| author has major media platform (CNN, Washington Post, Boing Boing) or will very probably be reviewed in same |
+3 |
increases revenue |
| title of book = “unauthorized” + title of current bestseller + “commentary” or “analysis” |
+3 |
increases revenue |
| author has significant media platform such as popular blog (Zenpundit), well regarded magazine (The New Republic) |
+2 |
increases expected revenue |
| author is distinguished figure (Hugo/Nebula award winner, famous professor at Cambridge, etc.) |
+2 |
halo effect for Nimble Books reputation |
| author accepts standard contract as is |
+1 |
reduces cost |
| author has personal media site (blog, website, store) |
+1 |
increases expected revenue |
| author has publicist |
+1 |
ROI on publicists is quite variable |
| author is committed to getting at least five strongly positive reviews on Amazon within one month of book availability |
+1 |
point of sale is the most cost-effective location for marketing activities |
| author is leading authority in his field |
+1 |
halo effect, increased revenue |
| author is planning to purchase copies to resell |
+1 |
increases expected revenue, reduces breakeven |
| author is professional writer who submits very clean copy |
+1 |
reduces cost |
| author plays key role in specialized organization or community on same topic as book |
+1 |
increases revenue |
| author travels for speaking engagements and book sales |
+1 |
increases expected revenues |
| book is 60-120 pages for “Nimble Book” format |
+1 |
reduces cost, while revenue per copy stays the same |
| book is beginning of a planned series |
+1 |
series books have 20% halo effect on each other’s sales |
| book is complete |
+1 |
complete manuscript reduces publishers’ risk of spending time on something that never happens |
| book is on topics that have proven to be profitable for Nimble Books: politics, popular culture, maps, battleships, modern warships, naval history, torpedo boats (see the Nimble Books store for examples) |
+1 |
increases revenue |
| book is on topics that Nimble Books has targeted for development (children’s, science) |
+2 |
strategic alignment |
| book is part of planned series that can be extended to infinity |
+1 |
publishers love series |
| book is text-only and can easily be adapted to e-book formats |
+1 |
increases revenue |
| BookScan comparables RTD sales * .3 > my break-even |
+1 |
increases revenue |
| foreword by best-selling author X who has published <5 books |
+1 |
increases revenue due to the way Amazon includes forewords in lists of books by author X |
| topic not necessarily profitable, but of personal interest to me |
+1 |
increases my personal satisfaction |
| author has agent |
no effect |
I work with both agented and nonagented authors |
| author wants cover to be beautiful |
no effect |
data does not show that cover has significant effect on sales |
| book requires interior color or high-res grayscale |
no effect |
Nimble prices all formats to generate similar revenue per copy |
| author expresses frustration with publisher response times, seems likely to require substantial “handholding” |
-1 |
increases cost |
| author expresses suspicious attitude about protecting intellectual property from potentially nefarious publishers |
-1 |
increases cost |
| author wants to do cover |
-1 |
likely to increase cost, reduce quality |
| book is likely to sell more in e-book than print |
-1 |
margins are worse in e-book |
| manuscript is in PDF |
-1 |
likely to increase cost b/c there are usually problems in fitting doc to trim size |
| manuscript is In word processing format other than Word .doc or .docx |
-1 |
likely to increase cost |
| material inherently difficult to copy-edit: lots of acronyms, tech jargon, abbreviations, tables, etc. |
-1 |
increases cost |
| material is visually demanding (art) or requires specialized layout |
-1 |
likely to increase cost |
| non-professional writer, copy requires a lot of fix-up |
-1 |
increases cost |
| author and publisher have not firmly established clear and matching expectations of book format, trim size, and image quality |
-2 |
failure to establish matching expectations is likely to increase cost and reduce both parties’ commitment to the project, thus decreasing revenue |
| book requires interior color or high-res grayscale, is > 200 pages, and aimed at consumer market |
-2 |
color > 200 pages requires list price beginning around $40 |
| manuscript is in non PDF, non word processing format (examples: PPT, text, Illustrator) |
-2 |
likely to increase cost |
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