THE PROFIT MARGIN

I was excited to receive a call from another "consultant" from IUniverse. By now I know they may or may not be professionals in the publishing field, but they are sales people for sure. Friendly, helpful sales folks.

He had answers to my next set of questions so I could make decisions about how many books to order when the time came. And it's coming right up. I should get the one dummy copy this next week, and he requested I call him with the "OK to print" AND my order for discounted copies. As he rattled off the percentages for discounts, I wrote them down, and then quickly ciphered how much money I'd need to order copies. It looked good, even at this squeezy financial time of the holidays. I let a day lapse and returned to my notes with my calculator.

My notes read: 500 copies: 55% discount; 250 copies: 50% discount; but 300 copies(51% discount, my guess), includes 300 free postcards, bookmarks and business cards, and free shipping. (This information from an email that arrived right after the salesman's contact information. I think they call that the "hook!")

In my original scribbles my new investment would be under $500, but alas, the calculator is the reality check. Were I to purchase 300 books, an outlay of $3511, I would need to sell 152 at full price, to pay back my investment loan. I think I can do that. But I regret borrowing money from friends.

These kinds of deliberations keep one awake at night! Especially one who leans toward right brain activities instead of left brain. But for those of you interested in the IUniverse program, it gives you a clue, and gives me a clue, that to pay back the loan within three months, I need to sell at least 50 a month, in person, to avoid shipping fees!

And lest you imagine there's a big profit margin for books sold over Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or your local bookstore, it amounts to about $3-4 per book. Oh, and IUniverse's first quarterly payment won't arrive till May, 2 months after the closing of the quarter. They need to make their interest, after all.

I need to make a phone call after quelling my fears of asking for a loan. I might work outside a little bit to approach the task. It's the warmest part of today, 32 degrees. The cold harsh realities of publishing on a cold and gloomy day.