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From Kindle to Paper...when is a good time?

3K views 20 replies 17 participants last post by  Rachel Schurig 
#1 ·
Okay, this is a question that's beginning to pop up. It's not something I need to worry about immediately since I've only sold 105 in the past two and half months. But the speed of increase of the sales got me to wondering.

At what point would it be good to consider going on say CreateSpace and getting books published in paper format?

Any answers? I know some here do it, so I thought I would throw the question out there.

Thanks! :D
JDavis
 
#3 ·
I put the paper version out through Createspace as quickly as I can get around to it. But I put the ebook out first, so that I can register the copyright online electronically. I'm in the U.S. and if you put out an ebook you can file electronically, but if you have a paper version you're required to mail in two physical copies last I checked, which is a hassle.  Once I register the copyright, I make the paper version. The paper versions of my books always have a significantly higher page count than whatever system Amazon uses on its kindle books, so when they update the kindle book with the higher page count, my kindle books will appear longer for the readers, which is a plus.
 
#7 ·
I like to have them release on the same day so that once I start promoting the book, all the various formats are available.

With my first book it was a month after the e-book released and I got so many requests for the print version (in emails, in comments on blog tours, etc) that I realized I was probably losing precious promo opportunities by not having all the formats available at once. This time I did the Nook First program, so the Nook version released in mid-May then everything else (Kindle, print, other ebook formats...I'm still waiting on Kobo since I'm going to go direct for that and their program won't be out until the end of June) on the same day in mid-June. I didn't do any promo until the Nook First program was over -- I allowed B&N to promote me to their readers for that month, since that's sort of the point of getting accepted into that program.

For my next release I'll do everything the same day.

Since it's free to set up a Createspace book and actually much easier to catch proofing errors in print than on a screen, why not do it all at once and release in all formats together?
 
#8 ·
I tend to release my CreateSpace/paperback versions first before the ebook version. For me, it's much easier to convert paperback format to ebook format (don't ask why. I'm weird like that). Moreover, I have friends and family who prefer a signed paperback over digital copies. I usually release the ebook version of the book within a day the paperback is out since it doesn't take that long at all to format it.
 
#11 ·
Edward M. Grant said:
So it's not a huge amount of work if you just want a basic novel format. If you want fancy stuff you could spend months on it :).
My first one took maybe 4-5 hours of fiddling around over a weekend. My second one took about 90 minutes. The anthology I worked on, however, was a huge headache since each of the stories was written in a different version of Word, WordPerfect, Open Office, or Scrivener (all different authors) so the formatting got all screwed up once they were collated. It was a pain in the neck.

I've sold over 1000 print copies of the first book. Maybe 1500. For a while there it was 1:1, but now digital way outsells it.

The second book I've only sold 17 print copies, but it's been out less than a week. (I've sold over 1000 digital copies because the Nook version was released last month in the Nook First program...I've only sold 28 Kindle copies in the week it's been live.)

We've only sold 12 copies of the anthology, of which 11 I can trace back to the various authors. (Some decided it was easier to just order from Amazon rather than going through me for discounted copies since the book is part of the 4=-for-the-price-of-3 promotion and eligible for free shipping.) Buyt then again, the digital version of the anthology is FREE so $0 vs. $8.99? No-brainer.

Anyway, my point is that it's a minimal amount of effort for the ability to offer a different format (yes, the majority of your readers probably read e-books, but not everyone out there does!). And it makes good giveaways. Not to mention that many reviewers still want print.
 
#12 ·
MichaelWallace said:
And how many sales do you guys typically see as a percentage of digital sales? I've never done a print version before and I'm worried it would be a lot of work for little payoff.
I release paper and ebook at the same time, but the delays in channel distribution usually result in the ebook being available first.

I sell anywhere from 5-10% of my ebook numbers in paper but that's still a nice little addition to the revenue stream for basically a couple hours of extra work. It adds up over the course of the year.
 
#13 ·
JonDavis1 said:
Okay, this is a question that's beginning to pop up. It's not something I need to worry about immediately since I've only sold 105 in the past two and half months. But the speed of increase of the sales got me to wondering.

At what point would it be good to consider going on say CreateSpace and getting books published in paper format?

Any answers? I know some here do it, so I thought I would throw the question out there.

Thanks! :D
JDavis
I am not sure why you would think you need to wait. I always do it as soon as possible. I sell between 3 and 5% print that I do digital, but they're still sales.
 
#14 ·
Ebook sells way more than paperback. But I still do paperback to keep that option available for readers. Formatting doesn't take terribly long once I know how I want it to look like. For Firebrand, I just reused The Necromancer's Apprentice file and added a few little Wingdings here and there. The Necromancer's Apprentice looked great in print, so I figured not to make any major changes to margins or anything for when I did Firebrand, which sped the job up tremendously.
 
#15 ·
MichaelWallace said:
And how many sales do you guys typically see as a percentage of digital sales? I've never done a print version before and I'm worried it would be a lot of work for little payoff.
Michael, you should get a formatter ASAP. You sell a lot of books so it would definitely be worth the payoff. I do formatting for my friend and she is a pretty good seller with her books. She still makes about 75 to 80 percent of her money in e-book sales but 20% easily comes from her paperbacks. She does novellas too, which, I wouldn't exactly think would sell in paperback but there are some people out there who prefer paper to electronic. Why leave money on the table?

P.S. I wasn't advertising my services, just using my friend as an example because I have to upload her work to her CS account and I see her sales figures. :D ;)

As for myself, I upload within a couple weeks to a month after the release of the e-book but some are more work than others. If you notice sales are picking up then definitely have a paperback copy available.
 
#18 ·
Once you have done it, you realize that it really wasn't much effort. Plus, it gives you all sorts of options--giveaways on goodreads, print copies to bloggers--that ebooks don't.

In terms of timing: I'd *start* the process ASAP keeping in mind that it could take you some time to *finish* and be ready to publish. Formatting for print is a completely different process, then there's the proof to order and review, etc. Some of it can't be hurried through.
 
#19 ·
I have one book with CS.  I know someone who bought it at the Barns & Noble store early this month.  It doesn't show up in the sales report.  When I asked about this the CS people said it wouldn't show up in sales until about 30 days after the month it was sold.  So I have a big Zero in sales.

I'm having another formatted for CS, but wonder how people find the books.  Does anyone do promotion?  And if so, where?
 
#21 ·
I always do it at the same time. I have a lot of friends and family who don't have e-readers yet, so I like to promote the release to everyone all at the same time. I also use my proof review as my last proofreading pass. Reading the book in paperback form almost always presents an error or two that my eyes slipped past in the digital format.

I don't sell a ton of paperbacks, but I have found that my high selling months for kindle sales somehow results in higher sales in paperbacks.

Michael: I agree with the others who have encouraged you to get your books out in POD. The first one will take you a while (and make you want to throw your computer across the room) but every one after that gets easier. And if all else fails, you can generally find affordable formatters.
 
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