How One Story Makes 126 Books
Realistic Self-Publishing Projects
Understanding the Publishing Market
Bookbub deals 'discount club membership' Specialty Book Shop that features...
Continuity (why sales funnel is no longer a good model) KanBan continuous improvement of relationship
72 books 250 lifetime average sales each book (SFWA) 31,500 total sales, $2 royalty, $63,000 revenue
Bookbub deals 'discount club membership' Specialty Book Shop that features...
Continuity (why sales funnel is no longer a good model) KanBan continuous improvement of relationship
72 books 250 lifetime average sales each book (SFWA) 31,500 total sales, $2 royalty, $63,000 revenue
Here's the recipe.
- Story Discovery. Begin with story concepts that are timeless, and encompass a broad humanity. Plant many seeds. Explore many ideas. As soon as you feel there is a solid structure (begin, middle, end) create an outline targeting a 4,000 word 'chapter book' for the 5+ age-appropriate reader category.
- Visual Development. Introduce your Illustrator/book designer to your story concept and outline. Create rough sketches of your main characters and settings to help your writing process. Keep in mind, a good deal of the story can be carried visually.
- Writing Process. Draft your story. As you begin to rewrite and develop the story, invite 'beta testers' to review your latest draft versions and sketches. The feedback will give you a better perspective. Continue to collaborate with your illustrator/designer on rough sketches to explore characters and settings.
- The Finished Manuscript. Finalize the story and select sketches that loosely define your core visual assets (characters and settings). Take advantage of as much critical feedback as you can get. Make the final draft absolutely the best you can make it.
- The Trilogy Reorg. Reorganize the story as a trilogy (three books). Divide the story in half, then, cut the first section in two parts. The goal is a trilogy story core: Book 1: picture book, 600 words. Book 2: short story 1,400 words. Book 3: chapter book 2,000 words.
- Have your designer/illustrator begin a story sketch process to create the page flow and layout for each book incorporating previously developed visual assets.
- Write logical open and close transitions to make each part work as a stand-alone book. This is a good stage to begin working with designer/illustrator to develop the titles and book covers.
- Audience Adaption. Audience adaption is a simplification process to eliminate advanced concepts and reduce vocabulary for younger audiences. Adapt each book for the 3+ reader category and Baby/Toddler reader category. The result of this process is having a total of 9 unique books available across three different age groups. See below.
- Editing. Request a 'full edit' to ensure each story is well-developed (not just proofreading). Try to find an editor who has an interest in cross-cultural media as well as early childhood development.
- Language Learning and Localization. Target 5 languages. Have the 9 manuscripts translated, rewritten as necessary, and edited. Language learning books are formatted with 'side by side' pages with the native language mirrored next to the translation (learning language) 54 books (9 x 6).
- Publish all books in paperback and ebook formats for a total of 108 books.
- Create boxed sets for each of the three age-appropriate audiences in all languages. This makes a total of 18 products. A grand total of 72 print book products.
Build a Subscriber List with Free eBooks
Book Series |
Book Title 3 |
Book Title 2 |
Book Title 1 |
5+ |
$2.99 |
free to subscriber |
free to all |
3+ |
free to subscriber |
free to subscriber |
free to all |
Baby/Toddler |
free to all |
free to all |
free to all |
International Language eBooks
Book Series |
Book Title 3 |
Book Title 2 |
Book Title 1 |
5+ |
$2.99 |
$2.99 |
$1.99 |
3+ |
$1.99 |
$1.99 |
free to all |
Baby/Toddler |
$1.99 |
$1.99 |
free to all |
Pricing Individual Print Books
Book Series |
Book Title 3 |
Book Title 2 |
Book Title 1 |
5+ |
$12.99 |
$11.99 |
$10.99 |
3+ |
$9.99 |
$8.99 |
$7.99 |
Baby/Toddler |
$6.99 |
$5.99 |
$4.99 |
Pricing Boxed Sets
Book Series |
Boxed Set of Titles 1,2,3 |
5+ |
$21.99 |
3+ |
$16.99 |
Baby/Toddler |
$12.99 |
Guideline for Word Count
Book Series |
Book Title 3 |
Book Title 2 |
Book Title 1 |
5+ |
chapter (2000) |
short chapter (1200) |
paragraph (800) |
3+ |
short paragraph (600) |
sentence (400) |
short sentence (200) |
Baby/Toddler |
word combination (100) |
multi syllable word (50) |
single syllable word (25) |
Guideline for Page Count
Book Series |
Book Title 3 |
Book Title 2 |
Book Title 1 |
5+ |
48 |
42 |
36 |
3+ |
32 |
32 |
32 |
Baby/Toddler |
32 |
32 |
32 |
Total Products
Localization to Reach 25% of the World |
Number of Products Available |
Mandarin |
21 |
Spanish |
21 |
International English |
21 |
Portuguese |
21 |
Russian |
21 |
Japanese |
21 |
Total Products |
126 |