An elderly client of mine has just written what she feels is going to be a successful book, helped along by a developmental edit. Now she’s ready to publish… but where, how? She says the result of printing her first book with Amazon was unsatisfactory. When I outlined the higher costs of the alternative, IngramSpark, she wrote back saying it was all giving her a migraine.
What can I do to help? Since my client mentioned opportunities to sell books at local readings and bookstores, I wanted to include that option, too. Here is what I told her, to summarize the basic choices:
a) Traditional publishing
No costs to you, but you have to scout publishers, submit professional queries, and then wait 6-12 months to hear back from them. They even provide a final edit, full cover design, and some promotion and marketing efforts for you; plus good distribution to bookstores. Downside is the initial search and wait, and extreme competition to be accepted. You can sidestep all that by securing an agent first, but the downside (queries, competition, wait time) is the same.
b) Self-publishing (Ingram)
Higher costs (their fees and my time) for setup ($49) and ISBN ($85). Better distribution channels to bookstores than Amazon, but stores still won’t order unless there is demand. No guarantee their printing will be any better than Amazon’s. Extra fees ($25) for every revision. Order in volume to save on shipping and sell direct as you wish.
c) Self-publishing (Amazon)
No fees to pay except my time for formatting (~$200). (Note: with Ingram this formatting cost will be higher because the requirements are more stringent). No extra fees for revisions. You can order a sample copy at low cost and make changes to improve the result until you are satisfied, then order in volume at minimal cost. You can sell copies direct as you wish.
d) Self-publishing (Local print shop)
High initial setup fees (~$100-200). Discounts for larger orders, and you can save on shipping with local pickup. Some printers can even handle your account to ship orders to customers without your involvement. Plus you can still sell direct at readings, to local bookstores (on consignment) and to friends.
So, which path to publication will she choose? I can’t choose for her, but here is my prescription:
- The local option basically only has the advantage of saving on shipping; and, there’s the large setup fee ($100-200) to make up.
- If your book is as good as my colleague says, you may find a traditional publisher… but the process takes a lot of time (1-2 years!)
- If you decide to self-publish, to me the Amazon option is clearly better than Ingram, since you and I can tweak the design and order sample copies at minimal cost till we get a good result. Then it’s set up for easy online distribution; and, you can order in volume at minimal cost (~$6 per copy) and shipping to you for any local sales. Plus it’s easy to add the ebook option at any time (no Amazon fees, relatively easy for me to do for you).
Again, sorry about the headaches (I feel your pain!) but hope this helps!
best regards,
Nowick
PS If you’ve just come upon this blog post and find yourself in the same predicament, I hope this gives some clarity to the publishing conundrum. I’ll be happy to try to answer any further questions you may have–just send me an email.
