History of one book
Hello.
This is a story about a book that I wrote. The story of an attempt to create high-quality printed product, play "business" and see what happens. This post does not claim to the title of leadership, but I still hope that it will come in handy for someone. After all, this is a completely sincere story about all my wanderings on the way to the reader.
The protagonist of the story - the book "European Football Championship 2012 in infographics." Hard cover, 160 pages, full color print. Today I will try to talk about how it came about, how much it cost its production, and what I ran into trying to sell it.
')
I am a designer. I worked for four years in a large daily newspaper, creating strip designs and infographics. He was deputy head of the department, then a year he served as art director. You can say I did a good job doing my job. But nothing happens forever, so in 2011 I left the company. He engaged in freelancing, read diverse books, studied, rested. And at a certain point I was unbearably wanting to do something new. To challenge. Set a task and implement it.
It was February 2012, the home European Football Championship was in front. And it dawned on me - why not write a book? It's a challenge. This is a lot of effort. This is an opportunity to create. And most importantly - I love football.
But I needed an idea. I have a large collection of sports literature in my home and I understood well what I don’t want - another ordinary book. And why should I compete with the authors who write texts all my life? Therefore, I decided to improve the concept - not just a book, but a beautiful book. A book in which I can use all my skills. Submit information is interesting and modern. How? Using infographics.
Of course, this was reflected in the format. The book must be color, on good paper and definitely high quality. For otherwise there is no point in translating the paper.
Immediately after the idea came the name for the future book. I love simplicity, and therefore I have not invented anything simpler and more understandable than the "European Football Championship 2012 in infographics." A name that should immediately answer two questions: “what is the book about?” And “how is it different?”. More precisely, I wanted to call the book even simpler - “Euro 2012 in infographics,” but the name Euro 2012 is a trademark that UEFA very zealously protects. To avoid possible claims from this idea had to be abandoned.
I spent a few weeks planning. On my tablet there was a text file, in which the content was constantly worked out. I was thinking about the topics and presentation method. I wrote down individual ideas, copied them and changed places. I read the approximate volume of the book in order to understand the time and load.
Together with the study of the content, I actively monitored the Internet. Collected sources, on the move checked the ability to implement certain ideas. Read newspapers and news sites. I read the history of all European Championships. I did everything to surround myself with the maximum amount of useful and necessary information, because I had to write and create a design at the same time. Distracted by the search would be difficult.
The actual production of the book took 4 months - from April to July 2012. In the first months I dealt with general topics and issues. For example, the history of official balls, commemorative coins, tournament symbols. Prepared "templates" and blanks for further work. Drawn numerous elements. The overall style of the future book was searched and corrected.
Well, then replaced by a measured schedule came full of events in June. Every day, during the group stage, two matches took place, and therefore turnarounds were prepared promptly and texts were written. I watched every match - went to the stadium, to the fan zone or watched on TV. I recorded all the interesting moments and collected statistics. The main assistants in this period were the sites of UEFA and bookmakers.
Every day in the Excel document I marked the finished pages and monitored the overall progress. Lagged behind the plan a couple of times, but every time he caught up with him, sacrificing those weekends he had left in advance.
After the tournament was completed, it took me almost another month to prepare the remaining blocks. Collect and process statistics, make additions and corrections. As a result, by the end of July, I had an internal block of 160 pages.
At the very last moment the cover was created.
Playing on the idea with the title, I decided to make it as simple and clear as possible. White background, nothing more. And instead of "beautiful" the useful cover area is occupied by the timeline with the history of the European Championship.
In the process of creating the book, I made an important decision. Since I’m not only writing a book, I’m also creating the layout and design myself, since I myself am ready to bear all the costs of publishing it ... why should I be a publisher?
Even at the stage of the first planning of the book, I turned to several Kiev publishing houses. He told me that I undertake all the prepress preparation, that I am ready to pay for printing, and that I am only interested in formal publishing services and distribution. The results were as follows:
1. Email is not an effective tool.
This is probably obvious to many, but publishers (like many other businesses) do not know how to use e-mail. Despite the presence of sites, feedback forms and other channels, the response to direct commercial offer was very low. The letters went into the void and did not give a result. The phone is still the best way to get across or get information.
2. Publishing prices are not adequate enough.
Some publishers responded to the offer. But in a situation where they do not have the opportunity to earn money on prepress works (layout, reading, etc.), there remains a great desire to earn money on mediation. As a result, prices for printing were significantly overstated. As if I do not do everything, but they do everything to me.
This option did not suit me, so I decided to go all the way myself. Fortunately, this requires not so much.
For a book to have the right to be born, it needs an ISBN - an international book number giving the right to sell the book. These numbers are organized in an orderly manner to publishers who use them in their books. However, often the right to engage in publishing and printing have. Therefore, if you order a circulation from them, it is possible to agree on the provision of a number. Formally, the publisher will be the printing house, and you will be the buyer of the circulation. It suited me, and I got the coveted ISBN.
Print
In July, I turned to several printing houses. I needed full color printing, thick matte paper and good quality - for what else should the first book be? The result of monthly effort. Only high quality. This is part of the concept.
As a result of the study, I chose a printing house in another city. I liked the quality of their products, and the circulation was brought for free. In Kiev, it was either more expensive or worse.
Not wanting to get into big debts, I stopped at a draw of 1,000 pieces. Smaller circulation is not serious at all. More - undue risk. Although I love my book and am satisfied with the result of the work done, I did not want to risk too much
In early August, I signed a contract with the printing house and gave the file to print.
At the end of the book, a friend suggested an idea to me - why not give a souvenir along with the book? Memory of the European Championship. And we quickly found such an option - a commemorative coin of 1 hryvnia denomination with the logo of Euro 2012. Despite the fairly large circulation, these coins are still in short supply in the public domain. This is a great symbolic gift, almost without affecting the cost of the book.
I found people who sell these coins on the Internet and bought 1,000 of them. All of them were packed in rolls of 50 coins, stamped by the National Bank. 1000 coins cost me 1800 UAH. A good overpayment, but this price seemed to me an adequate price for the opportunity to please the reader with an additional souvenir.
I decided to take it to a separate point, because it is an integral part of any undertaking. Initially, the book was to be printed in the twenties of August. I had high hopes for this date, because September is the end of holidays, a return to vigorous activity and fresh memories of summer. Rest, holiday, Euro 2012.
And the book was delayed for a month ...
In my opinion, the elections to the Verkhovna Rada were the main reason. Needless to say that the printing of campaign materials has a much higher priority than any book with a small circulation? With this, unfortunately, I failed. I did not have a backup option. I have already made a solid advance payment and could only expect a circulation. First two weeks later, then 4 ...
But besides disappointment was joy. After all, in the end, I was holding in my hands the result of several months of work. I reached the primary goal. Created a product. All difficulties were behind, and ahead - hopes and successes! So I thought.
Having no desire to spend a lot of time on sales organization (I had a job and a lot of workload again), I decided to limit distribution to one channel, concentrating all my small resources on it.
Only one online store.
But the best available. Maximum coverage, minimum logistics time, accurate sales control and promotion efficiency.
I found such an online store. It is quite promoted, upon delivery all the books are neatly packed and, most importantly, they agreed to ensure that the gift coin was included in the package, but this was part of the idea. That's why I chose them.
To at least someone bought a book, at least someone should know about it. It is obvious. And based on the choice of a single channel (online store), I decided to limit the Internet and in promotion. It seemed logical to me. And simple.
Promo site
The first step on the road to the masses for me was the site. For what is this product if it does not have its own website? And I decided to make it, too, on my own. Since I was able to create a whole book, there will not be one more challenge.
Previously, I had the experience of creating only one site - my own. The page of the book was the second "successful" attempt. She has a permanent address, she describes the product, she works, she gives the visitor the opportunity to purchase my book. Wonderful. It is a pity that very few visitors get on it, but I did not want to advertise it on the Internet. Therefore, the site just is and good.
With the address, by the way, did not have to think too long. As in the case with the book, one can hardly think of something simpler and more obvious - euro2012book.info. The acquisition of the domain and hosting cost me 230 UAH.
Facebook Page Book + Contest
After I finished the site, arranged with the online store and got my hands on the whole print run, I launched the book page on Facebook. I decided for myself that a social network is the best way to talk about a book, because I have friends, and they have friends, acquaintances, and so on. The main incentive.
And I decided to organize a competition. By that time I had scant financial resources, so I couldn’t afford anything expensive. The prize should be symbolic, I thought. And I purchased three gift sets of Euro 2012 commemorative coins in beautiful boxes - 5 nickel silver coins - 350 UAH per set.
I looked at other contests. Drawings of tablets and smartphones were collected by 5-10 thousand participants, and I hoped that at least 500 people could be interested in coins. I understood that coins, even beautiful ones, are far from being a fashionable smartphone or laptop, but how can you measure a gift only with its value?
In the early days, there was a good stir, and the number of participants quickly grew to 40 people. I was happy all day, expecting that things would go much better, almost exponentially. But it all happened exactly the opposite. After a few days, activity has slipped to zero. No new likes, no new members. Contrary to expectations, my list of friends in 100+ people could not provide a proper breakthrough. Moreover, many friends and acquaintances themselves ignored both the competition and the page of the book. I didn't want to beg anyone, so I resigned
I started to "spam." Shared reference in groups dedicated to football and books. But it brought only a few new members. I wrote letters to the administrations of closed groups, asked for support - no reaction. After a week of unsuccessful attempts, I realized that the cherished 500 participants will remain just a desire.
By the time of the draw, which took place a month after the launch, I had only 84 participants.
But, despite the poor result, I added 5 books to the coins and thus played 8 prizes. And one book left Kiev for Kazakhstan, which cost me 90 hryvnias. for shipment.
According to Facebook, during the contest I was able to reach an audience of 16 thousand people (all friends of friends who could see the page and competition likes). Unfortunately, this audience is very conditional and did not bring me sales.
In the first two weeks I sold 14 books. Almost all of them were bought by friends and former colleagues. After that, only two books were sold in two weeks. And then another one.
And two more competitions
Understanding my modest successes, I resorted to another attempt. Good friends offered to give a few books to a popular football portal, which had well-developed groups in social networks. As a result, my book was the main prize in two quizzes - on Facebook and VKontakte.
The audience of the portal on VKontakte is 79 thousand people.
Facebook portal audience - 8 thousand.
These drawings in a matter of days scored 1000 participants for two. Despite the huge audience, there were a little more than 300 of them. Facebook gave 674 participants and 150+ publications. The quizzes lasted less than a week, and after they ended, I waited with interest for a report from the store.
During these two weeks 15 books were sold. 80 thousand people during the week could watch my book, almost 1000 people did not give up the idea to get it for free, and only 15 of them decided to buy - 1.5%.
Reviews
At the moment, my book has received two positive reviews. At least, I only know about them, but it would be great if there were more of them.
On the football website "Dynamo Kiev from Shurik" a blog was published, which discussed football books about Euro 2012, among which was the "European Football Championship 2012 in infographics." The blog was honored with “editorial choice”, and the book was described at its best.
Also, the book published a review in the newspaper "Today", the total circulation of which exceeds 100,000 copies. The review was small. But the author is very positive about the book. On the page was indicated the site of the store and the cost of the book.
The sadder is the fact that these reviews, judging by the publication dates and store reports, didn’t affect sales at all ... After them, only a few books were sold, which are difficult to consider the result of positive reviews.
All sorts of stuff
A few weeks after the start of sales on the website of the online store, a banner was circling advertising my book. I find it difficult to assess its effectiveness, because I have no data on the number of views of the book.
I published several book spreads in the infographic group. There are 25,000 people in this group, and I hoped that the publication would be able to arouse proper interest, because there are very few books with infographics. Together with the works I indicated the name of the book, but the publication also had no effect on sales.
Thus, all attempts made were ineffective.
Now it’s time to summarize and tell how much it all cost me. Of course, I am not the most successful example, because I did almost everything myself. But I am convinced that any experience, not even the most successful, can be useful.
So, in order to conclude a contract and be able to sell books, I registered the SPD. It cost me 1200 UAH. for the entire set of documents and print.
At the moment I am on a single tax, the 3rd group is 5% of the income. Plus, every month I have to pay a single social contribution to the pension fund - about 400 UAH. Thus, the right to sell a book costs me 4800 UAH / year. + banking services (600 UAH. per year for service + 1% when withdrawing funds).
The cost of printing was 30000 UAH. In the case of a publishing house, it would add to the cost of the work of all involved individuals - the author, layout designer, designer, editor and proofreader. In my case, it was two people - me and the proofreader. Proofreader helped me for free. I, for obvious reasons, do not take into account myself.
Summing up, I went to the following numbers:
Primary costs:
Prepress - for free.
Printing a book (1000 pieces) - 30000 UAH.
1000 commemorative coins - 1800 UAH.
3 sets of coins for the contest - 1050 UAH.
Registration of SPD - 1200 UAH.
Opening a bank account - 100 UAH.
Domain name of the site - 95 UAH.
Hosting for the site - 135 UAH.
Additional expenses:
For the first year I need to pay 4800 UAH. to the pension fund and 600 UAH. for bank services. Plus about 200 UAH. for any related costs (in fact, it turned out to be the cost of sending the book to Kazakhstan and packing coins in gift paper). I did not take into account the cost of delivering books to the store.
That is, for the first year since the creation of the book, I will spend:
34380 + 5600 = 39980 UAH.
So the formal cost of one book (if you do not take into account the 4 months of work) amounted to 40 UAH.
So, based on the estimated cost of the book, I decided that the book should pay for itself for half the circulation. This gave me a chance to recapture the costs and earn. After all, after achieving its main goal - creating a good product, why not try to get a reward for it?
So I got a simple formula:
(40 x 2) + 5% tax + 1% bank commission = 85 UAH.
This is the amount I should receive from one book from resellers. After reviewing the shops and studying other books on the subject, I was convinced that my price was more than adequate. Even with surcharges.
And now the result of all my work ...
1 week - 3 pcs.
2 week - 11 pcs.
3 week - 2 pcs.
4 week - 1 pc.
5 week - 1 pc.
6 week - 12 pcs.
7 week - 3 pcs.
Total, 33 books for almost 2 months of sales.
The other day, my book became the winner in the nomination "The Best Project of the Year" by the Association of Sports Journalists of Ukraine. On the one hand, I am truly proud that she was appreciated. But at the same time, I understand that in many issues I was too naive and arrogant.
I think the concept with one single channel for sale on the Internet and promotion on its own is not justified.
Now I am trying to negotiate the sale of books in full bookstores. True, I have already been answered in one of them that they work only with large distributors. But I will try further. After all, I still have no choice.
It was necessary to reach literary critics and bloggers, to agree on reviews. Tightly address this issue and maximize coverage. Organize a presentation, invite journalists. Do everything to talk about the book. But I could not imagine it. And did not. I did not try, being sure that the chosen actions should suffice. However, two really positive reviews have not brought sales, so I would get them here - it is not clear.
And I'm waiting for the New Year. If everything works out, my book will go into an article about gifts on a women's website with an audience of 28,000 people. I want to believe that the ladies still know that the book is the best gift. And that someone will give it to her man. Although experience has shown that not everything works as well as drawing the imagination.
Despite weak sales and losses, I do not regret trying it. Let me be a mediocre entrepreneur, but I did become a writer. I created a book. This story is dedicated to her.
Addition:
Added a few more turns from the book.
This is a story about a book that I wrote. The story of an attempt to create high-quality printed product, play "business" and see what happens. This post does not claim to the title of leadership, but I still hope that it will come in handy for someone. After all, this is a completely sincere story about all my wanderings on the way to the reader.
The protagonist of the story - the book "European Football Championship 2012 in infographics." Hard cover, 160 pages, full color print. Today I will try to talk about how it came about, how much it cost its production, and what I ran into trying to sell it.
')
Idea
I am a designer. I worked for four years in a large daily newspaper, creating strip designs and infographics. He was deputy head of the department, then a year he served as art director. You can say I did a good job doing my job. But nothing happens forever, so in 2011 I left the company. He engaged in freelancing, read diverse books, studied, rested. And at a certain point I was unbearably wanting to do something new. To challenge. Set a task and implement it.
It was February 2012, the home European Football Championship was in front. And it dawned on me - why not write a book? It's a challenge. This is a lot of effort. This is an opportunity to create. And most importantly - I love football.
But I needed an idea. I have a large collection of sports literature in my home and I understood well what I don’t want - another ordinary book. And why should I compete with the authors who write texts all my life? Therefore, I decided to improve the concept - not just a book, but a beautiful book. A book in which I can use all my skills. Submit information is interesting and modern. How? Using infographics.
Of course, this was reflected in the format. The book must be color, on good paper and definitely high quality. For otherwise there is no point in translating the paper.
Title
Immediately after the idea came the name for the future book. I love simplicity, and therefore I have not invented anything simpler and more understandable than the "European Football Championship 2012 in infographics." A name that should immediately answer two questions: “what is the book about?” And “how is it different?”. More precisely, I wanted to call the book even simpler - “Euro 2012 in infographics,” but the name Euro 2012 is a trademark that UEFA very zealously protects. To avoid possible claims from this idea had to be abandoned.
Training
I spent a few weeks planning. On my tablet there was a text file, in which the content was constantly worked out. I was thinking about the topics and presentation method. I wrote down individual ideas, copied them and changed places. I read the approximate volume of the book in order to understand the time and load.
Together with the study of the content, I actively monitored the Internet. Collected sources, on the move checked the ability to implement certain ideas. Read newspapers and news sites. I read the history of all European Championships. I did everything to surround myself with the maximum amount of useful and necessary information, because I had to write and create a design at the same time. Distracted by the search would be difficult.
Process of creation
The actual production of the book took 4 months - from April to July 2012. In the first months I dealt with general topics and issues. For example, the history of official balls, commemorative coins, tournament symbols. Prepared "templates" and blanks for further work. Drawn numerous elements. The overall style of the future book was searched and corrected.
Well, then replaced by a measured schedule came full of events in June. Every day, during the group stage, two matches took place, and therefore turnarounds were prepared promptly and texts were written. I watched every match - went to the stadium, to the fan zone or watched on TV. I recorded all the interesting moments and collected statistics. The main assistants in this period were the sites of UEFA and bookmakers.
Every day in the Excel document I marked the finished pages and monitored the overall progress. Lagged behind the plan a couple of times, but every time he caught up with him, sacrificing those weekends he had left in advance.
After the tournament was completed, it took me almost another month to prepare the remaining blocks. Collect and process statistics, make additions and corrections. As a result, by the end of July, I had an internal block of 160 pages.
At the very last moment the cover was created.
Playing on the idea with the title, I decided to make it as simple and clear as possible. White background, nothing more. And instead of "beautiful" the useful cover area is occupied by the timeline with the history of the European Championship.
Publisher
In the process of creating the book, I made an important decision. Since I’m not only writing a book, I’m also creating the layout and design myself, since I myself am ready to bear all the costs of publishing it ... why should I be a publisher?
Even at the stage of the first planning of the book, I turned to several Kiev publishing houses. He told me that I undertake all the prepress preparation, that I am ready to pay for printing, and that I am only interested in formal publishing services and distribution. The results were as follows:
1. Email is not an effective tool.
This is probably obvious to many, but publishers (like many other businesses) do not know how to use e-mail. Despite the presence of sites, feedback forms and other channels, the response to direct commercial offer was very low. The letters went into the void and did not give a result. The phone is still the best way to get across or get information.
2. Publishing prices are not adequate enough.
Some publishers responded to the offer. But in a situation where they do not have the opportunity to earn money on prepress works (layout, reading, etc.), there remains a great desire to earn money on mediation. As a result, prices for printing were significantly overstated. As if I do not do everything, but they do everything to me.
This option did not suit me, so I decided to go all the way myself. Fortunately, this requires not so much.
For a book to have the right to be born, it needs an ISBN - an international book number giving the right to sell the book. These numbers are organized in an orderly manner to publishers who use them in their books. However, often the right to engage in publishing and printing have. Therefore, if you order a circulation from them, it is possible to agree on the provision of a number. Formally, the publisher will be the printing house, and you will be the buyer of the circulation. It suited me, and I got the coveted ISBN.
In July, I turned to several printing houses. I needed full color printing, thick matte paper and good quality - for what else should the first book be? The result of monthly effort. Only high quality. This is part of the concept.
As a result of the study, I chose a printing house in another city. I liked the quality of their products, and the circulation was brought for free. In Kiev, it was either more expensive or worse.
Not wanting to get into big debts, I stopped at a draw of 1,000 pieces. Smaller circulation is not serious at all. More - undue risk. Although I love my book and am satisfied with the result of the work done, I did not want to risk too much
In early August, I signed a contract with the printing house and gave the file to print.
Gift coin
At the end of the book, a friend suggested an idea to me - why not give a souvenir along with the book? Memory of the European Championship. And we quickly found such an option - a commemorative coin of 1 hryvnia denomination with the logo of Euro 2012. Despite the fairly large circulation, these coins are still in short supply in the public domain. This is a great symbolic gift, almost without affecting the cost of the book.
I found people who sell these coins on the Internet and bought 1,000 of them. All of them were packed in rolls of 50 coins, stamped by the National Bank. 1000 coins cost me 1800 UAH. A good overpayment, but this price seemed to me an adequate price for the opportunity to please the reader with an additional souvenir.
The first disappointment and the first joy
I decided to take it to a separate point, because it is an integral part of any undertaking. Initially, the book was to be printed in the twenties of August. I had high hopes for this date, because September is the end of holidays, a return to vigorous activity and fresh memories of summer. Rest, holiday, Euro 2012.
And the book was delayed for a month ...
In my opinion, the elections to the Verkhovna Rada were the main reason. Needless to say that the printing of campaign materials has a much higher priority than any book with a small circulation? With this, unfortunately, I failed. I did not have a backup option. I have already made a solid advance payment and could only expect a circulation. First two weeks later, then 4 ...
But besides disappointment was joy. After all, in the end, I was holding in my hands the result of several months of work. I reached the primary goal. Created a product. All difficulties were behind, and ahead - hopes and successes! So I thought.
Sales concept
Having no desire to spend a lot of time on sales organization (I had a job and a lot of workload again), I decided to limit distribution to one channel, concentrating all my small resources on it.
Only one online store.
But the best available. Maximum coverage, minimum logistics time, accurate sales control and promotion efficiency.
I found such an online store. It is quite promoted, upon delivery all the books are neatly packed and, most importantly, they agreed to ensure that the gift coin was included in the package, but this was part of the idea. That's why I chose them.
Promotion
To at least someone bought a book, at least someone should know about it. It is obvious. And based on the choice of a single channel (online store), I decided to limit the Internet and in promotion. It seemed logical to me. And simple.
Promo site
The first step on the road to the masses for me was the site. For what is this product if it does not have its own website? And I decided to make it, too, on my own. Since I was able to create a whole book, there will not be one more challenge.
Previously, I had the experience of creating only one site - my own. The page of the book was the second "successful" attempt. She has a permanent address, she describes the product, she works, she gives the visitor the opportunity to purchase my book. Wonderful. It is a pity that very few visitors get on it, but I did not want to advertise it on the Internet. Therefore, the site just is and good.
With the address, by the way, did not have to think too long. As in the case with the book, one can hardly think of something simpler and more obvious - euro2012book.info. The acquisition of the domain and hosting cost me 230 UAH.
Facebook Page Book + Contest
After I finished the site, arranged with the online store and got my hands on the whole print run, I launched the book page on Facebook. I decided for myself that a social network is the best way to talk about a book, because I have friends, and they have friends, acquaintances, and so on. The main incentive.
And I decided to organize a competition. By that time I had scant financial resources, so I couldn’t afford anything expensive. The prize should be symbolic, I thought. And I purchased three gift sets of Euro 2012 commemorative coins in beautiful boxes - 5 nickel silver coins - 350 UAH per set.
I looked at other contests. Drawings of tablets and smartphones were collected by 5-10 thousand participants, and I hoped that at least 500 people could be interested in coins. I understood that coins, even beautiful ones, are far from being a fashionable smartphone or laptop, but how can you measure a gift only with its value?
In the early days, there was a good stir, and the number of participants quickly grew to 40 people. I was happy all day, expecting that things would go much better, almost exponentially. But it all happened exactly the opposite. After a few days, activity has slipped to zero. No new likes, no new members. Contrary to expectations, my list of friends in 100+ people could not provide a proper breakthrough. Moreover, many friends and acquaintances themselves ignored both the competition and the page of the book. I didn't want to beg anyone, so I resigned
I started to "spam." Shared reference in groups dedicated to football and books. But it brought only a few new members. I wrote letters to the administrations of closed groups, asked for support - no reaction. After a week of unsuccessful attempts, I realized that the cherished 500 participants will remain just a desire.
By the time of the draw, which took place a month after the launch, I had only 84 participants.
But, despite the poor result, I added 5 books to the coins and thus played 8 prizes. And one book left Kiev for Kazakhstan, which cost me 90 hryvnias. for shipment.
According to Facebook, during the contest I was able to reach an audience of 16 thousand people (all friends of friends who could see the page and competition likes). Unfortunately, this audience is very conditional and did not bring me sales.
In the first two weeks I sold 14 books. Almost all of them were bought by friends and former colleagues. After that, only two books were sold in two weeks. And then another one.
And two more competitions
Understanding my modest successes, I resorted to another attempt. Good friends offered to give a few books to a popular football portal, which had well-developed groups in social networks. As a result, my book was the main prize in two quizzes - on Facebook and VKontakte.
The audience of the portal on VKontakte is 79 thousand people.
Facebook portal audience - 8 thousand.
These drawings in a matter of days scored 1000 participants for two. Despite the huge audience, there were a little more than 300 of them. Facebook gave 674 participants and 150+ publications. The quizzes lasted less than a week, and after they ended, I waited with interest for a report from the store.
During these two weeks 15 books were sold. 80 thousand people during the week could watch my book, almost 1000 people did not give up the idea to get it for free, and only 15 of them decided to buy - 1.5%.
Reviews
At the moment, my book has received two positive reviews. At least, I only know about them, but it would be great if there were more of them.
On the football website "Dynamo Kiev from Shurik" a blog was published, which discussed football books about Euro 2012, among which was the "European Football Championship 2012 in infographics." The blog was honored with “editorial choice”, and the book was described at its best.
Also, the book published a review in the newspaper "Today", the total circulation of which exceeds 100,000 copies. The review was small. But the author is very positive about the book. On the page was indicated the site of the store and the cost of the book.
The sadder is the fact that these reviews, judging by the publication dates and store reports, didn’t affect sales at all ... After them, only a few books were sold, which are difficult to consider the result of positive reviews.
All sorts of stuff
A few weeks after the start of sales on the website of the online store, a banner was circling advertising my book. I find it difficult to assess its effectiveness, because I have no data on the number of views of the book.
I published several book spreads in the infographic group. There are 25,000 people in this group, and I hoped that the publication would be able to arouse proper interest, because there are very few books with infographics. Together with the works I indicated the name of the book, but the publication also had no effect on sales.
Thus, all attempts made were ineffective.
Expenses
Now it’s time to summarize and tell how much it all cost me. Of course, I am not the most successful example, because I did almost everything myself. But I am convinced that any experience, not even the most successful, can be useful.
So, in order to conclude a contract and be able to sell books, I registered the SPD. It cost me 1200 UAH. for the entire set of documents and print.
At the moment I am on a single tax, the 3rd group is 5% of the income. Plus, every month I have to pay a single social contribution to the pension fund - about 400 UAH. Thus, the right to sell a book costs me 4800 UAH / year. + banking services (600 UAH. per year for service + 1% when withdrawing funds).
The cost of printing was 30000 UAH. In the case of a publishing house, it would add to the cost of the work of all involved individuals - the author, layout designer, designer, editor and proofreader. In my case, it was two people - me and the proofreader. Proofreader helped me for free. I, for obvious reasons, do not take into account myself.
Summing up, I went to the following numbers:
Primary costs:
Prepress - for free.
Printing a book (1000 pieces) - 30000 UAH.
1000 commemorative coins - 1800 UAH.
3 sets of coins for the contest - 1050 UAH.
Registration of SPD - 1200 UAH.
Opening a bank account - 100 UAH.
Domain name of the site - 95 UAH.
Hosting for the site - 135 UAH.
Additional expenses:
For the first year I need to pay 4800 UAH. to the pension fund and 600 UAH. for bank services. Plus about 200 UAH. for any related costs (in fact, it turned out to be the cost of sending the book to Kazakhstan and packing coins in gift paper). I did not take into account the cost of delivering books to the store.
That is, for the first year since the creation of the book, I will spend:
34380 + 5600 = 39980 UAH.
So the formal cost of one book (if you do not take into account the 4 months of work) amounted to 40 UAH.
Pricing
So, based on the estimated cost of the book, I decided that the book should pay for itself for half the circulation. This gave me a chance to recapture the costs and earn. After all, after achieving its main goal - creating a good product, why not try to get a reward for it?
So I got a simple formula:
(40 x 2) + 5% tax + 1% bank commission = 85 UAH.
This is the amount I should receive from one book from resellers. After reviewing the shops and studying other books on the subject, I was convinced that my price was more than adequate. Even with surcharges.
Weekly sales statistics
And now the result of all my work ...
1 week - 3 pcs.
2 week - 11 pcs.
3 week - 2 pcs.
4 week - 1 pc.
5 week - 1 pc.
6 week - 12 pcs.
7 week - 3 pcs.
Total, 33 books for almost 2 months of sales.
More thoughts and hopes
The other day, my book became the winner in the nomination "The Best Project of the Year" by the Association of Sports Journalists of Ukraine. On the one hand, I am truly proud that she was appreciated. But at the same time, I understand that in many issues I was too naive and arrogant.
I think the concept with one single channel for sale on the Internet and promotion on its own is not justified.
Now I am trying to negotiate the sale of books in full bookstores. True, I have already been answered in one of them that they work only with large distributors. But I will try further. After all, I still have no choice.
It was necessary to reach literary critics and bloggers, to agree on reviews. Tightly address this issue and maximize coverage. Organize a presentation, invite journalists. Do everything to talk about the book. But I could not imagine it. And did not. I did not try, being sure that the chosen actions should suffice. However, two really positive reviews have not brought sales, so I would get them here - it is not clear.
And I'm waiting for the New Year. If everything works out, my book will go into an article about gifts on a women's website with an audience of 28,000 people. I want to believe that the ladies still know that the book is the best gift. And that someone will give it to her man. Although experience has shown that not everything works as well as drawing the imagination.
One last thing
Despite weak sales and losses, I do not regret trying it. Let me be a mediocre entrepreneur, but I did become a writer. I created a book. This story is dedicated to her.
Addition:
Added a few more turns from the book.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/163603/
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