[Podcast] Tech Founder Dave Parker on the Whacky Economics of Book Publishing and Promotion

By Dave Goetz and Melissa Parks

Writing a book can never be about the money. No realistic model for book publishing exists, unless of course, you hit the lottery with your first book. 

According to Dave Parker, author of Trajectory Startup: Ideation to Product/Market Fit, the economics of book publishing and promotion are whacky--especially with a traditional publisher.

You sign a contract, but the publisher sets the price. And how much you'll receive for royalties? Once it's published, you won't know until you receive your royalty check.

Another drawback, Dave says, is you can't buy author copies that count toward your overall sales (the sales that determine whether your book is being purchased, and therefore ranked on Amazon). Dave has created a workaround for making his "author" copies count. He purchases books by the bulk from a distributor for a discounted rate. 

The Publisher Doesn't Care as Much as You Do

That's just a few of the complexities of working with a publisher when it comes to sales. But there are more complexities when it comes to marketing your book.

Dave learned you can only expect so much of your publisher when it comes to marketing your book. No-one cares as much about your book's success as you do.

He likens publishers to venture capitalists. Out of 100 venture capital investments, 10 are successful, 35 are mildly successful, and 65 are zombies or die quickly. 

You're one of many authors the publisher is working with. They're hoping for the "10" (or one) that that will hit the bestseller category. And the book with the greatest momentum most often gets the most attention from the publisher. The others are left to fend for themselves. Those who don't know how, might as well be called the walking dead.

When you take an interest and ask the publisher, "What should I be doing?" they state the not helpful ("Keep doing what you're doing.") or the obvious ("Promote the book through your platform."). You end up in the same place as someone who self-publishes: you have to figure out the marketing of your book. Nobody is going to do it for you.

You can't just hope your book will sell. According to Dave, "Hope is not a strategy." If you want to actively sell your book and build a market, you need to take ownership or promoting your book. This often starts while you're writing the book.

The Fanboy Strategy

When Dave landed a book deal with a traditional publisher, he had a robust platform. Over 3000 people view his blog monthly, even if he doesn't post anything new. He has thousands of connections of LinkedIn. And he speaks regularly. But Dave says his following didn't know him as a book author. He had to prep him for that in the months he was writing the book.

He even worked on getting endorsers for the book while he was writing the book through a method he calls "fanboying." He would comment regularly (and thoughtfully) on the blog posts of thought leaders in his space. And because nobody comments on blogs anymore, his comments stood out. When it came time to ask for an endorsement, he already had built a relationship.

As Dave continues to promote his book, he looks for one-to-many marketing opportunities, because one-to-one sales, he admits, is painful and costly. He worked with a virtual assistant, for instance, to identify podcasts that would extend his reach. He then pitched each podcast on an episode. One podcast can reach  tribes you're not already part of 

Dave then takes those podcasts (if they're Zoom, he asks for the video) and posts them to his blog. For extra SEO reach, he posts the transcription beneath the audio or video file. Then he posts three times a week to social. Podcasts go out Wednesday. And Tuesdays and Thursdays he turns blurbs he collected for his book into social posts.

if you want to sell your book, you have to take marketing into your own hands, like Dave has. And take take the long view.  What will be next for your audience of engaged followers? That's the question Dave is answering now, and what should always be at the top of your mind even as you're promoting your first book.