Traveling Authors Go Wide Distribution jolenemac455, October 10, 2022July 24, 2023 One of the many ways us full-time RVers make a little money on our journey is to become published authors. To reach the most readers it is best if the author “Go Wide” in distribution of their books. By that we mean to publish in as many places as possible all over the planet which is what most traditional publishing companies do for their writers. The traveling authors (and the normal Indie Authors) who self publish their books can do this as well. With a little bit of research and a lot of experimentation you will find the combination of publishing and marketing tools that will help you reach the widest audience possible. Let’s talk a little bit about your choices. https://books2read.com/ap/x21KL1/Jolene-MacFadden Vanity and Small Presses There are publishing places out there that will charge you large dollar amounts to publish and print your book and those are called “Vanity Presses”. You will also find those who may charge some fees for some services but publish your book for a percentage of the royalties with limited distribution and those are what is called small presses. Sadly, there are a lot of unsavory companies out there that just want to do the minimum required and then hold your books hostage for as long as possible. They receive the royalties and you may never know what you have made over the years. Please be wary of any of these. Then there are some publishing services companies out there that are ‘up front’ about what they will provide and will not ask for any royalties or publishing rights. (My own company – Southern Dragon Publishing is such a company). We have a publishing package or you pay for just the services you need such as book designing, book formatting, and then I help you self-publish the book with whatever ‘print-on-demand’ company you wish to try. Please read everything that you sign prior to agreeing to anything. Also, be aware that book publishing is a business and requires lots of hard work, trying different things and learning about marketing. I wrote a book to get you started. See the link at the end. https://books2read.com/InsiderGuideCampgroundHostingFla IngramSpark vs Draft2Digital vs Amazon KDP This article is not one in which I can go truly ‘in-depth’ about the pros and cons about each of the self-publishing services available to you. I can discuss the three that I have used over the years. Like most young (new to being an author and not necessary young in years) or what is referred to as ‘baby’ authors I self-published my first book with CreateSpace. Later it was taken over by Amazon KDP. Most of us indie authors were not happy with that move. Do not get me wrong KDP offers absolutely FREE self publishing for eBook, paperback and now hardback copies of your book. They also offer the lowest “Author Price” for print copies of your book to sell yourself or for giveaways. KDP distributes to all the Amazon online retailer websites around the world and after about a year or two, if you chose enhanced distribution and no longer have your book in their exclusive KU online library, then they will send out your paperback to other retail markets. They can give you a free ISBN but that is tied to Amazon as a publisher. KDP will also allow you to make changes to your books as many times as you would like. No extra charge. Once done you have to wait up to 72 hours before making any further changes. The other drawback is that libraries and independent bookstores will not purchase your book from Amazon in any version. I first used Smashwords for the enhanced eBook distribution to places like Apple, libraries and Barnes and Noble. Now they have been bought out by Draft2Digital. This company is fairly new to the publishing scene. Their tools are easy to use and now they are able to offer paperback distribution of your book world-wide as well as the eBook. Draft2Digital offers you a FREE ISBN but remember they own the publishing rights using those ISBNs. It usually takes about a week to 10 days to start seeing your book available in places like England, Germany, Australia, as well as the U.S. retailers. They do send your books to the library systems automatically. Then all you have to do is ask your local libraries to obtain a copy or two and have your readers ask for it as well. Draft2Digital sends your paperback to IngramSpark for publication and ensures that it passes their printing inspection process. You are allowed to make 1 free change every 90 days or pay to change anything with the paperback version sooner. You can make as many changes as you want to the eBook though. Draft2Digital will not publish the eBook to Amazon you can do that yourself. KDP does not require an ISBN for eBook versions. Draft2Digital allows preorders for both eBooks and paperbacks, where as, KDP only for the eBook versions. https://bookstore.jolenesbooksandmore.com/product/authors-how-to-brand-you-and-your-books-paperback/ Finally, let’s talk about IngramSpark. They are the number one book printing and distribution aggregator for most if not all the major traditional publishing houses. Now they offer Print on Demand Services for Indie Authors. Once you have your book “approved” for printing they will distribute the information about your book to every single one of their retailers, wholesalers and the library systems around the world. Once the book sellers purchase copies of your book they will print them and delivery them to the retailers. It also takes 90 to 120 days after sales for you to get any royalties. They distribute to Amazon. (Now that is another sticky conversation for another time). You can either accept their ISBN or use your own. I recommend that you save up and buy the ISBNs in bulk if you are serious about your book writing business. Something to think about. IngramSpark publishes in eBook, paperback and hardback formats. They can also do those fancy hardback dust jackets for you as well. Their printing costs of their paperbacks and hardbacks are about a dollar or two more than KPD though. Finally, you have to decide about the whole, allowing returns or not of your book, paying for the shipping and cost of the book or not allowing returns. Then the retailers discount of 50 to 55% off retail. IngramSpark has a royalty calculator to help you figure these prices. Top Ten Ways to Market Your Book For Free If you have any questions about publishing while on the road please use my CONTACT US form and I will be happy to answer any that I can or refer you to someplace where you might find the answer. Good luck on your publishing journey and let us know when and where your books are published so we can pass the word along! Funding Our Adventure Publishing Journey Working While RVing Amazon KDPDraft2DigitalEarning a Living on the RoadIndie Authors Go RVingIngramSparkPrint on Demand PublishingSelf Publish on the RoadShare Your Published BooksSmall PressesTraveling and Writing Go TogetherTraveling Authors Go Wide DistributionVanity Presses