Lessons from 500,000 Direct Book Sales in 2022
Publishing is changing. No longer do you have to rely on retailers for all your sales. You can have freedom from the platforms and sell books directly to your readers. But what are the benefits to your author business of direct sales? And how can you incorporate this into your publishing business using the right technologies and strategy? Today, we chat with Matt Briel from Lulu to learn all about how Lulu is supporting authors with POD in the direct selling ecosystem with special insights from his 15 years of working in media and publishing.
Join Lulu’s Global POD Platform for selling print books direct, on retailers, and more: https://www.lulu.com/
EPISODE OUTLINE:
0:00 - 4:13 Introduction and Context
4:18 - 9:10 The Mindset of Selling Direct
9:10 - 13:27 The Typical Goals Authors Have When Selling Direct
13:27 - 19:45 The Problem with Reader "Training" and the Power of Retailers
19:45 - 21:45 Communicating with Your Readers about Selling Direct
21:45 - 23:02 A Sneak Peek of How Many Direct Book Sales Lulu has Powered in 2022
23:02 - 31:44 How Million-Selling Author Katie Cross Sells Direct
31:44 - 33:49 The Dark Side of Also-Boughts
33:49 - 36:19 How Morgana Best Crushes it in Direct Sales
36:19 - 39:23 The Explosion of Manga Books + Selling Comic Books
39:23 - 44:27 Collaborating with other Creators to Expand into New Product Lines
44:27 - 45:44 Using Direct Selling to Grow Your Brand and Audience
45:44 - 54:36 The Future of Selling Direct for Authors (Personalized POD Books + Special Editions)
54:36 - 57:09 Future Proofing Against the Algorithms
57:09 - 59:27 Conclusion and Outtro
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We help authors break free from publishers, retailers, and big-tech platforms that take advantage of us. The most powerful people in publishing are YOU – storytellers.
Emilia Rose, a multi-six-figure romance author and co-founder of Ream, and Michael Evans, sci-fi author of a dozen novels and CEO of Ream, are here to help you succeed in the future of publishing as the founders of Storytellers Rule the World.
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