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Hi Alexandra. I recently published my book in large print. I had no problems. However, it made the book much larger (as you said) and I had to price it around $13.00 via Amazon, rather than the $8.99 my regular print paperback edition sells for.
Was that through create space? If so what page size did you use and what were the page counts for the 2?Was there a reason you decided to do a large print version?
As a low vision author, I've had some issues with CreateSpace on my large print editions. Notably they do not tell you the maximum page count on each trim size. I also have difficulty just as a low vision person with their templates in word: if you line up your art to their red lines, it won't be lined up that way in the final: there will be background color extending above that. Instead, they should do it CENTERED. Otherwise beautiful covers come out amateurish the way they do the vertical centering.
Oh their templates aren't great anyway. I agree about the page count. It might help!
I do large print versions on all of my books (except Anlei's Legacy, but that book gets updated upon completion of "princess anyu returns.") because, well, I'm low vision and therefore sensitive to the many causes and idiosyncracies of sight loss. Some people like me can only see in color because our vision is limited to the fovea (center of vision). Others can only see black/white because the center vision is gone in favor of the edges. Every single person experiences sight loss differently. Not offering large print greatly narrows your potential readers.
I agree. It is a complex issue. Not everyone has the level or manner of sight loss. Some people are able to read larger print books some aren't.
Alexandra wrote: "I am contemplating a blog post chatting with readers and authors which may have some form of restricted vision. Recently I contacted Amazon about the features their e-readers have, or in this case ..."All of my print books are available in large print on lulu.com. I used 18 pt. size. The books are 6X9, except The Judith McCaon Story which is 8 1/2 X 11 because it is all five Judith McCain novels put together into one book.
The problem is with Createspace is, as Laurel said, they don't tell you the page maximum. For me my first book would be over 700 pages and I haven't even begun to contemplate book 2. I might look at lulu as they do have a wider option.
I have used both lulu and createspace. Lulu is so much easier to use, to me. If you make changes, like changing your book cover, it is put on sale immediately with the new cover. With createspace, you have to wait, sometimes over a week for any changes to show up. One of the new covers I did for Southern Greed never did get changed. That's when I took all my books off there.
I have an account with lulu and the ONLY reason I changed is the retail mark up for Amazon made the book expensive. Personally I think Lulu is much better for European authors, for a start it is not ruddy expensive to order author proofs and they come in a short time not a couple of weeks. Lulu is more versatile and I think the templates are easier. My books are now both on CS but only because I had so many issues getting them there I don't have the heart to change. I may go via Lulu for global reach and opt out of Amazon. I could look into it then.
Here is the blog post featuring some info regarding e-readers and options available to readers with restricted sight and also a fascinating interview with children's author Victoria Zigler who is totally blind.http://libraryoferana.wordpress.com/2...
My wife Jean is partially sighted, and I've published large print versions of my books on Createspace so she can read them. (Having said that, she's since become more attached to the Kindle, so I'm not sure if I will do it for her benefit in future. But I will still do it, because someone else, who I don't know, bought one of the large print versions. It's worth doing again if only for one person!)
I didn't really have any problems. My books are short enough (<90,000 words) for the resulting book to still be easy to handle, if a bit on the thick side. Nor did I have any problem with Createspace templates, although perhaps that's because I'm not partially sighted myself.
I didn't really have any problems. My books are short enough (<90,000 words) for the resulting book to still be easy to handle, if a bit on the thick side. Nor did I have any problem with Createspace templates, although perhaps that's because I'm not partially sighted myself.
I think the problem was my book is long, book 1 is 125k and book 2 is 175k. I might tinker a bit with it.
Alexandra wrote: "Was that through create space? If so what page size did you use and what were the page counts for the 2?Was there a reason you decided to do a large print version?"
Sorry for the tardy reply. Yes, I used CreateSpace and like others who have replied here, I didn't have issues. That said, my book was only 65,000 words. My page size was the same for both editions--6 X 9. I made the large print edition because I wanted to be inclusive...
It does seem to depend on word count, I think. I will keep looking into it. Lulu is another option.
My father is partially sighted and has been so for many years and now what vision he has is further compromised by cataracts and age. He likes to read but he finds it very difficult as he is housebound and can no longer get large print books.
I recently wanted to publish my book in large print format but it made the book extremely large and I struggled to get the page count accepted. In the end I gave up.
Authors - have you published your book in large print? If so were there many problems doing so?
Readers - do you have an e-reader? Do you buy large print books. Would anyone like to chat about the challenges involved in obtaining books?
Please PM me if you are interested.