In Print

I’ve been working on the Part 2 of getting published – getting ‘Shilling Cove’ out in paperback. Not as easy as I thought.

I really didn’t want to put the book up on Amazon, but as someone said to me recently – everyone uses Amazon because it works. Having had a look at the alternative printers, I have to concede that it does. And of course, most book buyers still go to Amazon for their books, in whatever format.

This is the part that I didn’t know before I set out on this lark. Amazon offer the option to pay royalties to authors at the rate of 70% of the e-book price and 60% of the print price. They do charge 5p delivery on every e-book on top of their 30% cut, just to be awkward. They offer print on demand services at a cost composed of a standing amount plus a cost per page. For the 380 pages of ‘Shilling Cove’, that amounts to £4.65. So I have to charge at least £7.99 for Amazon to even list the book, in order that they can take their 40% cut out of their profit over the cost of printing. I went contrary and set the price at £8.00, meaning I get the royal sum of 15p for every copy sold; though Amazon won’t pay up until I earn at least £20. Hold that champagne.

The other major printers are Ingram Spark, but they would charge more per copy (depending on how copies are ordered) and if I ask them to put the book on their distribution list I have to specify how much discount I will allow the retailers to take. They prefer 55%, to the extent that it’s unlikely it would be ordered if I cut that figure any further. No chance of setting the price as low as £8.00 through Ingram Spark. By the way, I’m not complaining that the retailers insist on a discount that large; they need to cover their costs from that small profit and every cost they have is only ever going to rise.

So what’s next? I’ve ordered a proof copy of the paperback from Amazon to check it for any problems before I advertise the book. I have checked and re-checked the manuscript so many times, and I’m still spotting tiny things that make me wince, but I’m going to check anyway, just one last time.

If you’re willing to take a chance that there’s no major problem with the print copies – put May 21st into your diary. That’s the date Amazon have assured me they will put the paperback version up for sale. Fingers crossed, by May 22nd I will finally be able to hold an actual printed book I have written. It’s only taken sixty years for that dream to come true.