Four lofty hurdles for NZ junior fiction authors,
and some ideas on how to clear them
A lot of indie authors are saying to me, okay, now I have my professionally edited book, what next? The switched-on ones will already have looked into printing and distribution options, and will have investigated marketing. But so much of the information out there on the internet just isn���t helpful for New Zealand authors. So I thought it might be useful to list our particular hurdles and my thoughts on how to clear them. (Most apply to self-pubbing authors, but some may be useful to traditionally published authors too.)
Hurdle 1: The NZ market is tiny by international standards. A self-published book that sells 1000+ is considered to be doing well; a traditional publisher is aiming for well over 2000 copies sold. Overseas publishers look at those figures and say, ���How in the dickens can anyone make money from that?��� Of course, many traditional NZ publishers don���t, and several have closed down in the last few years, with others becoming little more than distribution outlets for overseas titles.
Solution? Two options here:
��� forget the tiny NZ market and aim global, or
��� target NZ, and if you achieve reasonable sales, go global on the back of your NZ success.
My opinion? It is extremely difficult for little-known authors to achieve significant global sales for junior fiction (ebooks and print-on-demand), so I���d recommend tailoring your marketing to NZ. If your book is good, that small market size will work to your advantage, because word spreads quickly. The other benefit is that there is less competition. In a large market like the UK, you will be competing with thousands of other authors for sales, and in competitions and awards. In NZ the numbers are comparatively small, so if your book is good it is relatively easy to stand out. And if it does well, then it may make its way overseas. My latest junior fiction, and Sarah Johnson���s The Bold Ship Phenomenal, have both just received Storylines Notable Book awards, and on the back of those an agent is taking them to the Bologna Book Fair (cool!).
Hurdle 2: It���s a long way from anywhere. A very long way. Why does this matter? SHIPPING! If you���re printing a good-sized run overseas, the cost per book can be pretty low, but when you add in freight the cost of a print-on-demand version from Amazon doubles, and for copies printed in China it���s another $0.50 or so per copy plus customs fees and tax that you can be pinged for.
Solution? If sales volume isn���t hugely important to you (e.g. you���re a newbie author who���s going to sell only via the internet) then a print-on-demand (digital) facility like Ingram or Amazon Createspace is probably the way to go. Without the distributor fee (see below) you can make a reasonable profit per copy sold. Local printing is another option for small print runs; your per-copy cost will be comparatively high, so again you���ll need to sell and distribute yourself to make a profit from this. Plenty of people do! They are generally authors who have cracked the marketing side of things and have a particular niche.
But if you���re aiming to sell anything over 500 copies, then offset printing overseas is the way to go. Without a distributor you will need a lot of space for stacking boxes, and healthy optimism that you can shift that number of books yourself. If you���re going to use a distributor you almost certainly need to print 750+ copies to make a profit.
Actual solution: What we really need in NZ is a good-quality print-on-demand facility with prices on a par with Amazon Createspace. Hello out there?
Hurdle 3: distribution costs. Distributors are unlikely to take your book unless they expect to sell at least 1,000. And if they do take your book, they are going to keep up to 70% of your cover price. (Did you gasp?) This means you���ll be lucky to break even once you���ve paid for editing, layout, cover design and printing (and if you don���t use professionals for these, you���re unlikely to find a distributor). My latest junior fiction retails at $20, meaning I make about $1 profit per book sold through my distributor. I also sell direct from my website, but the numbers are tiny ��� I need my distributor!
Solution: don���t use a distributor! But ��� good luck with that. If you have the time and the energy, and are confident at hand-selling into bookshops and cold calling etc, then you could make this work well for you.
Hurdle 4: Marketing: Our target market is kids! As we are all (perhaps painfully) aware, marketing is the key to selling books, whether traditionally or self-published. And these days that means a successful social media strategy. But hang on ��� you have to be 13 to have a Facebook account (okay you���re supposed to be 13) and most 8-year-olds aren���t spending time on Twitter and Instagram. This isn���t an NZ-only problem, it���s a recognised stumbling block for middle-grade/junior fiction authors everywhere.
Solution: In New Zealand, the key to selling junior fiction is connecting with teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents, so bear this audience in mind when setting up your author Facebook page, Instagram account etc, and think what would interest them (i.e. definitely not just ���buy my book!���). To make headway with this group you need author credibility, so your book must be up there with the traditionally published competition. It needs to be professionally designed and edited, and the production (printing) needs to be good quality. Really, you shouldn���t be able to tell the difference between a SP book and a trad published book. If you are confident it is this good, then aim for reviews on blogs and in magazines read by teachers, librarians and booksellers. Put your book in for competitions and awards, and if it���s shortlisted then make the most of this on social media and in your marketing material.
Another tip for junior fiction success: write a series. The second, third and so on will boost sales of earlier books, and eventually (give it time ��� it���s always glacial in publishing) you should have reasonable sales. I thought the first in my ghost story series (The Ghosts of Young Nick���s Head) had had its day, with discounted copies gathering dust on the bookshelves at Whitcoulls. But when I released the follow-up, I had orders for 100+ of the first book within weeks. I���d heard that this worked, but was quite honestly amazed when it did!
Now I���m going to go and eat a hot cross bun. Happy writing (and Easter) all!
Hurdle 1: The NZ market is tiny by international standards. A self-published book that sells 1000+ is considered to be doing well; a traditional publisher is aiming for well over 2000 copies sold. Overseas publishers look at those figures and say, ���How in the dickens can anyone make money from that?��� Of course, many traditional NZ publishers don���t, and several have closed down in the last few years, with others becoming little more than distribution outlets for overseas titles.
Solution? Two options here:
��� forget the tiny NZ market and aim global, or
��� target NZ, and if you achieve reasonable sales, go global on the back of your NZ success.
My opinion? It is extremely difficult for little-known authors to achieve significant global sales for junior fiction (ebooks and print-on-demand), so I���d recommend tailoring your marketing to NZ. If your book is good, that small market size will work to your advantage, because word spreads quickly. The other benefit is that there is less competition. In a large market like the UK, you will be competing with thousands of other authors for sales, and in competitions and awards. In NZ the numbers are comparatively small, so if your book is good it is relatively easy to stand out. And if it does well, then it may make its way overseas. My latest junior fiction, and Sarah Johnson���s The Bold Ship Phenomenal, have both just received Storylines Notable Book awards, and on the back of those an agent is taking them to the Bologna Book Fair (cool!).
Hurdle 2: It���s a long way from anywhere. A very long way. Why does this matter? SHIPPING! If you���re printing a good-sized run overseas, the cost per book can be pretty low, but when you add in freight the cost of a print-on-demand version from Amazon doubles, and for copies printed in China it���s another $0.50 or so per copy plus customs fees and tax that you can be pinged for.
Solution? If sales volume isn���t hugely important to you (e.g. you���re a newbie author who���s going to sell only via the internet) then a print-on-demand (digital) facility like Ingram or Amazon Createspace is probably the way to go. Without the distributor fee (see below) you can make a reasonable profit per copy sold. Local printing is another option for small print runs; your per-copy cost will be comparatively high, so again you���ll need to sell and distribute yourself to make a profit from this. Plenty of people do! They are generally authors who have cracked the marketing side of things and have a particular niche.
But if you���re aiming to sell anything over 500 copies, then offset printing overseas is the way to go. Without a distributor you will need a lot of space for stacking boxes, and healthy optimism that you can shift that number of books yourself. If you���re going to use a distributor you almost certainly need to print 750+ copies to make a profit.
Actual solution: What we really need in NZ is a good-quality print-on-demand facility with prices on a par with Amazon Createspace. Hello out there?
Hurdle 3: distribution costs. Distributors are unlikely to take your book unless they expect to sell at least 1,000. And if they do take your book, they are going to keep up to 70% of your cover price. (Did you gasp?) This means you���ll be lucky to break even once you���ve paid for editing, layout, cover design and printing (and if you don���t use professionals for these, you���re unlikely to find a distributor). My latest junior fiction retails at $20, meaning I make about $1 profit per book sold through my distributor. I also sell direct from my website, but the numbers are tiny ��� I need my distributor!
Solution: don���t use a distributor! But ��� good luck with that. If you have the time and the energy, and are confident at hand-selling into bookshops and cold calling etc, then you could make this work well for you.
Hurdle 4: Marketing: Our target market is kids! As we are all (perhaps painfully) aware, marketing is the key to selling books, whether traditionally or self-published. And these days that means a successful social media strategy. But hang on ��� you have to be 13 to have a Facebook account (okay you���re supposed to be 13) and most 8-year-olds aren���t spending time on Twitter and Instagram. This isn���t an NZ-only problem, it���s a recognised stumbling block for middle-grade/junior fiction authors everywhere.
Solution: In New Zealand, the key to selling junior fiction is connecting with teachers, librarians, booksellers and parents, so bear this audience in mind when setting up your author Facebook page, Instagram account etc, and think what would interest them (i.e. definitely not just ���buy my book!���). To make headway with this group you need author credibility, so your book must be up there with the traditionally published competition. It needs to be professionally designed and edited, and the production (printing) needs to be good quality. Really, you shouldn���t be able to tell the difference between a SP book and a trad published book. If you are confident it is this good, then aim for reviews on blogs and in magazines read by teachers, librarians and booksellers. Put your book in for competitions and awards, and if it���s shortlisted then make the most of this on social media and in your marketing material.
Another tip for junior fiction success: write a series. The second, third and so on will boost sales of earlier books, and eventually (give it time ��� it���s always glacial in publishing) you should have reasonable sales. I thought the first in my ghost story series (The Ghosts of Young Nick���s Head) had had its day, with discounted copies gathering dust on the bookshelves at Whitcoulls. But when I released the follow-up, I had orders for 100+ of the first book within weeks. I���d heard that this worked, but was quite honestly amazed when it did!
Now I���m going to go and eat a hot cross bun. Happy writing (and Easter) all!
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