Support for Indie Authors discussion

Hello! As a newbie to the indie publishing game, I was wondering the best POD company that has worked for you guys? Currently my E-books are on Smashwords and doing ok. I'm ready to do hardcovers but a little overwhelmed who I should go with. I'm looking for quality, exposure, and ease of payment. Any suggestions?

I would be interested in any POD feedback too. Come on Goodreads dudes,tell us what you know :)

Juliette wrote: "I would be interested in any POD feedback too. Come on Goodreads dudes,tell us what you know :)"

Please help! It's always a nerve wracking to be the new kid in school!

Moved this into the author help folder.

I think this is the best option for paperbacks:

https://www.createspace.com/

I forget what the one was for hardbacks, but I think Riley knows.

Ok, I'm leaning towards Creatspace for Paperback and maybe Lightening Source for Hardcovers and print on demand!

I use Lightning Source if you'd like to ask a few questions about how I'm finding it :)

Ashley wrote: "I use Lightning Source if you'd like to ask a few questions about how I'm finding it :)"

Was the pricing reasonable? Did you order many books up front or was it strictly POD request? You are pleased with the quality of paper and images? Sorry for so many questions but I really appreciate any info you can give.

No problem! :)


Stacey wrote: "Was the pricing reasonable?"

Yes and no.

The set-up fees are around $50 for uploading a print & ebook at the same time and there was a recent removal of the small annual distribution fees, which I like a lot - especially as I grow my titles.

But revisions are costly to upload, so it's best to get the print pdfs and epub of your title pretty sharp before you begin the process - though the proofing process is like 1 free revision.

However, the cost of a print proof itself is something I don't like. You're charged shipping and cost of printing the book, which is a shame. Whereas Creatspace proofs I'm pretty sure, are free. (maybe shipping isn't?)


Stacey wrote: "Did you order many books up front or was it strictly POD request?"

If I'd gone for a launch, I would have ordered a fair few. The individual price of a book when I'm the publisher is cheap, especially for a short novel (250 pages or so) and I can mark them up enough to be cheaper than a bookstore but still cover my postage & printing etc

But I ordered around 30 at first, to hand sell/run promos. Dropped a couple off an some local independent bookstores too. Mostly, I use it as POD.


Stacey wrote: "You are pleased with the quality of paper and images?"

Very pleased! I use creme paper interiors as I find the 'white' to be too sharp a contrast. I also found the creme paper to be a touch lighter in terms of shipping (impacts a bit on a large book, which I have to think about re: international shipping).

Covers are great too - I prefer the matte options, it feels nicer to my hand. They seem to 'bend-up' at the edges less frequently than CS covers BUT depending on where a title is ordered, LS sometimes uses CS for its fulfillment.



While some bookstores still claim to prefer not to work with CS, I ultimately I think CS is probably the better choice if you're in the States due to proofs, shipping & the tax hoops international writers have to jump through.

Hope that helps some :)

Awesome advice Ashley! Thanks and much success on your book(s)!

We use Createspace for paperbacks and have been very happy with them. There are no fees to use them. However, hardcopy proofs are not free: you pay for them and for shipping. (You can do a free proof on-line, but that's not recommended for the first go-round.) That said, we use proofs as editing tools, since we like to proofread from paper. (If you consider the time and cost to print out 200+ pages on a home printer, getting a proof for ~$7 or so is good deal.)

They offer white or cream interiors and matte of glossy covers. You can drop-ship anywhere (nice for sending out copies) at good rates. I've sent books to Canada, Denmark and Poland. (The book I sent to Lublin, Poland I sent expedited shipping for under $20 -- it got there in just under 24 hours!)

An author in the UK commented they were harder to deal with from there. He recommended Lulu (as I recall).

I've also heard Lulu is good for hardcover from an author here. (I've never dealt with Lulu myself.)

Createspace is my favorite. A friend of mine used Lulu and was generally happy with them, but he did say they were more expensive.

I use Lulu.com for hardcovers. They're free, but the retail books tend to be expensive if you go for wider distribution—Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc. You can still discount from that price on Lulu, and I do, but I don't expect to sell many—or even one. They're mainly for my own bookshelf.

Owen wrote: "We use Createspace for paperbacks and have been very happy with them. There are no fees to use them. However, hardcopy proofs are not free: you pay for them and for shipping. (You can do a free pro..."

Thank you Owen for that perspective across the pond. Looks like for my paperback I will go with Createspace they seem to have many satisfied customers.

Ken wrote: "I use Lulu.com for hardcovers. They're free, but the retail books tend to be expensive if you go for wider distribution—Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc. You can still discount from that price on Lulu..."

I agree Ken. My thoughts on hardcovers was just for local bookstores, libraries, and family....I don't need many but still would like a highly valued company to deal with. Thanks for the post.

Ken wrote: "I use Lulu.com for hardcovers. They're free, but the retail books tend to be expensive if you go for wider distribution—Barnes & Noble, Amazon, etc. You can still discount from that price on Lulu..."

Ok, because that's my goal to just secure a few hardcover and concentrate on moving the paperback editions. Thanks for the discount info, I never knew that.

Christina wrote: "Moved this into the author help folder."

Thanks for your help

Charles wrote: "I think this is the best option for paperbacks:

https://www.createspace.com/

I forget what the one was for hardbacks, but I think Riley knows."

Thank you so much Charles.

I used createspace. Formatting was a pain and I'm still not %100 happy with it, but that was mainly me being incompetent and not their fault.

I will be using them again!

I use Createspace for paperbacks. I did the formatting myself, and I like the way it turned out, but you can download a template that helps the formatting process.

Paul wrote: "I used createspace. Formatting was a pain and I'm still not %100 happy with it, but that was mainly me being incompetent and not their fault.

I will be using them again!"

Well that's part of my fear.mpeople said uploading e books were fairly easy but me not being tech savvy had a little rough time. But, once I got the basics done it was fairly easy. Their communication method was extremely helpful!

Ken wrote: "I use Createspace for paperbacks. I did the formatting myself, and I like the way it turned out, but you can download a template that helps the formatting process."

So Ken the process was fairly easy for you.? From a time perspective how long did it take you to upload onto their system? Also, how many pages is your book?

It takes a few minutes for it to upload, and then you can check it with an online reader. I have four books, and you can check the page count of each here: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simpl...

I've ordered all of them, and they took just a few days to arrive. I like glossy covers over matte, and to me they look beautiful. You can create the cover in one piece as a PDF, or you can load separately the front and back from your own images, and select a spine to match. You can also use their covers free, but I don't recommend it.

Ken wrote: "It takes a few minutes for it to upload, and then you can check it with an online reader. I have four books, and you can check the page count of each here: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesi..."

Awesome! I really appreciate the feedback and I do like your covers. I was intrigued by ago Summon The Blackbird! Appealed to my Star Wars fascination!

Thank you, Stacey. When you're inputting your book you will also have a choice as to how wide a distribution you want—full distribution will in increase the price. But Amazon and Barnes & Noble both discount it somewhat, so it'll be cheaper from those outlets than from Createspace. On the other hand, you can buy your own books from Createspace at a huge discount. Shipping cost will be large if you order only one or two, but if you can spread it over ten or twelve it isn't bad at all. I opted for the slowest and cheapest shipping method and they still arrived in only a few days. I think it's a lot longer and more expensive if you live outside the U.S. In that case you might want to try Lulu.com instead.

Ken wrote: "Thank you, Stacey. When you're inputting your book you will also have a choice as to how wide a distribution you want—full distribution will in increase the price. But Amazon and Barnes & Noble b..."

So informative, thanks again! Looks like I better stop procrastinating and just do it! Love the fellow author support in these groups!