Thank you for breaking this down for us and all this extremely hardcore breakdown on the different publishers! I have only used KDP which is who I plan to use for my updated relaunch and next in my series. Thanks again, Mandi!
Thank you for your information. Personally, I had books printed by a few different companies, and I have ordered more printing from a couple of them. Having been in the print business, my company sold software solutions to printers as well as large companies that had their own print centers, I can tell you firsthand there are a lot of differences in print and final production quality occurring in print runs - from run to run, day to day, month to month etc.. Everything from the quality of the supplies they buy - paper, ink, toner, etc. to the weather of the day - too hot, too humid, etc, to the finishing operator who trims the book to final sizing. All of this will affect the final printed copy. People need to remember that printing represents a 'point in time' result. However, with that said, things like printing options, print pricing, distribution, change costs, and customer service are extremely important. Thank for the video as these parts of the overall book production and follow up that are often overlooked by authors.
Thanks for all of this information. I've used kdp and Lulu in the past, and I think you're spot on with your comments. I wonder if you've ever looked at Book Baby - I get stuff from them all the time, probably because I had a small hardcover printed for someone else there several years ago. It turned out well and was fairly easy, but I really don't remember how pricing worked there. Speaking of hardcovers - I'd love to see your video comparing options there. (sorry)
Your videos are very helpful, and you put a lot of work into them. Thank you dearly, Mandi. I have one comment about D2D (Draft 2 Digital). Living in Europe, I mainly use them and KDP to publish my books. KDP usually gives me about $1,00 more in royalty than D2D (on average) if I list my paperback for the same price on both platforms, which I usually do. At D2D, I get between 45% and 70% royalty for each sale, while at KDP, I get 70%. So, I am uncertain where the $0.75 royalty comes from. However, you said you are unfamiliar with D2D, so there could be some understanding. Anyway, keep up your important work.
Great info. 4 books all on KDP. I am currently have a customer service issue on a recently published book on KDP. The last two chapters print in BOLD font. It was my error. I went to the manuscript, change to non BOLD, saved then exported to PDF. Same file name as before. Uploaded the new PDF and KDP says my margins aren’t correct. Contacted CS who was clueless. The book is still for sale with BOLD font so I will leave it alone. Frustrating.
I got my proof back from KDP in Gloss and Matte to see the difference. The Matte is the way to go for a fiction novel, but it was so flat and lost detail compared to the image on my PC. PC use RBG, but printer print in CMYK. I adjusted the cover on Photoshop and used 3 different types of background images behind the title of the book. I have ordered all three in Matte and they should arrive tomorrow. Will be interesting to see how they look. I also printed one of the NEW covers on Kodak Matte paper using my Epson $250 printer and it looks far more vibrant and colour accurate than the 1st proof from KDP. Fingers crossed the new proofs look better. The inside of the book was perfect.
I know! I do understand why none of the retail stores want to give money to Amazon, their biggest competitor, though. I love libraries, so I guess I will have to use Ingram Spark in addition to KDP.
I haven’t even uploaded a file yet and I’m already struggling with Ingram issues lol. 😂 Still have to go with them as I want my local bookstores to be able to shelve my book, though!
thank you for the video, I have published on KDP, I find their customer service very hit and miss, they will often reject a book but are not clear as to why they reject a book. Same with formatting they will reject a book but apart from saying the formatting is not correct, and refer you to their instruction files, they are not specific so for one book in particular I spent about 3 weeks trying to find the fault. When it comes to e-books I have failed completely trying to use their system, whereas on D2D its very easy to do e-books but in their case printed books are often a disaster. So I have come to use D2D for e-books and KDP for printed books. If you can do a video on how to do e-books on KDP I would be very grateful.
I am interested in hard cover children’s books. I have only used KDP for my paperback kids books, and we loved them, but, we used premium color and paper when we printed them. Our future books we want to use hardback for the children’s books at least.
I prefer KDP for paperback, but for hardcover Ingram Spark because they offer dust jackets, KDP only offers case wrap, which I think looks like a textbook. I just published my second book and this one, Ingram Spark allowed case wrap with a dust jacket, they used to only allow blue or grey (cloth) with a dust jacket. I tried to change my first book to the same option (case wrap with a dust jacket) but because it was published for more than 60 days, they required $30 for the change. Other than moving the "About the Author" to the dust jacket, the files uploaded for the case wrap cover and inside content to KDP and Ingram Spark were the same
I've used KDP, B&N Press and IS. I noticed the coloring for KDP was not as crisp as the others, and B&N and IS has that nice paperback "floppy" feel (probably because of thinner paper). I also got some errors on IS, but thankfully, I showed the error message to my cover designer and she fixed it right away. I think for the future, I'll use KDP for standard online sales, but IS or B&N if I need advanced copies before release. Can you please do a hardcover video?
I would love information on where to print the hardcover. I agree that KDP is not the best. I did not like how my cookbook came out. I love your videos. They have been invaluable.
Hello Mandi Lynn ! I’m a regular viewer of your RUclips channel, and I must say, your content is truly amazing! However, I’ve noticed that your videos aren’t reaching the audience they deserve. As an SEO expert, I can see that your videos might not be optimized properly for search engines, which is why they aren’t getting the views, likes, comments, and subscribers they should. Proper SEO can help your videos reach a global audience and grow your channel significantly. Have you considered optimizing your titles, descriptions, tags, and thumbnails? Solving these issues could help your channel progress and reach its full potential. Keep up the great work, and I hope this feedback helps! 😊
I didn't have any issues with drafted2digital rejecting my file because I included a copyright page in the initial upload which did not include an ISBN number. It's the same with Kdp I don't include it on the copyright page because it's on the back of the book anyways. But I suppose if you want to have that number inside the book you would probably have to go through those hoops. It was my first time so I didn't know any better, so I stumbled through it without any problems. I'll probably do the same thing in the Spring when the next book comes out. It just seems to be easier for me not to include it.
Mandi, On KDP, if I submit revisions, will I lose my reviews? I’ve been putting off revisions due to my fear of losing my reviews. Thanks, Author of “Living with My Dead Husband”
Thanks for all your research and hard work re these companies. Very interesting. I have found KDP works for me. I tried D2D and Barnes and Noble but neither of these outlets sold my books. I don't know why. If I ask them, they say you don't do enough marketing. Over all, a big disappointment.
Where I think that Lulu really blows everyone else out of the water is if you are printing coloring books. Their 60# paper holds up amazing to copics, markers, etc where KDP in particular has terrible paper quality for coloring.
Hello, sent you an email off of your website with some questions about your course. Are you able to check that email? Is that still a good email for your business? Thanks.
I would love a breakdown on hardcovers. This was amazing! Thank you!!
Thank you very much for this informative video on publishing paperbacks. I would be interested in a video on publishing hardcover books.
This was incredible. Thank you!!! Looking forward to a hardcover version!!
Yes, please do that!
yes agreed I hope she does a hardcover video
Thank you for breaking this down for us and all this extremely hardcore breakdown on the different publishers! I have only used KDP which is who I plan to use for my updated relaunch and next in my series. Thanks again, Mandi!
Thank you for your information. Personally, I had books printed by a few different companies, and I have ordered more printing from a couple of them. Having been in the print business, my company sold software solutions to printers as well as large companies that had their own print centers, I can tell you firsthand there are a lot of differences in print and final production quality occurring in print runs - from run to run, day to day, month to month etc.. Everything from the quality of the supplies they buy - paper, ink, toner, etc. to the weather of the day - too hot, too humid, etc, to the finishing operator who trims the book to final sizing. All of this will affect the final printed copy.
People need to remember that printing represents a 'point in time' result. However, with that said, things like printing options, print pricing, distribution, change costs, and customer service are extremely important.
Thank for the video as these parts of the overall book production and follow up that are often overlooked by authors.
Thank you so much, it's easy to get lost in all of this when you are getting started!! So many good tips and I will check out your other videos. 😊
Ingramspark just came out with 85% royalties for ebooks, so I would love an ebook version of this!!! 😍
IS will not let me sell ebooks through them
Thank you. Very helpful 🙏
Thanks for this video, it was very helpful. Can you show hardcovers quality ?
Thank you so so much! This is invaluable information!
I love your videos! I'm trying to publish my first book and your videos have been SO helpful!
Fantastic work Mandi! It got you a new subscriber. Seriously, thanks for this. I'd love to see a hardcover version.
So so useful! Thanks for putting in the work and creating this!
So much informative content! Thank you ❤❤
And I've been meaning to rewatch your older one but here's a new one. ^^
Thanks for all of this information. I've used kdp and Lulu in the past, and I think you're spot on with your comments.
I wonder if you've ever looked at Book Baby - I get stuff from them all the time, probably because I had a small hardcover printed for someone else there several years ago. It turned out well and was fairly easy, but I really don't remember how pricing worked there.
Speaking of hardcovers - I'd love to see your video comparing options there. (sorry)
Thank you very much, Mandi. This helps a lot, sticking with KDP.
Your videos are very helpful, and you put a lot of work into them. Thank you dearly, Mandi. I have one comment about D2D (Draft 2 Digital). Living in Europe, I mainly use them and KDP to publish my books. KDP usually gives me about $1,00 more in royalty than D2D (on average) if I list my paperback for the same price on both platforms, which I usually do. At D2D, I get between 45% and 70% royalty for each sale, while at KDP, I get 70%. So, I am uncertain where the $0.75 royalty comes from. However, you said you are unfamiliar with D2D, so there could be some understanding. Anyway, keep up your important work.
Great video. A tutorial on hardcover books would be great.
Regards,
Gerard Denza
Author of the Edward Mendez, P. I. series
Thanks for the update!
Great info. 4 books all on KDP. I am currently have a customer service issue on a recently published book on KDP. The last two chapters print in BOLD font. It was my error. I went to the manuscript, change to non BOLD, saved then exported to PDF. Same file name as before. Uploaded the new PDF and KDP says my margins aren’t correct. Contacted CS who was clueless. The book is still for sale with BOLD font so I will leave it alone. Frustrating.
Thanks!
Thank you. My debut comes out in May and I have been wondering where to go. :)
I got my proof back from KDP in Gloss and Matte to see the difference. The Matte is the way to go for a fiction novel, but it was so flat and lost detail compared to the image on my PC. PC use RBG, but printer print in CMYK. I adjusted the cover on Photoshop and used 3 different types of background images behind the title of the book. I have ordered all three in Matte and they should arrive tomorrow. Will be interesting to see how they look. I also printed one of the NEW covers on Kodak Matte paper using my Epson $250 printer and it looks far more vibrant and colour accurate than the 1st proof from KDP. Fingers crossed the new proofs look better. The inside of the book was perfect.
Thank you. that was thorough. It's disappointing that if you print on KDP, no one will carry you.
I know! I do understand why none of the retail stores want to give money to Amazon, their biggest competitor, though. I love libraries, so I guess I will have to use Ingram Spark in addition to KDP.
I haven’t even uploaded a file yet and I’m already struggling with Ingram issues lol. 😂 Still have to go with them as I want my local bookstores to be able to shelve my book, though!
thank you for the video, I have published on KDP, I find their customer service very hit and miss, they will often reject a book but are not clear as to why they reject a book. Same with formatting they will reject a book but apart from saying the formatting is not correct, and refer you to their instruction files, they are not specific so for one book in particular I spent about 3 weeks trying to find the fault. When it comes to e-books I have failed completely trying to use their system, whereas on D2D its very easy to do e-books but in their case printed books are often a disaster. So I have come to use D2D for e-books and KDP for printed books. If you can do a video on how to do e-books on KDP I would be very grateful.
Do one with hardcover books please =D
I am interested in hard cover children’s books.
I have only used KDP for my paperback kids books, and we loved them, but, we used premium color and paper when we printed them. Our future books we want to use hardback for the children’s books at least.
I prefer KDP for paperback, but for hardcover Ingram Spark because they offer dust jackets, KDP only offers case wrap, which I think looks like a textbook. I just published my second book and this one, Ingram Spark allowed case wrap with a dust jacket, they used to only allow blue or grey (cloth) with a dust jacket. I tried to change my first book to the same option (case wrap with a dust jacket) but because it was published for more than 60 days, they required $30 for the change.
Other than moving the "About the Author" to the dust jacket, the files uploaded for the case wrap cover and inside content to KDP and Ingram Spark were the same
I've used KDP, B&N Press and IS. I noticed the coloring for KDP was not as crisp as the others, and B&N and IS has that nice paperback "floppy" feel (probably because of thinner paper). I also got some errors on IS, but thankfully, I showed the error message to my cover designer and she fixed it right away. I think for the future, I'll use KDP for standard online sales, but IS or B&N if I need advanced copies before release.
Can you please do a hardcover video?
I had the same issues with D2D, so it's not just you 😂 I've just relented and only distribute ebooks through them
I would love information on where to print the hardcover. I agree that KDP is not the best. I did not like how my cookbook came out. I love your videos. They have been invaluable.
This Helps Alot!
Thank you’
Hello Mandi Lynn
! I’m a regular viewer of your RUclips channel, and I must say, your content is truly amazing! However, I’ve noticed that your videos aren’t reaching the audience they deserve. As an SEO expert, I can see that your videos might not be optimized properly for search engines, which is why they aren’t getting the views, likes, comments, and subscribers they should. Proper SEO can help your videos reach a global audience and grow your channel significantly. Have you considered optimizing your titles, descriptions, tags, and thumbnails? Solving these issues could help your channel progress and reach its full potential. Keep up the great work, and I hope this feedback helps! 😊
Yes hardcover please
I had an issue with the isbn with D2D as well . Their language around the issue was confusing.
I sincerely don't understand what the point of pre-orders would be even in a best case scenario where it all went smoothly?
I didn't have any issues with drafted2digital rejecting my file because I included a copyright page in the initial upload which did not include an ISBN number. It's the same with Kdp I don't include it on the copyright page because it's on the back of the book anyways. But I suppose if you want to have that number inside the book you would probably have to go through those hoops. It was my first time so I didn't know any better, so I stumbled through it without any problems. I'll probably do the same thing in the Spring when the next book comes out. It just seems to be easier for me not to include it.
Mandi,
On KDP, if I submit revisions, will I lose my reviews? I’ve been putting off revisions due to my fear of losing my reviews.
Thanks,
Author of “Living with My Dead Husband”
Thanks for all your research and hard work re these companies. Very interesting. I have found KDP works for me. I tried D2D and Barnes and Noble but neither of these outlets sold my books. I don't know why. If I ask them, they say you don't do enough marketing. Over all, a big disappointment.
Where I think that Lulu really blows everyone else out of the water is if you are printing coloring books. Their 60# paper holds up amazing to copics, markers, etc where KDP in particular has terrible paper quality for coloring.
Do not use D2D - very poor customer service
I agree
Stop supporting Amazon 🙌🏻
Hello, sent you an email off of your website with some questions about your course. Are you able to check that email? Is that still a good email for your business? Thanks.
I actually purchased your course on book formatting using indesign. Please take a look at my email and get back to me if possible. Thanks.