I Got Lucky But That Was Part Of The Plan

So as I've said my first two books - written with Kim Messinger - were children's picture books.

To market a self-published picture book there's only one way - hit the street. School visits. Library visits. Local book store visits. I put the chances of making money on a book this way at about 2000-1. And that's if you have a professionally done book.

Now if your goal is just to get books sold as a sign that you've done a professional job and it's the journey that appeals to you that's another matter. I put your chances of selling more than 150 books at about 100-1. But of course that could go up or down depending on the size of your extended family (your best potential market).

Let's stack that up against the traditional route - selling a manuscript to a publisher that will actually pay you money. If it's good - in the current publishing marketplace - I put the chances of that happening at about 10,000-1.

I didn't have time for the traditional route. I wasn't going to hit the streets for various reasons so making money was out. I have hit on the 100-1 chance but don't find that very fulfilling at this point. But I got lucky. I have a Plan D that most don't have available to them.

I'm publishing a novel that I think will get enough traction to serve as a marketing device for the children's books.

Wow Mike, you call that a plan? There's nothing harder in the book business then to sell a self-published debut novelist.

I didn't say it was a good plan.

Michael LaLumiere
www.staggerleebooks.com