Three non-fiction books by Jim HeathMy first little book was a best-seller (in Australian numbers). Seven thousand sold. It was self-published, fairly short, and the topic was odd: Australia's regular plagues of bush flies and where they come from. The book has been out of print for years, and here's a free on-line replica: The fly in your eye.My second book was the lowdown about debt collection. A lot of it came from behind the scenes: straight from lawyers, court officials, private investigators and debt collectors -- talking informally and bluntly. Again self-published, fairly short, and a topic that no one had tackled in this way. It cost about a dollar to print and sold for $44. Around 1000 sold before the Western Australian market peaked (because of photo-copying or sharing, plus use of the many copies that libraries bought). Another edition was put out, at great effort, that adjusted everything for the laws in Victoria. After a few years, I put a free copy on the web -- How to collect business debts -- where it keeps making some money from the ads.
A third book is more recent and longer. I experimented using Booksurge as a publisher and that worked OK. This book is different from the first two. It is longer and not on a niche topic. Instead, it's a topic that's extravagantly covered: dogs! Nevertheless, sales ran well for several months. People heard about it from my publicity, then walked into a book store and ordered a copy. Or got a copy from Amazon. But when the publicity exhausted itself, sales slowed to a trickle. In the end, I put a free (but slightly cut-down version) on the web: Your dog is watching you. The idea is that people may realise the book makes a good gift and order a printed copy. It's too early to know if this will work.
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