Paperback Writer

~ tidalscribe.com

Tidalscribe Tales is now live as a paperback. If you want to know how to publish a paperback with KDP best not to ask me. I again followed Sam Kern’s book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Publish-Book-Amazon-2018-ebook/dp/B01M0J5KZA

My second proof copy revealed I had ironed out a few problems subject to some compromises, at least I had managed to get some writing on the back cover…

Amazon always tells you if there is a problem, though you may not understand what the problem is.

You have submitted your manuscript in ( selection of incomprehensible numbers and letter ) format. Do you wish the Amazon Elves to change it to ( further set of incomprehensible numbers and letters ) format?

Yeah, whatever..

Looking at the nice large print I think they may have meant my manuscript would not have enough pages to fill the size book I chose, so they just made the writing bigger. Fine, I like the larger print.

While Team G were staying at half term I had help changing my photos to PDF so I could make another attempt to design my own cover. Alas the pictures were not the right size and the elves are not allowed to have scissors, so I returned to Amazon Cover Creator and the only template that vaguely made any sense. I like to think I am leaning towards the simplicity of the early Penguin books with a picture stuck on.

Can you tell the difference?

I noticed something slightly awry with the second proof copy. The colour was not as bright, the sea water not as clear and the sky not as blue! Which elf is in charge of paint? The colour choice was not very inspiring to begin with. But hey ho, the exercise was about producing a real book by myself and I have. My sister in Australia has ordered three copies, but has to wait till the middle of the month. We await with interest to see where Amazon Australia prints their copies. Perhaps the covers will appear in the rich red of The Pilbara or Uluru.

If anyone else orders a paperback why not follow her example and order two extra copies for friends.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/stores/Janet-Gogerty/author/B00A8FWDMU

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYJHNFQM

I have dusted and vacuumed the Books and About pages on my website to welcome the new book, but have hit a brick wall editing my Amazon Author Page.. but you don’t want to hear about that on a Friday evening.

Do not be put off publishing on KDP, I’m sure plenty of authors know exactly what they are doing. There is also help available from various companies who will handle the technical side, some doing as much or as little of the whole editing process as suits you. I am also well aware that there are other places to self publish, but I can’t be bothered but I am enjoying producing whatever books I want, whenever as an independent boutique publisher…

Visit my Book and About pages to read about my previous books.

Are you an Indie Author? How do you like to tackle getting your books published?

31 thoughts on “Paperback Writer”

  3. I have published 7 books in paperback on Amazon (both CreateSpace and KDP). I’ve always done my own formatting. (I shudder at the memory of terms like “Keep with next” and “Odd page break.) Every time I feel like I’m back to Square 1 (or at least 1.2). I’m planning to publish the paperback version of my latest through D2D, who apparently have automated the process so it’s much easier. We shall see. I have to wait until after my 90 days of KDP exclusivity for the Kindle ebook run out.

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  6. You have more patience than me, Janet. The chances of me self-publishing are zero. The left hand book is much nicer than the right hand one, which has ‘flat colours’ and less appeal. Good luck with the paperback sales. 📚

    Best wishes, Pete.

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    1. I agree Pete, if you can spot that in a photo there is obviously a difference. alas the ten regular copies I ordered have the inferior colour. We have taken different routes as you started blogging then writing fiction. I started blogging because authors are told to do that to help promote their books! But blogging has become much more than that.

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  7. Congratulations, Janet! It sounds like perseverance has paid off and you are now an international author 🙂

    I publish ebooks and paperbacks through KDP/Amazon, and paperbacks through Ingram Spark, which supposedly gives me wider coverage, but I do wonder whether it’s worth it. Compared to Ingram, KDP is an intuitive breeze… Even for the same size paperback, the cover dimensions are different on the two platforms and the upload for Ingram is really clunky and complex. Plus, if you want to make changes after an initial 60 days, Ingram requires you to pay a fee. For the sales I get through Ingram, I do wonder whether it’s worth it…

    The differing cover dimensions are one reason I have always had professional cover design rather than wrestle with Cover Creator. The other reason is my complete lack of artistic flair! Amazon still believes one of my covers is the wrong size, but it does seem happy to publish it.

    The colours do vary by print run, and Ingram once managed to print 50 copies of Dogs n Dracula for a book seller in Romania off centre. That was fun to sort out!

    I hope you don’t think I’m being spammy if I add this link to a blog I wrote about how I published on KDP. I thought some people might find A Beginners Guide to Self Publishing a Book and Selling it on Amazon useful https://worldwidewalkies.blog/2019/07/31/a-beginners-guide-to-self-publishing-a-book-selling-it-on-amazon/

    Like you, I prefer being a boutique publisher who can publish what I want when! 🙂

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  8. Congratulations, Janet! I create my ebook covers with BookBrush. My request the Amazon and IngramSpark templates for the print versions. I distribute through IngramSpark (paper copy only), Draft2Digital for ebooks vendors except Amazon. I do both ebook and print through Amazon. Many, many, many steps . . .

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  10. Well done. It is a steep learning curve, but it can be done! I used Draft2Digital and it was relatively easy. I prefer it as the distribution is much wider. Just relying on Amazon is too limiting. The cover looks great BTW!

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  12. Hi Janet, Wow, I don’t have the ability or persistence you have. I can definitely see the difference in the two covers. How disappointing. KDP’s response was confusing to say the least.

    The first Story Chat book I published using a KDP editorial staff with additional cost to go with Ingram Spark. That cost me $1,800 for my trust and naivety. Plus, they didn’t format the Kindle version correctly, and Gloria McBreen, one of the SC authors reformatted it and we put it back up.

    For Story Chat Volume II, after three SC authors and myself gave it a complete edit, I employed the services of Colleen Chesebro’s Unicorn Cats. Wow, what a difference! She designed the cover using Canva, formatted everything, did some light editing, wrote a poem about the process for the book, and talked me through the KDP process. There was no comparison in the quality or the price. I will use her services FOREVER! She was amazing to work with.

    This time I am publishing a book of poetry, and I’ll go with Colleen again She’s already designed my cover. Melissa Lemay, one of my beta readers, is going through all the corrections suggested by Robbie Cheadle and Willowdot, my other two beta readers, with a fine tooth comb. When that is all done, I will turn it over to Colleen to work her magic.

    Long response, I know, but you struck a cord! 🙂 xxxxx

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    1. Hello Marsha, thank goodness for Colleen then! It’s interesting the different routes people take / have to navigate… My sister in Western Australia just received her three paperback copies, printed in Sydney and sent 2000 miles. She sent a photo and the covers look nice and bright. I have also had an email reply about my author page, apparently I am not allowed to include a URL, even though Tidalscribe.Com has been in the original biography all this time!

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