I have learned a great deal over the past year when it comes to publishing, licensing, and sales. One of my toughest lessons was only doing a children's book for Va Tech. It wasn't really a mistake, per say, because I couldn't do one for the University of Virginia. The way the licensing company that handles both of these schools is set up, is not conducive to how my project came to pass. I will not go into how the licensing companies work. It is an extremely arduous and frustrating path that I have navigated and come out successful on the other side. Now I can use my experience and knowledge to help others through the maze and to make money for all involved.
When I call on a store in Virginia, I basically am going to get one order. They are probably going to take 10 or 20 VaTech books. I might convince some owners that UNC will sell in their territory (which it does), but less than half take me up on it and if they do, it is to carry four or five.
In North Carolina when I call on a store, the owners want both UNC and NCSU. They also take either App State or ECU if the store is on one particular side of the state than the other. If it is in the middle, they usually take all four. What is a $100 or $150 order in Virginia, the same type store in NC makes a $300 or $400 order. Same amount of work. Now with UVA coming out this fall, I already have the account set up that will take the UVA books. I am still set, but it sure would have been nice to double my numbers from the start.
This all brings us to the great state of Texas. With my Aggies book being written and financed by my Aggie Alumni, it leads me to an interesting dilemma for the Texas. Ideally I need a fan of Baylor, University of Texas and Texas Tech to step up and put their name down in history and write a book for each one of their schools. My guy and his daughter at Texas A&M have know me for several years and have seen our books. The trust factor was already in place. Plus it was fun to go and seal the deal over a bear at Duckworth's in Charlotte. Not sure how I am going to find a UT, Baylor, T-Tech fan while living in NC. Would also be nice to find an SMU and TCU alumni to do the same. Will have to keep my hordes of readers abreast of new developments in this field.
Lastly, it looks like we have made an interesting connection to a playing card printer. We can have the decks printed up with our artwork at around $.90 a deck. We then sell them to the stores for $3.00 and the stores sell them for $5.99. This all depends on licensing from the schools, but with our ability to distribute and sale, this shouldn't be a huge hurdle. We will know a lot more in the coming months.... stay tuned!
Monday, August 26, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Success In the Self-Publishing Industry!
I have my first client for Collegiate Kids Books. Incredible. I am blown away. I found a rabid Texas A&M graduate. He even has a house in College Station that he lives in during the football season. Basically, the ideal person to do this book. He and his daughter are writing the book, she is also a Texas A&M grad. We have the artwork completed and they add the text. With their input, we have created a fantastic book.
This Aggies book will have scratch and sniff, a fold out section, lifting flaps, multiple materials and moving parts. This will be the first ever tactile interactive children's book for the Aggies once we have gone through the trademark and licensing process.
We will be printing around 2500 copies. It costs $4.85 per book, plus safety tests, shipping and customs (around $1,000). Collegiate Kids Books, LLC will pay for the book design ($900). This book will ship with around 3 to 5 other books so we get economy of scale with the shipping, safety tests and customs. These costs being spread out over the other titles, it is kind of a moving target, but the more titles we combine it with, the lower the expense per title.
Collegiate Kids Books, LLC will receive and warehouse these books. We will also be responsible for shipping them out and for getting them placed in stores across the great state of Texas. The books will also be sold on Amazon and our company website.
Every time a book sales to a retailer, our client will get his costs back, plus $1.00. On direct sales that come off the company website, our new author will get his investment back plus $4.00. On sales that come from Amazon.com, it will be the investment plus $3.00. Based on past sales, we can expect that 1250 to 1800 copies are sold each year. We expect him to get back his invest plus 20% in two years. We have to report royalties to the schools every month, so every month, we will cut our client a check and report of how many copies have been sold and whether it was to retailer or direct to a buyer.
We must stress that our client is not doing it for the money.
He is doing it because he loves his school and wants to be part of A&M history and directly contributing to an outstanding product that will help parents and fans all over the world, create rabid passionate A&M fans from an early age. To make money on the whole deal just sweetens the pot. Everyone wins in this situation. The client, the school and the publisher. This is how business should be done!
We are looking for similar fans and alumni that want to see their school's book come to life.
We can help anyone that wants to self-publish a tactile children's book. It does not have to be mascot based. If you have a great idea and want to see it come to life we can make it happen for you. If it is a mascot based book, we can help get it licensed, published and placed in stores in that area.
Gig' Em Aggies!
Bryan R. Jones
828-773-5398
bryan@collegiatekidsbooks.com
I have my first client for Collegiate Kids Books. Incredible. I am blown away. I found a rabid Texas A&M graduate. He even has a house in College Station that he lives in during the football season. Basically, the ideal person to do this book. He and his daughter are writing the book, she is also a Texas A&M grad. We have the artwork completed and they add the text. With their input, we have created a fantastic book.
This Aggies book will have scratch and sniff, a fold out section, lifting flaps, multiple materials and moving parts. This will be the first ever tactile interactive children's book for the Aggies once we have gone through the trademark and licensing process.
We will be printing around 2500 copies. It costs $4.85 per book, plus safety tests, shipping and customs (around $1,000). Collegiate Kids Books, LLC will pay for the book design ($900). This book will ship with around 3 to 5 other books so we get economy of scale with the shipping, safety tests and customs. These costs being spread out over the other titles, it is kind of a moving target, but the more titles we combine it with, the lower the expense per title.
Collegiate Kids Books, LLC will receive and warehouse these books. We will also be responsible for shipping them out and for getting them placed in stores across the great state of Texas. The books will also be sold on Amazon and our company website.
Every time a book sales to a retailer, our client will get his costs back, plus $1.00. On direct sales that come off the company website, our new author will get his investment back plus $4.00. On sales that come from Amazon.com, it will be the investment plus $3.00. Based on past sales, we can expect that 1250 to 1800 copies are sold each year. We expect him to get back his invest plus 20% in two years. We have to report royalties to the schools every month, so every month, we will cut our client a check and report of how many copies have been sold and whether it was to retailer or direct to a buyer.
We must stress that our client is not doing it for the money.
He is doing it because he loves his school and wants to be part of A&M history and directly contributing to an outstanding product that will help parents and fans all over the world, create rabid passionate A&M fans from an early age. To make money on the whole deal just sweetens the pot. Everyone wins in this situation. The client, the school and the publisher. This is how business should be done!
We are looking for similar fans and alumni that want to see their school's book come to life.
We can help anyone that wants to self-publish a tactile children's book. It does not have to be mascot based. If you have a great idea and want to see it come to life we can make it happen for you. If it is a mascot based book, we can help get it licensed, published and placed in stores in that area.
Gig' Em Aggies!
Bryan R. Jones
828-773-5398
bryan@collegiatekidsbooks.com
Thursday, August 1, 2013
North Carolina Book Warehouse For Self-Published Authors
Did you become as irritated and overwhelmed with publishing companies as we did? Did the smaller publishing company that you actually signed with, forget to disclose all the little fees and charges? Did they explain what they meant by "getting it on Amazon"? What else did they forget to tell you?
We certainly became sickened with the process, so we formed our own publishing company, that has expanded to covering book distributing and warehousing. We can store and ship your books and do so at a price that makes sense to both of us. We will show you how we store and ship our books and how we can do the same for yours.
Are those 1000 copies taking up your husband's lawnmower space in the garage, much to his chagrin? Do you have a fantastic idea for a children's book, but can't figure out how to find a printer? Or communicate your intent with the printer once you find one? Are you nervous about sending a large check to a foreign company that you know nothing about? What are you going to do about shipping? Customs? and of course, where are you going to store your books?
We can help.
List of our services
- Book warehouse
- Book distribution
- Discounted shipping supplies
- Media Mail shipping
- Amazon Sales (We run an Amazon Store Front, this is cheaper than selling to Amazon and letting them sell your book)
- Individual website sales fulfillment
- Collection and disbursement of NC Sales Taxes for books sold in North Carolina.
- Publishing
- Specializing in tactile, interactive books
Our warehouse is located across the street from post office, thus saving time and money.
Call us today to find out more. 828-773-5398
Did you become as irritated and overwhelmed with publishing companies as we did? Did the smaller publishing company that you actually signed with, forget to disclose all the little fees and charges? Did they explain what they meant by "getting it on Amazon"? What else did they forget to tell you?
We certainly became sickened with the process, so we formed our own publishing company, that has expanded to covering book distributing and warehousing. We can store and ship your books and do so at a price that makes sense to both of us. We will show you how we store and ship our books and how we can do the same for yours.
Are those 1000 copies taking up your husband's lawnmower space in the garage, much to his chagrin? Do you have a fantastic idea for a children's book, but can't figure out how to find a printer? Or communicate your intent with the printer once you find one? Are you nervous about sending a large check to a foreign company that you know nothing about? What are you going to do about shipping? Customs? and of course, where are you going to store your books?
We can help.
List of our services
- Book warehouse
- Book distribution
- Discounted shipping supplies
- Media Mail shipping
- Amazon Sales (We run an Amazon Store Front, this is cheaper than selling to Amazon and letting them sell your book)
- Individual website sales fulfillment
- Collection and disbursement of NC Sales Taxes for books sold in North Carolina.
- Publishing
- Specializing in tactile, interactive books
Our warehouse is located across the street from post office, thus saving time and money.
Call us today to find out more. 828-773-5398
Excitement Building....!
We are days away from putting the finishing touches on 6 books and pulling the proverbial "print-trigger" as they say in dorkland. I am now a full fledge citizen and no longer a lurking illegal alien of this country. I have locked up the fishing rods, let my shotguns rust, cancelled my trips with the dudes. All in the name of children's books. Best part is, I love it. I read all these amazing books that are about publishing, marketing, social media, instead of Ken Follet, Tom Clancy, Nic Brown, Jane Borden and Nelson Demille. I miss them, but they will still be there when I get a moment.
We are doing it right this time. Instead of Three Stooges Go To The Printing Room, it has almost been like an inebriated Sherlock Holmes colludes with a cranky Professor X. I will not disclose who is who, but you get the picture. We did it, but we still have a ways to go.
This time we have 6 titles that are shipping at once. Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, Clemson and University of Virginia. We will pay one customs fee, a reduced shipping fee for doing it in bulk as well as a great break on the printing costs. Here is where we raise an appropriate finger (your choice) to variable costs. With 11 titles, instead of 5, we can raise another digit on the other hand or foot and shake it violently at our "variable" costs. We can also add the letters...MBA after my name if you wish. If I throw around builder's terms such as "shem it up" and "fer it out" you can add General Contractor to my title as well!
Anyway, I supposedly have to blog often to attract readers, most of which will be highly turned off by my writing style and organize a raging boycott of my books. I will provide them with chunks of bricks and bottle to throw should this happen. I am not one to deny a mob of angry readers. So henceforth, in order to attract future mob and riot members, I am going to try and "blog" once a week.
I may even talk about the difference between "accrual" and "cash" basis! There is some much un-sexy crap that comes with being an "author". It is this crap that keeps most the people from joining this world, thus, giving those of us that do, a greater chance of success.
In addition to publishing my own books, I will be publishing my first book for a client! Which I will discuss in a different post. We are also now a book distributor for independent self-published authors. Lots going on in our growing little world. Thank you following me and for reading this post. Blown away if you made it this far.
Cheers,
Bryan R. Jones
Below are two covers of our 6 newest books...
We are days away from putting the finishing touches on 6 books and pulling the proverbial "print-trigger" as they say in dorkland. I am now a full fledge citizen and no longer a lurking illegal alien of this country. I have locked up the fishing rods, let my shotguns rust, cancelled my trips with the dudes. All in the name of children's books. Best part is, I love it. I read all these amazing books that are about publishing, marketing, social media, instead of Ken Follet, Tom Clancy, Nic Brown, Jane Borden and Nelson Demille. I miss them, but they will still be there when I get a moment.
We are doing it right this time. Instead of Three Stooges Go To The Printing Room, it has almost been like an inebriated Sherlock Holmes colludes with a cranky Professor X. I will not disclose who is who, but you get the picture. We did it, but we still have a ways to go.
This time we have 6 titles that are shipping at once. Alabama, Auburn, South Carolina, Tennessee, Clemson and University of Virginia. We will pay one customs fee, a reduced shipping fee for doing it in bulk as well as a great break on the printing costs. Here is where we raise an appropriate finger (your choice) to variable costs. With 11 titles, instead of 5, we can raise another digit on the other hand or foot and shake it violently at our "variable" costs. We can also add the letters...MBA after my name if you wish. If I throw around builder's terms such as "shem it up" and "fer it out" you can add General Contractor to my title as well!
Anyway, I supposedly have to blog often to attract readers, most of which will be highly turned off by my writing style and organize a raging boycott of my books. I will provide them with chunks of bricks and bottle to throw should this happen. I am not one to deny a mob of angry readers. So henceforth, in order to attract future mob and riot members, I am going to try and "blog" once a week.
I may even talk about the difference between "accrual" and "cash" basis! There is some much un-sexy crap that comes with being an "author". It is this crap that keeps most the people from joining this world, thus, giving those of us that do, a greater chance of success.
In addition to publishing my own books, I will be publishing my first book for a client! Which I will discuss in a different post. We are also now a book distributor for independent self-published authors. Lots going on in our growing little world. Thank you following me and for reading this post. Blown away if you made it this far.
Cheers,
Bryan R. Jones
Below are two covers of our 6 newest books...
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