Cover Story
M
ore than 20 people showed up to hear Adele Langendorf talk about her “Shipyard Murders” at M is for Mystery in San Mateo, owner Ed Kaufman said. Kaufman is usually reluctant to stock self-published books, but now he said he plans to order more.
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keting. My 13-year-old is going to be my publicist,” she said, laughing. Langendorf is clearly not in it for the money. Working through Amazon’s CreateSpace, she opted for the most streamlined package (she lined up the book designer and copyeditor herself). She pays $3.95 per copy, which they print on demand. She can then sell the copies through independent bookstores for $12.95. She’s already had book signings at Books Inc. in Palo Alto’s Town & Country Village and M is for Murder in San Mateo, as well as at Book Passage in Corte Madera and at her local retirement community. She’s spoken to two book clubs, and the book is available on Amazon. “The good news is it’s much better now than before because of printon-demand technology. In the past, to get a good price per book, you needed to print thousands. Now you can start by printing 200 books,” Rennert added. “Adele’s financial commitment was less than $5,000. She will make somewhere between three and five times as much for each book sold,” Rennert said. With a $13 sticker price, Lagendorf would have earned about a dollar per copy through a traditional publisher, but makes $3 to $4 per book sold now, she said. “I’ll never break even,” Langendorf laughs, adding: “At my age it’s somewhat of an indulgence. I didn’t expect the response to be this strong.” Although money isn’t a motivating factor, Langendorf said she was thrilled to report she’d sold 100 books so far. Unlike some authors, Jacobson has not been aggressive with his marketing of the book. “I give some away and some sell by word of mouth, I don’t do a whole lot,” he said. “I don’t want to waste time marketing; I’ve got other books to write!” He said he looked into selling at local bookstores but found the wholesale markup rate unfavorable. Instead, he finds opportunities for readers simply by meeting folks in everyday life. “When I meet someone who has daughters, I give them my card,” he said. One daughter, a physician, sells copies out of her office. And despite his somewhat passive approach, the book has a dozen positive comments on its Amazon.com page. For Jacobson, who is working on a sequel, his venture into publishing has been a success. “I like the book. I’m pleased,” he said. “The average book sells 65 copies. Two hundred puts you in the top 5 percent of books sold and I’m pushing 400.” And self-publishing is no longer the vanity option it once was, since digital readers such as Kindle have taken off in the mainstream, he added. “I don’t need to be a famous author. Really my true objective was to write for my daughters. I write for the people who enjoy the stories.”
Relax Your Mind
Joan Bigwood (aka Joanie King) stands by a playhouse at Parents’ Nursery School, a setting that inspired her self-published novel “Coopted.” Bigwood, who has written everything from musical comedy to rhyming tributes, is the part-time coordinator for children’s and family ministry at Palo Alto’s St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. “The problem with self-published books is it’s difficult to separate the good ones from the others, unless you read them,” he said, noting that you have to rely on some independent person’s judgment. In Langendorf’s case, “I knew Amy (Rennert) as a prominent literary agent. She has judgment,” he said. “I don’t have a prejudice against self-publishing. I just can’t separate the wheat from the chaff,” he added. “Self-publishing is kind of tricky,” agreed Lori Haggbloom, book buyer for Books Inc. in Town & Country Village. “It’s not carried through normal channels, not returnable.” But she said she’s open to local authors or topics of local interests, such as “Nice Day for a Stroll” by the Palo Alto Historical Association and “Under the Oaks: Two Hundred Years in Atherton,” a town history by Pamela Gullard and Nancy Lund. Today, Haggbloom carries about 15 titles on consignment for about three months. “A lot of them don’t do much, but local authors do really well, if they bring their own mailing lists, especially with events. The key there is the authors need to do their own publicity,” she said. Kepler’s in Menlo Park also stocks self-published books, and does some book-signing events, according to book buyer Frank Sanchez. The key criteria for the 30 selfpublished books on the shelves today are that they have an ISBN (In-
ternational Standard Book Number) assigned, are bound and the author will accept 40 percent of the price. The books are taken on consignment for about two months. (continued on next page)
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