Question: If you use LSI with Amazon, you also have to pay a shipping cost that you don't pay with CreateSpace when a customer buys one of your books from them?


Answer: The authors that I know who use CreateSpace and LSI at the same time usually use CreateSpace for their Amazon sales, and they don't enable EDC. Then they use LSI for any sales that are outside Amazon. 


Now, CreateSpace has some benefits, and so does LSI. But both companies charge almost the same for wholesale author's copies, although CS seems to be a little bit cheaper (by pennies). The shipping charges on the authors copies seems to be about the same between both companies, with LSI being a little cheaper. 


LSI tends to have a reputation for better print quality. 


Now, I have mentioned before that I think that when authors link to their CreateSpace store, it's a mistake. The CS link is terrible, non-searchable, and buyers have to pay for shipping. As you probably know, anything that costs over 25 bucks on Amazon gets free shipping, and customers really like that. 

That's all for now. I hope that answers your question.

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Question: Do you know anyone who is making a real living using POD?

Answer: Yes! I can give you plenty of examples of writers who are making a fine living self-publishing. I'm making a very good living using POD. I have one Kindle book in print.
 
Here are some other authors that are "making it" with POD or self-publishing on the Kindle:

1. Joe Konrath
2. Zoe Winters
3. Aaron Shepard
4. Dan Poynter
5. Morris Rosenthal
6. Nick Russell (Founder of the Gypsy Journal and my co-Author on the Step By Step Guide to Self-Publishing for Profit)

I have never been published by any traditional press, although I have had articles published in mainstream magazines.

My bestselling books are technical in nature and my potential buyer market is very small (about 10,000 people take a specialized tax exam every year, and I write a study guide for it). I started with nothing, and it took four years to get where I am now.

My point is that anyone can do this, as long as they are stubborn enough and have fairly good writing skills. I say "fairly good writing skills," because what most people don't realize is that this business is 90% stubbornness and 10% talent. You have to work hard, long, and have a thick skin.

You have to accept rejection, criticism, and still get up and write every day with no guarantee of sales or success. That takes a special type of crazy. If you can manage to ignore all the voices that tell you that you are "never going to make it," then you can make a living as a writer.
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Question: I am thinking about self publishing, but I want to make sure that I am going to be successful. Are there any self-published "bestsellers" out there?


Answer: Yes! There are many examples of self-published books that go on to sell thousands and even millions of copies. Authors Dan Poynter and Aaron Shepard have both sold hundreds of thousands of copies (perhaps millions at this point) and they have been successfully self-publishing for years.


That being said, you need to realize that publishing is always a gamble, and even many traditionally published books don't make it. Make sure your book is as professional as possible, and you have a better chance at success. 
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Question: I live in the UK. I'm having trouble getting an ITIN, and CreateSpace is withholding 30% of my royalties for tax purposes. Can you tell me how to get an ITIN?

Answer: You can go to London and get the ITIN in person. This will be free because the acceptance agent will just check your ID in person.

An ITIN usually takes about 6 weeks, but can take up to 4 months. The good part is that you only have to apply once. 

Okay,  you have two choices. You can either supply an original ID (such as a passport), which will be returned to you by mail.

Or, you can send a notarized copy of your passport, if you don't want to send the original.

I suggest you read through the application very carefully, line by line, so you don't miss anything.

Then, make sure you include a very short letter with your name, address, phone number, e-mail,  and a short note saying that you are an author in the UK who is requesting the ITIN so you can sell your books in the United States. That will help, because a human being is going to process the application and the process goes faster if the IRS employee has a level of comfort.

If you send in an application,  a photocopied document is not sufficient. It must be certified/notarized, or you must send an original ID (which will be returned). I got my in-law's ITINs using a voter registration card and a birth certificate for both of them, but I sent in original documents (which were returned to me).

A passport is still the best bet, though. If you don't send the original, then you must send a notarized copy. You can see a sample of a filled out Form W-7 here. 

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Amazon Discounts 07/03/2010
 
Question: Oh No! My Amazon discount is gone. What do I do? I am publishing through LightningSource with a 20% discount. Has this happened to anyone else?

Answer: Yes, of course. The Amazon discounts are not controlled by the author-- The discounts come and go. I have books that have been discounted from day one (one of my textbooks has been discounted 32% for over four months). But I also have a bookkeeping book that used to be discounted 10%-- for over a year-- and is now full price and has been for the last 30 days. Amazon uses a fancy algorithm to decide how to discount a book, and they do it without warning.
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I've been talking a lot lately about newsletters, because I started one last month. And although I'm a firm believer that e-mail marketing is a fantastic (and cheap) way for businesses to boost client revenues and client referrals, how can a newsletter possibly help an AUTHOR?

Well, the real value is in the mailing list. A mailing list can be a GOLDMINE for authors, whether they write non-fiction or not. A lot of people are starting to realize this, especially musicians, who regularly use a "SIGN-UP" button on their wesbites to announce concerts, events, new releases, etc.

You see where this is going, right?

Marketing newsletters should be short, to the point, and they should be in plain English. You can create your own marketing newsletter simply by signing up with Constant Contact or iContact (or any of the other email services). I wouldn't never send a newsletter out using postage/paper-- it's expensive and they would get thrown away as junk mail. Forget that! We're trying to save money and the environment, right? 

I signed up for a newsletter service last month to launch my tax marketing newsletter (aimed at tax pros, not the general public) and it was easy. You know why I did that? Because the majority of my readers are accounting and tax professionals. 

This marketing tool can work for anyone-- fiction or non-fiction. You just need to build up a readership base and a mailing list, which isn't as hard as it seems-- it just takes time. 

I signed up for Constant Contact. The only thing I didn't like was that the "sign up" HTML that goes on my websites cannot be personalized to a target audience as much as I'd like. It costs about $15 per month for the service, which is way less than I would pay if I was paying for postage on a old fashioned paper newsletter. 

The real value of the newsletter is the mailing list-- the conventional wisdom behind this marketing tactic is that you can presumably contact hundreds of people QUICKLY with a single e-mail about important news, such as a new book release. 

And there's always the added plus that your e-mail newsletter will be forwarded (by the client) to a family member or a friend, and then you have an instant referral. 

For example, in the last newsletter, we included a little blurb about our enrolled agent exam study guides, which generated lots of web traffic to thePassKey Publications website. It was an easy way to get the "message" out there without being intrusive or using aggressive sales tactics. You can do this, too-- in your own newsletter, by including links to your website and list of book offerings. And if you offer services, like book design or editing, even better! You can advertise your services in the newsletter in a way that makes it non-intrusive. 

Just make sure your newsletter is timely, well-written, and not overly "salesman-ish"--- people don't like a hard sell.
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