Don’t Let Shipping Costs Tank Your Speaking Profits

Fulfilling bulk book orders can be a challenge…

Yet, I still believe it’s one of the smartest things you can do for your speaking business.

Not only does it ‘wow’ the event organizers, but it serves as a valuable tool to increase revenue, connect with more attendees, and ultimately land more gigs.

Now… if you could just get those darn books to show up on time, at the right place, and for the right cost, we’d all be golden!

(Because nothing says “professional speaker” like frantically tracking a box of books while pacing your hotel lobby in business casual.)

BTW, after yesterday's article, Premium Subscriber Matt Miller sent this:

I feel vindicated by this! I very regularly throw books into my suitcase – either packaged into a speaking package OR to sell one-off during workshops – and I wonder, do other people do this?

Do other people find this as valuable and worthwhile as I do?

Here's my big question ...

When you carried the books through customs ... how did you position them? What did you tell them? Did you say they were to be sold ... did you have to pay taxes on them for that ... or did you say they were gifts (because the speaker fee was the speaker fee and the books were a free add-in, making them gifts)?

I never quite know what to say and I'm always afraid I'm going to get in trouble. Any insight would be appreciated!

Today, we’re going to look at the exact process my team uses to fulfill bulk book orders.  (And try our best to answer Matt's questions.)

When 12,000 Free Books Cost More Than a New Car

First, a story…

Rachael told me about one of her clients whom she recently helped write and self-publish a book using Kindle Direct Publishing.  She explained,

“I’ve worked with Brad Heath of Double D Trailers for almost 11 years now.  He recently wrote and self-published his first book with the intention of giving it away to event attendees where he was speaking on the importance of horse trailer safety and construction.”

But one big problem stood in the way—cost.

His company attended an event in Ohio and planned to give away 1,000 books.  For context, this is a large horse industry event where Brad’s team sets up a booth, displays custom horse trailers, and gives educational seminars.  

So, it’s a bit different than a formal speaking event you have on your calendar.

Still, the same sort of strategy applies… give away books… meet attendees… generate leads… increase revenue.

You can see where this is going...  

This type of bulk book fulfillment is definitely not ideal. Rachael shared more about her client’s experience:

“Brad told me that the cost of printing a book was only $3.27 but Kindle Direct Publishing was charging him $3.59 PER BOOK for shipping.  The most KDP will let you order in one shipment is 999 books so it ended up being multiple shipments.  His team came to me hoping for a cheaper solution.”

This is a common problem many speakers encounter.  It’s easy to publish through programs like Kindle Direct Publishing, but the printing and shipping costs don’t always work well for getting your books to your events on a reasonable timeline or for a reasonable cost.

Our Behind-the-Scenes Book Fulfillment Strategy (a.k.a. Elizabeth Saves the Day)

Here, I’m going to share my team’s exact strategy for fulfilling bulk book orders.

First off, our entire process only works so well because of my wife, Elizabeth.  She serves as my assistant and handles all of the logistics of travel, bulk book orders, scheduling, and contracts for my speaking business.  

Elizabeth helped to explain how our bulk order fulfillment works…

“So basically, we offer books as part of our Happy Meal Pricing and an event perk.  I would say that maybe a third of the event organizers sign the contract (where the bulk books are included) without even realizing they are getting books!”

This often serves as a happy surprise when they realize the added value they are getting.  Our standard contract often includes a set number of books.  If event organizers want to buy more books, we give them a 50% discount, plus tax and shipping.

To fulfill the orders, we use a company called IngramSpark…

Before you start Googling… let me be upfront that IngramSpark does NOT have the best reviews.  In fact, they’re pretty bad.  

Think of it like your uncle’s RV: the dashboard lights don’t work, the buttons are all in the wrong places, but once it’s rolling, it gets the job done.

We’ve found that most of the complaints center around the website’s dashboard operation and user experience.  When it comes to book quality, shipping, and price, they are excellent.

Elizabeth continued with her explanation:

“We set up the account years ago and it’s an on-demand company.  Once you set up your titles, it’s just a matter of placing another identical order when it’s needed for however many books you want to ship.”

We usually try to have our books drop-shipped directly to the client or event.  Sometimes the client will want them signed first, in which case we have them shipped to Florida, where I can sign them first.

There are other book publishing options you can look into.  BookBaby is another company we’ve used in the past.  Then, PrintNinja is one you might want to check out.  Overall, we’ve found the prices at IngramSpark to work the best for us.

Let’s Talk Numbers: Why Our Books Don’t Cost a Small Fortune

Remember those outrageous prices I shared above?  Well, the prices for IngramSpark are much more reasonable.