Indie Book Club discussion

I apologise if this has been asked already but here goes;)

I have my book as an e-book on Amazon Kindle only at present. No problems so far other than the whole difficulty of getting the blighters to sell. Anyway come September my KDP select expires and I can place it elsewhere. I have my POD on Lulu.com but I have to say I have been made to feel very unwelcome on the forums there it also seems really complicated to place e books there-one format for nook, one for I pad etc. It all seems VERY complicated and after the unhelpful and unfriendly forums I don't want to fight my wayn through that. I was looking at Smashwords but don't know a good deal about it- do they cater for all the e-readers? Are they easy to use even for stupid people like me?

Hi Alexandra
Smashwords covers just about all the e-readers as far as I know. You have to upload it through their "meat-grinder", which can be annoying and take a couple of attempts, but they have a very easy to follow and free guide for you to use - go for it! Plus once you are in the top programme (forget the name off-hand) it will then be sent to everything from the Nook to the Apple store. Give it a bash - if I can manage it with my horrible effect on tech, anyone can.

Thanks I will look at that then.

Good luck - let us know how it goes.

Smashwords is definitely the way to go. Prepare your book for submission by following their guidelines and then they'll "grind" it up and convert it to all formats. ePub, mobi, PDF, they do it all.

Just be sure to follow their guidelines. They'll advise you what to do and not do when submitting. Once you're approved for their "premium catalog" then your book will automatically submitted to all their distributors. I get tons of sales from Barnes & Noble, Apple, Sony, Kobo, etc. it's an awesome way to expand your target audience by making your book available on multiple device!

Big J

Ok thanks, that is helpful. I can't do anything until september anyway as I am locked to KDP select until then.

Alexandra I am so glad someone else thinks Lulu forums are unwelcoming. Before I signed up to KDP I published via Lulu, which I found a little over the top, but otherwise easy and then went to meet fellow authors in the forums, which must have been VIP discussions, because I was not welcome.

I never had any luck with Lulu at all.

Smashwords on the other hand is much more user friendly. Before KDP (which I'm watching the clock count down on) I was a lover of Smashwords, got loads of sales, good reviews (and they email to tell you you've been reviewed!) very useful but sadly no community - still there's always Good Reads right?

I released my first book through Lulu.com first. I was so thrilled to find a company that wouldn't charge me an outrageous amount of $$$ to do it that I really didn't look into any other options. Yeah, I knew the price of the paperback was high, and there really wasn't any support for it, but I didn't care. I was a published author!

Then I found Smashwords and thought it was the coolest site ever. I prepare my book and they submit it to all their retailer buddies for a small cut of the profit? I can handle that.

I haven't had to contact SW that many times for help, but when I have, they have been helpful. It's just taken them a few days to respond to me. And I'll attribute that to the enormous amount of users they have.

CreateSpace is awesome. If there's anyone that needs help with that, shoot me a line. Been there, released two books with them and couldn't be more pleased. Plus, I have both on sale at Amazon for less than half of what Lulu.com and PA were charging. Best thing I ever did.

Then I found GoodReads. Scott created the group and I help out moderating. Great group of people in here. I personally think Indies are the best! And anyone who supports Indies rank right up there with the authors!!

Big J

Thanks, I will keep those in mind. I liked what lulu produced but as I said the forums were pretty unfriendly to newbies. I might reduce the price a bit. See what happens.

Here's a quick question: do you have to have an ISBN for any platform you use (besides Amazon, of course)?

Matt

Typically most online retailers will assign their own ISBN unless you specify you'd like to provide your own. I personally have not bought any ISBNs. Amazon provides theirs, and when/if you submit your book to Smashwords, they'll assign their own ISBNs as well and will assign them accordingly when your book is "shipped" to their distributors, like Barnes & Noble, Apple's iBookstore, Kobo, Diesel, Sony, etc.

I'm planning on using Smashwords once my KDP Select expires. I like starting with KDP to take advantage of the free promo option.

Admittedly, the Smashwords guidelines seem overly complicated.

It's not bad at all. Just follow their guidelines and their Meatgrinder process will convert your book for you.

I've done it and quite a few others have, too, so if you get stuck, just ask away!

Big J.

I've done it several times as well. It's a little trickier than KDP or PubIt just in that it's formatting in a way to make multiple ebook conversions possible, but not too hard once you get into the process. And there's lots of folk here who can help.

I also have to say that I'm now converted to CreateSpace. I still think Amazon is trying to become an Evil Empire, but I found the process just as easy as with Lulu, but it's cheaper for people to order the book (I had to make the book $10.00 with Lulu, but the minimum for CS was $3.50) and author copies are thus a lot cheaper, and the quality of the POD paperback is just as good. Plus, you get sold on amazon.com easier (obviously). So, I'll be converting all my books over to CreateSpace soon.

I used CreateSpace for both of my books and couldn't be happier. Good quality covers, pages, bindings, etc. Yeah, I can definitely see how Amazon is becoming Ye Olde Evil Empire, but in this case, it benefits me so I ain't complaining. :)

Lulu.com had my first book, paperback sized (4.25" x 6.89") at $24.95. It was totally awesome to see my book in print, and I loved the paperback size, but let's face it. No one would buy a paperback at that price. And, author copies cost me about $13, not including shipping.

CS, for the same book in "tradeback", namely 6"x9", has a sale price of $12.95 and an author purchase price of $5. Only $5! You can't beat that!!

Jeffrey, are you getting enough book sales that you feel it's worth making the print copy?

Print sales? I've got some, but nowhere close to ebook sales. For me, it was a matter of holding my book in my hand. There's something to be said for seeing a copy of your own book on your bookshelf.

But no, ebook sales blow print sales out of the water.

Yeah, I'm with Jeffrey on this. I just wanted a copy in my hands, and much of my family doesn't do the ereader thing, so they got copies. It only takes a little extra time and effort, and no money, so it seems worth it for that much. :)

Ok. Thanks. I know what you mean about having a print copy in your hands. If you don't mind my asking, where do the largest share of your ebook sales come from?

Mia, you didn't have to pay for the setup of your book on CS??

Nope. You just have to do *all* the work yourself, like with Smashwords, KDP or PubIt. I mean, you can pay people to do formatting and such, but if you do it yourself, there is no cost for set-up. They just take their cut out of any books you sell, since it's Print on Demand.

Eric - the vast majority of my sales are through Kindle US. Coming in a very strong 2nd place is Kindle UK. Then just behind that is Barnes & Noble. Apple and Sony are decent, too.

Mia's right. If you can prep the interior yourself, meaning you get it how you want it to look, then there is no setup cost other than ordering a proof copy of your book so you can see for yourself how it'll look in print. The first book I released on CS, book II, cost me just under $8. That's including shipping, by the way. Totally worth it.

The trickiest part? For me, it was the cover. I had my cover custom created, so there were a few extra steps to insure the cover was a perfect fit. Other than that, piece of cake! You should give it a try. If you get stuck, all you gotta do is ask away!

RE free CS. That is some fantastic news! I'm on it.

Thanks!

Anytime! If you run into snags, come back here and ask away. This is the sort of thing I do for a living! :)

Big J

The only really challenging thing I ran into, when using CreateSpace, was the cover. I didn't want to use one of their templates, seeing how I had a custom-made front cover.

Therefore I had to calculate out the cover dimensions myself. For a tradeback, the size is 6" by 9". However, you need to account for bleed as well. So it became .125" + 6" + spine width + 6" + .125". That's to get the left to right size. Then the height is much easier. .125" + 9" + .125".

This is where it gets tricky. I had to use one of my graphics programs, namely Paint Shop Pro X2, and create the spine and back cover and then splice 'em all together to make the image. THEN turn that into a pdf file. If you can do that, then you're golden. If not, you'll probably need some help. Or, just use one of their templates.

Anyone else create their own custom cover for CreateSpace and do something different? Who knows. Maybe I'm making this more difficult than it should be. :)

Big J

I did my own cover, but I have Photoshop. Since I had already done the POD cover for Lulu, it just took a little tweaking and saving as a PDF to move it over to CS. It was a little tricky, but not too bad. :)

Photoshop. That's Adobe's super expensive photo program, isn't it? **sigh**

I know what type of Kickstarter project I should start: Help raise funds so that normal people can afford to buy Adobe products.

Must admit that I keep meaning to learn photoshop. I use Corel Painter for my covers.

Well, I found a used copy of an older version of the program some years ago - it's CS2 - but it does everything I need it to. And if someone needs something done in photoshop, I'm happy to help.

Regarding ePublishers, has anyone but their work on Bibliocracy.com? I just found them via Twitter.

Hadn't heard of it. I'll go check 'em out.

Jeff, if you put your books there, let us all know how it goes. I'm locked into Amazon for the next 2 months.

Will do. I haven't ever heard of this place before, so I have to do some extensive research before I'll consider it. See how new they are. Look for testimonials, etc.

L.E. wrote: "Alexandra I am so glad someone else thinks Lulu forums are unwelcoming. Before I signed up to KDP I published via Lulu, which I found a little over the top, but otherwise easy and then went to meet..."

L.E. wrote: "Alexandra I am so glad someone else thinks Lulu forums are unwelcoming. Before I signed up to KDP I published via Lulu, which I found a little over the top, but otherwise easy and then went to meet..."

Oh yes, I have no actual issues with Lulu itself. The book was good quality and I thought they were reasonably priced etc it was the community. I even got a PM basically asking me to post until I had been there a while from someone I argued with. I had someone being what I thought was a bit unkind about the cover I used. It is a photo of mine, tinted red. I think it is brooding and atmospheric. Fine it isnt ideal but I dont want a stock figure of some impossibly proportioned elf. They said it was not a suitable cover. I said fair enough but I am sticking with it, I mean I dont like some covers I have seen but it was more HOW it was said. There wasnt any helpful posts of you could try this and that. I even cited 2 books I own from well known and even awarded authors which if you picked the book up at first glance wouldn't know what they were about and got shot down for that. I cited the editions I had and it still wasn't good enough. Certain people were just rude and impatient. I mean really I see things I dont like but I either say nothing or at least make a helpful suggestion not... oh that is S*** get rid of it you novice. I also noticed several people seem to think no one will buy SP books on lulu so why bother.

As I said I argued my case but at the end of the day if you don't want to buy it don't. I couldn't believe someone actually PMd me saying I shouldnt post unless I knew what i was talking about. I was actually close to removing my book from there and leaving but well Lulu itself is fine.

Eric wrote: "Regarding ePublishers, has anyone but their work on Bibliocracy.com? I just found them via Twitter."

Not yet, but I am going to in September when my KDP select runs out. They seem friendly enough from what I saw.

I will say for POD Amazon put a pretty hefty mark up on Lulu books. I had to price mine reasonably high to stand any chance of making an royalties from sales through Amazon of the POD. Once my Select runs out I will put it on SW and possibly look at createspace. I am not so fussed about POD, but as my family dont have a kindle and I wanted a hard copy too seemed a good idea.

Damn, that reminds me I still haven't looked at Bibliocracy.com yet. Doing so right now...

I have my createspace edition in for review.

BIG QUESTION: expanded distribution channel, yeah or nay?

Oh, what the heck. I did it anyway. :)

I did Expanded Distribution on both of my books. :)

Eric, have you ordered the proof? Which publisher did you use before?

Here's a reverse question for all y'all. I have my Civil War novel up on Amazon, Createspace, and Smashwords. is there any reason to bring it out in print via Lulu as well? In other words, are there sales on Lulu that I could get, or do people simply buy from Amazon Createspace if it's available there? I myself have never bought a book on Lulu, so I think I know the answer. :-)

From my own personal experience, Lulu can't even come close to touching the price that Createspace will allow you to set for it.

Plus, you don't want more than one listing for the same book in the Amazon marketplace. The only difference I saw between Lulu and Createspace that I really liked was the book sizes. Createspace's typical size is the 'tradeback', which is 6" x 9". Lulu let me do a 'paperback' size, what was 4.25" X 6.89".

I released my very first edition on Lulu.com. I thought it looked super sharp. I still have a few copies on my bookshelf as collector items. But, the freakin' price of them was $24.95 on Amazon. Only sales I got were from family members. Author copies cost me about $18 per copy, including shipping.

Createspace books were just as good as Lulu, and the prices were drastically lower. In this case, my overall price is $12.95. Author price of $5 per copy if I buy ten. Otherwise shipping is $4 per book.

As much as I love Lulu.com for allowing me to publish my first book, stick with CreateSpace.

I got my paper proof from CreateSpace yesterday, appropriately messed the back of my underpants, then gave it the thumbs up!

Setting up the layout was pretty easy, so thanks for the nudge on that. I had a friend help me with the back cover in photoshop. Really simple.

The listing showed up on Amazon today, but it's not paired with my kindle version. Hmm.

Is there any other version of your book that exists in paperback?

Mine is doing the same thing. I have the freakin' ugly gray version PublishAmerica did, which is consequently no longer available, tied to the Kindle. I've tried to get Amazon to delete the PA one, but apparently until all copies are sold, they won't consider it. And, since that edition of the book sells for $29.95, it'll unfortunately be around for a long time. **sigh**

The condolences there, though, are that I have my Createspace edition (third edition - Lulu.com was first, PA was second) listed for $12.95. Small price to pay.

They do a great job on CreateSpace, right? I was very impressed when I got my proof copy. I can't wait to release #3. Me. Publishing three books. Crazy.

Congrats again for releasing on CS!

Yeah, man! I have my proof copy out in the living room so that I'm constantly walking by it. I smile every time. CS does a great job.

Jeff, do you know if I need to put the CS ASIN on the ebook now?

Createspace does a great job. Mine came out looking very professional. Sales are slow but steady and I've even sold some to libraries. Like with most indie genre books, it's selling more ebooks than print.

In Be the Monkey (Joe Konrath, Barry Eisler), they make the case that paper is primarily a tool to push digital sales. If you haven't picked that up, it's free on Amazon. I highly recommend it.