How long did it take your book to become available for sale after signing up with iUniverse?
After I submitted my first manuscript, it took about five or six weeks. The process takes far less time nowadays, though.
How many copies have you sold?
Nearly 10,000 copies. I will hit that number by the end of 2005. And believe me, it was a complete surprise that my sales figures would even come close to this number. Yet there are other iU authors that I know personally who have surpassed that. It’s entirely possible to not only make a name for oneself but to also generate some very nice revenue using POD.
Do you get a percentage quarterly, monthly, etc.? How do you receive payment?
I get 20% of gross revenues. That is my royalty. I receive quarterly checks and can check on monthly progress (sales numbers and royalties figures) by logging on to the iU site.
What marketing technique generated the most sales?
The vast majority of them have been sold to top-level distributors. This is where major outlets such as Amazon, B&N, etc. draw from to purchase a particular quantity for their stock. This includes brick and mortar stores as well. Although iU has an online bookstore, only a tiny percentage of the novels are actually purchased directly from them. Most books aren’t purchased that way anyway, so it’s no surprise that market penetration has been through the ‘normal’ channels.
Can you outline some of your marketing plan?
I purchased an expensive enough package that would push the titles into the most markets without breaking my budget. Then, I went to the local gay bookstore (Unabridged Books in Chicago) and begged the owner to take my books on commission once they became available. He agreed. I purchased the books in bulk from iU, signed them and he displayed them. They started to sell like mad (and he cut me a monthly check). In a short while, the books were on the Star program and thus had the standard return policy as well as normal discount available to brick and mortar bookstores. So the bookseller started purchasing them through his normal channels instead of through me. I will still occasionally stop by and sign fresh batches - they constantly sell out, even today. I also sent postcards to every gay bookstore in the
Article comments
1 - Ashok K. Banker
Mark, congratulations on your success. I wish you a great deal more sales and popularity. Most of all, keep writing--and keep pushing those copies off those shelves, or rather, watch them get pulled off the shelves. You give hope to everybody who has a hard time making it (and breaking in) to the New York publishing world.
And I'm going to buy a copy of your book for sure now.
2 - Victor Lana
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you, Parker Owens, for this fantastic interview.
Thank you, Mark Kendrick, for being an inspiration to us all.
I have been worried because I faced all your issues with publishers while trying to place my 9/11 book for over a year, so I turned to iUniverse for the same reasons.
THE SAVAGE QUIET SEPTEMBER SUN is coming out, probably next month; and now, thanks to this post, I have some great ideas for marketing it.
Thanks again!
3 - Steve Bell
I've been through the mill on this one and come back to the beginining.
Let me tell you the story of the new book & movie
Secret Revelation
www.secretrevelation.com
I have contcats in hollywood and in publishing so know that if I really want I can go the way of Harry potter, or Dan brown and follow the traditional publishing route. But...
What I soon realised was-- you go through all the hoops to get and agent, then to get a contract- your work gets butchered and then it languishes... why?
Because if you're not a big author you get little to no marketing money. That means you need to do it yourself -- so why not do it yourself from the start and cut ou the middlemen. I am now also using iUniverse to print it and then my own creative power to publicise the book... worth looking into...
4 - Victor Lana
Steve,
You express my sentiments very well (as to why I ultimately chose iUniverse).
My book was accepted by an agent over a year ago, who then proceeded to make contacts and then tell me the book needed work (after first telling me she loved it).
Then I sent it out on my own and the manuscript was accepted. This publisher wanted me to delete five stories (of the 12 short stories) and so on. Anothe rpublisher wanted me to change some stories, get rid of others, in order to publish it.
In the end, for the book that meant so much to my family and me to be truly the book I had written, I went with iUniverse.
Good luck, Sean! All the best!
5 - Victor Lana
I meant good luck, Steve! That's what happens when a four year old is watching cartoons in the same room.
6 - Mark Kendrick
First, let me thank Parker for asking me to do the interview. She is the best! Her interview style was great and her comments during the process indicate that she's someone I'd like to know personally.
Second, thanks to all of you who have commented so far. Those of you who have chosen the iUniverse route know exactly what it's like to have total creative control of your material - something that I forgot to mention in the interview. In fact, that's one of the most important elements with respect to POD.
It's also great to see your comments here, which indicates that there are people who are not only reading this blog, but who are published as well.
I think what's particularly amazing is how someone (Steve Bell) who has contacts in Hollywood was unable to get a proper audience. Now he'll get the audience he deserves!
I look forward to other comments. Please feel free to contact me directly if you'd like for more info about iU or the process. I've had nothing but good luck with this whole endeavor and am eager to share my experiences with anyone who wants to listen.
Thanks!
Mark Ian Kendrick
7 - alienboy
Could you put in some numbers about the costs involved, so potential authors know what they need to do in that regard?
Great work by the way, both author and interviewer.
8 - Steve Bell
For those asking about costs -- I'll share my full and expected budget:-
Preparation of manuscript: (Using the brilliant services of scribendi.com - can't recomend them enough!!) - $700 (optional but well worth it)
Printing through iUniverse - $600
Marketing:--
Web site - $30 per year and build myself with dreamweaver (But for about $200 you can but a great template) www.flashtemplates.com
Creating book marks - $80
Creating book business cards - $40
PR Web press released (very important!!) - $150 for the life of the campaign ($30 per release)
Travel for book signings (I have $1000 for total travel costs)
$500 for free book samples
So all in all for a 1-2 year campaign I have about $3500 budgeted - not so cheap but this covers everything.
You can of course do it a little cheaper .
Oh and of course if you really want traffic to your site - google add words is the only one worth doing -- $1200 for a major 6 month campaign. (but this is luxury)
Finally look at a realistic return on investment - to cover a $3500 campaign - you need to be selling about 3500 books if your ona 10% royalty. But my last book did this without too much trouble.
Hope this helps
Steve
9 - Victor Lana
In today's NEW YORK TIMES Book Review there was a full page ad for iUniverse.
Now that's wonderful, but my questions are:
1. How is your book/ my book going to get on that page?
2. What's the success rate of people buying from an ad like that?
3. Will the NYT Book Review ever accept an iUniverse book and actually review it?
If anyone can answer these things, I'd appreciate it.
10 - Steve Bell
This is known as a Co-Op ad and anyone can join it.
I will do it when Secret Revelation is published.
It is pricey but at $2000 it is good value to be part of this with a 1.5MM circulation.
I did ask iUniverse if they can measure the pick up rate -- but they said it was hard to track. Anecdotally they have had good feedback from authors saying they get major sales spikes.
You saw it... so maybe it works.
I will report back in the new year after i try it..
Steve
11 - Victor Lana
Steve,
Thanks for your thoughts on this. My book, THE SAVAGE QUIET SEPTEMBER SUN, will be out before the end of the year, so I am trying to gather as much info as I can to proceed the best way.
My page for the book can be found at:
http://journals.aol.com/vicl04/THESAVAGEQUIETSEPTEMBERSUN/
I'll keeping checking in on your page as well.
Good luck!
12 - Temple A. Stark
This post was chosen by the section editor as a BC pick of the week. Go HERE (link) to find out why.
And thank you
- Temple
13 - James Williams
i love it
U should check out another IUniverse writer
Jason S Lane a gay teenage poet his book is
21st Century Poet Jadam Loulock
help the kid and promote it
i read the book and it changed my life in a sense
14 - mec
Mr Kendrick is a remarkably successful author. Of some 18,000 titles, iUniverse publishes per year on 73 sell more that 500 copies. Authors who choose this method of publication should be very conversant with the editorial process or hire their own copy editors and proof readers. Those services are available from iUniverse but the outsourced providers are not professionally competent.