My son has written a 288 page practice book for scales in every key. If any of you have ever published a practice book (or any book for that matter), how did you get it done. He was the top Music Comp student at East Caroling in 2015. He was among the top getting his masters in comp at Louisville. Some of his past instructors have said it was great, and they would encourage their student to buy/use it when it came out. He's tried to find someone who would publish this. Any ideas?
Publishing a sax practice book
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I'm also interested in publishing or self-publishing a book (mine is about applying 20th-century classical techniques to modern improvisation). Would love to hear about anybody's experience with getting their book out there....
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other than looking for a publisher which would publish and distribute your book ( and they would do this ONLY if they believe that there is money to be made with your book) you can actually pay a publisher to publish your book or you can publish on-line.
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/
https://www.createmybooks.com
http://www.lulu.com
The problem is not so much publishing your book but selling it
Forbes says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmo...013-heres-what-you-need-to-know/#b8425b014bb8
“ That's it in a nutshell. There are somewhere between 600,000 and 1,000,000 books published every year in the US alone, depending on which stats you believe. Many of those – perhaps as many as half or even more – are self-published. On average, they sell less than 250 copies each"
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/
https://www.createmybooks.com
http://www.lulu.com
The problem is not so much publishing your book but selling it
Forbes says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmo...013-heres-what-you-need-to-know/#b8425b014bb8
“ That's it in a nutshell. There are somewhere between 600,000 and 1,000,000 books published every year in the US alone, depending on which stats you believe. Many of those – perhaps as many as half or even more – are self-published. On average, they sell less than 250 copies each"
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Milandro nailed it. My wife used to work in the publishing business and the world of selling books is absolutely brutal with very little money to be made anywhere except for the occasional "hit..." and this even goes for most books published by the big companies (Simon and Schuster, etc). The MUSIC book industry will compound the brutality of publishing with the brutality of the music business! Ouch.
I do, however, have a couple friends who have published saxophone books relatively successfully, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and Adam Larson. Both Chad and Adam are relatively high-profile young New York saxophonists with large social media followings, and I think they've been able to sell a fair number of copies because of that. I'm not sure whether either of them has self-published or gone through something like Hal Leonard, but if they did get a deal with a big publisher I guarantee it's because they already had a following and fan base in place.
That being said, I've published arrangements of my band's music for sale on our website and used SquareSpace's e-commerce platform to sell it. It works great and we've sold a surprising number of them, I think mostly to college music students who want to play Progger tunes on their senior recitals. For us, going through a publisher doesn't make any sense since we're already just selling straight to fans! I would recommend that route any day.
I do, however, have a couple friends who have published saxophone books relatively successfully, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and Adam Larson. Both Chad and Adam are relatively high-profile young New York saxophonists with large social media followings, and I think they've been able to sell a fair number of copies because of that. I'm not sure whether either of them has self-published or gone through something like Hal Leonard, but if they did get a deal with a big publisher I guarantee it's because they already had a following and fan base in place.
That being said, I've published arrangements of my band's music for sale on our website and used SquareSpace's e-commerce platform to sell it. It works great and we've sold a surprising number of them, I think mostly to college music students who want to play Progger tunes on their senior recitals. For us, going through a publisher doesn't make any sense since we're already just selling straight to fans! I would recommend that route any day.
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Nefertiti, here on SOTW, has published some books. You might check with him.
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Saxson, just a few suggestions. Put the practice book together in paperback form (letter size or larger) with a nice colorful cover (preferably an action shot) and binding. The binding can be done at a local print shop. Make about a dozen copies. Use photos (B&W) and illustrations between the lessons to make it appealing to young players.
A CD with detailed spoken explanations and sound samples (on the sax) would also be a plus and the CD can be attached to the inside of the paperback book by the publisher. The CD can be recorded in a home studio for a reasonable price.
Everything must be original. No photos (without permission) or song samples that still have a copyright.
You can contact well known players to get their written permission to add their photo and a short bio to the book. Students like photos. Perhaps one of the noted players would also write a short "Forward" for the book. Make it interesting for both the potential publisher and the students.
Once a publisher agrees to take it he/she might give an advance of $200-$300 which will be taken off the top of the future royalty checks.
Most music instructional books normally sell for $18.00 to $20.00 and he might get 10% per unit depending on the publisher. The number of pages (288 = 144 actual pages) can be an issue. Some publishers have a contract with a company like Hal Leonard, Inc. that will make the actual copies, binding and the CD from his master recording. HL will then distribute the unit and take a cut of each unit sold then a portion of the profit to the publisher then the publisher sends 10% to the writer once or twice a year.
Some major companies like Hal Leonard, Inc. will not take the book from him but will take it from a publisher who does business with HL and has a good track record on sales. Most large companies have their own staff to produce instrumental books. As such they do not have to pay an outside writer.
Look on the Internet for instrumental music book publishers. For example "Centerstream". He only sells instrumental lesson books of all types;
http://www.centerstream-usa.com/music-books-catalog.php?mcat=Instruments&scat=Guitar
Send a dozen books/CD out at the same time and hope for the best. Mail a copy by certified mail to himself and don't open it. Be ready for a few "Dear John" replies but keep sending the sample book/CD to various publishers.
A CD with detailed spoken explanations and sound samples (on the sax) would also be a plus and the CD can be attached to the inside of the paperback book by the publisher. The CD can be recorded in a home studio for a reasonable price.
Everything must be original. No photos (without permission) or song samples that still have a copyright.
You can contact well known players to get their written permission to add their photo and a short bio to the book. Students like photos. Perhaps one of the noted players would also write a short "Forward" for the book. Make it interesting for both the potential publisher and the students.
Once a publisher agrees to take it he/she might give an advance of $200-$300 which will be taken off the top of the future royalty checks.
Most music instructional books normally sell for $18.00 to $20.00 and he might get 10% per unit depending on the publisher. The number of pages (288 = 144 actual pages) can be an issue. Some publishers have a contract with a company like Hal Leonard, Inc. that will make the actual copies, binding and the CD from his master recording. HL will then distribute the unit and take a cut of each unit sold then a portion of the profit to the publisher then the publisher sends 10% to the writer once or twice a year.
Some major companies like Hal Leonard, Inc. will not take the book from him but will take it from a publisher who does business with HL and has a good track record on sales. Most large companies have their own staff to produce instrumental books. As such they do not have to pay an outside writer.
Look on the Internet for instrumental music book publishers. For example "Centerstream". He only sells instrumental lesson books of all types;
http://www.centerstream-usa.com/music-books-catalog.php?mcat=Instruments&scat=Guitar
Send a dozen books/CD out at the same time and hope for the best. Mail a copy by certified mail to himself and don't open it. Be ready for a few "Dear John" replies but keep sending the sample book/CD to various publishers.
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I use lulu.com since 2007. Pretty easy to do........
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That looks pretty good and straightforward, I would probably go with that.
Myself I just published with leading Dutch publisher Donemus, but they don't do practice books.
(You can check my book here https://webshop.donemus.nl/action/front/sheetmusic/16902/10+pieces+of+10)
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