CreateSpace (now KDP Print) only prints paperbacks- how can I make a hardcover version of my book? In this video, I discuss hardcover book options for the self-publishing author.

 

Hey everybody this is Rob Archangel of Archangelink.com and the question today is:

I’ve got my book on Amazon Kindle, I’ve got it on CreateSpace (KDP Print) paperback, I’ve got it on Audible as an audio edition. I want to make a hard cover edition available for my readers. What can I do to make that happen?

And there are 3 different things that you can do.

Hardcover Production Options

The first is order a print run. Now the advantage to that is, you will probably have a lower per unit price. So even priced at the same retail price you can actually make more in royalties. However you’re going to need to provide your own ISBN  and you’re gonna need the funds to invest in a print run. Usually it’s something like 1000 copies minimum, sometimes 500, sometimes 2000, depending on the press. And you’re going to also have to deal with the distribution options. You might you be able to do something like “Fulfillment by Amazon” but it’s going to be a little bit more complicated and involved, so be prepared for that.

Now, the second option is to use a print on demand hard cover fulfillment option. And one of them which is totally free, that will provide its own ISBN, at no cost to you, is Barnes and Noble Nook Press. And they’re pretty good, their quality seems to be pretty good, and their price is not bad relative to other hard cover book prices. Hard covers in general are going to cost more than paperbacks. But Nook Press  could work for you in certain situations.

I have a copy of one of the books that we’ve done using Barnes and Noble Nook Press. And it looks really good, the quality is good. We’re actually able to use the same interior as the CreateSpace/KDP Print edition and do a little bit of tweaking to the cover but for the most part, we were able to use a lot of the same templates and files. So that’s nice. It’s not going to require a whole lot of additional technical work and investment in time and energy in making those files suitable for hard cover.

Now the problem with Barnes and Noble Nook Press is: they’re a competitor to Amazon. You’re actually not going to be able to look at this book up on Amazon.com in hard cover edition and find it. You can go to BarnesAndNoble.com and you can see it there, but you’re not going to be able to see it side by side with your other Amazon listings.

Our Recommendation: Ingram Spark

So what’s the best option? I would say generally, it’s going to be Ingram Spark.

Ingram Spark book quality is good. I think Barnes and Noble actually use Ingram Spark as the printer, so the quality is going to be comparable. But they do make it available pretty widely including to Amazon.com.

Now, I do want to mention a couple of things about it.

One, is – again- you’re going to need your own ISBN. You may have one of those already, but if you don’t, then you’re definitely going to need one. You have to get one to do a print copy through Ingram Spark.

Two, Ingram Spark requires an initiation fee. There’s a set-up fee. Something like $25 each for the interior and the exterior and theoretically, they can also charge you for any updates that you make after the fact. Now, I’ve heard from some authors that they don’t, that they’ve been able to make updates with no charge. But as I understand it, that is the policy: that you will be charged for updates. So, you really want to make sure that your book is in Tip-top shape and that you don’t anticipate making any additional changes.

With CreateSpace/ KDP Print, you can change it every day if you want. It’s not going to affect the cost to you as a creator. But with Ingram Spark they want to dis-incentivize that, it really make sure that they’re putting out the best quality books and books that don’t have errors and so they incentivize their authors not to put out stuff that they’re going to have to fix later.

So Ingram Spark is pretty good and it’s a decent option. You will be able to see it alongside your Amazon.com listing so feel free to check it out. I’ll include some links down below which you can explore and if you have any questions on hard cover options for yourself publishing project, let me know in the comments down below and I’ll do my best to answer them.

This is Rob Archangel of Archangel Ink and I will see you next time.

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Related Resources: Barnes and Noble Press: https://press.barnesandnoble.com 

Ingram Spark Print on Demand: https://www.ingramspark.com/plan-your-book/print/print-on-demand