Support for Indie Authors discussion

You can choose to pull your books whenever you want within reason. KDP is something like 90 days. Every 90 days you can choose to opt out. And you get to choose based on individual book. It's not all or nothing.

Don't expect to make a large profit on your first book regardless.

Also just because you publish one book there doesn't mean you have to publish them all. Some stores like Barnes and Noble do carry physical copies and you could always start by ordering a few author copies and hand selling them or taking them to local book stores.

You probably should watch some YouTube videos or something to get an idea how publishing really works. And specifically self publishing.

For instance, if you self publish you will be responsible for hiring a cover artist, editor, and formatter, unless you possess those skills yourself. This can be expensive if you want high quality but you get what you pay for. You can always change your cover later, of course, but it will impact your sales.

It is true that some publishing companies will think twice about buying a manuscript that has already been published, but there again, if you spend your whole life waiting in line for one of those publishers, your career might never begin.

My advice isn't to overthink it too much though. It's your first book. You'll probably write another. Good luck.

*** I forgot to add that Amazon is print to order. You can order author copies but for the most part Amazon is the middle man. Someone orders on Amazon and they handle the printing and shipping. You wouldn't need to invest in a locker full of physical copies at all

Morgan, I suspect you're putting the cart before the horse. Writing is not that easy - it's great to fantasize about becoming an author and selling the great American novel. Sitting down and writing it is another story!

At the risk of being a killjoy, there are some things that need to be taken into account, that, unfortunately, many self-pubs don’t.

Publishers don’t just make up their criteria for acceptance. It’s based on knowledge of what will and won’t sell. So while we’re free to bypass the conventional route, knowing and applying the criteria that publishers apply is a necessity, because in our school days we’re only trained to write with the skills that most employers require: nonfiction. That’s why we were assigned so many reports and essays. And while we see the result of using the skills of the Commercial Fiction Writing profession as we read, as they say, “art conceals art.” So we can’t see the tools that are being used, only the result of using them. But, our reader expects to see that in our work, as well. So if you’ve not invested a bit of time into acquiring those tools, it’s well worth doing.

Our competition, the works that are conventionally released, survived this test in a publisher or agent’s office:

Fully 75% of what’s submitted is rejected immediately, for being “unreadable” because they’re written with those nonfiction report-writing skills of out school days (their term, not mine). Of the rest, all but 3% are seen as not being written on a professional level. So...if we don’t hone our skills to be in that 3%, or damn close to it, are we even in the game?

Remember, when the reader comes to your page, attracted by your blurb and cover picture, before they push the “buy” button, they’ll read the excerpt. And as they do, they’ll apply the same standards as do publishers do, because in reality, it’s the readers who establish them.

So...I truly hope that at this point you’re nodding and saying, “I already know that, Jay, and I’m ready!” But if not, a bit of time spent on acquiring those skills makes sense.

I took a course in Amazon advertising and it talked me out of advertising through Amazon. Too expensive and even the best results break even. Organic sales of other books are the key.

Explored IngramSpark for another author and couldn't recommend it for distribution. To keep costs down, no returns, which means booksellers won't buy it. To offer returns means booksellers have no problem ordering a lot of copies to create nice displays and then return those that don't sell. Libraries are nice. Getting it on Apple is nice. But for us poor, struggling writers, the money slam is too much.

The question is, will you write even if you don't make a dime? I do. I've made a few dimes, but I don't write for profit, I write because... well, I have no other choice.

Without some kind of advertising, you don't have a business. Publishing a book on Amazon is like opening a coffee shop on a street with a million other coffee shops. Why should anyone stop at yours? You'll have to convince them.

I don't see a lot of indie titles in my local B&N, but there may be a few. They didn't buy those from Amazon. They get them from Ingram.

I put my stuff on Ingram because it's fairly cheap (given the time I've spent writing) and while the royalties are smaller than Amazon, there's not much downside. Yes, sometimes a book is 'returned' and you'll take a hit on that. But it's not like you won't have latte money.

I have no experience with Draft2Digital but I know many others recommend it. I make over two-thirds of my royalties from KU so I am exclusive to Amazon, at least for now.

I've made small dollars with Amazon ads, but it takes time. Larger dollars came after I started advertising on Facebook. Once those got going, my Amazon ads began performing much better. Both have a learning curve and you'll be 'investing' up front to see what works and what does not.

I suggest you check out Jane Friedman's stuff on self-publishing I can't post a link here but search her name and 'self publishing' and you'll find it. I have also taken Matthew Holmes' courses on Amazon and FB ads and found them to be well worth the money.

But what Robert says is true: we write because we have to write. I attended (virtually) the Midwest Writers Conference last summer and one presenter said, paraphrasing: 'there is a room full of people out there that never finished a book. Why? Because they could [stop]...'

I hope this information is helpful for you. It's hard to set aside your author's fedora and pick up a sales and marketing beanie but that's what it takes as an independent author.

But don't be discouraged. Hard work usually pays off.

-Rock

Morgan, When I first publish a book, I have it on KU initially and then go wide with it down the line. KU is good for gaining reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Robert wrote: "I took a course in Amazon advertising and it talked me out of advertising through Amazon. Too expensive and even the best results break even. Organic sales of other books are the key.

Explored Ing..."

You might want to try Draft2Digital for distributions. You will get better results from it if you do advertise. Doesn't have to be a lot. But like you, I keep getting sales and even have a couple in libraries. I'll take my $10 a month for now.

E.M. wrote: "You can choose to pull your books whenever you want within reason. KDP is something like 90 days. Every 90 days you can choose to opt out. And you get to choose based on individual book. It's not a..."

I think there's a misunderstanding here. KU is ONLY for eBooks!
You can go wide ANYTIME with your print books. The ONLY requirement is that you OWN the ISBN, because you cannot use the free Amazon-provided ISBN to publish anywhere, nor print you own books at a local printer. If you own the ISBN, you DO.

One warning though: Do NOT tick "expanded distribution" for print book on KDP if you intend to go wide. Expanded distribution is only to TWO countries. However, Amazon uses Ingram for that distribution (even though Ingram distributes to 160 countries). If you try to distribute with Ingram with that tick box, it will fail, even if you untick it. (Though there's a way around that.)

Coming back to eBooks, I usually keep my eBooks on KU until the income they provide becomes negligible, THEN I remove them from KU and go wide with them.