If Amazon is selling your book, make sure that you go into the Marketplace used book section and list your book for sale yourself. You can underprice the list price and make more than your usual trade percentage if the book is ordered directly through Amazon via the usual channels.

There are at least three effective ways to use the Marketplace section:

1. You can sell brand NEW books as direct from the publisher, shipping direct the same day.
   Many people will value that service assuming you can provide it.
2. You can sell damaged, returned, or not quite perfect books in the USED section. Its not full retail, but its a great return on otherwise unsalable books.
3. Finally, you can also list copies in the COLLECTIBLE section as “autographed by the author”. You can also offer to personalize for buyers, since you will get their email when the order is placed.

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Sign up for an Amazon Associates account and place a link on your own website utilizing your linking references from Amazon.. In many cases the commission you earn from Amazon can be more than the royalty you get from your publisher, and you’ll still earn that royalty.

Explain clearly that if they are interested in buying your book, you’ll earn an extra commission if people click the link on your page, go to Amazon, and immediately add your book to their cart. You may want to explain that you WON’T get the commission if they simply go to Amazon without clicking YOUR link, or if they click on the click, then go elsewhere within Amazon before adding your book to their shopping cart. If it doesn’t cost them anything extra, many people are happy to help you earn extra dollars for the sale.

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If you are member of PMA (Publishers Marketing Association), which you SHOULD be, make sure you enter your title in their “New Titles” column of the monthly PMA Newsletter:

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One subtle difference between generic inexpensive stock photos and more expensive stock and rights restricted photos is clipping paths on object photos. Less expensive low-end stock photos rarely have them, high-end frequently do, which makes you life infinitely easier if you are incorporating an image into other artwork.

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When comparing quotes for interior design and typesetting, a HUGE issue to quantify is the charges for modifications to the text content after first pages have been typeset.

Traditionally called EA/AA (Editor Alterations/Author Alterations) these are CHANGES to the content at the request of the publisher, not mistakes by the typesetter/layout artist. (which are traditionally referred to as PEs (Printer Errors))

Almost all typesetters/layout artists charge for this work since it is additional time, sometimes substantial time, spent working on your project due to your changes. Charges may be billed by the hour, by the page, line, or word, or simply as a flat percentage of the overall per page rate or overall bill.

These charges are valid and normal, but you must realize they can be VERY substantial if you make extensive changes. You should understand what your exposure is before selecting a vendor. (see related tip The Cost of Changes)

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