When an author publishes a brand new edition of their book, or when they move their book from one publisher to another, or even when they get the rights back to their book and decide to self-publish, they are often frustrated to learn that Amazon will not remove the old version of their book from Amazon.com…
I received this email from an unhappy POD author:
“I’ve really, really disliked Lulu, and have been very discouraged by the process. I don’t think a paperback of this book should cost so much (they claimed it’s necessary for the Amazon distribution). I actually haven’t marketed this book at all because I’m upset by the costs.
She provided me with her book’s information online. It’s a 390-page paperback (fiction) and it costs (are you sitting down?) more than $25! She’s right. That is WAY too expensive. Why would any POD publisher want to price a book out of the market like that?
I looked online and found two POD publishers that have some (not all) of their books appearing on Amazon with significant price differences compared to the list price on the publishers’ own websites…
One of the biggest mistakes new authors make is believing that blindly mailing copies of their book (or, worse, emailing copies of their ebook) will result in sure-fire coverage by book reviewers and journalists. They waste this valuable opportunity by making several common mistakes.
A year and a half ago, I published an article about hard core sales tactics being used by some POD publishers. Some of the sales reps at some POD publishers work on commission. Obviously, things haven’t changed. In fact, they’ve gotten worse.
Several months ago, we ran a feature that revealed the shipping costs charged by POD publishers on author orders (large-quantity purchases).
Today, we’re comparing the shipping costs POD publishers are charging YOUR readers – the customer who drops by to order a book from the publisher at the recommendation of the author. Yes, inflated shipping costs CAN impact your sales!
Here are a few examples of what we believe is “hot air” on some POD publishers’ websites. Of course, this is our opinion. You can form your own.
Many authors sign up with a self-publishing/POD company, innocently expecting to pay a certain price…only to discover they’d need to pay more for services you’d expect would be included in every basic package. Here are some not-so-humorous examples…
Don’t pay for reviews that can ultimately harm your reputation!
You did it! Your book is finally in print! After months of sweating over details like editing and cover colors and even the final list price, you’re ready to start that marketing campaign! You’ve even figured out that you can make more money buying copies at your author discount and doing your own fulfillment at appearances than you would if you sent potential readers to your publisher’s website. But, wait…
You just tried to place an order for 100 copies of your book…and discovered that your publisher is charging you around $1 per paperback book for shipping and handling! Say what?!
So, your book is finally being published! Congratulations! If you’re like the rest of us, you envision yourself walking into your local bookstore and seeing your book on the shelves. You start to plan book signings and appearances. And you dream about how big your first royalty check will be! But, if your traditional publisher is a small one…or even a new, unestablished POD publisher, how long will it last, and how much money and time could you lose?
