sales and popularity on Goodreads.’

One particularly good section was the ‘If you like – you’ll also like,’ which clearly uses the Also-Boughts for data points. There were also printouts of customer reviews underneath most of the books displayed. I couldn’t find any Amazon Publishing or indie titles so I asked and they said they had no way to find out. This isn’t that surprising since the bookstores would be run by different teams, but I’d expected to at least find some APub books. In general, though, I’d recommend the store and I ended up buying, Long Story Short: The Only Storytelling Guide You’ll Ever Need by Margot Leitman.

I also visited Barnes and Noble on 5th Avenue, which I would have expected to be a premium site. But it was shabby and the books weren’t laid out that well, with the upstairs fiction section particularly crowded. It had a lot of non-book stock and it was difficult to even find a Nook device. They were hidden at the back towards the magazines. It was hard to buy a book as well, with two staff at different desks refusing to take payment and directing us to a cashier. In the end, we put the book back and bought it online at Amazon. Compare this approach to an Apple store where every employee has a mobile payment device. Little tip B&N: make it easy for a customer to buy!

(6) Miscellaneous interesting things

“For First Blood, I set out to write an action book that didn’t feel like a genre book.” David Morrell. Use at least two other senses to bring depth to your writing, don’t concentrate on the visual all the time. When you think the book is done, change the font, print it out and edit again. All authors have tics. Figure out what they are and fix them in the second draft.

J.F.Penn with Val McDermid

Val McDermid talked about writing her radio play, Resistance. Radio plays can be a great form of writing. Actors like doing them because they don’t have to learn the lines and they can fit them in between projects so you can get some really big names. It’s all about the words, so the writer has more control than a screenplay.

“A great thriller needs two things. Unfortunately, nobody knows what they are.” Lee Child.

He did go on to say that you need to open loops and engage human curiosity. Ask a question and then don’t answer it in order to keep the suspense going. Set up a question and don’t answer it until the end. Then add in multiple shorter arcs with smaller questions. Lee used to work in TV and said that after the remote control was invented, they would add trivia questions in before the break, so people would stick around to get the answer. This creates a narrative engine that drives the reader through the book so they have to know what happens and why.

J.F.Penn at the Statue of Liberty

Other quotes from Lee Child. (He did a lot of sessions because he was ThrillerMaster this year.)

On book marketing. Be a nice person. Never talk about the book. Make them like you and they are more likely to buy.
Readers are not like us. Most people are not habitual readers. When you read as a writer, it’s not how other readers read.
As a writer, you have to hold contradictions in your mind at the same time. Writing is an art form. Writing is a job and I have to make money with it.
On choosing a publisher. “Go where the love is.” How you are treated is very important.
On the constant questions about the Jack Reacher movie: “A book is the ultimate product. Anything else is secondary. A book is not a chrysalis or a pupa waiting to be something else, like a film or TV show.”

In conclusion, Thrillerfest was a challenging few days for me and as ever, it’s a regular highlight in my writing career. I meet amazing authors, I am inspired and I always learn new things. I highly recommend joining ITW if you write thrillers and the conference is fantastic. In 2018, George RR Martin will be ThrillerMaster so it will likely be a bumper year in terms of attendance. Perhaps I’ll see you there!

You can read my reports on previous years here:

You can find my thrillers in ebook, print and audiobook at www.JFPenn.com and on all the usual stores.

9 Ways To Get The Very Best Out Of Your Book Cover Designer

July 19, 2017 by Joanna Penn 1 Comment

A great cover design is one of the best ways to help your book get noticed because readers DO judge a book by its cover.

Your book cover will also be one of the best marketing assets you can invest in because you will use it everywhere – on your book sales page, your website, social media, maybe even business cards and of course, the physical book itself.

I consider professional book cover design to be non-negotiable if you are taking your author career seriously.

In today's article, Damon from Damonza, an awesome cover design service that I recommend, outlines how best to work with a book cover designer.

Having written your book with your own hand, you’ll likely realize that covering it will be no easy task.

Thousands of words, linked together into an exciting, dramatic or even raunchy narrative, need to be represented by a simple and impactful cover. Heck.

Because you want what’s best for your book, you’ll be looking to engage the services of a professional. Someone whose job it is to get your magnum opus flying off the shelves. Someone who’s more than capable of summarizing your story into a beautiful confluence of image and text.

Someone who knows who will buy your book, what they will like, and has the skillset to produce something that speaks to them.

But, like a tango, designing the perfect book cover takes two.

While it may not be your iMac on which the cover will be produced, you’re no less key to the creation of it. As the author, you’ll be steering the design ship, unfurling metaphorical spinnakers and looking into the distance through a metaphorical telescope.

But those without much ship-steering knowledge could find themselves quickly running their vessel aground.

Sea captain metaphors are hard when you’ve never been a sea captain. But let’s continue unabated.

Let these 9 tips for getting the very best out of your book cover designer be your lighthouse in the distance.

1. Make sure you pick the right designer

The very first – and by far most important – step to getting the best out of your cover designer is to hire the right one. The quality of your cover will depend entirely on the quality of your designer, and cutting corners on who you hire will seriously affect the success of your book.

Remember; in this capitalist world of ours, you inevitably get what you pay for.

So what does the ‘right’ designer look like? They should offer:

A proven track record – Look for designers who can point to their stunning and diverse portfolio and give you real-world success stories.

Knowledge and expertise – A good designer will have a deep understanding of what a reader wants from a cover. A quick chat should reveal how well they know the market.

Adaptability – The designing of your cover needs to be a flexible process. A good designer will be comfortable with any changes of heart or tack (within reason).

Availability and punctuality – 1) Is the designer ready to take on your brief straight away? 2) Will they commit to delivering the final draft within a reasonable timeframe?

Value for money – Now I don’t want to sound like your dad here, but you need to spend within your means, kid. Finding a designer who ticks the above boxes is great until you have to take out a second mortgage to hire them.

If you know what to look for, and are willing to spend a little bit of time looking for it, you’ll have a far greater chance of cover design success.

[Note from Joanna: I have a list of recommended book cover designers here. Damonza is absolutely one of them 🙂 ]

2. Know your goals

Your cover is the door to another world; a world created entirely by you.

But who did you envisage walking through that door and making themselves at home in that world? Teenagers? Adults? Romantics? Super-sleuths? Historians? Adrenaline junkies?

And what are your hopes and dreams for the published work? Is your ambition to simply get published? Or are you hoping for this to be the first in a line of stepping stones to literary fame and fortune?

In order for your designer to produce the perfect cover for your book, you’ll need to offer them a clear idea of your goals.

It’s vital that you know what you want from your book before you start talking turkey with the designer, as this will have a huge impact on how they go about their business. Tell them what you want your story’s ‘door’ to say.

3. Bring your inspiration to the table

Sure, the designer is the expert, but by no means does that discount your imagery ideas. After all, nobody knows the world within those pages better than the person who created it!

Don’t be timid in suggesting ideas to your designer, no matter how offbeat they may seem. Want a hologram of a Hulk Hogan high-fiving a manatee on the cover of your historical account of the Crimean War? While it may not be what appears on the final draft, there’s no harm in saying so.

If you’ve got a specific color scheme in mind or can point to cover designs that have tickled your fancy in the past, these suggestions can be hugely helpful in guiding the process.

While the finished product might not exactly match that which had formed in your mind’s eye, it should represent a nice middle ground between your raw inspiration and the designer’s expertise, Hulk Hogan or no.

4. Remember that the cover is there to sell the book

Writing your book can be an incredibly introspective and personal experience. You’ve spent an ungodly amount of hours pouring your heart and soul into this work and handing the reins over to some perfect stranger to gift wrap it can be painful.

There is a temptation to have your cover reflect the personal nature of the book’s insides. Many self-published authors can make the mistake of putting a family photo or the artwork of a close friend on their cover; while a beautiful gesture, doing so can be hugely detrimental to the success of your book. While the image will speak to you, it probably won’t speak to prospective buyers.

This most commonly happens with memoirs. An author will select a photo with huge sentimental value, but that will mean nothing to an unfamiliar reader who is simply looking for something eye-catching as they browse the bookstore shelves.

Endeavour to limit your personal attachment, and remember that the cover is there to sell your book. The greatest compliment you can pay your work is to ensure that the maximum amount of people read it.

5. Don’t be shy with feedback, but make sure it makes sense

There are three types of feedback that any cover designer will be familiar with, and generally comfortable with receiving:

“I love it! Let’s go ahead and finalize!”

“We’re almost there, but can you change this minor detail to better match my personal preference?”

“I love this about Draft 1, and this about Draft 2; can you make a cover combining these elements?”

These three pieces of feedback represent over 90% of what a cover designer will hear day-to-day from their clients.

But a small minority of feedback is less actionable, and simply serves to stall the design process and frustrate both camps. Telling a designer “I don’t like it – start again” is absolutely pointless, as is “can you just make it look like [this cover]?’

So sure, don’t be shy when offering feedback, but make sure it’s reasonable.

6. Respect the designer knows what they’re doing

Further to the above point, some self-published authors go into the design process with blinkers on – they have a set idea of what they want in a cover, and will disregard the advice offered by a professional who has designed thousands of covers.

It’s a cover designer’s job to know what works. By going against that advice, you’re forcing them to produce a cover that they know will not be successful – it’s an awkward spot for them to be in to say the least.

Imagine going to a Michelin star restaurant, receiving your Michelin star food, then telling the chef “this is terrible – my meatloaf is WAY better”. If you hand the meatloaf recipe over for them to cook, would you expect them to cook it? Does your personal opinion make the restaurant any less Michelin star-worthy? Does it automatically cancel out the years of training that the chef went through or the awards from experts that the restaurant has won?

It’s vital that you respect the opinion of the designer, and realize that they know what they’re doing.

7. Don’t move the goalposts

While we’ve already listed adaptability as a key trait for any cover designer to have, it should be a trait that you, the author, use sparingly. While minor changes of tack will be expected by the designer, complete paradigm shifts will not.

If you ask your designer to create a moody, mysterious and dark cover and they provide a few drafts to choose from, you can’t then go back to them and suggest a change to Hulk Hogan high-fiving a manatee.

As mentioned earlier, set your goals firmly before getting a designer to begin their work. By doing so you’ll save all parties involved a lot of heartache.

8. Steer clear of recreating a specific scene

Number eight can be a tripping point for many an author. You’ve written a scene of pure 24-carat gold, and you can imagine nothing better to slap on the front of your book than a visualization of this incredible extract – a combination of image and text that matches the scene word for word.

Bad idea, hombre.

There are a few reasons why recreating a scene on your cover is inadvisable:

The thumbnail rule – Your cover needs to look good as a thumbnail, so as to sell well through online retailers. An overly detailed cover will not translate well to being shrunk.

Your audience aren’t idiots – They appreciate subtlety, metaphor and intimation. By offering a paint-by-numbers cover you take away the mystery.

Minimalism is more impactful – Potential readers will spend an average of 2 seconds glancing at your book before deciding whether to pick it up or click on it for a closer look. If your cover is too complex they will simply glaze over it. Minimalism works.

Your best bet? Keep that golden nugget of a scene as a lovely surprise for your reader within the confines of your book.

9. Communicate clearly

Communication is key. Having chosen a terrific design firm who puts an onus on communicating clearly and promptly, it’s up to you to do the same.

Any suggestions you might have or any reservations that might be floating through your head need to be verbalized – it’s in no one’s interest to keep these things bottled up.

Remember too that this communication is a two-way street; again, if you’ve chosen your cover design firm wisely you can be sure that they’ll be listening to you, you just need to ensure that you’re doing the same.

Designing your perfect cover, as we discussed earlier, is a group effort. While you’re the captain of the ship, your design firm makes up the crew. It’s your responsibility to shout orders, but you also need to listen to your first mate when he’s telling you there’s an iceberg dead ahead. When those in charge of the outside of a book communicate freely and openly with those in charge of the inside, good things happen.

Cover design, like a tango, takes two. By choosing your partner wisely and following these rules, you’re doing everything in your power to ensure that not only do toes remain untrodden but that the dancefloor is set alight.

What has your cover design experience been like? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Damon Freeman is a South African living in New Zealand, and the founder and creative director of the specialist book cover design company, Damonza.com.

Since 2012, Damon and his team have designed well over 3000 book covers for first-time writers, New York Times bestselling authors, and small and large publishers. That’s a whole lot of covers, so it’s very fortunate that he kinda likes doing it 🙂 And since he’s a terrible writer, authoring was never really on the table. He even had to get someone else to write this bio for him.

Agents and Self-Publishing: Q&A With Literary Agent Mark Gottlieb

June 30, 2017 by Joanna Penn 24 Comments

It's possible these days for an author to write, publish, and sell their books internationally without an agent, with some authors making a multi-six-figure income without going anywhere near a traditional agent or publisher.

We can do ebooks, print books and audiobooks, we can license foreign rights, and some indie authors are getting movie deals. Remember, both 50 Shades of Grey and The Martian started out as self-published books.

So what is the role of an agent in a world where authors can get on well enough without them?

In today's article, literary agent Mark Gottlieb answers some questions and I'd like to commend Mark for approaching me about this Q&A since he's clearly open to the idea of working with indies 🙂 I don't agree with everything he has said, but many authors do still want an agent to work with, so I'm happy to have his point of view on the blog. You're welcome to leave comments and questions at the bottom of the post.

Mark Gottlieb attended Emerson College and was President of its Publishing Club, establishing the Wilde Press. After graduating with a degree in writing, literature & publishing, he began his career with Penguin’s VP. Mark’s first position at Publishers Marketplace’s #1-ranked literary agency, Trident Media Group, was in foreign rights. Mark was EA to Trident’s Chairman and ran the Audio Department.

Mark is currently working with his own client list, helping to manage and grow author careers with the unique resources available to Trident. He has ranked #1 among Literary Agents on PublishersMarketplace.com in Overall Deals and other categories.

How has the role of an agent changed in the last 10 years since the Kindle first launched and digital publishing started to change the environment?

It has become all too easy for an author to feel discouraged and turn to self-publishing or small indie publishing. However, many successful self-published authors eventually go into traditional publishing to take advantage of having a team of professionals who help them take their work to the next level.

A literary agency with industry knowledge and expertise can bring a huge value add to the table for an author, evidenced by many of the success stories we’ve created for our clients, the bulk of which are award-winning and bestselling authors. We’ve actually built a lot of self-published success stories into mega-bestsellers, giving authors a Godzilla-like footprint in the industry.

Trident Media Group is a full-service literary agency for authors, handling accounting, legal review, management, foreign rights (books in translation), book-to-film/TV, audio books, etc. We’re also a literary agency with tremendous clout in the industry, so we can get many things for authors from publishers and film / TV buyers that an author otherwise would not be able to get on their own.

I’d like to think that a literary agency would save an author a lot of headaches to help the author focus in on their own writing, thereby allowing the author to become more prolific.

Meanwhile, the literary agent would work in concert with their subsidiary rights people and departments within the literary agency. In looking at a literary agent and considering paying them a commission on a deal, an author should be asking what they stand to gain in having a literary agent.

What do agents think of authors who self-publish?

The self-publishing/indie sphere has become something of what the farm league is to major league baseball, but the odds of that success can be lower than were an author to try and approach a literary agent as an author attempting to make their major debut in trade publishing.

What level of success would an indie have to have to attract an agent? How should an indie author pitch in the most effective way?

The bar is quite high in terms of self-publishing to attract an agent or publisher. An author usually needs to have sold at least 50,000 copies at a decent price.

Are agents interested in working with indie authors on subsidiary rights only?

It is difficult to be in business with an indie author who only wants their agent handling their subsidiary rights. Such authors are missing out on the world of print and the distribution channels a major trade publisher could afford them. Selling subsidiary rights and film/TV is also made easier once there's a tradition publication in place.

Agents and publishers are increasingly using self-publishing as a way to expand revenue streams from authors.

This includes the agent-assisted publishing model through Amazon White Glove, as well as publishers starting services like Type & Tell (Bonnier) and Macmillan buying Pronoun as well as Thomas Nelson's Westbow Press and others.

Do you see this as a conflict of interest or a way for agents and publishers to expand their business?

I view all of this as complimentary when conducted in the right way.

For instance, most publishers aren't open to novellas and story collections from authors, so sometimes the eBook space is a good place for projects outside the box to take place.

Other times, what a hybrid author is doing in the eBook space can benefit what's going on for them in the traditional publishing space and vice versa. With a hybrid author, though, timing is key as it's not advisable to release two novels in the same month or so since that can result in the cannibalization of book sales.

I don't view this as a conflict of interest if a literary agency helping and author in that space remain in their role as a literary agent, taking their usual commission, rather than becoming a rights holder.

How do you think publishing will change in the next 10 years? What will the role of agents and authors be?

For example, IPR License just launched a Buy Rights button so rights sales can be done online instead of through relationships.

Don’t believe the hype. You can’t believe everything you see and read. I remain a firm believer in that no matter how far technology takes us, there’s always a need for the human element, and I’m not talking about a “ghost in the machine.”

It is no lie that an author receives a larger share of royalties in the digital space in self-publishing, but there’s still a common misconception. In self-publishing, authors sell in smaller numbers than a literary agent and publisher could do for an author.

Authors that self-publish are primarily in the digital format, rather than being in the other revenue tributaries of major trade publishing. Overall, it’s better to diversify one’s publishing portfolio with a major trade publisher, offering various publishing formats, online and physical retailers, etc.

One day I see traditional publishers having an even bigger presence in the digital sphere for books in terms of placement among online retailers in buying co-op deals, key site placement, and more, exactly the way music and movie companies originated subscription services and digital access.

Print won’t become a thing of the past but perhaps a nostalgia, much like the way in which music aficionados appreciate vinyl records. Like the LP, the hardcover book is a technology that has been perfected and is ideal for the experience of reading. Regardless, readers will always opt for their preferred format, whether that be print, audio or ebook.

If an indie author has a number of titles that they have self-published successfully in a specific genre e.g. romance or fantasy, and wanted to pitch a new book/series to an agent in a different genre e.g. thriller, would it be better to pitch with a different name and attempt to be a debut? Or would an agent prefer to see an existing platform?

I’m of the opinion that an author who can write successfully in one genre might be able to do so in another. I wouldn’t recommend a pen name unless there was worry that the new genre writing might harm the success of the current genre in terms of sales track record.

The only other reason to encourage a pen name would be to protect the authors brand in not confusing fans. Usually I think it is better to replicate success wherever possible, writing within a successful genre again in major trade publishing, before turning one’s attention to a new or different genre with a traditional publisher.

What would the average advance be right now in publishing? We hear of the outliers, the multi-six-figure deals, but what is the reality for a new author?

There really is no average book advance since there are so many types of authors, books, literary agencies and book publishers, but not every book deal is in the six-figures. It’s probably easier to garner a six-figure+ advance for an author with a proven track record of success or with an author who is vied for in a hotly-contested bidding war among publishers.

Do you think that contract terms like ‘non-compete' clauses will evolve to allow authors to self-publish at the same time as traditionally publish? Or have limited term licenses for English as well as foreign rights?

These types of contract changes would be much more attractive to business-minded authors.

As book publishing’s leading literary agency, we get the very best contract terms for clients, so most of our non-compete clauses afford hybrid self-publishing opportunities for our clients. The same cannot be said of every literary agent or literary agency.

How can people pitch you?

I can be contacted via tridentmediagroup.com where we have a submissions/contact us page

Have you ever considered trying to work with a literary agent? Do you have any questions for Mark? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Self-Publishing In French With Cyril Godefroy

June 15, 2017 by Joanna Penn 4 Comments

Self-publishing is well established in the English-speaking market, but it is an emerging force in other languages and territories. We will likely see the most growth in book sales in other languages as ebook and print book retail expand online over the next few years, so it's an exciting time if you speak a language other than English … or you can work with others who do.

I tried self-publishing in translation a few years ago and it was way too early. With an inability to market in other languages, and a tiny ebook market in non-English territories, I ended up paying off my translators and pulling my translations from the market.

Except for French non-fiction! In the last few years, I've worked with Cyril Godefroy, one of the early French adopters of self-publishing. He has translated and published several of my non-fiction books, and because he is able to handle the marketing, it has been the most successful of my translations. So I'm thrilled today to welcome Cyril to the blog, where he will share more about the French-speaking market.

Did you know that self-publishing, both in ebook and print formats, is a thing in France?

You wouldn’t guess from reading newspapers’ articles about the global self-publishing sector. But it is.

As an independent publisher, self-published author and self-publishing activist, I’ve been observing and writing about the ebook markets in France for 4 years, as well as interviewing in my podcast other self-published authors on how to market their books in France. Oh, and that tiny percentage of translations sales in Joanna’s book sales report? I’m afraid it’s mostly me: I translated and published two of her books in French.

This article will give you a better awareness of the French market if you’re considering translating to French.

Of course, keeping your translation/language rights is a pre-requisite for getting your toes wet in that market. Always keep your rights!

French language market

French is a language that’s used by citizens of 3 countries in Europe (France, Belgium and Switzerland), many people in Canada (not only in Quebec), and some countries in Africa (North Africa and Central Africa). There’s also an influence in the former colonies. There are also many expatriates.

So when you publish in French, you don’t publish only for France.

But in this article, I’ll talk mostly about France.

Ebooks are still a new thing and the numbers pale in comparison with English-speaking countries. Digital books represent a mere 6% of books, according to latest surveys (published by publishers, so take it with a grain of salt).

You’ll notice the same discrepancies between self-publishers and trad publishers as on other markets: most books in the top 50 on Kindle are self-published books, with reasonable prices (2.99€ -> 5.99€) while trad publishers usually have books at a higher price, sometimes even higher than paper (especially with pocket books). As I write this, 5 of the top-10 ebooks on Amazon Kindle store are self-published books; books that will not be accounted for in industry surveys.

French readers like translations. If you look at Romance of SF/Fantasy categories, you’ll notice many names that are also available in US/UK stores. Same for thriller/crime fiction, but we have more authors in these categories. Personally, I prefer a good thriller/adventure in English: I learn new slang words.

There are 572,000 ebooks in French on Amazon Kindle, compared to 3 841 000 ebooks in English: it’s a smaller market, where it might also be easier to get good visibility.

Platforms

The platforms that are in the English markets are present in France, with the notable absence of Barnes & Noble. Actually, the market seems to be split between 3 major players (Amazon Kindle, Kobo, iBooks) with many smaller players (Bookeen, Nolim, Decitre, etc).

KDP allows you to publish to amazon.fr, and you should, if you have kept your rights for that market, even in English. Make sure you set the price right (2.99, 3.99 whatever) and not a weird price that would surprise the readers (3.06€ for example). It is the biggest platform in France too, with over 60% market share (pretty hard to come up with a precise number). There’s a small team of representatives for KDP, ebooks in general, Amazon imprints that you can meet during Paris book fair (« Livre Paris », end of March usually).

Fun fact: Mobipocket is where the ebook explosion was seeded. That French company created in 2001 was bought by Amazon in 2005, and most of its inheritance made it inside the first Kindle. Cocorico. Of course, things have changed a lot since.

Kobo has an agreement with the well-known retailer Fnac, and ebooks you publish through Kobo Writing Life will also appear in Fnac’s store. Fnac has also extended its stores to southern Europe (mostly Spain and Portugal). It’s helped Kobo become very quickly one of the key stores on the French market, and the second easiest to publish to.

The Kobo Writing Life (KWL) team is dynamic, active and you can meet them during smaller events (Crime or Romance festivals for example). There’s not much difference from the English market: if you publish non-fiction, you’re in for a surprise, as Kobo is mostly interested in fiction books.

Some other things to note: I have noticed a few times a lag of communication between Kobo Writing Life and Fnac web site, meaning that your cover may not be displayed, prices may not be updated at the right time, etc. You need to double-check and contact KWL if Fnac’s web site is slow to update.

iBooks has been on French markets very early, but nobody knows what iBooks team for France looks like. They mostly tie relations with trad publishers and so far, I’ve been unable to discuss with any of the team members, despite many attempts. They’re at the same rank as Kobo, or so it seems. You’ll be better off with them if you publish non-fiction books than with Kobo, but barely.

Having a French Apple account will be necessary to review the iBooks store for France, and to know what works and what doesn’t work on their market.

In France, most self-published authors start with a publication on Kindle, then maybe on Kobo, and rarely on iBooks. Getting an iBooks account is harder, especially for non-english speakers, as it requires a US fiscal number, and the biggest distributors (Smashwords or Draft2Digital for example) are still mostly in English.

During summer 2016, I made a survey with the self-published authors or would-be self-published authors I have on my list and came out with results you can read (in French of course) here. None were very happy with iBooks service or sales…

As far as I can tell, publishing your ebooks on smaller platforms by yourself is a tour de force: you need to go through a distributor that has signed a contract with them.

A few small distributors exist, that will publish your ebooks to most stores, such as Bookelis and Iggybook, but they mostly focus on paper. We’ll talk more about them later.

Translation

Translation is hard: better give it to professionals. People for whom French is their mother tongue.

Working with BabelCube doesn’t produce great results, as I’ve seen in the past. Poor quality is what I’ve seen from books translated through this tool.

Working with freelancers on Upwork: you can get cheap translations, but from people from non western countries, Africa sometimes, Madagascar. You’ll need a good proof reader and you may have to translate entire paragraphs more than once. I have experienced it first-hand and that’s not something I would do again.

Choosing your translator: having someone who can read good French is essential to be able to choose the best translator. In my experience, you can find good or great translators for the same price. A test on a two-page extract is a great way to make a choice. I experienced it with a friend for the translation of her best-seller novel to English: she asked me my advice between two translators, and one of them was definitely much better, using idiomatic expressions and improving the translation from good to great.

For proof-reading, there are a few people I list here, but just a few. And no, unfortunately, I have no translators to recommend yet: the ones I know are usually fully booked by traditional publishers.

Promotion

In France, as the market is still smaller than English-speaking countries, you will not find a whole lot bonanza of promotion tools. No such thing as Instafreebie, Bookbub or Bargainbooksy. So to make a dent, you need someone with a platform and ready to spend a lot of time on outreach.

I have a free service of daily deals in ebooks, ebookgang.fr, but don’t expect the numbers you could find on comparable services in the US or UK. Visibility through bestsellers, merchandising, bloggers is still the best way to outreach and find new readers, create your fan base.

Comparable to Goodreads, which despite its best efforts, is still an English-speaking service (or perceived as such), you have Babelio, and Booknode. The first one dwarfs the second one, with over 4 million page views per month, compared to 1.3 million PV for Booknode.

Advertising on Babelio has unfortunately been too expensive for me to test. First package is at 1500€. Something only trad publishers have used so far.

So a self-published author will try Facebook ads (with bad results), or little experiments, such as box-sets, seasonal promotions, etc. Initiatives that come from individuals, and not established, pay-for-traffic companies. Amazon Marketing Services doesn’t work in France (I wish it did).

If you’re a romance author, you can reach out to several festivals and one fanzine (which also has its festival) Les Romantiques. This year, they invited 11 international authors (mostly English-speaking), and 23 French authors.

Finding a partner with a platform, knowledge of the market etc is therefore essential. If you speak French well enough, you can also find other self-published authors with experience, mostly in Facebook groups such as Auteurs indépendants sur Kindle or Les auteurs auto-édités.

Don’t forget to have your author page on Amazon translated to French. It helps. Authorcentral is localized, so you need to go to authorcentral.amazon.fr to edit it.

If you’re on Amazon KDP Select and want to do a Countdown deal, don’t make the same error as French authors: this tool only works for Amazon.com, not amazon.fr. You need to change your prices manually, and wait for Amazon to approve the changes.

Interested in print?

You’ve probably understood that I consider most French readers too conservative. And that they still read a lot on paper. Ebook is much easier than paper, and French paper habits and rules probably require you to find a good partner to take care of the layout of your paper books. Or at least to buy a few paperbacks in French at your local bookstore to make sure you don’t transgress important rules.

To distribute through Amazon, you can use Createspace as well as KDP Paper which is available for France. But it’s not the only solution.

For distribution to other channels, forget about IngramSpark which has absolutely no partners in France yet.

If you want to get into bookstores, you’ll need to do it yourself. And it can be a pain. That’s where Bookelis and Iggybook become interesting. They work with Lightning Source and Hachette Distribution (one of the biggest distributors in France), so that your paper book will be available at request in most physical bookstores. Their business model requires a modest fee to create your paper version, but they also distribute to Amazon, which is still the first channel for self-published paper books, so you might be interested in working only with them, and not with Createspace. Unfortunately, they only do paperbacks, not hardcovers.

Independent bookstores in France still represent 2500 stores and 40% of the sales. And there are new bookstores opening (despite a net 100 stores closing every year).

This vivid channel in our small country is probably one of the reasons why ebooks progression is tepid. The other reason being that major publishers don’t want ebook sales to increase.

Having a paper book doesn’t mean any bookstore will buy your books. You need to become a household name in France too before they are even aware that you exist… But when paper books still represent 93% of book sales, you want to have a paper version.

Working with the providers I mentioned above (or other who have the same distributor) will allow you to have your book available for order in most bookstores, and with an easy delivery and administration from the bookstore owner. You could do it alone, but that would mean many hours of paperwork for you, for probably little sales.

Tips, tricks and quirks

There are very few categories for books on Amazon’s books or Kindle store. Really not as deep categories as on Amazon.com etc. And you know how a category in KDP back-office doesn’t translate to a category on the store front? Well in France, it’s the same thing.

Kobo Writing Life has categories that reflect their store.

If you want to reach out to bloggers, you will probably need a paper book. Alan Spade updates a list of bloggers who accept to do book reviews from paper or ebook books. Get in contact with them responsibly.

In France, we don’t use Copyright, we have Intellectual Property. If you have a lawyer friend, ask for comments on the difference between the two.

The first indie author was… Balzac, who happened to have print press and had to write novels to make up for his game debts.

We have a VAT on books, but it’s only 5.5%, and valid for ebooks or audiobooks too. The EU Commission does not agree with us, and they might make up their mind on that matter by the end of the century. In the meantime, all stores will ask you to put your prices with VAT (because that’s how we set prices). And they’ll be happy to handle the administrative issues for you.

We have shark publishers too. Be very careful about them.

What’s next?

Progress and growth are definitely next on the list. And audiobooks (buzz-word of 2017)!

When the storytelling from the press will stop talking about authors that first succeeded through self-pub then became traditionally published, things might improve. One example is used over and over. Here's a good example, for the author whose name is used by almost every article.

In 2012, Agnès Martin-Lugand got some success as a self-published author before being published by publisher Michel Lafon. Since then, she’s only a traditionally published author. Five years later she’s still used as the figure of the self-published author that succeeded, although she’s not self-published anymore.

A few French authors have become what you would expect from successful self-published authors: publishing as many as four books a year, often reaching the top 100 or event the top 10, expanding slowly into audio. But nobody will talk about them in the press because it’s all about traditional publishing, even if they sell thousands of their ebooks.

Audiobooks are on the rise, in France as well as on other markets. After years and years of slow growth, the market is becoming more aware of that product, and it looks like people love audiobooks.

But it’s still a traditional market, and we don’t have anything like ACX, neither for production nor distribution. You have to sign paper agreements with Audible to distribute through them. You, as a US or UK citizen, are much luckier than most of us as you could publish on ACX a French novel.

With a new Minister for Culture coming from a trad publisher (Actes Sud), we may see traditional publishing increasing their attacks on Amazon, to protect their walled garden of print books. In the meantime, self-published authors will continue to find new readers to entertain them and provide them with great content. And readers will probably answer by reading more…

Are you a French indie author? Or have you thought about publishing in French or in France? Please leave your thoughts below and join the conversation.

Cyril Godefroy is an author, publisher of self-help, marketing and self-publishing books. You can find all his articles on self-publishing in France on http://autoediteur.com. He also has the promo site http://ebookgang.fr, and has been organizing genre boxsets with http://ebooksy.fr.