Adventures in Publishing – Week 8

I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few years wondering why people who had published their novels independently also made them available in print form at prices far too high to seem a likely proposition.

Then I made the acquaintance of CreateSpace.

It was only last week as we began to formulate a comprehensive marketing strategy that the idea of acquiring a print copy of our novels actually began to look like a necessity. For those of you who have yet to reach this conclusion, free book giveaways at Goodreads are an effective and vital marketing tool. There are also review sites and blogs that prefer to receive print copies.

The fact that CreateSpace (an Amazon company) also offers to make the book available through its automated POD (Print on Demand) service is incidental, and accounts for the ridiculous prices. As there is no economy of scale in a POD system, Amazon sets a “minimum price” which takes into account both the cost of production, shipping and its own bottom line. What you are left with is a figure only an author’s proudest and most affluent relatives would entertain, even before you have added your own cut as a publisher.

Needless to say, we will decline a listing for the print copy on Amazon, being of the opinion that only substantial eBook sales would ultimately justify a print version, and then only through an order large enough to make economic sense, and financed entirely through existing eBook revenues.

I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who is also chewing on this proposition, or indeed anyone who has already figured it out.