Inkshares Community discussion
Inkshares Publication Topics
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Inkshares and bookstores?
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Inkshares gets books into bookstores by pitching them to the bookstores (and probably other ways); you can check available books like Abominations and One Murder More, and you'll see a list of bookstores that have elected to carry the book. Abomination has quite a list!
I don't think anyone so far has reached 750 orders for one book and 250 orders for a different book (or, as we would say, full publication versus Quill publication). The first Quill book isn't even out yet. Most of us who made it into Quill are still in the first stages of finishing our manuscripts or getting them edited through Inkshares. The process is evolving.
I do know that with full publication you get intensive developmental editing, a cover, and marketing efforts from Inkshares. With Quill you get none of those things. Full publishing is definitely better.
I think you can decline Quill after the end of your campaign if you'd rather self-publish, sure, but that would be like running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the editing of your book and then turning down the money you raised - let them edit your book and do all the formatting and file creation for you, I say! If you have to create your own cover and find your own developmental editors when you self-publish anyway, why not use the money you've already gotten people to invest, plus the extra $$ on top of your campaign funds that Inkshares always puts in?
The 50/50 split might be enough of a reason - you can get 70/30 by self-publishing with Amazon. I can understand that. Or maybe it's the ridiculous ebook pricing (which I'm going to challenge, believe me). Some people also want to try traditional publishers, too. I think those people are nuts, but I wish them luck!
I'm sure others will chime in, but I hope that helps. Our author community is one great asset that I hope you'll consider when choosing your method. We'd love to have you around! :)
There are two excellent blog posts from the Inkshares blog that go into all the details for full publishing and for Quill. There is also a table at the bottom of the Quill post that compares the two nicely:http://blog.inkshares.com/post/138561...
http://blog.inkshares.com/post/133141...
Hi Martha,I have a book that received the full publishing package.
Inkshares has a sales team that markets directly to bookstores. They also produce a catalog that gets marketed through various channels.
I have had great success approaching independent bookstores myself - once they look up the book and see it is completely legit and that Inkshares offers the standard industry discount etc., bookstores (especially your local ones) are happy to stock it).
I have also been able to get it into three Barnes & Noble stores so far and I'm working on more.
It would not be possible if I didn't first have the full Inkshares platform to start with. Getting a self-published book into a Barnes and Noble store is exceedingly difficult.
As far as I know, my book is one of just a few Inkshares titles that has made it's way into any B&N brick and mortar locations.
Inkshares gives it credibility and it goes through the same distribution channels that the major publishers use.
The bottom line is that a full Inkshares package gives your book a nice head start, but YOU still have to produce a worthy product and a REASON for the stores to stock it. No bookstore is (of course) obligated to carry your book. A handful of them do seem to stock almost every Inkshares book though!
Inkshares books that are selling the most copies so far have built-in advantages - Gary Whitta has a large social-media following and is an established Hollywood screenwriter. The marijuana recipe (HERB) people have millions of visitors to their website every month and the legalization of medical and recreational use of the drug is growing at a rapid rate.
Another way to get a leg up is to win one of the contests and get extra marketing help from Sword and Laser, The Nerdist, etc.
For people like me, an unknown writer with an unknown book and no large social-media following, we have to work harder to gain mindshare and promote ourselves and our work.
But Inkshares gives you a great platform to launch from and I highly recommend it. Do everything possible to get that full publishing package, it is leaps and bounds better than a Quill deal.
But if Quill is the best you can do, that's O.K. - just work even harder to get THAT book noticed and it too has the chance to eventually become a best-seller. No matter what platform you launch from, if a book gains a growing following, better deals or offers will materialize.
Inkshares reserves the right to upgrade any promising Quill book into the bigger package.
Good luck with whatever avenues you end up pursuing!
I'm interested in the Inkshares model. I read on the web site that if a book reaches the 750 pre-order goal, it's eligible for "distribution into bookstores nationwide."
Has anyone had experience with this? What does it mean, exactly — how does it play out in the real world? (A sales rep? Inclusion in Ingram's database?)
Also, I'm wondering if someone can tell me how much better it was for them to reach the 750 pre-order goal. Can you reach the 250 pre-order goal and then self-publish if you want? Any benefit to that, in your opinion?
Thanks!