chaumi
Rookie
If you can get it in front of the right eyeballs this would make a fantastic Christmas/Birthday present for the older football fan (and some youngsters, too). Congratulations on getting it done.
Self-publishing a book
- Thread starter Len Madeiros
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Desert Orchid
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Good to see John McGovern on the list. Hugely important player for a team.
Len Madeiros
Rookie
Thank you, Chaumi. Absolutely ready for the Christmas market!
The publisher, Troubador, will market the book to, I hope, the right people; but I have also had to do my own leg work. I’ve contacted a few fanzines, previewing the book with a few excerpts.
You might have written the best book in the world, but unless you can convince people that they should buy your book, that won’t mean a bean.
The publisher, Troubador, will market the book to, I hope, the right people; but I have also had to do my own leg work. I’ve contacted a few fanzines, previewing the book with a few excerpts.
You might have written the best book in the world, but unless you can convince people that they should buy your book, that won’t mean a bean.
Last edited:
Len Madeiros
Rookie
Incredible guy. He didn’t start playing organised football until he was 15 - a year later he was playing for Clough and Taylor at Hartlepools United.
chaumi
Rookie
This might be just for interest, but have a look at this image. These (in column A) are some of the high-level online search terms that could result in sales (I can't attach the full spreadsheet so had to take a limited screen capture but can send it if you ever want it).
Volume in column C = rough monthly search volume for each term. CPC = cost per click, if accurate it's showing the cost per click you'd be paying if you advertised on Google. The other columns are valuable if you ever go deeper, I can explain them if needed.
ofc there's a lot of competition for such higher level terms. Especially around Christmas, the average cost per click will rise (because more others are going after the same terms). But you know the searcher (ie clicker) is actively looking for football-related gifts. In theory, show them a low-cost, high-value, very likely to be appreciated gift, and the prospects of positive returns for the advertising outlay would seem pretty high.
At a more narrow/targetted level (example : famous football players of the 60s/70s, great footballers of the 60s/70s, etc etc) the search volume would be lower and the cpc (I suspect) significantly lower.
I'd be tempted to build a small website dedicated to the book. With prominent links/calls to action to go to Troubador (or Amazon etc) to buy it. It would be unlikely to rank high up in search organically (too much other competition, though over time it's not impossible). Once you have a site, you could consider giving paid advertising a careful try (on Google or Bing). Basically a test with a limited budget to see what happens.
Google's Adwords is tricky to know in depth although essentially straightforward. Managing the budget for clicks is obviously key but there are many nuances to appreciate.
Maybe this is all something to think about next year after you see what happens in the next few months. I don't know, maybe Troubadour have strong advertising avenues already. Building a small website would be fairly low cost and pretty straightforward, it only gets more complex/costly when you start looking at stuff like letting people buy/pay on the site itself. The drawback could be that if you send visitors onward to Troubadour to complete the sale, the onward tracking might not be there to show you what positive returns there are balanced against advertising cost.
Volume in column C = rough monthly search volume for each term. CPC = cost per click, if accurate it's showing the cost per click you'd be paying if you advertised on Google. The other columns are valuable if you ever go deeper, I can explain them if needed.
ofc there's a lot of competition for such higher level terms. Especially around Christmas, the average cost per click will rise (because more others are going after the same terms). But you know the searcher (ie clicker) is actively looking for football-related gifts. In theory, show them a low-cost, high-value, very likely to be appreciated gift, and the prospects of positive returns for the advertising outlay would seem pretty high.
At a more narrow/targetted level (example : famous football players of the 60s/70s, great footballers of the 60s/70s, etc etc) the search volume would be lower and the cpc (I suspect) significantly lower.
I'd be tempted to build a small website dedicated to the book. With prominent links/calls to action to go to Troubador (or Amazon etc) to buy it. It would be unlikely to rank high up in search organically (too much other competition, though over time it's not impossible). Once you have a site, you could consider giving paid advertising a careful try (on Google or Bing). Basically a test with a limited budget to see what happens.
Google's Adwords is tricky to know in depth although essentially straightforward. Managing the budget for clicks is obviously key but there are many nuances to appreciate.
Maybe this is all something to think about next year after you see what happens in the next few months. I don't know, maybe Troubadour have strong advertising avenues already. Building a small website would be fairly low cost and pretty straightforward, it only gets more complex/costly when you start looking at stuff like letting people buy/pay on the site itself. The drawback could be that if you send visitors onward to Troubadour to complete the sale, the onward tracking might not be there to show you what positive returns there are balanced against advertising cost.
Len Madeiros
Rookie
I really do appreciate your time, Chaumi, in explaining this all to me. Troubador, to their credit, have shown me the marketing methods they use, and it is quite refined and defined - I don’t think they will do a bad job, tbh.
But, if I do write a follow up, I definitely wouldn’t mind giving this method a go.
Thank you for your time, Chaumi.
Len Madeiros
Rookie
I forgot to say, please buy the book!
And I’d love to hear what you thought about it, once you’ve read it.
Many thanks,
Len
And I’d love to hear what you thought about it, once you’ve read it.
Many thanks,
Len
EC21
Conditional
Oh wow Len, I will be getting a copy. Some great names and memories there. I followed Man Utd from 67-72 and then adult life took over, music and racing replaced it for me. As a kid I was obsessed with football. I have many memories of George obviously and Denis. One memory I have of Geoff Hurst was watching the determination on his face to get to a ball when viewed from behind the Utd goal in 1969. That guy was a 200% player. I saw many great players from that time. My friend was a Derby County fan as was his Dad when they were in the 2nd division, I never got it when I was going to see Best Law and Charlton every other week and they were going to see Derby. In 1969+ I got it
I will get back to you when I read it. Just brilliant to write a book Len, just brilliant.
I will get back to you when I read it. Just brilliant to write a book Len, just brilliant.Len Madeiros
Rookie
Many thanks for that, EC!Oh wow Len, I will be getting a copy. Some great names and memories there. I followed Man Utd from 67-72 and then adult life took over, music and racing replaced it for me. As a kid I was obsessed with football. I have many memories of George obviously and Denis. One memory I have of Geoff Hurst was watching the determination on his face to get to a ball when viewed from behind the Utd goal in 1969. That guy was a 200% player. I saw many great players from that time. My friend was a Derby County fan as was his Dad when they were in the 2nd division, I never got it when I was going to see Best Law and Charlton every other week and they were going to see Derby. In 1969+ I got it
Yeah, I loved writing it. Incredibly emotional at times, especially the Jackie Charlton and Bobby Moore. And I can still barely utter a word, after I mention the name Danny Blanchflower
. I’ll add a bit of the intro in my next post.
Len Madeiros
Rookie
There is a total truth to be had for most of our generation of football fans: we absolutely despise the game of football, as it exists today.
We hate VAR; we don’t understand why players earn so much; we don’t understand how a tussle for a ball can leave two players on the ground, choking for breath; we don’t understand why everyone sits down at a game now; and we don’t like our pundits yapping and stating the ‘bleedin’ obvious’.
But we still watch it.
We still love it - we don’t despise it. We still buy the ‘Sky Package’. We still go and blow 30 or 40 quid down the pub on a Sunday afternoon, just to watch it.
And the reason our generation still loves football – with some hardened individuals still attending matches – is because we had the greatest grounding you could ever wish for, if you chose football as your sport to follow.
Our generation (born between 1940-70) witnessed the absolute peak of English football, roughly between the years of 1960-79. We saw the two greatest-ever English players; the two greatest-ever Scottish players; and we saw George Best. And he was better than all of them.
We witnessed the emergence of a new breed of managers, too - managers with a personality. The likes of Allison, Clough, Docherty, Nicholson, Revie, Shankly and Paisley soon came to dominate English football, not just with their successes, but also with their presence on our TV screens. And we saw the re-emergence of a great manager, from his own dark tragedy of the 50s: Sir Matt Busby, perhaps the very best of them all.
This book seeks to tell the story of this glorious era through the careers of [a squad] 23 players, who, I believe, had the greatest impact on English football during this time; and how their influence laid a path for football as it is today.
But this isn’t just the story of our very best players. This is also the story of those players we may not have noticed, those we mocked unfairly, those we may have forgotten. For those players left their own lasting legacy on the game, and this book seeks to honour that legacy.
The book also touches upon the other three great influences on English football at this time: the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961; the emergence of television; and the, separate, emergence of colour television. Before television, we relied on Pathe Newsreels and newspapers to tell us the story of football in this country; or fans had to attend in person, to catch a glimpse of the heroes they had maybe first encountered in a football annual.
By the way, if you think that the emergence of ‘television’ and ‘colour television’ are one and the same, just ask anyone from our vintage generation about the first FA Cup Final they watched on a colour telly. Try not to be too stunned, by a recall that is both instant and magnificent in its detail. Colour TV was a game-changer, alright.
We hate VAR; we don’t understand why players earn so much; we don’t understand how a tussle for a ball can leave two players on the ground, choking for breath; we don’t understand why everyone sits down at a game now; and we don’t like our pundits yapping and stating the ‘bleedin’ obvious’.
But we still watch it.
We still love it - we don’t despise it. We still buy the ‘Sky Package’. We still go and blow 30 or 40 quid down the pub on a Sunday afternoon, just to watch it.
And the reason our generation still loves football – with some hardened individuals still attending matches – is because we had the greatest grounding you could ever wish for, if you chose football as your sport to follow.
Our generation (born between 1940-70) witnessed the absolute peak of English football, roughly between the years of 1960-79. We saw the two greatest-ever English players; the two greatest-ever Scottish players; and we saw George Best. And he was better than all of them.
We witnessed the emergence of a new breed of managers, too - managers with a personality. The likes of Allison, Clough, Docherty, Nicholson, Revie, Shankly and Paisley soon came to dominate English football, not just with their successes, but also with their presence on our TV screens. And we saw the re-emergence of a great manager, from his own dark tragedy of the 50s: Sir Matt Busby, perhaps the very best of them all.
This book seeks to tell the story of this glorious era through the careers of [a squad] 23 players, who, I believe, had the greatest impact on English football during this time; and how their influence laid a path for football as it is today.
But this isn’t just the story of our very best players. This is also the story of those players we may not have noticed, those we mocked unfairly, those we may have forgotten. For those players left their own lasting legacy on the game, and this book seeks to honour that legacy.
The book also touches upon the other three great influences on English football at this time: the abolition of the maximum wage in 1961; the emergence of television; and the, separate, emergence of colour television. Before television, we relied on Pathe Newsreels and newspapers to tell us the story of football in this country; or fans had to attend in person, to catch a glimpse of the heroes they had maybe first encountered in a football annual.
By the way, if you think that the emergence of ‘television’ and ‘colour television’ are one and the same, just ask anyone from our vintage generation about the first FA Cup Final they watched on a colour telly. Try not to be too stunned, by a recall that is both instant and magnificent in its detail. Colour TV was a game-changer, alright.
Len Madeiros
Rookie
Thank you, Marb.