I got tired of waiting for agents and querying agents, so I decided to self-publish my book The Girl On The Wall: liberation from a ghost of the Shoah. For reasons I outline below, I decided to go with Bookbaby to do the publishing. If any of you decide to use Bookbaby, make sure your book is under 200 pages, and black and white.
My book is neither. I decided to go for color printing because of all the color pictures, and the page count is 275, so I'm paying close to $5000 for 100 copies and Print On Demand.
I'm planning to sell my 100 copies to my friends, at the back of the room at a talk I'm giving in June, and to family. Everyone else can pay $27.00 for Print On Demand and/or (I sometimes like an ebook so much I spring for a hard copy) $9.99 for an eBook. But you can see from the bill below, it's an expensive proposition. I had dinner with some friends who printed a children's book themselves, and they paid way less per book. But they ended up with a printer in St. Louis, and he sent the book to China. Supposedly, I'll have a book in my hands next week. Speed is worth a lot to me because I am an impatient person.
Here's a copy of my bill:
| Description | Quantity | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
 http://print.bookbaby.com/CartImageBBP.png" alt="Item Image" class="CToWUd" /> |
The Girl on the Wall
BookBaby Book Print
|
100 | $4,666.75 |
| Shipping Address | Shipping Option | Payment Information |
|---|---|---|
Shipping Address
Preeva Tramiel
767 Addison Ave Palo Alto,CA 94301 US |
Shipping Option
Economy Shipping - $59.00Estimated Arrival Date: Mar 12 - 16 |
Payment Information
Preeva A TramielAMEX ************1009 05/2017 |
| SubTotal: | $4,666.75 |
| Shipping: | $59.00 |
| Tax: | $408.34 |
| Freight Discount: | -$59.00 |
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I published both paperbook and Kindle. I know how to format, I kept things simple (black & white). Amazon's Createspace offers all kinds of editing options, and marketing, etc., however, all I needed was to get the product out there. I've devoted TONS of time & energy to self-promotion, too long to list. My topic is women's history, women's rights, and the decision of motherhood or the "other side of motherhood" so it's a hot topic and one that has a vast array of places that will accept my guest blogs. So I guess you could say I've been doing the "Blog Tour" thing. Plus library talks, and...well, my book was named Best Book of 2014 in a Global Media Awards so I'm drawing attention from a wide variety of audiences...as you can imagine, we all have a female in our life...and so the topic resonates with just about everyone. My mantra is, "I'm ok, you're ok" and let's stop telling women what they need to be whole. I'm the mom of 3, my book is dedicated to my teenage daughter. xo
Thanks for the good wishes, Melanie. How did you publish for free? Just ebook?
I'm getting hard copies and print on demand and a lot of distribution.
What are you doing to self-promote yourself?
Oh dear, sorry you had this experience. I pubbed my very 1st book five months ago (The Female Assumption: A Mother's Story, Freeing Women from the View that Motherhood is a Mandate) and it cost me nothing to pub, but it has cost me a lot to self-promote, not to mention all my time & energy. I'm sure you're getting some benefits that I'm not...there's so much to learn about self-pubbing, I think the SW is priceless for sharing our stories! Best wishes to you and congrats on being a published author! xo