Julie Broad recounts being rejected by a traditional publisher in 2011, explains why that rejection led her to self-publish, and presents self-publishing as a viable (often preferable) alternative to traditional deals. She argues self-publishing gives authors control of rights and royalties, can be financially lucrative if you invest in quality and marketing, and still requires authors to do much of the selling themselves. The excerpt promotes her book "Self Publish and Succeed" and invites viewers to engage with her channel.
Chapters
Being rejected by a traditional publisher was the best thing that could have happened to me, though it did not feel like it at the time. If you're thinking you need a book deal to succeed as an author, then this video is absolutely for you. Hey there, I'm Julie the book broad from Book Launchers. We're your professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and promote a nonfiction book that will help you have a huge impact on your readers and done right, will help you grow your brand, build your business, and make you money. The best part? You yes, you keep all rights and royalties. It was 2011. I'd been connected with a couple of different publishing companies about writing a real estate investing book. I was really excited because I had always wanted to write a book and after a decade of real estate investing, I had stories that I thought would make a really good book. My exchange with the publishing company, you may know Wiley got serious, but they weren't interested in my real estate investing book idea. They thought it was too general. They had a different spin on the topic of real estate and invited me to write a proposal to author that book. So I wrote the book proposal. I hired people to review it and I sent it over. The editor at Wiley asked for some revisions and updates and we went back and forth a few times on email. When the proposal was finalized and I sent it off, I thought the only thing left was signing the contract the way it had gone. I didn't think there was a question of whether I would get a book deal. It was a question of when and what the terms were going to be. Imagine my surprise when I received a rejection which was simple and straightforward. The marketing department doesn't think you have a strong enough platform to sell books. They didn't even reject the book. They rejected me. I cried big ugly toddler style tears for almost 20 minutes. I was angry and hurt for months, but ultimately I'm thrilled with what happened. The desire to write a book ran really deep for me and I believed that the original book idea I had proposed was a book that needed to be written and I knew I would always regret it if I didn't write it. When I looked at my choices, giving up was not an option. So I self published. I also proved the marketing department at Wiley wrong. More Than Cash Flow, the Real Risks and Rewards of Profitable Real Estate Investing it's apparently very hard to say I haven't said it enough lately. More than Cash flow, the real risks and rewards of profitable real estate investing top the charts of Amazon ranking ahead of Dan Brown and a Game of Thrones series selling thousands of print copies in its launch week. It turns out I could sell books and I could sell a lot of them Self publishing is mainstream. You may not know it yet. What do Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, Will It Fly and Choose Yourself have in common? They are all bestselling self published books. In the case of Choose Yourself by James Altucher, which reportedly has sold more than 100,000 copies, and will It Fly by Pat Flynn, which hit the Wall Street Journal's bestseller list, the authors didn't want traditional publishing deals with the toilet entrepreneur Mike Michalowicz. The author self published first and later chose to move to a traditional publishing house because it fit with his goals for the long term. What's most important to note is there's no right or wrong way to publish your book. It's up to you to create success. Each of these authors is a well known name today, not because they got a book deal, but because they invested in writing a book that readers needed and made sure those readers knew their book existed. The strong desire to be chosen and is why many authors think they need a traditional publisher. Some also wrongly assume that publishers do all the marketing. If they thought more logically, they'd see that they were better off self publishing, they'd make more money, a lot more money, and they keep their rights to their material. Intellectual property is an enormous asset and when you sign a traditionally published deal, you're giving it to someone else. And here's the thing, you cannot control what ultimately happens after you publish your book unless you have a huge bankroll and can buy the result, which some authors do. What you can control is the effort and the intention behind the book. If you can set your ego aside and focus on the reader who needs you, the book will come from a much more emotionally stable place. And if your book doesn't sell thousands of copies, you can more rationally evaluate the situation because your book was the product, not you. Maybe traditional publishing is right for you, but quite likely it's not. The biggest benefits of pursuing a traditional deal is that the publisher pays the upfront costs and and your book more easily gains traditional distribution. The New York Times may even deem your book worthy of their bestseller list if you hit big enough sales numbers. For the most part, you'll still be responsible for marketing. Your publisher may line up a few media appearances and book signings, but ultimately the publisher is going to look at you to sell your book. Let me repeat that part because it's important even With a traditional publishing deal, the vast majority of authors are responsible for marketing their books. Very few authors will get the opportunity to be traditionally published even if they want to be. Publishers often want sure things, which means most authors need to have a level of fame, the right context, or an established publishing track record to land a deal. For me though, control is important. It's my intellectual property and I want to own it. If it does well, I want to be the one that benefits. When it comes to your book, if someone in Bulgaria wants to license the rights, you probably want to control over that choice if you do it or do not. If a TV producer wants to turn your story into film or television series, you will want to be at the helm of that discussion as well. Writing a book that matters is going to be a lot of work. No matter which route you take to publish your book. You don't need to be chosen to have an impact on a reader. Plus, your book can be high quality and popular just as easily as it can be a flop whether you self publish or not. In fact, sometimes a traditionally published author thinks their success is so guaranteed they don't hustle as much as a self published author. The bottom line? If you invest in the same kind of experienced team as a traditional publisher would hire, and if your book is well thought out and looks professional, consumers won't care how your book was published. They won't even know what they care about. Are things I cover in great detail in self publish and Succeed. This was an excerpt from that book from Chapter one. The book covers everything you need to know to write a noteboringbook that will sell and have impact on your reader. You're going to learn about how to create a compelling hook, all about editing, layout, distribution and so much more. Learn more and get your copy@juliebrod.com I'm so excited to share my new book with you and we're using my book to test out some cool marketing strategies including videos like this one. If you want to know all about the things we're doing to market the book, or you have questions about this video or anything else, post a comment below. And when you comment the day a video is released, you'll be entered to win some sweet no boringbook swag and probably a book or two. We have new videos every Tuesday and Friday. Make sure you catch everyone by subscribing to the channel and turning those notifications on. You're fun. Would you like to hang out a little bit longer? Okay, great. This video right here is all about becoming a best seller. I blast through some myths and expectations right there. Or if you're looking for something just for you, YouTube thinks this video right here is exactly what you need to see. So go ahead, click on one of those videos. I'm excited to see you there.
