#free book publishing with isbn

[seawardboundsammy]

so @extreme-neutral made this post about in universe chargestep shippers, i printed out the art in the post, some jokes were made, and then i got a little extra. Please enjoy my day's work

also an extra (note the date in the bottom left)

[em-dashes]

anyway while i wait for the distribution to sort out, i submitted an isbn deposit for the e-book edition of Suddence, so i did do something productive (❁´◡`❁)

[blueookashi]

Whenever I look at publishing books, all I gotta say is that people RLLY gotta like The Fallen for it to actually become a thing

Like I’ll try to do it anyways but there is QUITE a few things you need to do, and expensive stuff you need to pay, to ACTUALLY publish your book- whether it’s self publish or not

Like you need to buy ISBNs(?) for EACH BOOK, FOR EVERY FORMAT. You’ll need TWO for a hardcover version and a paperback version- it’s REQUIRED (like you can’t upload/publish your book anywhere without one, it cannot be sold) and it’s over 300 bucks to buy a few of them, then you need a QR code for it, then you need to pay to copyright it- like holy shit, so many steps it’s actually overwhelming

[arc-tu-rus]

🦇 Today marks the english release of:

Set in Hungary, during the years of World War I, we follow Mina, a young woman who finds herself faced with a dilemma that will cause a major chain reaction in her life. Between hiding her gender and dealing with a threat she never believed was real, the girl must make a choice between abandoning who she was or embracing every part of herself - all while the world crumbles around her.

I finally finished translating my VtM story! I'm well aware of how much I babble about my guys, but now I can finally share this complete work with the tumblr community! Allow me a moment of sentimentality saying that this is one of the things I'm most proud of in my life :')

Buying options: Gumroad 𓋹 Amazon 𓋹 Or simply via DMs! I'll send you a link with the files after payment :)

Oh! And if you use Goodreads, feel free to log your reading progress.

I assure you that I studied a lot of the subject (from Remarque's work to real documents) so as to not be insensitive with the real event; while I publish the translation today, this project started in 2022.

I still plan on writing two more, with each being simultaneously a complete narrative and a piece of their story! But, being 100% an independent work, it won't be here for a while.

Misc. Stuff: Art 𓋹 Board 𓋹 Playlists ♪ ♫ ♪

(Since my "drawing drive" is not necessarily linear with the plot, I didn't add illustrations to the e-book file)

Extra Disclaimers: • I priced it based on a poll I made, not only on bookstore costs, but if it sounds too much feel free to haggle! My intention is simply to share this story, not to become the next Bezos- • I removed all mentions of VtM/WoD creations so as to not have any legal troubles, since this is an official publication (with ISBN and all!). The rights of this work of fiction are also already registered and protected. • No A I was used in any part of this creation! It was all my sweat and tears work. I'm usually not the proudest person, quite the contrary, but it's kinda cool to be able to say that all this, the story, illustrations, translation, graphical project and physical production of the original portuguese release were all made by me :) • Not only this is a vampire story, it's also set in war; I recommend this book for an 18+ audience.

[copperbadge]

Howdy! I am considering submitting manuscripts I've written to a publisher or possibly self publishing. The publisher states on their website that authors must maintain an active social media presence. I'm not normally a social media type, Tumblr is my only one. What would you reccommend for such? Is it worth it to pay someone to make a website for me? Thanks and many virtual kisses for Dot and Deebs!

Honestly, I haven't submitted to a publisher since before a lot of modern social media existed. :D

It is my understanding, but this is secondhand information, that publishers want you to have either a twitter or a tiktok, preferably both, where you're frequently active and have a high follower count, because they want you to be able to publicize your book on it. One of many reasons I don't even consider trad publishing anymore is that I don't want to spend a significant chunk of my time filming videos for the sole purpose of hawking my books.

Now, as I said, that's an inference I've drawn; you may want to speak to someone who has been trad published recently to get the inside scoop (readers if you work in publishing or have been published recently, feel free to add commentary; remember to comment or reblogs, as I don't repost asks sent in response to other asks). I do have an author website but I built my own; I don't know what the going rate is for paying someone to build one these days but most website platforms are pretty intuitive to use -- I built mine on Wordpress and I'm building a new one on Wix currently, and at this point both are very drag-and-drop oriented. I do think a website is a good thing for an author to have, but I wouldn't pay someone to build one for you until you've taken a swing at DIY and decided it's not where you want to spend your time and energy.

In terms of self-publishing, the good news is that none of the rules apply; this is also the bad news. :D Because the thing about selfpub is that you either pay or DIY for...everything. It can be very inexpensive; when I publish a book the only direct monetary cost is what I pay for an ISBN and a proof copy of the book, which I will make back in the first 10 sales or so. However, I am "paying" in man hours in terms of typesetting, cover design, uploading the PDFs to lulu.com, proofing the initial copy, correcting the proof and reuploading (which usually involves further typesetting), and of course all the publicity -- website design and redesign, copywriting, tumblr posting. And while my profit per copy sold is well above what most authors with traditional publishers will make, that's because the publisher is doing a lot of the work for you. And, because I don't have an active twitter or tiktok or a publisher, my books are not very widely publicized. Undoubtedly I sell fewer copies than I would if I had a robust twitter following, but catch me touching that rancid wasteland without inch-thick gloves on.

So -- I think it's probably pretty important to understand that I have deliberately rejected trad publishing for good but not lucrative reasons, and I'm considered at best an iconoclast and more commonly a crank for having done so. If you can go the tradpub route, I would, but I also wouldn't put any money you're not prepared to write off as a loss into that pursuit. Definitely I would see if there's anyone in the industry you can reach out to who can answer these questions with a more thorough understanding of what publishers look for in an author and how to go about achieving that than I possess.

In any case, good luck! It's a journey regardless and I hope you enjoy your time on the path wherever you end up. And I'll give the cryptids a special cuddle for ya.

[traegorn]

Shadowcasting, Mia Graves Book Three, Is Now Available for Pre-Order! (Updated)

So this has been probably one of my most productive years creatively in a long time. Back in January I published my first novel, The Witch and the Rose, and followed it up in June with a sequel, Bloody Damn Rite. Well, today I'm excited to officially announce the third book in the series, Shadowcasting, will be available on 12/15/2024!

Like the earlier books in the series, you can pre-order the book on Kindle immediately, and it will arrive on your device December 15th ready to go -- but this time you can also pre-order the paperback version too, either through Amazon or through your favorite bookseller with the ISBN 9781088207031! (edited to add paperback pre-order) Honestly, I'm super excited about this one. It's probably my favorite book in the series, and I can't wait for you guys to get your hands on it. Here's the back of cover synopsis:

Winter has clawed its way into the heart of Parrish Mills, and something far darker may have come with it. When Mia Graves, a witch with a habit of getting into trouble, and her best friend Riley Whittaker stumble across a grisly scene along the Wabash River, they find it reeks of dark, forbidden magic and has left at least one charred body in its wake. With the help of young Bobbi Crawford, the further Mia and Riley dig into the events that took place on that cold Indiana morning, the more dire their circumstances reveal themselves to be. Between a stolen grimoire and a group of young witches who may not know how dangerous their actions are, shadows loom in the dark of winter. And one of those shadows may be more dangerous than anyone imagined.

So yeah - pre-order the book on Kindle or pre-order the book in paperback (ISBN 9781088207031) today!

(Also, and this is unrelated, the non-Kindle, DRM free ePub version of Bloody Damn Rite is now available in my Patreon store too)

And, y'know, if you want the earlier books in the series:

The Witch and the Rose ISBN: 9798869132666 Available Via: Amazon / Kindle / ePub / Direct Order

Bloody Damn Rite ISBN: 9798330220373 Available Via: Amazon / Kindle / ePub / Direct Order

[goodluckclove]

I don't know who needs to see to hear this, but I'm taking a break from writing book two to post a little rant to my fellow indie authors online.

Your work is worth money. Self-publishing is worth it. It's a slow process and it's a lot of work, but holding a physical copy of your book is really cool. Seeing your book for sale on a website is really cool. Knowing you have an ISBN number (Which you can get for free on Amazon and Ingram Sparks) so you can get your book into libraries and indie bookstores is really exciting. Searching your name on Goodreads and having something come up is great, even when no one's submitted a review yet.

I've made almost 30 dollars so far based on e-book sales of Blind Trust. That's not a lot of money. It's a start, though. Once people start submitting reviews I'm going to work on advertising and reaching out to reviewers. I already have a bookstore in Portland that says they'll buy and stock a copy of Blind Trust.

Self-publishing for money does not make you more valid of a writer than if you don't. It doesn't mean you're better. But thinking you shouldn't bother because you'll probably only sell a few copies is not the right way to think about it.

If anyone wants my book they can just ask and I'll give it to them. I have no problem with that. I'll give a free e-book of Blind Trust to every goddamned aspec person that wants it assuming they message me comments on it occasionally. It's cool to make your work accessible. But - like - it's also not a bad thing to want to make 30 dollars. It's not a bad thing to be proud that you made any amount of money off your art.

I'm already planning on what I'm saving my income from Blind Trust for. I'm buying my wife the leatherbound edition of Tess of the Emerald Sea, but they told me I'm not allowed to do that unless I buy myself some french fries first because they're my favorite food.

There's like a balance here, people. We have to remember that.

[fdelopera]

Welcome to the 39th installment of 15 Weeks of Phantom, where I post all 68 sections of Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, as they were first printed in Le Gaulois newspaper 115 yeas ago.

In today’s installment, we have Part VII of Chapter 14, “La Lyre d’Apollon” (“Apollo’s Lyre”), and Part I of Chapter 15, “Un Coup de maître de l’amateur de trappes” (“A Masterstroke of the Trapdoor Lover”).

This section was first printed on Tuesday, 23 November, 1909.

For anyone following along in David Coward's translation of the First Edition of Phantom of the Opera (either in paperback, or Kindle, or from another vendor -- the ISBN-13 is: 978-0199694570), the text starts in Chapter 13 with, “'Christine,' said Raoul as he got to his feet, 'you say you love me but it was only a matter of hours after you were free again that you went back to him',” and goes to Chapter 14, “Then she rushed out in a state of near-panic, still pulling and smoothing her fingers as if she thought the ring would somehow mysteriously reappear of its own accord.”

There are some differences between the Gaulois text and the First Edition. In this section, these include (highlighted in red above):

1) Chapter XV was printed as Chapter XVI. This numbering error was made in Chapter VII, and was not corrected, so it was propagated throughout the Gaulois publication.

2) Chapter 15 in the Gaulois text is Chapter 14 in the First Edition, etc.

3) Compare the Gaulois text:

… vous dites que vous m'aimez et quelques heures à peine s'étaient écoulées depuis que vous aviez recouvé votre liberté, que déjà vous retourniez auprès d'Erik !…

Translation:

“… you say that you love me and yet scarcely a few hours had passed since you had regained your liberty, and you were already going back to Erik!…”)

To the First Edition:

… vous dites que vous m'aimez, mais quelques heures à peine s'étaient écoulées, depuis que vous aviez recouvé votre liberté, que déjà vous retourniez auprès d'Erik !…

Translation:

“… you say that you love me, but scarcely a few hours had passed since you had regained your liberty, and you were already going back to Erik!…”

4) This passage was added to the First Edition (indicated by the red arrow above), and does not appear in the Gaulois:

Soudain une silhouette bizarre se dressa devant les jeunes gens, leur barrant le chemin :

« Non ! pas par ici ! »

Et la silhouette leur indiqua un autre couloir par lequel ils devaient gagner les coulisses.

Raoul voulait s’arrêter, demander des explications.

« Allez ! allez vite !… commanda cette forme vague, dissimulée dans une sorte de houppelande et coiffée d’un bonnet pointu.*

Christine entraînait déjà Raoul, le forçait à courir encore :

« Mais qui est-ce ? Mais qui est-ce, celui-là ? » demandait le jeune homme.

Et Christine répondait :

« C’est Le Persan !…

– Qu’est-ce qu’il fait là…

– On n’en sait rien !… Il est toujours dans l’Opéra !

Translation:

Suddenly, a strange silhouette loomed before the two youths, blocking their path:

“No! Not this way!”

And the silhouette pointed to another corridor by which they must reach the wings.

Raoul wanted to stop, to ask for an explanation.

“Go! Go quickly!…” ordered this shadowy figure, enshrouded in a sort of houppelande and capped with a pointed hat.*

Christine was already dragging Raoul away, forcing him to run again:

“But who is that? Who is that man?” asked the young man.

And Christine replied:

“That is The Persian!…”

“What is he doing here?…”

“No one knows!… He is always at the Opera!”

* NOTE: Leroux's character of "The Persian" was based on an actual French historical figure, the Persian gentleman and expat, Mohammed Ismaël Khan. This image below depicts the houppelande coat and Astrakhan cap that Leroux was likely imagining when he was writing his novel.

This image is from Les Célébrités de la rue, by Charles Yriarte, published in 1864, a book that listed notable figures in Paris in the early to mid 1800s. It was published during Mohammed Ismaël Khan's lifetime, as M. Khan passed away in 1868.

It is worth noting that the Opera House that M. Khan frequented was the Salle Le Peletier, which was destroyed in a fire in 1873 (five years after M. Khan's death). Two years later in 1875, the Paris Opera was moved to the newly opened Palais Garnier (aka Erik's Opera House). So, contrary to Leroux's narrative, M. Khan never actually frequented the Palais Garnier. This is an example of faction (fact+fiction), one of Leroux's favorite literary devices, which Leroux used throughout Le Fantôme de l'Opéra to build a feeling of verisimilitude into his fictionalized narrative.

5) Compare the Gaulois text:

C'était Erik. Il avait les yeux de braise dont vous m'avez parlé. J'aurais dû le clouer sur la lyre d'Apollon…

Translation:

“That was Erik. He had the fiery eyes that you told me about. I should have nailed him to Apollo’s Lyre…”

To the First Edition:

Si vraiment nous avons aperçu Erik j'aurais dû le clouer sur la lyre d'Apollon…

Translation:

“If that truly was Erik that we saw, I should have nailed him to Apollo’s Lyre…”

6) Compare the Gaulois text (this was likely an error on Leroux’s part, since earlier, Raoul agreed to be in Christine’s dressing room at midnight sharp):

… à minuit et demi ! fit le jeune homme …

Translation:

“… at half past midnight!” said the young man …

To the First Edition:

… à minuit je serai dans votre loge, fit le jeune homme …

Translation:

“… at midnight I shall be in your dressing room,” said the young man

7) Compare the Gaulois text:

Jamais ! répondit-elle avec énergie. Je la renverrai à Erik en la déposant dans la loge du fantôme. Il faut qu'Erik puisse rentrer tranquillement chez lui le soir…

Translation:

“Never!” she replied forcefully. “I shall return it [the key] to Erik by leaving it in the Phantom’s box. Erik must be able to return calmly to his house in the evening…”

To the First Edition:

Jamais ! répondit-elle avec énergie. Ce serait une trahison !

Translation:

“Never!” she replied forcefully. “That would be a betrayal!”

8) Minor differences in punctuation.

Click here to see the entire edition of Le Gaulois from 23 November, 1909. This link brings you to page 3 of the newspaper — Le Fantôme is at the bottom of the page in the feuilleton section. Click on the arrow buttons at the bottom of the screen to turn the pages of the newspaper, and click on the Zoom button at the bottom left to magnify the text.

[cornelis-rage-poetry]

The diary of an Underground Writer December 1, 2024

Today I bought a software program called "Atticus", this is a plug-in for my web browser, with which I can format text for e-books and printed books. It has a bit of a learning curve, but I'm managing, it's doable. There are also limitations, with which I have to learn to work, which is a bit unfortunate, but once formatted it has to follow the rules set by the publishing industry, and you can't start improvising when it comes to things like that, it is what it is. I wish I had more free options, but then it might not work properly for all e-readers.

I've also figured out, where I can buy ISBN numbers and register the copyrights. It's a bit of a costly affair, here in the Netherlands one ISBN number costs €104,95 but a bundle of 10 costs €284,95. So I guess I'll be doing the bundle then, I need one for the e-book version but also one for the printed version. And as it is now, I'm planning to self publish a collection of poems I written the past twelve years, and a short novel, which I finished a week ago. And as I want to release them both as an e-book and a printed version, the first four ISBN numbers are already taken. I'm also working on a set of short stories, but I'll safe that for later. First the poetry collection and the short novel, and see how that goes. And the copyrights, here in the Netherlands, the copyright can be registered at BOIP for €37 for a duration of five years.

I know the chances of someone stealing my work are slim, because there probably won't be that many people reading it, but you never know, and it's better to be safe now than sorry later. Nowadays you simply have to protect your work, because if not someone can copy-past it from the internet and publish it as an e-book the same day. And once a thing like that happens, once it's out of your hands in such a way, it's very very difficult to get it back.

But anyways, I've started formatting my poetry collection, here's a screen shot.

It's not yet final, I may change the theme or the fonts or the overall layout. It's still a work a progress, but it's gonna look somewhat like this.

[physalian]

IngramSpark: Good or Nah?

I decided to work with them last minute to set my book up for success, and, in case they screwed me over, I could hate them in a properly informed manner.

So!

IngramSpark (IGS) vs. Amazon (KDP) so far: A detailed comparison.

Spoiler Alert: FUCK INGRAMSPARK

Alrighty these are two proof copies (author copies) of the exact same book made with the exact same PDFs. IGS is on the left in all pics.

Stuff to note:

The IGS copy is slightly greener, the purple is less vibrant. KDP made the exact colors I painted this with in photoshop.

The KDP book is slightly thicker and while the spine print is slightly off center, the front cover is perfectly centered. Compare both of the lower moons on the right side and it's very obvious that IGS cut theirs incorrectly. It's cut incorrectly because their paper is thinner, thus needing a slightly narrower print PDF (which isn't something they would tell you).

KDP is slightly thicker because they used thicker paper. Theirs is less polished creme, you can feel more of a grain of the pages, but because they're thicker, they're less transparent. I can read straight through to not only the back of the title page, but straight onto the next piece of paper for the IGS copy, and theirs cost more to print.

KDP shipped in lighter packaging, which meant my copy got a little banged up as opposed to the cardboard coffin the IGS book was in. Pick your poison.

KDP

PROS

A breeze to work with in most areas. I did not need to use customer service, so I can’t comment on that, but I’ve heard it’s superior to IGS in every way. They do have a community chat that I have used when confused (more below) and pages upon pages of how-to resources.

Simple user interface, very easy to click through all the set-up menus and not once did it freeze or crash on me (more below).

Did not use their formatter or cover generator, I used Adobe and did my own so I can’t comment on their quality.

Their “print previewer” was fantastic. I could click through the whole book and they explained very thoroughly where some issues were and what I should look out for and they let me use my own files without issue instead of having to build them in the platform.

Their royalty rate is the best you can get in this industry, because they’re not selling to anyone but themselves so there’s no middle man taking a cut of the profit.

Print quality of the book itself is fantastic. Only thing I miss is the ability to emboss, but no print-on-demand company does that as far as I’m aware. The colors were an exact match to my design in Adobe, I have no complaints.

Instant reports and near-live report refreshes for ebooks. Print copies don’t register on reports until the book ships, but Amazon prints and ships within ~2 days.

Because it’s Amazon, even though proof copies aren’t applicable with Prime, my copy still got here in 5 days including print time. My print copy totaled the print cost plus $3 in standard shipping that I could have rushed.

It did get a little banged up on the bottom but I think that was during shipping not at the printing press.

If you’re really strapped for cash, they do offer free ISBNs *but these are KDP only ISBNs, you don’t own them, and they are non transferable between vendors and POD companies. Bite the bullet and just save up for your own ISBNs and buy them in bulk if you can and you plan on publishing at least 2 books in your lifetime (like a paperback and hardcover of the same book, even).

After I submitted my ebook for preorder, I kept finding little details to fix and lines I wasn’t happy with that got nixed at the 11th hour. Updating this was seamless and free and the updated versions were processed within 6 hours or so. Amazon did not lock in the files to the date the preorders were set like IngramSpark would have.

CONS

They still don’t have paperback preorder, but they do have a feature where you can submit for a future release, which is just giving your files over to go live on a set date. Thing is: When you get to the end of the setup, there’s a button that says something like “submit for publication” which does not actually mean “move your publication date to right now” like I thought. So I missed my paperback date by 2 days.

Their proof copy has that annoying grey “Not for Resale” stripe across the cover so it looks wonky in marketing images.

They have a “cover art size calculator” feature, which did not line up with the actual file size I needed come submission time, off by a few millimeters. Which meant resizing in Photoshop and it was incredibly annoying and tedious.

Upon finally hitting the “publish” button Amazon flagged my book and told me to fix the highlighted errors. Well there were no highlighted errors, and said error(s) could be anywhere across four pages of details. I had to consult the community notes to figure out what they were talking about (it was an ISBN issue) which was quite annoying.

IGS

PROS

Well-known as the best print-on-demand (POD) company with the widest reach, including Amazon, for expanded distribution. (NOT IN MY EXPERIENCE)

Also well-known as the highest quality self-publish paperback, that still doesn’t do embossing. (NOT IN MY EXPERIENCE)

They do paperback preorders (which I did not participate in).

Integrates flawlessly with libraries and retailers that Amazon won’t do (which is about its only claim to superiority). My book was searchable on Barnes & Noble within 48 hours.

IGS, like KDP, has free ISBNs (US only), with the exact same non-transferable issue. However, because they integrate across all sellers, Amazon included, if you only intend to work with them, you’ve reached every market anyway.

CONS

Their royalty rate sucks ass. I had to price my book $1 higher through IGS because I was literally at a deficit with all the printing costs and vendor discounts (so if you want my book for slightly cheaper, buy it through Amazon). Through IGS, I think I’m making about $1 in royalties, when all is said and done. And I’ve heard, shockingly, that that’s pretty good.

I didn’t try to use their customer service because I know it’s notoriously terrible. But it would have been helpful when their website crashed.

Their website crashed on me three times when trying to upload my files. Before it crashed, their “submit files” button simply did not work, so I had to go the roundabout way through their formatter and cover wizard (which I didn’t like) which then told me my 300DPI cover art was too small. The exact same file I submitted and had in my hands at perfect resolution to Amazon. It took almost 2 hours of running around in circles on their site to essentially start from scratch to get this up and running—and I did all of this with polished files from the get go because I knew revisions would be tedious. Can’t imagine the hassle if you aren’t ready to go immediately (this is why I didn't do a preorder with them).

I have heard that if you make changes to your files, they don’t go into effect until the next month, meaning if you have typos, and anyone buys your book before the next calendar month despite you fixing them in the system, that person is still buying the old version. I have also heard that generating reports is not seamless. After 60 days, revisions also cost you $25 a pop (KDP is free).

If you submit pre-made PDFs for your manuscript and cover (as in, you don’t format or generate them within their system) they do not have an instant previewer. Mine took 48 hours to deliver a link, when that shit should be automated and instantaneous and should allow me to use my own files.

IGS does not have Amazon’s monopoly on shipping, so to get my book here at all quickly, it cost me almost $20, rush fees applied for only 1 day faster than Amazon did. “Quickly,” being I ordered the proof on the 24th, and it won’t get here until the 28th. Meaning, that if you’re not paying rush fees, you’d have to wait longer.

They can be quite confusing with revisions during the preorder process. Per their website, they can begin printing your book “generally” 30 days before go-live. Which means someone who preordered your book on the 3rd gets the version of the book that was available on the 3rd, even if you update it on the 5th, because they print those immediately, even if the book’s official release date of the 30th hasn’t passed. You’d pretty much have to be completely done with revisions before setting up for preorder with them to be absolutely sure, which means wasted time. I don’t know why they don’t just queue up the books to be printed on a hard deadline a few days before release.

So. While I hate that Amazon has a monopoly, about the only thing IGS has going for it is their expanded distribution when everything about their business, from their platform to their user experience to the actual quality of books is at best dead even with KDP, but in my experience with my best foot forward, IGS annoyingly inferior.

I don’t think they’ll remain the “best POD company” for very much longer. I did not do hardcover for ENNS as of this post so I can’t comment on either service’s print quality, only what I’ve seen in other reviews. Some people like the jacket-less print-on-the-cardboard look (Amazon), some people (me) like the jacket, if only so I can use it as a bookmark.

*I wrote the above paragraphs before getting my proof copy from IGS and fucking hell they're not even competent at printing

It is also a massive waste of paper and shipping resources to have to print multiple versions of proof copies fixing errors outside of my control. My proof copy from KDP is perfect. IGS? Nope! But they wouldn't let me properly preview it so I had no idea this would happen.

Even as a consumer who might hate the idea of giving Amazon more money, there’s an argument to consider: I totally understand the desire to keep brick and mortar stores afloat and I don’t want Amazon’s monopoly on the market to grow even larger. However, Amazon makes sure that you’re making more than pocket change on your book, unless you jack up the prices for readers on the back end so the whole thing costs more all the way down the pipeline. I refused to do this.

That deficit that forced me to price ENNS even $1 higher than Amazon really bothers me with IngramSpark. That deficit exists because of a higher print cost and a 55% discount given to vendors so they can still make their cut of profit from stocking your book. IngramSpark had me sit through a whole video saying “if you don’t do this no one will stock your book” while saying you could go as low as 54% but that might scare off vendors.

In essence, at this time, KDP makes sure that you, the creator, make money. IGS makes sure that they and the businesses selling your book for you make money. I didn’t do any of this for profit, but it does hurt seeing all your hard work, possibly years of effort, have a royalty of $0.87.

So, yeah, is IngramSpark worth it?

I don’t yet know what their reach will amount to. It’s a dream of mine to see my book on a bookstore shelf, but signing up with IGS does not guarantee you sales, it just guarantees you the best chance possible at reaching potential buyers. But at the moment, all it looks like to me is fees, a bad UI, cheap printing, arrogance from perceived superiority in the market, and a business built boldly in favor of its own profits.

Amazon’s a shady-ass corporation, but I’m going to have to say they’re the better bet. At the very least, for your first book when you don’t have an audience and if making a profit is important to you.

—

I did not try to use any other POD like Draft 2 Digital or Barnes & Noble Press, as I already have KDP and IGS is the best platform to integrate with KDP.

See here for the cost breakdown of my debut novel from draft to publication.

[greater-than-the-sword]

I saw your hunt for specific LOTR editions and uh. I cannot resist the urge to assist. On Thriftbooks.com I found the ISBN for that cover in paperback https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-fellowship-of-the-ring-by-jrr-tolkien/245881/all-editions/

Which then meant I found it on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Fellowship-Ring-Publisher-Mariner-Books/dp/B004QO0IOE Looks like there's a few copies of varying prices and condition available.

Here's the Two Towers paperback. https://www.amazon.com/Two-Towers-J-R-Tolkien/dp/B007CK5LBO In my experience Amazon does a decent job of making sure that if a book is listed for sale under a rarer cover such as this, that's what you'll be receiving.

Ooh, and Thriftbooks says it has copies in stock of that edition for ROTK! https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-return-of-the-king-by-jrr-tolkien/249949 That probably means they're also listed on Amazon (my copies many years ago were bought from Thriftbooks through Amazon) so if you have a gift card or free shipping or somewhat, that might be the better option.

Thank you so much!! I'm ordering 1 and 2. The 3rd one isn't what it was pictured as when you saw it. (People are saying it shipped as the wrong cover and so they changed the image) So that's 2/3. That's definitely progress!!

[sirgavvainet]

I finished updating my collection again...

If anyone has any questions about any particular book feel free to ask 🫡

[writeblrfantasy]

hi! I've been looking through your stuff for a while now and I'm super duper in awe of what you've been able to accomplish!! genuinely good for you and I'm happy for you !! I hope things have been well. ive been meaning to ask-- what are your tips for an author who is just starting out and wants to put out their own book but doesn't exactly know how to do that? thank you so much and keep up the incredible work !!!! xx

ohmygosh thank you!! i struggle with permanence so much and dont realize people actually hear me when i'm shouting into the tumblr self promo book void, let alone that real people read my books, so this is beyond flattering. thank you thank you. it really is messages like these that keep me going.

there is so much advice i could give- if you're looking for a literal how does one publish a book, draft2digital is what i use, and it's very starting/low budget author friendly because the ISBNs are free, there is no fee to upload your book, d2d formats it for you, is ebook and print copies, distributes to lots of stores, and gives you one link for every store in one place. plus their communication is fast, and the percentage of money they take is small. i truly can't recommend it enough.

in a more abstract answer, being an indie author is tough, i won't lie. it can feel like you're shouting into the void with no one listening, it can feel isolating, and you have to decide what your measure of success looks like for you, otherwise you can feel like you've never accomplished your goals and you're always reaching for something more.

however, i would say it's so, so worth it because your book will always be true to you, your cover, your blurb, your chapters, whatever you want it to be. for me, that control is more important.

believe in yourself. you are an author, you are not an impostor, and there is no such as "that sounds too intimidating for someone like me" or "someone like me wouldn't be able to pull that off" or "i don't even know where to begin" all doubts that kept me from publishing for a while. you- yes, YOU, can publish your own book! you can do it if you have a good support group and you believe you can get it done!

you too can hold your book in your hands and feel every childhood dream come true.

and if you have the funds, maybe hire a cover artist and an editor. don't drive yourself to the brink of madness like i do.

i might put together a masterlist of all my resources as an indie author. would anyone like to see that?

i hope this helped! if you have any more questions feel free to shoot me another ask! thanks again!

[copperbadge]

Well, I bit the bullet and bought 100 ISBNs. 

Put very simply, an ISBN is a serial number that allows bookstores and libraries to enter your book into their systems easily. As a self-publisher, I have to either publish without one, sell some rights to the printer in return for a free ISBN, or buy one myself, and I prefer to handle my own business. In the US, you have to purchase them from Bowker, who sells them in packs of 1, 10, or 100. 

Buying 100 ISBNs costs, roughly, twice the price of buying two 10-packs. Sort of a “Buy 20, get 80 free” deal, which is great, though it’s a bit Sam Vimes Boots Theory in that you have to have $575 to spend on 100 ISBNs. 

Still, you need two ISBNs per book at least (one for the paperback, one for the ebook) so as long as I thought I was going to write 10 more books in my lifetime and use up 20 ISBNs, it was worth the cost. 

In 2022, when I finished writing Fete and bought 10 to start with so I’d have two for Fete, I thought, I might not use all of these up, but it’s still a good deal. Then I wrote two more books last year, requiring nine ISBNs total (two per book plus three for the omnibus). I won’t lie, I’ve been concerned what it might do to my output to know I have 100 more to burn, but this is my idea of living dangerously. A mid-life crisis usually costs a lot more than $575. 

Anyway, I can now identify so many books. Just gotta write them. 

[ID: A screencap of the Bowker Identifier Services website, which welcomes me, Sam Starbuck of Extribulum Press, back to the site. Below the header are several menu options, and an “ISBN dashboard” informing me that I have 110 ISBNs in total.]

[idiopathicsmile]

asking your library to order a book, a guide

let's say you're really excited about a book coming out soon. you want to read it and support the author but maybe you don't have a ton of disposable income because you, for instance, live in a capitalist hellscape that doesn't enforce a living wage.

perhaps, um, just for example, you want to read my upcoming YA novel Stars, Hide Your Fires, wherein a jaded thief and a mysterious revolutionary must team up to solve a mystery in space, feat. ballgowns, intrigue, banter, and a generous dash of queer romance (out july 11th!)

if you can't afford to buy a book, i would ask you to please please consider your local library. here is a tool for finding your closest lending library (u.s. only, unfortunately). this is also a gentle reminder to get a library card if you don't have one yet! libraries provide invaluable services, particularly to underserved groups, and are funded partly based on use, so you'll be supporting your community.

your library may already have ordered a copy, in which case borrowing the book is a matter of placing a hold and then waiting for it to come out. but what if you try and your local library has no plans of obtaining the volume? first of all, good on you for your ~exclusive tastes. second, you can do an author a huge favor, for free and in under five minutes, by requesting that your library order their book.

google the name of your library along with "purchase request" or "suggest a purchase." if one doesn't work, try the other.

towards the top of the results, you'll probably find a form to fill out.

in the case of my local library, what you find is an FAQ page that suggests emailing the library if they're missing something. clicking on that email ink takes you to a form.

note: they'll probably ask for your library card number, so have that handy!

it's very likely they'll ask for the ISBN so they can be sure they'll identify the right book. in the case of Stars, Hide Your Fires, you can find that info on the publisher's website. (Or I can save you the click: hardcover ISBN: 9781683693512, e-Book ISBN: 9781683693529) If you don't happen to know this, you can just google the title and author plus "ISBN" and it should come up.

submit the form and bask in the good vibes that follow.