Choices in Publishing: Paperbacks

publish buttonFor the past two weeks, I’ve been writing about choices for indies who want to publish their work as an eBook. But nothing beats the rush of holding in your hot little hand an actual, physical, dead-tree book with your name on the cover. Particularly if you’re planning to do book signings or any other type of personal appearance, a paperback edition of your book is essential.

Authors who want to create a paperback edition have several publishing options. But first and foremost: DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH A VANITY PUBLISHER. Here at Indies Unlimited, we have had our fill of stories about these vultures, which sometimes also call themselves hybrid publishers. They prey on newbie authors with their slick websites. They say they will take you under their wing and do everything you don’t know how to do, from editing your book to promoting it. It sounds terrific. But their editing work is often substandard, their promotional efforts are slim to nonexistent, and their contracts are extremely difficult to get out of. And they will charge you hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars for the privilege of doing this to you. The saddest part is that in today’s publishing climate, you can do everything yourself, for free or cheap. I don’t know about you, but free and cheap are my two favorite prices. This article will show you how to spot a scam.

The following three print-on-demand services are the ONLY ones we can recommend. And even then, there’s a caveat. Continue reading “Choices in Publishing: Paperbacks”

The Portable Advertisement by David Biddle

Author David Biddle
Author David Biddle

One very important inexpensive marketing tool indie bloggers don’t talk about enough is the simultaneous publishing of both electronic and paperback versions of books – ebooks and pbooks.

A study by The Pew Center indicates that 19% of adults in this country now have tablet computers and 19% have dedicated ereaders. These numbers are up from about 5% in 2010. That’s remarkable.

But these statistics still mean that the bulk of the population doesn’t own technology designed to optimize the digital book reading experience. For this reason, indie writers should seriously consider making their next novel available as a paperback as well as an ebook. Such a move expands the reading market significantly. There are dozens of Print-On-Demand (POD) companies out there offering a variety of support services (to get started, check out one list here) to support indie writers who are so inclined. Continue reading “The Portable Advertisement by David Biddle”

The Longevity of an eBook

Courtesy: printerinkcartridgesblog

New authors often wonder how long they might have to wait before they see reasonable sales of their fiction. Whether they have published story collections, individual novellas or shorts, or full-length novels, the desire to understand the life history, or life cycle, of a book of fiction resides in many authors. The newest comers to this crazy industry understand book longevity in a different way from those who have been writing or publishing for some time.

The reason is obvious. In addition, those who view the book industry from the angle of a reader see it in a vastly different light from authors or publishers. It’s as different as seeing a theatre from behind the footlights, on a stage lit up for a performance, as it is seeing the theatre as a cleaner, when everyone’s gone and the house lights are up. If you have never been on a stage, you can compare the difference to the one of a rally driver looking at the track through a muddy windshield, and the guy who walks the same track after the race, picking up demolition derby souvenirs. The view is nothing like that of the person doing the work that makes the whole show possible. Continue reading “The Longevity of an eBook”