Why Should an Entrepreneur Self-Publish? BMG320: Topics in Entrepreneurship

By Guillaume L. Racine & William Millar 4/3/2015

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ABSTRACT

Although the publishing industry is declining, there is a growing opportunity

for entrepreneurs to venture in the self-publishing industry. A definition of what is

an entrepreneur, as well as the current publishing industry will be provided to

understand the current opportunity. Also, assessments of the motivators an

entrepreneur would have to venture in this industry, as well as a guide that has

been put together to help future self-publishers will be provided. Based on our

findings, we can conclude that an entrepreneur should self-publish because of the

first-hand experience he gathered through his career. This said experience will not

only be a great selling point for him, but would most likely be able to reach numbers

of consumers that are facing similar situations. Therefore, the social aspect of

entrepreneurial self-publishing can be said to be crucial for the growth of both the

self-publishing and the entrepreneurial industries.

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TABLE OF CONTENT

ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... 2

TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................................................. 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................ 4

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 5

WHAT IS AN ENTREPRENEUR? ............................................................................................... 5

A LOOK AT THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY ............................................................................ 6

MOTIVATIONS, CHALLENGES & BENEFITS ....................................................................... 9

BEING IN CONTROL; WHY IS IT A GOOD THING FOR AN ENTREPRENEUR .......... 9

END PRODUCT AND FEELING OF SATISFACTION ......................................................... 10

THE OPPORTUNITY FOR AND ENTREPRENEUR IN SELF-PUBLISHING? ............ 11

HOW DOES ONE GOES THROUGHSELF-PUBLISHING SUCCESSFULLY ...................12

CREATING THE PRODUCT ................................................................................................. 13

FINDING MONEY TO CREATE THE BOOK .................................................................... 15

TO MARKET THE BOOK ...................................................................................................... 17

THE AUTHOR IS THE BRAND ........................................................................................... 18

SELLING THE BOOK .............................................................................................................. 20

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK .......................................................................................... 21

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM .................................................................... 24

INTERVIEW WITH A SELF-PUBLISHER ............................................................................25

A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE ACTION-PROJECT ...........................................................26

THE CHALLENGES AND ACCOMPLISHEMENTS ............................................................. 26

CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................27

REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................29

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This research paper focuses on entrepreneurial self-publishing. Half of the

paper explores why an entrepreneur should self-publish and the other half will

provide a list of aspects to think about while self-publishing. Methods of analysis

include research in academic papers that were found on online databases as well as

case studies and articles related to the subject. Lastly, an interview with a self-

publisher/entrepreneur will complement our findings. An overview of what makes

an entrepreneur will be explored and related to what makes an author. As well as a

look at the publishing industry as a whole will be examined to highlight the

potential opportunities in the near future for self-publishers. Finally, the challenges

and motivational factors of entrepreneurs looking to self-publish are explained to

grasp the concepts of what is needed to make a successful self-publishing venture

and what does not. As for how to self-publish, many tools are available but the ones

that will be mentioned seem to be the more efficient ones. Throughout our findings,

we believe that an entrepreneur should self-publish because sharing his experiences,

the benefits and the potential profitability are all positive aspects and can be

beneficial for the entrepreneur. Moreover, an entrepreneurial mindset is needed to

venture in a project such as this, which puts a fully-fledged entrepreneur in a good

position to successfully self-publish. The research paper also investigates the fact

that the analysis conducted has limitations. Market trends are not completely

reliable and there are many more ways to self-publishing that are not described in

this paper. Time constraint was also an issue and the length of the research paper

was shortened because of the action project. The entrepreneurial aspect of self-

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publishing is an unexplored topic, which makes it difficult to source information on

the subject. Therefore, some of the information in this research paper come from

our own understanding of our findings.

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS AN ENTREPRENEUR?

What is an entrepreneur? Well looking it up on a search engine, one could

easily find the brief definition; “A person who organizes and operates a business or

businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” Now

that the Google definition is out of the way, the in-depth reasons of what makes

someone an entrepreneur are going to be developed throughout this paper and

related to self-publishing. Yet there are some valuable points to be made from the

above definition that can apply to not just business owners, but also to authors.

When it comes to someone taking on greater than normal financial risk, this can be

related to an author publishing a book, whether through a publisher or through self-

publishing. The relationship between being an author and being an entrepreneur

will also be looked at. One can be both an entrepreneur and an author. In fact it is

encouraged for entrepreneurs to publish their own work, whether it be about their

business or for teaching purposes.

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A LOOK AT THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY.

The Canadian publishing market value in 2013 is $5,318.1 million, which

includes books, magazines and newspapers. This is a fraction of the United States

market value of $70,154.3 million in publishing books, newspapers and magazines,

but still a substantial number (Publishing Industry Profile: Canada, May 1, 2014)

Out of this figure, 25.5% falls under the books category with $1,355 million,

which is what we will be looking at in this research paper. This is a large figure, yet

the industry as a whole is declining. (See figure 1 graph below) (Publishing Industry

Profile: Canada, May 1, 2014)

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When it comes to future forecasts of the publishing industry, there is a

declining trend. According to the research done by Publishing Industry Profile:

Canada, the forecasted decrease in the market from 2013 to 2018 is 9.2%. This is

from the $5,318.1 million in 2013 to $4,828.1 million in 2018. (See figure 4 graph

below)

Within these findings, the focus is on physical books and not on the eBook

industry. This newer industry is a major substitute for traditional books and one

that is growing instead of the declining book market. Switching costs for consumers

can be moderately high with the investment of a computer, e-reader or tablet to

purchase and view e-books, but these devices are becoming popular mainstream

products. According to Publishers weekly, Canadian eBook sales are around 17% to

20% of overall book sales, depending on what genre. (Publishers Weekly, 2014)

This is still a relatively small amount of overall book sales, but the number is

forecasted to increase as tablets and e-readers become more accessible to the

market and the trend of reading off a screen increases.

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When it comes to self-publishing, the future is bright. With the statistical

figures mentioned above, self-publishing is not mentioned but it is implied that self-

published books are included in the numbers. This route for authors to take in

launching a book is growing in popularity. The negative stigmas that it had in the

past are starting to fade as well. In the past, it was viewed as a last resort to many

authors who did not get funding from traditional publishers. It is now more widely

viewed that self-publishing and traditional publishing can coexist and even benefit

off each other. If anything, this new surge of self-publishing authors is stimulating

more growth in the book industry as a whole. An example of this is the self-

publishing site, Wattpad, which gained millions of users who shared 15 million

works of fan fiction alone. This resulted in some breakout publishing stars like Anna

Todd, whose book titled After, got her a four-book deal with a well-known publisher.

(Publishers Weekly, 2014) This is just one of many examples of authors easily self-

publishing through new online outlets and in turn making a name for themselves as

they gain recognition and sell their work. Although the book industry is on a slight

decline, the rise of eBooks and the new revolution of self-publishing are showing

positive signs and could change future forecasts.

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MOTIVATIONS, CHALLENGES AND BENEFITS.

BEING IN CONTROL; WHY IS IT GOOD FOR AN ENTREPRENEUR.

Motivation is an essential part of the entrepreneurial process from the

beginning ideas to launching a new business venture. Any new business venture

requires motivation for the ides to take flight, but the widely disputed question is

the reasons for this motivation. One reason for entrepreneurial motivation is the

need to be in control. The sense of control is a big motivator for entrepreneurs, who

usually have an internal locus of control. The term, locus of control is explained as,

“‘the degree to which persons expect that a reinforcement or an outcome of their

behavior is contingent upon their own behavior or personal characteristics versus

the degree to which persons expect that the reinforcement or outcome is a function

of chance, luck, or fate, is under the control of powerful others, or is simply

unpredictable.” (Small Business Economics, 2012) As an entrepreneur, it is

important to have an internal locus of control (i.e. outcome contingent upon their

own behavior). Having an internal locus of control means that the entrepreneur

puts the success and failures on themselves, in turn being more motivated to

succeed and compelled to become better after a defeat. As well as this “it is

considered to be important in individuals’ motivation and intentions to start new

ventures.” (Small Business Economics, 2012)

When it comes to authors and being in control, the following argument can

be made. It is also important for them to be in control and to have an internal local

of control when starting a new book. This is considerably true for self-publishing

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authors, who do not have a publisher to blame for the failure of their book sales.

Self- published authors are often by themselves when it comes to launching their

book, advertising, distribution and putting it into production, so having an internal

locus of control will help them considerably to stay motivated and take hits along

the way.

END PRODUCT AND THE FEELING OF SATISFACTION.

In one form or another, entrepreneurial ventures involve an end product or

service. This is a major goal for a starting entrepreneur and is often ongoing

throughout the entire venture. In the case for authors, the end product would be a

book in a certain form (web page, e-book, traditional book, blog, etc.). This goal of an

end product has a feeling of satisfaction tied to it, with a variety of reasons tied to it.

With self-published authors, the end product is closely tied to satisfaction since it

involves a combination of hard work, intellectual property, and personal attachment.

According to Delgado-Garcia et al, “nonfinancial goals positively influence

entrepreneurs’ satisfaction, whereas short-term goals negatively influence

satisfaction.” (Journal of Small Business Management, 2012) Nonfinancial goals can

include intangibles as well as tangibles such as finishing an end product that is self-

constructed. The reason for the positive correlation between nonfinancial goals and

the feeling of satisfaction could be explained from the pride and confidence one gets

from finishing an end product such as a book. A successfully self-published book

could induce even more satisfaction in an author since it was done without the help

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of a publisher. With regards to the study by the Journal of Small Business

Management, the negative correlation between short term goals and the feeling of

satisfaction could be explained by the feeling of not having a finished product yet.

Short term goals of a self-published author could be finishing a chapter or finding an

out-sourced editor for your book online.

WHAT IS THE OPPORTUNITY FOR AN ENTREPRENEUR IN SELF-PUBLISHING?

Entrepreneurs that decide to go into the publishing industry with their own

work often have two motivation drives; one being the entrepreneurial motivation to

receive financial rewards, and one being the author’s motivation to receive an

intrinsic reward with the quality and value of their work. According to Martin and

Bartscher-Finzer’s study on the self-concept of book publishers and its significance

for job satisfaction with economic success, “Publishers with a strong economic

orientation derive their satisfaction primarily from their firms’ success and obtain

high job satisfaction from that. Somewhat surprisingly we find a strong relationship

between satisfaction with success and intrinsic motivation, a result that seemingly

contradicts the crowding-out thesis, which asserts that extrinsic rewards

undermine intrinsic motivation.” (Management Revue, 2014) Although these study

examines publishers within a firm, when it comes to self-publishing, the author is

also the publisher so one can assume that these can be related. Once the

entrepreneur grasps a knowledge of his motives when going into the publishing

industry, the opportunities must be evaluated.

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The industry profile of books in Canada for the current and future market

size are listed above, showing a slight decline in the market and expected to follow

this trend. This does not mean there is a decline in potential opportunities for

entrepreneurs interested in getting into the publishing industry. With the expected

increase in e-books and the rise of the self-published entrepreneur, there are still a

vast amount of opportunities. For example, “The number of self-published titles in

2013 was up 437% over 2008.” (Publishers Weekly, 2015) This huge increase in

self-publishers has opened up a community online where one can find a variety of

solutions to self-publishing including crowd-sourcing editors and reviewers as well

as finding funding for distribution and advertising. This increases the number of

opportunities for an entrepreneur in the publishing industry and can add to their

bottom line of their current business.

HOW DOES ONE GO THROUGH SELF-PUBLISHING SUCCESSFULLY?

As stated above, there are a number of new websites to assist a self-

publishing entrepreneur. Most of them have lots of stories that reflect the highs and

lows of their career. From posting a copy of the book to an online forum to the

editing process to the realized success of the end product, the new world of self-

publishing is growing fast. That said, there is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to be

successful in that industry as well. However, the process of how to get into the self-

publishing industry is what most entrepreneurs are not knowledgeable about. Like

Wattpad, there are lots of unknown resources available. Using our researches, we

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were able to build a resume that highlights these useful tools and means. They will,

hopefully, direct entrepreneurs in their quest of self-publishing.

CREATING THE PRODUCT

The creation of the product is, in our opinion, one of the most important

steps of self-publishing. And it makes sense: How can someone publishes a book

without a book? It is obvious that as an entrepreneur, the author has to write their

own book, and there is some key aspects to make sure they can start a successful

journey.

The author needs to have a message or a story to convey. If they don’t, their

book will be too general, and therefore will not be able to reach readers as

efficiently as they should. Heather E. Young, who wrote the book "More than a

Pretty Face", states that having a niche subject that is intriguing and enticing to

buyers is crucial to the success of the book. Taking an existing subject and writing

about it with a different, yet unexplored approach is one way to do it. However, a

more effective topic would be one that has yet to be tapped in; it gives more

freedom to the author (entrepreneur) to research and explore this topic however

they want. An entrepreneur wants to solve a problem or add value with their

product and therefore, the book should serve the same purpose. Covering a topic

that has yet to be explored, which therefore would give value to the reader, is

exactly what en entrepreneur should aim for. That being said, the entrepreneur

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could simply answer one or many questions that he has been asking himself, to

create an impact with his book.

The process of writing a book is also very important. It is obviously crucial to

research the topic and create an outline prior to writing. There are however, no

strict guidelines that the author has to follow to create their book. "APE: Author,

Publisher, Entrepreneur" by Guy Kawasaki uses the term "vomiting" as the first step

of writing. The concept is to write as much as possible, without going back to

edit/correct the text. This actually gives the writer a chance to lay out all the ideas

as they flow through their head. The purpose of this stage is to lift any pressure, like

self-criticism, while writing the very first draft. The author needs to understand that

this is the first stage of the process and there is still a long way to go. Once this

elaborate brainstorm is done, the author would rephrase everything into a book that

makes sense.

A good tip brought up by Mr. Kawasaki is to use social media to receive

comments and criticisms. The first time the entrepreneur should benefit from this

tactic is when he writes the outline of the book. Sharing it on platforms such as

Google+ are a great way to get initial comments. Some viewers can give ideas of

certain topics covered in the book. It could also create a buzz about the upcoming

book, which is great for marketing. Therefore, when the author is in need of help

(for example, to find real-life examples), reaching out to this community can

potentially lead to greater information that they would not have thought of

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themselves. An entrepreneur can make use of these strategies to find resources in

other steps of the process of self-publishing as well.

Lastly, Ms. Young advised the use of an editor, like she did with her own book.

Ms. Young, in "More than a Pretty Good Book Idea" (Young, 2006) , made an

excellent point when saying "because authors know their subject so well, they are

too close to their material and objectivity is lost." (p.15) That being said, hiring an

editor is crucial to the success of the book. In an attempt to relate to the business

world, the quote about "working IN the business versus ON the business" could

serves as a comparison. A CEO or manager that is too involved IN their business may

lose objectivity and hurt their own business. Entrepreneurs should take that advice

seriously since most of the time they are the center of their venture.

FINDING MONEY TO CREATE THE BOOK.

From Guy Kawasaki's APE book, we found out that it is estimated that $4000

is needed to have the book done and ready for publishing. If the author wants to

print their book, then they need more capital for the printing process. Dan Poynter

from "The Self-Publishing Manual" estimates that a budget of 10,000$US for 500

copies and 15,000$US for 3000 copies is needed to create a book. It is important to

mention that preliminary marketing and promotions are included from the

publisher.

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However, our research shows minimal cost after the initial $4000 when it

comes to self-publishing. It is even possible to bootstrap this cost down from crowd

sourcing. The first thing that is possible to cut funding on is editing. This may seem

contrary to what Ms. Young said earlier. However, if the author uses their

connections instead of a professional editor, it will be a lot cheaper, and as effective.

The same goes for the design of the cover. Therefore, substantial costs can be cut

down by outsourcing them. If the author does not have access to anyone who could

do it for free, there are many freelancers out there that could do the work cheaper

than a professional.

Guy Kawasaki gives two good ways to raise the money needed for the

creation of a book; part-time writing and crowdfunding. The first idea is boring but

realistic; the author may not be in a position to write full-time and therefore, it

would have to be done in parallel with a full-time job that will support his financial

needs. We believe an entrepreneur would opt for the second option, which is

through crowdfunding platforms such as Indiegogo or Kickstarter. Being the most

popular platform makes it challenging because of the quantity of projects that could

get funds instead of the book. Unbound and Pubslush are two great alternative as

they are only for books, which takes out unnecessary and unrelated competition

from the bigger platforms. It works the same; if the author reaches the desired

amount, they will have enough funds to write the book.

Pubslush is said to be more for books that support a cause, but a quick glance

at the website and there is definitely more to it than that (When looking at the Pre-

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Order section, we saw ""Dating" As Told by the Modern Whore"). One point that

may be of interest about Pubslush is that this platform's purpose is to help the

publishing process go smoother. The crowdfunding and pre-order system are two

great way to raise funds, advertise or initiate sales of the book. This interesting twist

could be really useful for entrepreneurs/authors seeking cheap marketing. The pre-

order system is also really interesting for them to start selling their book at no cost.

TO MARKET THE BOOK.

In the marketing of a book or publication, visibility and awareness are good

but Guy Kawasaki stresses that reviews are one of the most important key point of

the marketing strategy. This is obviously a really important approach if the author

plans to sell through online retailers such as Amazon or ibookstore. That being said,

it is important to state that the marketing process for a publication differs from the

one for a product. Entrepreneurs have to understand the subtle difference in order

to make their campaign as effective as possible.

Not only does Mr. Kawasaki state that, but Rachel Abbott who wrote "Only

the Innocent" also says that visibility is of most importance and reviews are closely

related to visibility and marketing in order to achieve success. She promoted her

book through Amazon, Twitter and book forums (Goodreads and Amazon). Instead

of joining a community on Google+ like Mr. Kawasaki, Ms. Abbott went out to engage

conversation with potential readers on these platforms, which she says was a

successful strategy. For the book APE, Mr. Kawasaki asked the people that

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previously edited the book to provide reviews on day one. The author of APE

stresses the importance of having positive reviews as soon as possible, because

having a neutral or negative review beforehand would make it a lot more

challenging. Both authors started with a couple positive reviews, and now they each

have around 1000 reviews on Amazon, so it worked.

THE AUTHOR IS THE BRAND.

It is important that the author has some kind of brand awareness as well. If

they already have it from previous publication, it will be easy to leverage but if they

do not, it can be a challenge. From our research, the branding is essentially the

author/entrepreneur's personal appearance and it can be separated in 3 categories;

the author's network, his target audience and his personality.

Building a network and keeping awareness is crucial. This includes family,

friends and the professional network because these people could lead to potential

buyers and/or customers. To be able to reach more people with his brand, the

author needs to get out there through social media, which is a cheap and effective

way to do so if done correctly. That being said, a good blog or a webpage is also

needed to attract as many people as possible. There are so many tools out there to

make it more efficient, like "search engine optimization" for example.

Reaching the desired market is another important point of branding because

if the entrepreneur does not do it to the right audience, there is no point to it.

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Finding this audience is crucial but also made easier by all the tools provided on

internet. Guy Kawasaki did this through Google+ communities. Of course, he already

had books to leverage his branding but nonetheless, it is because of the uses of these

tools that he was able to bootstrap and initiate promotion of his book. As an

entrepreneur, the author ought to render efficient all the free resources he has. Most

of the time, there is no need for professional resources when it comes to self-

publishing. With his experience, an entrepreneur should be able to understand the

most efficient platform to use depending on his profile and target market.

The author's personality is what makes the brand transfer that into three

traits; trustworthiness, competence and likeability. The first trait is pretty

straightforward as the author has to be trustworthy so people can believe in him.

Therefore, the author should not tap into subject he does not know (and say he

does) or not delivering what was promised. In other words, being true to himself

will give the author the trustworthiness that the consumers and seeking. Adding

value to someone's life while sharing his passion is what would be described as

"likeability". It could be resumed as how approachable the author is as a person.

Lastly, competence is the last trait that an author must find. Mr. Kawasaki (APE,

2013) states, "The goal is to establish yourself as a trusted source of information,

insight, and assistance." (p. 282) Similar to an entrepreneur, the writer should know

when to avoid writing about subjects he is not knowledgeable enough, instead of

taking a chance and then look bad and incompetent. However, entrepreneurs always

strive to get out of their comfort zone, which could be stated as a risk in the self-

publishing industry.

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SELLING THE BOOK.

One of the first things that is important to consider when selling a book is

obviously the pricing strategy. A point that was stated in one of our sources was that

the philosophy behind the pricing was as important as the pricing itself. The price

conveys a message to the potential buyers about the book and the author. A higher

price would suggest that the book is higher quality, which can result in bad reviews

if it's not on par with the expectations. To a certain extent, it could also suggest that

the author is greedy and wants to make as much money as possible. If the goal is to

make money short-term, and the author is able to create a hype around his product

and is confident about the quality of his product then a higher price could be the

right choice.

However, if creating a sense of empathy and spreading awareness is the

author's goal, a lower price could be wiser choice. It is important to mention that a

lower price could also be seen as a lower quality product, which could keep some

buyer to "waste" time reading the book (reviews could influence here, however).

Profitability is certainly achievable but the book would have to be sold and market

for a longer period. Depending on the competition, making less profit in exchange of

actually making sales could be beneficial in the long run. That being said, the market

is also really important to consider when pricing the book. If, for example, the

author has a book with a similar topic to Robert Herjavec newest book, it would not

be the wisest to price it at a premium price. As a full-fledge entrepreneur, a mix in

the pricing strategy is feasible, and therefore the entrepreneur could make use of

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both strategies to make more profits with his product. Because authors do not have

a deep understanding of all these business aspects, they normally settle for a given

strategy and hope it was the best one.

Amazon offers a 90-day exclusive lending deal that could be interesting

depending on the author's strategy. Customers pay to rent the book instead of

buying it. The book is in an exclusive library, which means more visibility. There is

also the possibility to give away the book for 5 days to try to stimulate more readers

and gain popularity. The disadvantage is that Amazon needs to be exclusive, which

keeps the entrepreneur from pushing sales elsewhere. In our opinion, this could be

a problem for an entrepreneur that wants to maximize their sales as much as

possible. Ms. Abbott, on the other hand, did not use this strategy. In her book, My

Bestselling Story, she states, "books were quickly falling down the chart after exiting

the program, which was not sustainable in the end." (p. 6) That being said, it is an

option for an entrepreneur that put minimum time into their book should be able to

use other resources more efficiently to achieve similar results.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK.

Now that the pricing strategy is set, there are three main channels that the

author/entrepreneur can sell through; online resellers such as Amazon, eBook

directly through a website or physical distribution via Print-On-Demand. This

section will cover distribution and will put more emphasis on the less known

channels that can be used to sell the book.

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For an entrepreneur, an eBook is almost a no-brainer in this day and age

because of the low costs related to selling a book, compared to a printed book. Note

that there are still the costs of production listed above, however, they need to be

considered. With that said, Amazon, Apple, Google, Kobo and Barnes & Noble are

the five main resellers to consider, the first two being the biggest. To reach

maximum sales and visibility, going to all of them is better but complex. There are

certain file formats that are preferred and some of them could alter the original one.

Therefore, going through all of the channels could be time consuming. The

entrepreneur should weigh the pros and cons depending on his situation and

whether he is able to invest that time or not.

For entrepreneurs, we thought that direct selling could be a great

opportunity. It is obvious that for maximum sales, going through the big players

stated above is crucial, but to have other means of distribution could greatly benefit

an entrepreneur. The two mains platform we would like to present are Gumroad

and E-Junkie. The first one takes a commission of 5%+25cents. They also accept a

lot of the popular credit cards worldwide and deposit the profits in the seller's

account every 2 weeks. The website is also full of resources to make use of the

platform as much as possible. Not everyone has an Amazon account yet, and losing

sales over that is a potential. On top of that, the commission is less than Amazon and

Apple, which makes it more profitable if the author's marketing strategy is effective.

E-Junkie is monthly-fee based, depending on the space used. The major advantages

of E-Junkie is that it offers PayPal as a payment option. Also, the option "Pay what

you want" on E-Junkie is, in our opinion, a better promotion than the Amazon 90-

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day program because it does not require exclusivity. However, the author may get

less from this promotion compare to what Amazon gives in their lending program.

A different approach that could be really profitable if the entrepreneur

knows how to make use of it is physical distribution. By that, we mean print-on-

demand and Enthrill. These two ways of distribution involve selling physical

products to customers, whether they want it as a book or an eBook. Print-On-

Demand services like Lightning Source are the best way to distribute and sell to

retailers and consumers when it comes to physical distribution. The main advantage

is that no inventory is held beforehand. This means no risk of being stuck with

unsold stock, no big order payment upfront and no need for space to store massive

stocks of books.

Enthrill is a platform that we believe could be really beneficial for

entrepreneurs/authors because of the interpersonal connection that is needed to

"sell" the book. The two main services that will be elaborated will be bulk eBook

selling and gift-card type eBook. The first service is a solution to send the eBook to

multiple people from the same source. The platform will share the book only to

customers who have a valid code. Then the customer chooses the device it is going

on and voilà. That being said, it makes it a lot easier if the entrepreneur wants to

give his book to 20 or 30 people he speaks in front of for example. Similar to the

bulk feature, it is possible to give the code with a gift card. It seems to be a common

practice for self-publishers to give a copy of their book with a business card.

However, books are bulky, so being able to give the book through a gift cards makes

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it really convenient. It is important to understand that it will be transferred as an

eBook. However, it can be put on phones or computers so it is not a must to have an

eBook reader like Kindle or Kobo.

WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM?

Most of the time, the entrepreneur would take on an opportunity to gain

something from it; whether it is profit or social awareness. That being said, self-

publishing can be profitable for an entrepreneur but where does that money come

from? An author that would go through a traditional publisher to put his book to

market would gain around 10 to 15 percent of royalties on each sales. The benefit of

self-publishing, and the opportunity for entrepreneurs is that 35 to 70 percent of

royalties are expected when the book is sold through Amazon (offer 35% or 70%)

or the Apple Bookstore (70%). This number is higher when the book is sold directly

to customers (like stated in the previous section). It is to the advantage of the

entrepreneur to understand each distribution channel before choosing the one that

suits him the best. It is also important to note that pursuing more than a single

channel is possible, but could create a managerial issue. This is a potential problem

because the approach is different for each and therefore more time and organization

would be required from the entrepreneur to make it effective. In conclusion, the

main distribution channels available to an entrepreneur who wants to sell his self-

published book are vast and there is no one right answer.

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INTERVIEW WITH A SELF-PUBLISHER

Steve Karpenko is an entrepreneurship teacher that self-published the book

"From Gloom to Zoom". We went ahead and asked him some questions related to

our research paper.

The first question we asked is "why did he self-publish?" and his answer was

pretty clear. He wanted to get all his knowledge out of his head, so that other

entrepreneurs could have access to the experiences he had gone through in his

career. He knew what to say, which require little to no research at all and he wanted

to make it straightforward, similar to his teaching style. Lastly, he stated that he may

use his book to complement his teaching, which we believe could be beneficial when

explaining entrepreneurial concepts to students.

Secondly, we asked "why did you go the self-publishing route and not the

traditional way?" and again, his answer was directly related to our findings.

Rejection from traditional publisher is frequent and he said it would be a waste of

time. Also, he was able to get what he wanted for really cheap, which correlates to

our bootstrapping and control findings. Even if he took 4 years (in his spare time) to

do it, he did not want to be constrained by the regulations of traditional publishing.

Last but not least, giving his personal knowledge and know-how to new

entrepreneurs while giving himself credibility was a big reasons why self-publishing

was his preferred choice.

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The last question we asked was about his pricing strategy. Mr. Karpenko will

use the KDP Select program, which was explained earlier. His pricing strategy

resolves around having it available to as many people as possible. He wanted to use

this book to create awareness and he wanted to use a cheaper price to make sure

people would get it.

This short interview was able to confirm some of our points, and at the same

time see that the channels proposed can effectively help future self-publishers in

their quest to success.

QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE ACTION-PROJECT

THE CHALLENGES AND ACCOMPLISHEMENTS

Initially, the action-project that is related to this research paper was to

establish a Moodle page to put all of our classmates' research papers. We wanted to

make our work public so we looked into the possibility of having a public Moodle

page. Our quick search told us that such thing was not possible so we looked into

another platform, which was Wordpress.

The first challenge we had was to actually build the Wordpress platform to

welcome all of the students work. Without prior experience in this, a lot of

complementary research was needed to achieve the current state of the website.

Once that was done, we wanted to complement our work with something else, so we

27

opted to build a platform that could potentially host the other entrepreneurship

classes.

All of the teams had different projects, which required different methods and

thus a different timeframe. Our second challenge was to gather all the documents

from our teammates while keeping a certain structure. It was difficult mainly

because of the different natures of the research done from other teams. First, we

tried to gather their information by giving them a timeline, but we quickly figured

out that it was not the most efficient tool. Instead of them adapting to us, we had to

adapt to them. The challenge was to make sure our work would be done on time,

even if it required us to wait for our classmates' work.

Overall, we believe this action-project was a success. We were able to do

more than anticipated and we think this platform will be able to keep going for

future projects. We are eager to see what will happen to it in the future.

CONCLUSION

Thus, this research paper explored the entrepreneurial aspect of self-

publishing while giving information and guidelines to people who would like to

venture into this project. When it comes to an overview of the publishing industry as

a whole, there are many opportunities for authors prepared to self-publish their

own work. The rising eBook industry as well as the surge of new self-publishing

online communities offer exciting opportunities for authors eager to launch a book

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on the market. The important aspects of self-publishing have been explained

through the motivation and challenges authors have when self-publishing. These are

critical to know as an entrepreneur when starting a self-publishing venture since it

can prepare oneself for the ups and downs of finishing a book and making it a

success.

As for how to self-publish, many tools are available but the ones we

mentioned above seems to be the most efficient. Through our findings, we believe

that an entrepreneur should self-publish because sharing their experience, the

benefits and the potential profitability of it could be good for the entrepreneur. That

being said, an already self-made entrepreneur has all the necessary traits and tools

to successfully publish a book. As well as being beneficial for a business owner, we

also think it would create a great impact on the rising entrepreneurial culture as a

whole.

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REFERENCES

Kawasaki, G. & Welch, S. (2013). APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur. United States: Nononina Press. Poynter, D. (2006). Book Publishing Encyclopedia: Tips & Resources for Authors & Publishers. Santa Barbara, CA: Para Publishing

Abbott, R. (2012). My Bestselling Story. Publishers Weekly (July 2012). 4.

E. Young, H. (2006). More than a Pretty Book Idea: A Self-Publisher's Perspective on Development, Marketing and Sales. Simon Fraser University, British Columbia.

S. Karpenko, personal communication, April 2nd, 2015

Delgado-Garcia, J.B., Rodriguez-Escudero, A.I., & Martin-Cruz, N. (2012). Influence of Affective Traits on Entrepreneur’s Goals and Satisfaction. Journal Of Small Business Management, 50(3), 408-428. doi:10.1111/j.1540-627X.2012.00359.x

Martin, A., & Bartscher-Finzer, S. (2014). The self-concept of book publishers and its significance for job satisfaction and satisfaction with economic success. Management Revue, 25(4), 285-313. doi:10.1688/mrev-2014-04-Martin

Publishing Industry Profile: Canada. (2014). Publishing Industry Profile: Canada, 1-29

A look Ahead to Self-Publishing in 2014. (2014). Publishers Weekly, 261(4), 138-140

SARGENT, B.K. (2015). Self-Publishing Predictions for 2015. Publishers Weekly, 262(3), 42

Schioedt, L., & Shaver, K. (2012(. Development and validation of a locus of control scale for the entrepreneurship domain. Small Business Economics, 39(3), 713-726. doi:10.1007/s11187-011-9357-0