I have done one POD title, available through Lulu.com.
I paid for a cover that could be used for the ebook version, if it came to that; the designer did both the wraparound and the ebook version. But we used stock art, and the cost was 300.00. I also paid someone to typeset, which was more - 2.00 a page.
But.
I didn’t do this with the expectation that I would actually *sell* many copies. And I haven’t.
My book was a short story collection. I had released the shorts in ebook format, one per ebook. But print readers asked if there would be a print version available. The short stories are connected to the (continuing) universe published by DAW books; the shorts appeared in various anthologies, all but one of which are out of print. I reprinted as ebooks on my own, and people started to ask, on my web-site, if there would be a print version.
I think I’ve sold 30 copies to date (not including copies I ordered for my own use.
I *knew*, going in, that the print version would be a money sink; that the ebooks would pay for the costs of producing a POD version I could personally live with. I didn’t expect, ever, that POD would pay for itself. It’s possible that I should have gone for CreateSpace, because I think that *would* have appeared on Amazon, and I might have sold a few more copies - but I doubt I would have sold a *lot* more.
The book *can* be ordered from Ingrams, so in theory, the book can be ordered by bookstores. But. Well.
If you want a POD version for the print readers you have, that’s fine. I did, because the people who were asking were also people who have pretty much read all my books in print, and I felt guilty not making a print format version available for them.
But it’s in no way a money maker. It’s a money sink. The ebooks have done more than well enough to cover the cost of the print version -- but the print version will never even pay for itself. I could have skipped the typesetting, which was the most expensive part of the process - but I actually wanted interiors that looked, to me, like a print book; it’s one of the things that I really notice the lack of in POD books.
no subject
I paid for a cover that could be used for the ebook version, if it came to that; the designer did both the wraparound and the ebook version. But we used stock art, and the cost was 300.00. I also paid someone to typeset, which was more - 2.00 a page.
But.
I didn’t do this with the expectation that I would actually *sell* many copies. And I haven’t.
My book was a short story collection. I had released the shorts in ebook format, one per ebook. But print readers asked if there would be a print version available. The short stories are connected to the (continuing) universe published by DAW books; the shorts appeared in various anthologies, all but one of which are out of print. I reprinted as ebooks on my own, and people started to ask, on my web-site, if there would be a print version.
I think I’ve sold 30 copies to date (not including copies I ordered for my own use.
I *knew*, going in, that the print version would be a money sink; that the ebooks would pay for the costs of producing a POD version I could personally live with. I didn’t expect, ever, that POD would pay for itself. It’s possible that I should have gone for CreateSpace, because I think that *would* have appeared on Amazon, and I might have sold a few more copies - but I doubt I would have sold a *lot* more.
The book *can* be ordered from Ingrams, so in theory, the book can be ordered by bookstores. But. Well.
If you want a POD version for the print readers you have, that’s fine. I did, because the people who were asking were also people who have pretty much read all my books in print, and I felt guilty not making a print format version available for them.
But it’s in no way a money maker. It’s a money sink. The ebooks have done more than well enough to cover the cost of the print version -- but the print version will never even pay for itself. I could have skipped the typesetting, which was the most expensive part of the process - but I actually wanted interiors that looked, to me, like a print book; it’s one of the things that I really notice the lack of in POD books.