No Publisher Needed: Author Raises Over $16k in Seven Days for His New Book Series, Before He Even Writes Them
Cleveland-based marketing professional successfully uses crowdsourcing to eliminate the need for a traditional book contact and signing bonus
CLEVELAND, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- What if there was a way to raise money for the book you want to write without having to have a publisher? Jim Kukral did just that.
Jim went direct to his audience with the idea for a new series of books about how to build a business around a lifestyle on the Internet, http://www.businessaroundalifestyle.com. The campaign utilized crowdsourcing to enlist his audience to pre-fund the book series, called "Business Around a Lifestyle." Kukral created a series of monetary pledges ranging from $25, all the way up to $10,000 for sponsorships.
So far, he's raised over $16,000 in seven days of this promotion.
"If a regular guy from Cleveland, Ohio can raise $16,000 in less than a week without a publisher to produce his book, why can't you?" said Kukral, a noted keynote speaker and Web entrepreneur. "Everything else you need to get a great book done can be put together on your own from freelancers. Book covers, editing, proofing, etc. This model means you're essentially pre-selling your book before you even write it, and that's just part of the revolutionary changes coming to the publishing world. The walls are crumbling down, and aggressive and smart entrepreneurs are running through the gates to grab their share of self-publishing gold."
The "Business Around a Lifestyle" book series will encompass three book titles
- Volume 1 will be about teaching you how to re-think what you have learned that has been holding you back. It will include interviews with successful lifestyle entrepreneurs and it will motivate you into beginning your own lifestyle plan.
- Volume 2 is all about how to take the knowledge and passion that is in your head and turn it into an Internet business of some type.
- Volume 3 is all about building a business in the world of Affiliate Marketing.
"Traditional publishers are panicking, and rightfully so," he said. "Their entire publishing business model is collapsing." According to Publisher's Weekly, e-book sales rose 167% in June, to $80.2 million, at the 15 houses that reported figures to AAP's monthly sales report and closed the first half of the year with sales up 161%, to $473.8 million.
"The traditional publishing model used to work like this. You come up with the idea for a book. You hire an agent. You write the book and submit it to publishers. You get rejected or you get a book deal. They give you a signing bonus and they produce the book and send it out into the world," he said.
"That model used to work just fine, but now anybody can publish a book; no book deal needed," he said. "Simply put, we don't need traditional publishers anymore. The gatekeeper is dead and it's a great thing. Now anybody can write a book and have it on Amazon (and other places) for sale in 24 hours or less, at the price you decide. And the best part is, you can keep the majority of the profits, unlike the tiny percentage that publishers give out."
What about the signing bonus? Isn't that an important part of it all?
Mr. Kukral says you can make your own. "First off, unless you're a successful author already, you're not going to get a signing bonus, let alone a book contract. So it's up to you to make your own. That's what I did, before I even wrote the books. I'm not done yet either. I plan on raising $20,000 to $30,000 before it's all over."
Potential readers, investors and sponsors can read about the marketing opportunities at http://www.businessaroundalifestyle.com
About Jim Kukral
Jim Kukral is a 16-year Internet marketing professional who was recently named by Dun & Bradstreet as one of "The Most Influential Small Business People on Twitter." Jim also serves as a Program Faculty Member for the University of San Francisco's Internet Marketing Program where he teaches classes to students around the globe on the topics of Internet marketing, Web monetization and social media. In addition, SmallBizTrends.com chose Jim as one of 100 top small business influencers online. You can find out more about Jim at his website at http://www.jimkukral.com.
Contact:
Jim F. Kukral
216-272-4383
[email protected]
SOURCE Jim Kukral
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