Erica’s Comments (group member since Jan 10, 2017)

Erica’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

Also, hardback novels don't cost near as much as hardback picture books. It's the cost of the color ink if you want premium pictures. And I would hate to make someone pay for a hardback book and not give them a well printed interior.

Amy wrote: "One of my daughter's 17th birthday present books was a hardback. Not through choice, it just was the option available and I don't think it had pictures. It cost £13.12. I don't know if it was indie..."

I definately won't make much off hardcover if I choose that route. But I also understand that for some children, the added book stability is needed to fully participate in the experience of reading. Especially young children and children who may have special needs. Since my new book is for children 12-24 months, I am toying with giving that one a try and seeing how it goes before trying the others. By the age of 2-6, the age range of my other books, most children can handle paperback.

Amy wrote: "I was just thinking that I bet children's books are a nightmare of worry when it comes to print quality. (Still undecided about producing a paperback)"

To be honest, it is. There is a small amount of color variance that is allowed between printings, and if that variance goes the wrong way, it can result in dull photos. Pale flesh tones are very challenging because a slight increase in yellow or blue saturation can throw a picture off drastically. Luckily for me, Createspace has always been great at making misprints right.

Theodore wrote: "Are people really willing to open their wallets for hardback books? I looked into publishing one of my books in hardback, and the price I would have to charge even to make $1 in royalties was so hi..."

I originally only planned paperback, but I have had a lot of requests for hardback. Especially from schools, speech clinics, and people who have younger children. It seems as though the price that people are willing to pay is up to $15 so I would have to find somewhere I could print and sell for around that. It looks like Ingram might be an option (excluding set up fees), but I would have to decrease the wholesale discount to make any royalty which may limit my ability to get into stores. I feel like most people would pick the cheaper route, but I hate not being able to offer hardback to my readers who prefer it over paperback.

This is all for children's picture books which aren't as forgiving with print differences. The print differences with black and white novels is not noticable according to people who have used both.

Carole wrote: "Funny, you should ask that. I wrote them last night and asked them. I will let you know. At first, Marco (from Createspace) told me we make the larger royalty from Amazon, but I don't remember if I..."

I hope you get it figured out. Just to share some research I was doing. The printing quality of standard color books from Ingram seems to be a little lower than createspace (but not much). The paper from Ingram's standard books is also a hair thinner than createspace. However, Ingram's premium color books are better quality printing and thicker paper, but much more expensive. Seems like premium might be a good choice for hardback but might overprice paperbacks.

I like the genre grouping. Very nice!

Just curious...when you buy a book labeled "one left in stock" are you making the expanded distribution royalty rate or the amazon royalty rate?

Laura wrote: "Hi Erica! We have published our Maija children's picture book recently and we are raising money from the book sales, donating all the royalties for supporting Malala Fund who is working on educatin..."

I would love to feature your book Laura! Please email me your author picture (or book cover if you prefer) and website links to ericagrahamauthor@gmail.com. Also send me a little info about the Malala Fund. Is there a deadline for the royalty donation?

Karl wrote: "I'd enjoy having my new book: The Bridge of the Golden Wood being shown (or any of my multicultural/multilingual books at http://GozoBooks.com"

Hi Karl! Unfortunately, this event is already over. However, I enjoy featuring other children's picture book indie authors on my Facebook page. If you are interested in a feature post, please email your author photo and links for websites/giveaways to ericagrahamauthor@gmail.com. Thank you!

Woohoo Alexis!

I agree. I have been very happy with Createspace so far and I have never had any problems with them making mistakes right. :) I wish they had a hardcover option.

Is this Oh Susannah?

I had read where having your own ISBN would give you increased flexibility moving your book to a different platform in the future and it allowed me to use my own imprint name. Even though I had no plans to move my book, I figured the $25 was worth it to leave the option open.

What awful timing...

Great flyer Brittney! I love it!

Looks like they are running them full price right now, 10 for $295 (this is if you are in the US).

I have been paying for my own ISBNs even with Createspace. Bowker often runs deals on blocks of numbers. I was recently able to buy 10 of them for $250 making them $25 each. They send me a list of my numbers and when I finally assign them to a book, I log into my account, select the number I used and register it with my book information.

Thanks!

How do you return an ebook?