TB: Why did you decide to self-publish The Dog of My Nightmares: Stories by Texas Columnist Dave Lieber?
DL: Because I knew I could pull it off. I had self-published two cartoons books with a cartoonist and sold them out and learned enough to realize that I could cut almost everyone else out of the process and do it myself. I'm the publicist, the warehouse man, the shipper, the marketing guru, the salesman and the dreamer. I needed to hire a book designer, a copy editor and a book distributor. But the rest is all me. Us columnists are lone wolves anyway. My 6-year-old son is vice president of my publishing company. Every week we have a "meeting" in which I bring him up to date. When he travels with me to a speech, I give him $1 for each book sold. It's helping him with his math.
TB: What is the process you're using to self-publish the book?
DL: I printed 6,000 copies for $10,000 (all costs including design and copyediting.) My printer is the same Canadian company who printed half a million copies of the new Harry Potter book in five weeks this summer. I sought bids in US, Canada, Hong Kong and South Korea.
They are charging me under $1.50 per copy. It's 288 pages, paperback.
I just "graduated" from the local community college with a QuickBooks Accounting class to handle my company finances, and it's a blast to learn a new skill like this. National Society of Newspaper Columnist Webmaster Jim Boughton is my Web master. He has the title "Director of New Media Convergence." I pay him with season tickets to Texas Christian University football games, which I buy through my newspaper at discount. The football team is undefeated now, so he is quite happy to do all Web site updates. I keep the site very simple. No razzle dazzle. Just learn about the book and buy it, folks. It's working because when I go to the post office box, there's always a few orders in there.
TB: How will you sell your book?
DL: The strategy is quite simple. It's the same strategy I used to sell the two previous cartoon books which I sold out (more than 4,000 copies sold). I make a speech before a group of people and read them aloud a few columns that appeal to their sensibilities. There are 90 columns in the book going back 10 years divided by chapters. So there is something for every group's interests.
I intersperse these column readings with jokes and warmth, etc. Usually, they are crying from some columns and laughing from others. When you have their emotions, you have their wallets, too. Then I tell them. "The book is $12.95 at Barnes & Noble, but today in honor of your dear Club President Jane Doe, I am offering the Jane Doe special for $10, autographed."
Then I stand between them and the door.
I usually sell between 20 and 50 books (my record is 93 to one group and 195 at one book store debut party) depending on the size of the crowd. I only need to sell 1,200 of the 6,000 to break even. I will donate copies to all charities who ask (no better publicity than your book sitting on a silent auction table) and all give copies to area libraries. I'm going to give a portion of the proceeds to the Humane Society of North Texas, too, in honor of my late dog on the cover. That leaves several thousand books which should yield either a) a modest profit or b) money to use for a second printing (but I doubt that will happen.)
But this is not about the money. This is about the writer's dream. To keep the stories alive, especially the chapter that promotes better public education called "Texas Edukation." Many of my appearances will be teacher parties at teacher homes. When I read one column aloud "Calling for a Texas Teachers Revolt" -- that column alone will be worth $10 for them to own the entire book, I am quite sure. And if it changes things, all the better.
TB: Will you sell your book on the Internet?
DL: I will sell on the Web, through Amazon and at bookstores, but speeches and my personal Web site (yankeecowboy.com) are the best and the only real way I hope to make the financial goals I have set. ($1.50 profit at a bookstore after the distributor takes his cut and I pay the printer; but more than $8 profit for each book sold at a speech or off the Web site.)
I sent out nearly 300 color flyers to groups I have spoken at or want to speak out, announcing I am now available for a new book speech that will make their members laugh, cry, etc. I am now booking about two speeches a week off this flyer. Also, many groups call up and ask me to speak who don't know about the book. All columnists get those kinds of invitations all the time.
By the way, the motivation to donate a portion to charity is to show readers that you have a heart, and also set an example for other businesses that they need to do more for the community. Plus, it makes me feel good, too. I owe this, at the very least, to "the dog of my nightmares" (chapter one).
TB: What do you think are the pros and cons of using your method of self-publishing vs. using a company such as 1stBooks or Xlibris?
DL: My method probably wouldn't work for everybody. Being a columnist who appears three times a week gives me a platform that many writers don't have. I can take advantage of that wonderful gift. If I weren't a columnist with that platform, I would be more conservative and go the other way. But the important thing is to take a risk. As they say in football, "Throw long. Hit hard. Take chances." You've got to get in the game and make things happen. Don't just dream about it. Do it. The technology didn't exist for this 10 years ago, but now it does. The big boys don't control the business anymore.
Dave Lieber is secretary of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and president of the group's education foundation. He won the Will Rogers Humanitarian Award in 2002 as the columnist who did the most to help his community. In October 2003, the Dallas Press Association named him the Best Columnist for a major market newspaper in the Southwestern USA. His book is available at www.yankeecowboy.com.
