On Book Writing

Jack Bellis, June, 2005

We're going to our 4th printing! Thank you to all who have made our book a success and we're happy to have helped so many people.

If you're interested in book publishing here are some thoughts and recollections on our experience.

When I (Jack) was asked after doing our first printing, how many book sales would constitute a success, I thought for a moment and said "10,000." Well, if you're interested, we're about to print our 10,000th book. We had three printings (2000, 4000, and 2000) and now it's time for another, bringing us to our magic number. Not earth shattering, but pretty impressive. $160,000 of retail sales, or thereabouts, considering discounts.

Suparna and I self-published. She and I did the writing. With 10 years of writing and computer experience, I did the editing, layout, graphics, and cover art. A 'service bureau' did the color separations of the cover (producing 4 films). Data Reproductions in Michigan printed the book and we paid them in advance. That's what self-publishing means... whoever pays the expenses, primarily for printing, is the publisher.

We tried to get a publisher, but there were no takers. This classic publishers' rejection letter, supposedly a "memo from a Chinese Economic Journal" tells you most of what you need to know about "getting published":

We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that in the next thousand years we shall see its equal, we are, to our regret, compelled to return your divine composition, and to beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity.

It was actually my preference to self-publish... to own the risk and reward if there was any. Part of what I want to share with you is the scale of the reward. The book publishing world is a great example of the fierce competitive engine of our economy. In our early days, Amazon sold the book, directly receiving it from us at 55% off the cover price, their standard "Amazon Advantage" rate. We now have a distributor, IPG Press www.ipgbook.com, who does a great job representing the book to stores. They take a little higher percentage from us than Amazon but it's worth it. My point is that for our "single title" selling a few books a week, Suparna and I get lunch money. This was in exchange for our each spending two years of evenings creating the book and trying to make it successful, not to mention Suparna's years of battling patients' RSI to get results and information.

The bottom line is that, without it selling much more rapidly (which is unlikely), it's not a money-making endeavor... far from it. Between the used-book phenomenon on Amazon (a good thing but not good for selling new books), and the "small margins," we've considered converting the book to PDF and giving it away instead of printing old-fashioned paper.

There are a few reasons we haven't, such as the prestige and fun of having a book that people buy, and its help with Suparna's therapy practice, but the main reason is probably this: a traditional book is the more powerful weapon (vs a PDF) at solving the RSI problem. It is a significant service, binding up all that knowledge in a handy, legible package. It's much more powerful, credible, potent than reading online or even in a PDF.

If we made a PDF, I for one, as a reader, wouldn't dare read it online. I'd print it out, spending $2 on paper and perhaps as much on toner. And the result wouldn't be as easy to handle or read. It wouldn't carry the same credibility handing it to a suffering friend.

So that's our story, and that's how we came to print book 10,000. Thanks again, Jack & Suparna