Crash Course for Nonfiction Authors

Part 6: Strategic Independent Publishing

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Welcome to Part 6: Strategic Independent Publishing. This part of the “Crash Course” will give you an overview of how print on demand works and which platforms to use to get your print book and e-book to market.

What is Print on Demand?

“Print on Demand” is used by most indie authors (a.k.a. self-publishing authors) and some hybrid publishers today. The essential feature is this: Books are not printed and warehoused ahead of time; rather, they are printed one at a time, as orders come in.

What this means for the author: No upfront cost for print runs, no running to the post office to fulfill customer orders, and no risk of being stuck with hundreds of books under your dining room table.

Basically, it works like this: You set up your book with one or more print-on-demand platforms. They have your files standing by, ready for orders. When a book is ordered, they print it and send it to the customer – all in just a few days, in the case of Amazon.

Which Publishing Platforms Should You Use?

Here’s a quick rundown of the platforms I generally recommend indie authors use:

It’s important to make use of all three of these platforms for a variety of reasons:

  • You should be on Amazon KDP so you can take advantage of some of their marketing features like A+ images, so you can run a giveaway at Goodreads (which is owned by Amazon), and so that the book is more readily available for Prime Shipping.

  • You should be on IngramSpark so your book is orderable by libraries, independent bookstores, and any other booksellers that are not Amazon. (Yes, I know Amazon can also do this through Expanded Distribution, but that’s not a good idea for a whole host of reasons which I won’t bore you with here.) Your hardcover should be on IngramSpark so it can have a dust jacket.

  • Your e-book should be on Draft2Ditigal so it’s available to users of e-readers other than Kindle, including Nook, Kobo, Apple Books, libraries, and many others.

It's free to setup your book in all these places. (In the case of IngramSpark, there is a small fee if you need to make changes to your cover or interior files later.)

Using all three of these platforms, rather than just Amazon, will set you up most strategically in the independent publishing landscape.

Details Matter

There are a bunch of nuances related to publishing well and strategically on all these platforms that I’ll be getting into on the blog. And do reach out if you’re looking for support with this. I work with nonfiction authors on every step of the process, including project management and problem-solving – always with the goal of making an indie-published book look as indistinguishable as possible from a traditionally published book.

Pro Tip:

Buy your own ISBNs at ​Bowker​ (if you’re in the US – otherwise from your country’s ISBN agency); don’t use the free ones offered by Amazon, IngramSpark, or Draft2Digital.

Next Steps

This “Crash Course” is a 6-part series. Jump to: