Self-Publishing Archives | Page 2 of 10 | Jennifer Lancaster

fixing pricing at Australian book retailers

January 7, 2025

Self-Publishing, Selling eBooks and Media

Fixing Errant Prices at Australian Book Retailers

You might be facing similar self-publishing book pricing problems. In 2018 I had issues with proper listing and pricing at Australian book retailers, such as Booktopia. Since then I have learnt more about the secrets of Print on Demand (with IngramSpark). Things I will be writing about in an upcoming Pitfalls of Publishing book! Feeds are not distribution. IngramSpark promising Australian micro/indie publishers that they can get their book listing out to 39,000 retailers/libraries is misleading. As a proud author-publisher, I do NOT expect that online book retail partners like Booktopia and The Nile to not list POD books, or list them at over-inflated prices! Actually, The Nile still stocks NONE of my books as partners of Ingram. Retail Prices As an experienced user of Print on Demand, I list my titles prices with consistency. To encourage sales, I set a…

September 15, 2025

Self-Publishing

Writing a Book Blurb, with Examples

Sometimes we authors write our own book blurb and we tell all about the book’s contents — but we don’t sell it. With my examples, learn how to write a book blurb without crying anguished tears. https://youtu.be/IR9gc69dbKQ History book blurb example Two Rivers Run is the tale of the first European to settle in Gippsland, a vast and diverse region that has become the economic powerhouse of Victoria. Not far from the spreading development of Melbourne and Port Philip Bay, Western Port retains a place for wildlife and nature to thrive. Land beside a small freshwater creek near Bass provided a good place for Scotsman, Samuel Anderson, to start growing wheat and potatoes. The intrepid bookkeeper-turned-trader was to become Victoria’s third settler and Gippsland’s first. A bumper harvest from the trial crop convinced Samuel and his…

How to Publish an eBook on Amazon and Make Money

May 17, 2024

Self-Publishing, Selling eBooks and Media

How to Publish an eBook on Amazon and Make Money

Firstly, I believe that publishing to KDP is not the only way to profit from ebook publishing. It is simply the most well-known and easiest. This is likely because Amazon store represents a huge slice of the market. The company controls about 50% of the book market in the UK and claims 67% of eBook Sales market share overall. This article will however focus on how to publish an ebook on Amazon and make money. Over 1.4 million self-published books are released through Kindle Direct Publishing every year (though these are not all exclusive to KDP). (WordsRated.com). The dominance of Amazon is unchallenged. About 91% of the US self-publishing market now uses Amazon print. As IngramSpark also feed to Amazon, as does Lulu, this number makes sense. Five Ways that Kindle Publishing has Changed Increased Competition: The Kindle Publishing…

March 18, 2024

Self-Publishing

Why Use IngramSpark Now in 2023?

As of 1st May 2023, IngramSpark does not charge the US$49 upload fee. Nor will they charge the $25 revision fee in the first 60 days, which was levied if you had a revision after distribution time. Not every title will be approved for distribution. Things like book summaries, or pricing the book at a lot more than necessary, are not allowed. You can read all the IngramSpark catalogue integrity guidelines to be sure yours is fine. The Downsides of using IngramSpark In Australia, Ingramspark do not offer a sales platform to advertise on. One-book purchases are high in postage. (It’s $8.50 + $2 handling). Also consider, do I want to mess about with Adobe Distiller or InDesign ($29.99 per month) or pay for a book designer for my paperback? The important IngramSpark Guidelines for Titles are on their blog.…

February 22, 2023

Personal finance and scams, Self-Publishing

Is Hybrid Publishing Profiteering? See what a UK report says

The Writers Guild of Great Britain and ASA recently surveyed 204 UK writers who were independently published. Findings made for sober reading. For instance, 59% of authors were not satisfied that their paid hybrid publisher did enough to get sales or interest in their book. And monetary losses were heavy; 94% of authors surveyed lost money on hybrid / paid for publishing contracts. (Around half of respondents chose this publishing type). There was a median loss of £1841 each, although there was a broad range. It would be extremely interesting to gain similar insight into Australian author experiences. I personally have heard of a $20,000 publishing loss, along with other losses on website design. In the report ‘Is it a steal?‘, the Writers Guild concluded that “of all the publishing approaches available, a ‘hybrid’ / paid-for deal is the worst option a…

February 22, 2023

Self-Publishing, Updates

News in Publishing and Book Writing

I found an interesting website for writers looking to publish with a true publisher or go in literary competitions, one that will save you ‘bags of time’. It is called DuoTrope and is free to join, with small tips for submitting to the publishers. I recommend it because the listings are all updated; they’re sifting through the wheat and chaff for you. Their book submission manager helps authors keep track of submissions, and that’s called Duosuma. When I was doing the Rabbit Hole Challenge writing day, I made a donation to QWC (Writer’s Centre). Then to my surprise, I won this bag! I only completed 1.5 hours of writing my book but it helped get me back ‘into the groove’. What things do you do to get your book writing going? A New Write – Edit – Format Tool Another…