Would it be worth the paper it was printed on?

[estaratshirai]

I mean this question literally.

This book, formatted for the appropriate size, is 600 pages. According to Lulu's estimates, Devourer on the cheap paper would cost $15 per unit to print. (This, friends, is what we get for not buying in bulk.) They recommend a retail price of $30. I myself would be perfectly happy at negligible profit margins, since I

Comments

[alfrecht]

Lulu does nice stuff, but CreateSpace would be another option, I think. They're the one I use the most (except for printing single hardback copies of things for myself, whereupon I use Lulu), and a 600-pager could probably be done for the neighborhood of $10-15, most likely; it won't save much, but I think it would be less than Lulu.

[estaratshirai]

Thanks! I'm not finding where CreateSpace talks about cost estimates; do I have to start an account to get them to that level of detail?

[alfrecht]

I think so. That's one of the drawbacks of their service: there's loads of things that aren't as conveniently located (in my opinion) as they ought to be...

[maythen_apple]

600 pages is a big wacking chunk... I don't have a Nook or Kindle... would it be comfortable to read in eBook format?

I (as a consumer) might be willing to shell out that much, but it would have to be Especially captivating or usefull for a single book.

I vaugely recall you mentioning valid and important reasons why it couldn't be broken up into smaller chunks or multiple books, which might lower your fees. But it's been some time ago and I don't remember exactly.

[estaratshirai]

You can read digital books on computer; in fact, you can read things formatted for Kindle without a Kindle, because they've added a "read this on your pc" app that sorts that out for you.

I did look again at the option of splitting it in half, since there is actually a "book one" and "book two" in there. Going from the projected prices, it doesn't save the buyer any money (it comes out to $10-15 twice rather than $20-30 once), although it does spread it out, and gives you a chance to opt out if part one leaves you cold. But if you are engaged by then, you're not left in a place you're really comfortable resting for long, just at a sort of pause.

[pjvj]

No splitting!!!!!!

I have no answer for the fee, though, because I don't know squat about usual costs.

[estaratshirai]

<- My point about a split being suboptimal, let me show you it. XD

[lwood]

So, in the wide wide world of PoD, there are basically two tiers of pricing and service

[estaratshirai]

*nods* To be clear, the novel isn't a fanfic. It's all me. (I have written novel-length fanfics, yes, but I just put them on the internets for free, precisely because of that whole Imperial thing.)

I did run the journal for the FoI, and I am doing the formatting myself, along with a friend who knows the relevant programs. Other than my pretty pretty cover, I can keep my cost close to nil. Likewise, because I have a ready market to start from and no particular reason to care if it grows beyond that or not, I doubt I'll spend on marketing. Lulu provides an IBSN for free, so if I offer PoD, I only have to pay if I want Ingram and brick-and-mortar stores to carry it.

So my main concern here is the per-item printing cost, and what that does to unit price. Playing with Lulu's calculator I was able to massage it down from $20 to $15; I was wondering if anyone knew of a cheaper way out that still made for a decent book, or if this is really just the price range everyone doing indie publishing has to deal with.

[selyndria]

Everything I do now for my company is digital with the exception of a brochure folder and product data sheets for Trade Shows. Our customers can't stand paper manuals or installation guides so I do everything from interactive PDFs to full digital publishing Magazine styles/eBooks. I can even do books for Kindle and have for work. I use InDesign and love it.

I'd buy the book because it's you, but it'd be hard for me to recommend it to most people since $20 is a lot to pay for a paperback and this economy isn't supporting that kind of luxury for most people. It'd truly be a vanity printing. If you did do it, we could set up a matching eBook that you email to buyers so they get the Printed one and the eBook version. That would probably be a stronger bet for sales as it would cost you nothing to make the eBook (we'd do it with my license) and nothing to email it. Then people will see they're getting two books for the price of one and one is conveniently set up to go everywhere with them.

That's my two cents.

[estaratshirai]

Hmm, that's true - it wouldn't cost anything to sell the paper version as paper AND ebook, and "we throw in the digital copy" is a model that's growing for media hard copy sales.

But yeah, see, $20-30 is a lot to ask on a writer one doesn't know, especially when one can buy a book by a known author for half that. I'm mostly considering it just because I think I know several people who still don't read ebooks.

[sanacrow]

I haven't paid more than ~$10 for paper in years, unless it's a necessary academic text. Paper's only for a handful of authors/series that I still collect in physical. Everything (including any academics it's feasible for) is in E.

Even though I'd like to say I'd get it because it's yours, I probably wouldn't (at least not for a long time). I'm being glad I got the latest Mira Grant before we found out about Robin's job, because now the entertainment and luxury budgets are $0, and likely to stay that way for quite a while.

[estaratshirai]

Hey, I'd rather the honest answer. If people who know me or my work aren't sure they'd pony up $20, the odds of perfect strangers doing it is that much lower, and I'm better off sticking with an ebook at a competitive price. And that's what I wanted to know. :D