Yesterday afternoon I bit the bullet and attempted to publish a book containing my 2003 rules – RESTLESS NATIVES – using Amazon's KDP publishing system. There were a few minor hiccoughs along the way as the software was totally new to me, but between lunchtime and teatime I managed to do it ... and the Kindle version is already online!
I am hoping that the paperback edition will be on sale by the middle of the week, although it might be delayed as I want to change the cover. Presently, it is a plain cover with just the book's title and my name on it, but I am hoping that I can change it so that it looks more like the cover of the Kindle version:
I have been very impressed by the speed at which Amazon's KDP has processed and published the Kindle edition, and I am hoping that the paperback will appear with similar alacrity.
Both editions will be on sale for £5.50 (or the equivalent price in whatever currency is used in the country of purchase). I am still thinking about how to publish a PDF edition ... but that is something that I need to investigate further.
How do you feel it compares with using LuLu? I have not gone to Kindle yet, as I have a formatting issue with my pre-prepared pdfs. I shall be interested to hear how you Kindle sales go compared to hardcopy. As for the cover, I design my own and upload them rather than use the Kindle Cover Designer, but I have got acceptable results with it when I was looking for a placeholder whilst I worked on my final version.
ReplyDeleteTrebian,
DeleteTo be honest, I found Amazon’s KDP much easier to use than Lulu.com, although I still need to master the cover design process. I’ll also be interested to see how the sales figures compare.
All the best,
Bob
Well glad to hear that so far this has all worked well Bob. Fingers crossed that the print version is all that you hope for.
ReplyDeleteSteve J.,
DeleteIt was a very fast process, and I have printed proof copies ordered. Judging by the preview I saw, I’m not likely to be too disappointed by the end result.
All the best,
Bob
That was quick work Bob! I think I'll wait for the paperback.
ReplyDeleteMaudlin Jack Tar,
DeleteI have just checked ... and they already have the paperback on sale! I want to improve the cover, but I am amazed at how quickly Amazon KDP has been moving from me uploading the files to the system and it being published.
All the best,
Bob
They get the books up really quickly, once you release them. The only fault I find is you can't order personal copies - other than proofs - until it is available for sale on the website, so trying to do a co-ordinated launch like we try for the Battlefields Society publications is very difficult.
DeleteTrebian,
DeleteI ordered some proof copies, but it appears that they will be delivered after copies that are sold to the public! Odd ... but that’s they way they do things.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
DeleteYou order the proofs before you click the publish my book button. You can publish without. As you did to release your Kindle publication. You can withdraw a book if you want
Trebian
Trebian,
DeleteI mistook proof copies for author’s copies, hence my confusion. I did review the book before it was published, so there should not be too many mistakes that might need to be corrected. For the moment, I’m going to leave it as it is.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteI like the Cover with the Egyptian Colonials -firing...it would be hard to improve on it's design. Hope it all works out for you. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeleteI want to replicate that cover on the printed version as well. At present the paperback has just a plain-coloured cover.
All the best,
Bob
Bob,
ReplyDeleteQuick work indeed! I'm impressed. It looks as if Amazon could be the solution to your problems with LULU.
You might like to edit the text advertising the Kindle version: two bullet points seem to have crept into the middle of the description of the effects of Jokers, and the last sentence says 'over' when it should be 'other'.
Best wishes, Arthur
Arthur1815 (Arthur),
DeleteThe speed with which they worked has been phenomenal, and unless Lulu.com really does up their game, I’ll be staying with Amazon KDP for the next book.
I’ll see if I can sort out the problems with the description to remove all the bullet points. They were in the text I uploaded, but my formatting seems to have been lost when the text was uploaded to the webpage.
All the best,
Bob
I was put off LuLu when I saw Bob's COW presentation, with screen shots of the interface!
DeleteTrebian,
DeleteAt the time, I didn’t think that Lulu.com was that bad ... but since then, they’ve got a lot worse.
All the best,
Bob
Bob, you have certainly been prolific recently with your publishing. I wish you continuing success
ReplyDeleteKhusru,
DeleteI’ve tried to maintain a regular tempo of publishing two to four books per year. That way I hope to keep potential purchasers interested.
All the best,
Bob
That was quick! Well done.
ReplyDeleteRoss Mac,
DeleteThey were amazingly quick! In fact, they rather caught me off guard.
All the best,
Bob
You bloggers should not be allowed to advertise!
ReplyDeleteI've just bought the paperback. Cheaper than LuLu because I have Prime and a darn sight quicker; promised for Tuesday.
Nobby,
DeleteNot so much an advert, more an infomercial. (Anyway, that’s my excuse!)
You were quick off the mark! It looks as if you’ll get your copy before I get mine ... and it might come with the simple plain cover as I haven’t managed to redesign the cover yet.
I hope that you enjoy the book,
All the best,
Bob
I thought about the cover and as Bo Diddley sang, "You Can't Judge A Book (By Looking At The Cover)"
ReplyDelete:0)
Nobby,
DeleteIt is probably just as well that you didn't! ;^)
All the best,
Bob
If you should 'prettify' the cover mine will become a rare first edition.
DeleteNobby,
DeleteI never thought of that!
All the best,
Bob
My copy arrived this morning in a splendid English Mustard Yellow.
DeleteThe thought occurs that the picture on the back could have been on the front below the title!
:0)
Nobby,
DeleteNow that was prompt! I’m still waiting for my copies ... which I’m told will be delivered on Saturday.
I wanted to put a picture on the cover, but could not work out how to do it. I think that I know how to do it now, and when PP&SW is published, it should have a colour photograph on the cover.
All the best,
Bob
Well done! Off to order the paperback now.
ReplyDeleteLooks like Lulu is for the chop.
Whiskers,
DeleteI hope that you enjoy it when it arrives. The cover is going to be plain, and I’m going to leave it like this.
All the best,
Bob
I have no idea if my previous comment was received, thanks to Google’s machinations.
ReplyDeleteIf I could, I would put Google in the Lulu bin.
Whiskers,
DeleteI received your previous comment ... but I agree that Google might - and Lulu.com certainly does - deserve to be binned!
All the best,
Bob
Great work and speedily accomplished.
ReplyDeleteTradgardmastare,
DeleteAmazon KDP really did a good job ... and much faster than I would have expected!
All the best,
Bob
Ordered the paperback here in the states already. Will have it Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteDoug
Doug Southwell,
DeleteI’m amazed at the response to what is an experiment. I hope that you enjoy the book when it arrives.
All the best,
Bob
Colonial wargaming has never been an interest for me, but, I just downloaded it from Amazon.com which shows how quick the system is. I would be curious to see how quick they are in producing hard copies. Hopefully people can give feedback here.
ReplyDeleteSteve8,
DeleteCheers! Thanks for downloading my book, and I hope that you’ll find it interesting.
At present, Amazon is predicting that paperback books ordered today by Amazon Prime members will be delivered by Tuesday. If they do, it will be much faster than Lulu.com.
All the best,
Bob
I'm glad that the trial of KDP has worked out so well for you. I am curious about a couple of points:
ReplyDelete1. I had not expected to see the book in Kindle Unlimited. It does not strike me as a title that is particularly suited to this lending library (and the page count means that you won't be paid much when someone borrows it).
2. Your other Kindle titles are priced at £2 to £3 less than the paperback so I was also a little surprised to see that the prices for this title were the same as the paperback. I am emphatically not suggesting that the price is too high, just observing that your approach has changed. I trust that you won't run into any entitled idiots complaining simply because they think that they always have the right to a lower price for an e-book.
I've not yet looked at it on a Kindle but it looks pretty good on my PC monitor, though I've not yet worked out a good legal way to "photocopy" the special event cards - though reproducing the text is easy enough that this dies not really matter. A quick count showed that I own 31 D6 so I'm good to go (but for the minor factor that I don't own any 15mm colonial armies, which at least means I don't need to rebase anything).
Mike Hall,
DeleteIn answer to your points:
1. Kindle suggested that the book should be made available as part of Kindle Unlimited, and as I might well have longer books to publish later, it makes sense to start as I hope to go on.
2. Again, this was the price suggested by Amazon (in fact, both prices were lower than they suggested). I’m also hoping to encourage purchasers to buy the book in printed format rather than in Kindle format.
I am thinking about making a PDF edition of the book available to people who’ve already bought a Kindle edition, if I can find a way to do it.
All the best,
Bob
Impressed!
ReplyDeleteGeordie an Exile FoG,
DeleteI was very impressed by the speed with which Amazon KDP processed the book’s publication.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob. Iy would be great if you could find a way to provide PDFs. I git your earlier books for Kindle but the problem there is printing off tables etc. I got your later books (Colonial, Napoleonic) on PDFs, which is much better from that perspective.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Simon
Simon,
DeleteI’m looking at ways of making the PDF available for sale online, so keep reading my blog to see what I come up with.
All the best,
Bob
Always wondered how does Kindle Unlimited works for an author.. do Amazon pay you a fee?? Is it per book or page?
ReplyDeleteSteve-the-Wargamer,
DeleteIt is my understanding, that Kindle Unlimited pays a small fee to authors for each page downloaded/read.
All the best,
Bob
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteDoes the book finish at the bottom of page 32? My copy has a few blank pages afterwards, so just thought I would ask.
All the best,
Geoff
Elliesdad (Geoff),
DeletePage 32 is the last page ... and I have no idea why Amazon KDP added the extra pages.
All the best,
Bob
You always get a couple of blanks at the end.
DeleteTrebian,
DeleteThanks for clearing that up.
All the best,
Bob