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HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH A BOOK: A THREAD
How did a heap of words get transformed into this beautiful book?
Check it out here:
https://tinkeredthinking.com/bookstore/products/v1/
(plus follower:sales transparency stats for the first 10 days.)
How did a heap of words get transformed into this beautiful book?
Check it out here:
https://tinkeredthinking.com/bookstore/products/v1/
(plus follower:sales transparency stats for the first 10 days.)
WHAT(1): This thread is focused mostly on physical, print-on-demand for self publishing. Print-On-Demand. This is a fairly new technology and business model, but it offers incredible quality..
WHAT(2): The short and sweet: A BOOK IS ONLY PRINTED IF A BOOK IS PURCHASED. This means very low risk for an author - practically no initial investment, just the time and effort it takes to write and design.
WHAT(3): Print-on-demand books can be allocated to aggregate publishing: meaning, it's available for purchase on Amazon, or Barnes & Noble via an ISBN and you get a percentage of royalties (varies from platform to platform)..
WHAT(4): ...or your can sell it through your own online store at a higher profit, (which is probably a better idea for online presences with sizeable followings)
WHY (1): Much quicker turn around between creator and audience. Instead of going through the tedious process of submissions/rejections, a book can be in a reader's hands in weeks. Editors passed up on J.K. Rowling. Let the reading audience decide! P.O.D. makes it possible.
WHY (2): much lower initial investment! You don't have to spend thousands on a first run of mass-produced books. Create your book, upload the files, and print off just one copy to see if it's to your liking. Have your own book in your hands for under $20.
HOW (1): This process requires a more hands-on approach from the author. All design considerations are up to you! Of course, freelance designers can be hired for the cover design and typesetting. COMMENT IF YOU ARE ONE OF THESE FREELANCERS, writers may be looking for you!
HOW (2): Every POD platform has their own way of doing things. Brief descriptions to follow of AmazonKDP, IngramSpark, B&N, blurb, Lulu. Strengths, limitations of each. (Pulling a project from one and converting to another is essentially DOUBLE the work, so choose wisely!)
HOW (3): AmazonKDP -if you have a following, this ain't your bet. Royalties are high and it's best for exposure. You have to publish before you can see the book. No proof copies. Color print, very high cost. 21 Trim sizes, you get 60% royalties minus print cost.
HOW (4): AmazonKDP, cont. For global distribution, royalties drop to 40%. Brutal. Print quality? Middle of the pack. Not spectacular, not the worst... link: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G202059560
HOW (5): IngramSpark, fees: $49setup, $25 manuscript Update, $25 ebook, $59 ISBN. Ripoff? Print quality? 2nd or 3rd best. They also don't pay out till 120days after end of month! Royalty structure is vague and difficult to find. seems like 40%? Global distribution, yes.
HOW(6): IngramSpark link: https://www.ingramspark.com/plan-your-book/print/print-on-demand
HOW(7) Barnes&Noble. Excellent print quality. Maybe the best. Big downside: US DISTRIBUTION ONLY. Very finicky with specs for files for books. Hiring someone to help probs going to be in the expenses. https://press.barnesandnoble.com/print-on-demand
HOW(8): Blurb. This was a big bummer. It looked so promising. GREAT Formatting software (bookwright). But the book that turned up in the mail was an immensely unimpressive product. There's no way Tinkered Thinking would ask readers to spend money on something so low quality.
HOW(9): LULU! @Luludotcom This was a huge winner, at least for Tinkered Thinking's needs. Check out their options here: https://www.lulu.com/products
HOW(10): They have global distribution AND they have a pretty good API to connect their printing process to an online store, which is also compatible with Shopify.Options Check out their options: https://www.lulu.com/products
HOW(11): LULU cont. If you have a decent following, this is probably your best bet. Proof copies can be ordered before publishing to make sure that everything is just right. But of course there are some downsides. Lulu might be tied with B&N with quality but Lulu is pricier.
HOW(12): If The Lucilius Parables had been made through B&N, it would have been about $7 cheaper!!! But NO global distribution, which is important. There are Tinkered Thinking readers all over the world. The book is already headed to 5 continents...
HOW(13): But of course, LULU again has a downside here, global retail distribution through LULU makes the price nearly double, that is, if it were to be available through Amazon, B&N, brick and mortar, etc. Again, tradeoffs with every platform
HOW(14): The file formatting for LULU was also quite difficult. Nearly a DOZEN proof copies were ordered before everything looked just right. (but no set up costs!) Partly this was a change in trim size, but also a discrepancy in the translation between cover files and printing.
HOW(15): LULU has announced immediate efforts to fix this very issue with a new system, and this is another highlight: @Luludotcom is CLEARLY hustling, and iterating to become a better platform. Earlier this year they released a huge upgrade to their website with new options.
HOW(16): As with any new roll out, there are plenty of problems to work out and this is part of why The Lucilius Parables was so delayed, but it was worth it.
HOW(17): Customer Service with Lulu (once I finally got a response) was STELLAR. (Shout out to Hanna @Luludotcom! absolute ANGEL of a human being). Their API still needs some work, but they are improving.
HOW(18): There is probably a large opportunity for designers to really master the LULU platform in order for writers to pay such freelancers to create the necessary PDF files that LULU requires for printing.
HOW(19): Of course, if LULU were to offer software like Blurb's Bookwright, and lowered global retail distribution costs this would make the platform hands down the best.
Sales Transparency: The Lucilius Parables has grossed just about $3k in revenue during the last 10 days since launch with a twitter audience of about 8K (7.5K when the book was launched.) This gives an idea of audience/sales ratio (and sales are still coming in daily.)
Cost Transparency: because Lulu has higher print costs, the profits for this book aren't as high as they would be with, say, Barnes & Noble, but to give an idea, if this was sold using a basic Shopify store, the profits would already cover the next 21 months of operating costs.
Further(1): Profit was not a high priority with this project. Product quality and business integration were primary. Lulu fit this bill. I wanted to give readers of Tinkered Thinking a beautiful book. Profit was a bonus. If profit had been primary...
Further(2): Then perhaps Ingram or B&N or perhaps even Amazon would have been a better choice. But these all have their own trade-offs. Obviously not all facets of self-publishing were covered here because my research zeroed in on what fit my needs.
Resources: If anyone has any questions, please comment and I'll answer if I can. Otherwise @selfpubwithdale is a great resource with informative YouTube videos. Check out his channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl9CjdZQtzufqgYx0CidSbA
