The Self Publisher Guide to Outselling Traditional Publishing Houses
The secret traditional publishers will not tell you: your packaging sells the story.
2 minute read · Grosvenor & Guild Print, London
Independent authors cannot outspend the big houses on marketing. They can outbuild them on the object. Here is how a growing number command 100 to 300 pounds per copy.
The playing field has changed
A traditional publisher must make one hardback specification serve a print run of thousands. Every decision is a compromise toward the average. An independent author printing 200 copies has no such constraint. You can choose the paper, the cloth, the foil, the ribbon and the box, and you can charge accordingly.
Self published titles now account for a substantial and growing share of UK book sales. The authors earning the most per title are rarely the ones selling the cheapest ebook. They are the ones selling a beautiful edition directly to a devoted readership.
The direct sales model
Selling direct removes the retailer discount, which in trade publishing runs between 40 and 60 percent. It also gives you the reader relationship. A signed, numbered clothbound edition sold from your own website at 120 pounds returns more than 150 paperbacks sold through a marketplace.
- Standard hardback for general readers
- Signed and numbered clothbound edition at three to five times the standard price
- Deluxe slipcased edition, limited to 50, at ten times the standard price
What buyers at 200 pounds expect
At this price the reader is a collector. They expect a sewn binding, heavy uncoated paper, foil on cloth, a ribbon marker, printed endpapers and a numbered limitation page. They also expect photography of the object before purchase and careful packaging on arrival. None of this is difficult. It simply has to be specified.
A launch structure that works
The independents who succeed tend to follow a similar sequence.
- Announce the limited edition before the standard edition
- Open preorders and use them to fund the print run
- Photograph the production process and share it
- Ship the limited edition first, then release the standard tier
Start with the materials
Request our sample pack, choose your cloth and paper, and use our quote calculator to price your edition. You may find that outselling the big houses per copy is easier than you thought.
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