what is the cost of putting your book into print?

[linda jackson]

hi i'm fairly new here, i just self published my book on amazon kindle and was wondering what it costs to put it into print and how u go about doing that?

[Carol A. Spradling]

Hi Linda,

It is free to put a book in print with CreateSpace, and very easy.  Go to CreateSpace.com.  CreateSpace works well with Amazon, too.

Good luck,

Carol

[linda jackson]

thanks i will check it out

[Nathan Gottlieb]

Hi Linda,

CreateSpace is not entirely free for a print on demand trade paperback. I just published my paperback through CreateSpace, and they charge per page to print it. Small price, but the more pages you have the more it costs. My 342 page paperback costs me $5.05. My friend did the same, and since his book was a lot shorter, he only pays $3.10 for a printed book. Thus if I wanted CreateSpace to mail me 20 books to give out to friends or put up on the local bookstore, it would cost me $105 plus shipping. If you do decided to print your book at CreateSpace, your format for Kindle will have to be reworked to fit for a paperback. Plus your cover needs a back cover with blurbs and something about you. I just got a preview copy of mine and the trade book is of very high quality. One thing more. CreateSpace offers expanded production, meaning for $25 flat fee CreateSpace, as a well-known distributor will offer your book to not only Amazon, but Barnes & Noble, Europe and many other online sites. FYI, CreateSpace is a division of Amazon.com. If you need more help, you can email me at [e-mail]. Good luck!

[linda jackson]

thanks for the info

[Larissa Hinton]

It technically is free to publish a print book but I would keep in mind that in order to get a proof copy of your book (which is one of the I'm-gonna-cry moments of self-publishing), you have to pay for it. I know, totally not fair for an author to pay for their own book, but that's just how it is.

Another thing you might want to keep in mind is formatting. Now, I don't hire someone to format my print book (only my eBook version for Smashwords since I've tried multiple times to get my books through the meatgrinder and lost) but you might want to consider hiring someone to make sure your book comes out the way you want it. Especially if you want special effects. The person I hire is Heather and her website is here in case you want more information here. 

Oh, and you can publish your print books through Createspace, Lulu (if you wish, I personally wouldn't recommend it), and Feed A Read. 

http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/

[linda jackson]

thanks for your input

[C. M. Albrecht]

Unless you have a retail outlet or plan to do signings, I'm not sure paying for print books would be worth your expense. It's nice to have at least one copy on your shelf and maybe some for friends and relatives, but you could end up with a garage full of unsold product like an Amway distributor.  These days print books are very expensive. My publisher offers POD soft cover editions of books but they run about $18.95 which is not a price most readers are willing to pay. You can buy soft cover books from more traditional publishers for around $10. 

Although I can buy my books wholesale, I still can't afford to keep a pile around (which my wife always gives away anyway) to sell to some curious individual who someday might just knock on my door and ask, "Do you happen to have any of your wonderful books for sale here?"

If your town happens to have a number of independent booksellers, you might just get one of them to stock some of your books on consignment or something, but in my case that didn't work either. Seller told me people constantly complained about $2 for a used book. I just couldn't compete.

Luckily, e-books seem to be doing better all the time. For a long time I resisted the urge to submit to an e-book publisher, but once, battered and war-weary from trying to deal with traditional publishers and phony agents, I broke down and submitted to an e-publisher. Being an e-publisher doesn't necessarily mean their standards are low. Some may accept anything that comes in, but many try to set a high standard and, after a few (4) bad luck e-publishers, I finally connected with the one for me. (Not that the bad publishers were bad bad; it's just that one was operating out of a garage using embezzled money and of course that didn't last. One decided, just as my book was coming out, to switch to erotica — where the money is — and my poor book looked horribly out of place there. The third  was probably okay, but we just didn't quite connect. Another was very nice but very sick and sadly she passed away. Just as my work was coming out a new owner took over and I could never get a statement or even a reply to most of my mail.)

Unless you just have to have at least one print copy for your own satisfaction, I'd forget the print aspect unless and until you get some sales going. If things work out, then you might want to think about having your book printed.

Of course that's just my jaundiced opinion. Every situation is slightly different. Good luck, Carl

[linda jackson]

ok thanks

[Dew Pellucid]

Hi Linda,

I also can give a recommendation to CreateSpace. This Amazon company charges you $0.00 to set up a paperback POD (print on demand edition) of your book. Check out my Amazon book here. As you can see I'm offering both an e-book and a paperback. But it didn't cost me any money to do that.

Go to CreateSpace and create an account for free. Choose to edit your book yourself, since this is the free option. If you don't have a book cover, you can create one for free.

It's easy, just follow the steps as you go through the publication guide. I recommend that you order a physical proof before giving the okay for publication, as the CreateSpace cover comes out darker in shade than it appears on the screen. This made a big difference in the case of my cover.

CreateSpace will give you a free ISBN and they will distribute your book for you. In short, they'll do all the work.

Best of luck!

P.s. I just created a Middle Grade Group on BookBlogs. Hope you'll join me!

Cheers,

Dew Pellucid

[C. M. Albrecht]

Nice looking book. Did Amazon help with the cover or did  you do that on your own?

[M. Serrato]

I agree with Linda. I think that Paperbacks are still important, and many reviewers don't accept e-books (myself included). So having a paperback edition and an e-book edition is a good idea.

I also suggest Createspace as a good place to start. They offer author services, too, so they will design a cover for you and do the Kindle formatting if you need it. It's pretty affordable, less than $100 for most services, which is WAY less than a vanity publisher (like iUniverse) will charge you.

http://fictionplayground.blogspot.com/

http://nonfictionfinds.blogspot.com/

-Moises

[Scott Martin]

My co-author and I are preparing to enlist with Amazon KDP for a 90-day exclusive as we test the waters then move forward with Smashwords. We're waiting to beta test with eStory as they get up and running. We will send paperbacks to selected bloggers, reviewers, etc. via Amazon and their CreateSpace POD program. That's our current plan. Always researching to tweak if necessary. Gotta be proactive!

-Scott