Jessica Julian
Jessica Julian is a retired lawyer who has blossomed into a world of creativity as an artist and an author.
Jessica’s publishing journey is an inside, outside, upside-down look at writing and publishing that breaks the mold.
Her passion takes her from Vancouver, Washington to Croatia to find the perfect match for publication.
Stay tuned for a conversation that will challenge your publishing beliefs of doing things like everyone else!
Connect with Jessica:
Also Available on: Amazon Podcasts | Apple Podcasts | IHeartRadio | YouTube
After our radio talk, Jessica shared what worked for her in publishing and promotion.
Tip 1:
I have had this discussion with a number of local self-published writers and these are the main concerns they have expressed:
up-front cost, storage space, and inconvenience (mailing, order fulfillment, etc.).
I think there is a fourth reason that impacts the other reasons, uncertainty about the book’s marketability.
No one wants to have 100 boxes of books sitting around taking up space if there is no confidence they will sell.
It is definitely not for everyone and does not always make financial sense.
Online printers like Amazon and Ingram Spark know this and allow you to make print versions of your book available across the world (for the most part) without any up front cost.
There are no storage issues, no mailing issues, etc.
Other than uploading your book onto their platforms, you can start selling your book immediately.
The cost is passed on to the purchaser when they buy the book.
This is why the vast majority of authors use print on demand services and why Amazon has some 20 million book titles available in the US alone (over 44 million worldwide).
They control 85% of the book distribution in the US.
Why wouldn’t a writer want to be part of that?
Although e-books have been on the rise, Amazon still sells three times more print books than e-books.
But, if you have confidence in your book’s marketability and are willing to put in the extra effort to market and sell it, it may be the right option for you.
The choice became easy for me to make when I learned Amazon’s and Ingram Spark’s cost to print one hardcover color copy of my book was $42.00 per copy, for a very average, flimsy looking book.
I could have reduced the cost by switching to black and white or to a softcover, but I wanted it to be special and accurately reflect the work I put into painting the illustrations.
I would have to sell it for $45.00 just to make $3.00 per copy. I thought, no one will buy my book if they can even find it among the 20 million books available online.
Online retailers would not only keep 96% of the sales price of any books I managed to sell, but the reader would get a low quality book for $45.00.
Tip 2:
I bought 2000 copies of the hardback, and when I released the softcover edition 6 months later, I bought 2300 copies.
Yes, I would do it again because I believe in my book and am confident I will sell them.
I have more than covered all my costs in printing and transporting the books here to my residence in Vancouver, WA.
Tip 3:
I keep track of the independent books stores and other stores who sell my book. It’s not a huge number, but I contact them once in a while to see if they need more. You can use Media Mail to ship books.
Tip 4:
I know I should not say this, but definitely the artist side. I don’t have to go back over my paintings 100 times to correct them, like I do my writing.
Tip 5:
They nourish each other. I was going to say “feed off of” but that sounds negative, and it’s been a purely positive experience. For the most part, I don’t sell original paintings, especially ones in the book, but I do sell prints and greeting cards. Profitability is difficult to assess in art, because all it takes is time and art supplies.
It is much easier to define profitability in selling books because you have fixed costs.
Tip 6:
Yes, I am writing and painting the illustrations for my second novel, Rebby the Gallant. It does not involve Ebby directly, but it is the second in my Elusive Baby Bunny series.
Tip 7:
Absolutely! Denona, d.o.o. They are located in Zagreb. Gordon Matic is in charge of US sales. He speaks English fluently (and Dutch and Croatian) is knowledgeable about every aspect of printing, and very responsive. His email is gordon@denona.hr. Tell him Jessica sent you.
LINKS MENTIONED IN INTERVIEW
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