Choosing a Publisher

77 Days Until Publish…

One of the biggest early decisions I had to make was what publisher I was going to use. This was a high priority because it would influence many other decisions down the line. Things like sizes, specs, pricing and distribution. So it had to be done first. And honestly it was the one that I knew 0.0% about.

Self-Publishing has changed a lot in the last few years. It used to be that you would drop some serious cash to do a single print run from a local printer, usually in the 100’s of books range, and then you would have to cart them around trying to sell them one by one until they were gone. Thankfully times have changed and there are many different options that not only make it ‘easy’ to publish on your own, it’s also more affordable.

As I researched my options, I put together a list of things that I wanted to make sure the publisher offered. Things like:

• Print On-Demand (aka: print when it is ordered)

• High Quality Full Color

• Amazon Distribution

• Distribution for Stores, Schools & Libraries

• Hardcover Options

After watching a number of videos and visiting a number of sites. (Thank you YouTube) Two publishers rose to the top: Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and IngramSpark. Both had a lot of the same pro’s but different cons.

KDP was awesome because it was Amazon. Duh. Publishing through Amazon would allow me to have my book listed on the largest bookseller out there and have high-quality print on demand services. The cons were that it didn’t have a hardcover option for my length of book and it’s distribution network and fees left a lot to be desired.

IngramSpark was a similar print-on-demand service that could also get your listed on Amazon. They have an infinitely better distribution network and print on slightly better paper. Their cons were people having issues connecting to Amazon from their service and they also didn’t offer hardcover.

So, which one did I choose? Well…actually I chose both.

I plan to publish through KDP for my listing on Amazon and then publish through IngramSpark for the expanded distribution network. This will allow me to get the best of both worlds. I did have to get my own ISBN number (think barcode) so I can tie the two books together and will also have to tweak the covers a bit to work for both. That being said, I think this will be the best option! Although unfortunately neither side allowed me to publish a hardcover. Oh well…

Really happy to have this BIG decision behind me. The next domino to fall was deciding on the final size of my book. Click here to find out what I chose and drop a like/comment to help spread the word!

Ok. That’s it for now.

Thanks, Kacy