One of the many things I do is publish with my firm Ask Publishing LLC.
I saw an opportunity in a series of messages my pastor recently presented and approached him with the following letter. I'm sharing it here before actually sending it so I can't tell you yet if we are working on the project together.
The reason why I'm sharing it here is to let you know that if you are a writer that I may be interested in publishing your (family-friendly) work.
Here's the letter I composed and sent; minus his contact details...
Pastor,
I would like to pass an idea by you and see what you
think after giving it thought and prayer.
One of the things I do as an entrepreneur is publishing,
and I would like to publish your Bible Moments that Changed the World Series as
a book; Kindle, paperback, and perhaps an audiobook later on.
I’m not sure how having a published book after your
ministry ... would be for you, but if you think having one would be
worthwhile, I’d like very much to discuss it. This may not result in much money
but both the proceeds and your message would become a legacy as well.
Essentially the process would work like this.
If you have everything in a Word document, I could use
that with minimum editing (changing up phrases like “last week” to “in the last
chapter”, etc.) If not, I would have your actual sermons transcribed and edited
from that. You would then have the final touch before it is published.
I would strongly suggest that you add an Intro and also a
concluding chapter to what you already have.
Pictures would be minimal if at all.
My company, Ask Publishing LLC would publish it on Amazon in
both Kindle and Amazon’s paperback versions.
This would not be so much about money but your message. We
should never approach a book project as a “big moneymaker” for either of us
(there are fewer disappointments and only surprises that way). Most authors do
not make any money with their books and only use them to promote other
services. You can use the book as a “business card”, for giveaways, and also direct
people to Amazon for purchase.
Doing a quick Google search, you’ll find that “Under standard royalties, an author gets roughly 20 to 30% of the publisher's revenue for a
hardcover, 15% for a trade paperback, and 25% for an eBook. So, very
roughly, every hardcover release that earns out brings the author something
like 25% of all revenue earned by the publisher”. So if a book sells for
$20, the publisher makes $5 and the author gets a buck from that five.
There is a lot of work to get your
content into book form and published (see my The Chicken that Soared on Amazon)
so if we choose to work together, we’ll split the profits 50/50 which maybe 50
cents to a buck a book; more or less. And since I’ll be working on this project
while earning a living with other things, it may take 3 to 6 months to get this
just right, and published.
There is more to discuss if you would like to move
forward. All inspiration comes from above so I’m thinking that perhaps God gave
me this idea, and I felt compelled to bring it to you.
I don’t know what your life plans are after ... and
just how busy you may be immediately after leaving so if you want to table this
to any time in the future, that’s fine too. However, if you have an interest in
doing this, I suggest we start a discussion and I can get started doing things
on my end.
Either way, let’s get together to discuss it.
Thanks for all and God bless!
Your brother in Christ,
Terry Lee Scott
Author, Publisher with Ask LLC
