You’ve come a little further and now you want to do hardcover books. Here is how to get started self-publishing hardcover books, and why adding one reaches more readers.
Reach More People
Today’s topic has three points, and the third is how you are losing money if you ignore hardcover books.
Perhaps you’re an author who has come a little further than the very beginning. You’ve got your Kindle book out, your KDP Print paperback out, and your Audible audiobook through ACX. I suggest doing those three, in that order, first. You may think you’re finished. But then you hear that a hardcover might be an option too, and you realize you may be leaving money on the table.
Check out this related article: Stop Losing Money on Self-Publishing NOW!
Before we get into that, grab my free 12-step self-publishing checklist so you don’t skip a step that matters.
When I first started, I published the Kindle version through KDP, the print version (originally through CreateSpace, now KDP Print), and the audio version through ACX. I thought I was doing great. I tried a few other things, but I wasn’t focusing on hardcovers. Then someone pointed out that lots of people only like to read hardcover books. If your book isn’t available as a hardcover, you’re losing those sales. And even if money doesn’t matter to you and you just want your book out there, you should still publish a hardcover, because we reach more people when we offer the book the way they want to read it. If they want an audiobook, give them an audiobook. If they want a hardcover, give them a hardcover.
Get Busy Right Now
When I first started, creating the cover on the site I was using was a pain. But I discovered I could reuse the manuscript I’d already formatted, and use the exact same interior PDF I made for KDP Print. You don’t need a special format. 6 x 9 inches is the size I recommend for both, and it’s one of the keys to hardcovers. The sales started coming in, and they keep coming in every month.
How do you get started? Today I recommend doing your hardcover on KDP and IngramSpark. KDP now offers hardcover books itself, in trim sizes including 6 x 9, and it can assign a free ISBN. IngramSpark gets your hardcover into bookstores and libraries, and your books published through IngramSpark reach Barnes & Noble as well. I used Lulu for hardcovers once, but today I would use Lulu only to diversify.
- Set up the account, and don’t wait too long. If you don’t already have the other three formats on the market, ignore this for now and do those first.
- Use exactly the same keywords, title and description as your KDP Print book. The cover is a little harder. You take your paperback cover and rebuild it using the hardcover cover template, because a hardcover cover has different dimensions than a paperback. It’s not an easy task, but if you’ve figured out the KDP Print cover template, the hardcover one won’t be much harder. Don’t get bogged down: register everything except the cover, and save the cover for last.
- Get busy now. The secret answer is that you lose money every month your book isn’t available as a hardcover. It’s painful when you start to see the money coming in and realize how much you gave up. Is it $5,000? $20,000? How much would have flowed through your books if they were in all the formats?
Check out this related article: Self Publishing Dos and Dont’s
Different Types Of Bait
Order a proof copy before you approve the book, so you can look at it and make sure everything looks right. Proofs are charged at printing cost, which is far less than a normal order. Check each platform’s current pricing, because it changes.
Once your hardcover is live, it appears on your Amazon sales page next to your other formats. Readers see every format the book is available in, and that builds your credibility and authority. Who would take the time to put a book in all these formats if it weren’t high quality?
Think of it as fishing with different types of bait: each format brings in a different type of reader. If someone has to choose between two books in the same genre, they’ll pick the hardcover if that’s what they like. I prefer the Kindle version myself, or listening to it read aloud by a voice app on my iPhone. But the point is that it won’t cost you much money or time. We just reuse the print interior that is already formatted correctly, and we don’t have to recreate the PDF.
Check out this related article: Self-Publish For Under $199!
You’ve spent a lot of time putting that book together. Don’t you deserve the money it can earn? Let’s get your book to more readers with a hardcover. If you’d like help setting one up, book a free 25-minute discovery call.
Have you published a hardcover yet? Write “yes” or “no” in the comments, and check out my other articles and videos for more answers.
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Start with the free checklist
The checklist is the 12 steps I follow for every book I publish, from choosing a profitable niche with keyword research to setting up the marketing machine. It is free, and you get it straight away.