subject: Four Ways To Sell Your Book [print this page] Unlike self-publishers HigherLife doesnt charge any publishing fees. We do however only work with authors and clients who have a significant message and enough of a platform that they believe they can move books through their own sales channels if given some support and direction. Our services are very similar to what you would expect from a New York Times, best-selling traditional publishing house, at least in terms of the quality of service, personal attention and care you receive. But in our model, you get your book completed in about a third of the time and you are allowed to retain all your publishing rights, as opposed to having to sign them away to the publisher. You also get to purchase your copies of the book at a lower rate than what a traditional or self-publisher would charge. We tell all of our authors that there are really four main ways books are sold:
1. Through bookstores and distributors HigherLife will handle this sales channel for you, paying you generous royalties on all copies we sell for you.
2. Through the internet (leveraging website, social media, blogging, e-blasts, etc.) driving traffic back to your website or other sites as you direct.
3. Through event sales (we can help you get more speaking engagements and know how to maximize book sales at these events.
4. Through specialty sales this can be any outlet that agrees to purchase your books either on consignment or where they make a discounted bulk purchase of books to either give-away or resell. For example, if a radio show has you on as a guest and they offer your book as a free gift for a donation, or if a retail chain agrees to carry your book at their check-out counter; or if a business person buys copies to give away as gifts to clients, or a ministry/organization wants to sell your book as a fundraiser, these are all examples of specialty sales.
With HigherLife your only obligation is to purchase at least a few thousand books. Our experience has shown that once youve sold about 1,100-1,500 copies, you will have recouped the entire investment of your initial press run. Your cost per book can vary widely depending upon the size, binding and other special features of the book. But in general, we have found paperback books typically cost between $5.50-$6.50 for 3,000 copies, between $3.75-$5.49 for 5,000 copies, and between $2.20-$3.74 for 10,000 copies. Paperbacks typically retail for between $14.95 and $16.95.
