Off Topic Help a Brother out

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Disco down under

Disco down under

Well-Known Member
Dec 15, 2011
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As some of you may know/remember/have forgotten/don't care about. I'm independently publishing a novel and I need a bit of help.

I hired an overpriced Cambridge graduate editor. I hired an under priced art school graduate cover designer whose CV was written on toilet roll. I'm just getting ready to publish it now and I have a question I need answering.

For anyone who reads, and those who ordinarily don't... How much would you expect to spend on a book?

A 700 page Noir monster to be precise

Paperback and/or Kindle answers please.

Thank you in advance.
 
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Disco down under said:
As some of you may know/remember/have forgotten/don't care about. I'm independently publishing a novel and I need a bit of help.

I hired an overpriced Cambridge graduate editor. I hired an under priced art school graduate cover designer whose CV was written on toilet roll. I'm just getting ready to publish it now and I have a question I need answering.

For anyone who reads, and those who ordinarily don't... How much would you expect to spend on a book?

A 700 page Noir monster to be precise

Paperback and/or Kindle answers please.

Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...
8 or 9 quid is about average. Bought a big, thick C J Sansom novel the other day and that was a tenner. That's paperback by the way. I'm boycotting kindles because I bought an academic book for work and the page numbers didn't match the printed version so it was no bloody good for quoting it.
 
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On Kindle I tend to wait for stuff to drop to a couple of quid. I'd imagine that on Kindle it's better to build a following by selling books cheap to begin with if you're publishing independently.
 
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Straight off the bat... I've already learned a lot. Thank you all.

Everyone's favourite tech and retail giant's paperback print-on-demand costs are, to my mind, pretty extortionate. Working in dollars, they want to charge 17 AUD per copy printing costs and bizarrely they won't let me sell it for any less than 28 AUD plus shipping.

So I'm thinking that can be a bit of a vanity thing, for friends and family who are curious.

And then I need to flog it cheap through kindle to likely make up the bulk of the sales. That's likely where I will concentrate any marketing effort.
 
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Do people still use Kindles? Or is it just an app now? Our lass had one donkey's years ago but I thought they stopped making them
 
Oliver's Army said:
Do people still use Kindles? Or is it just an app now? Our lass had one donkey's years ago but I thought they stopped making them
Click to expand...
Oliver's Army said:
Do people still use Kindles? Or is it just an app now? Our lass had one donkey's years ago but I thought they stopped making them
Click to expand...
Love my Kindle, it's my computer, follow the lads, 606 on here and read books til my hearts content.
Can't get the hang of lap tops etc, mind thats something to do with being an old twat.I
Kindle are simple, just like me.
As for the book £8 or there abouts.
 
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Disco down under said:
As some of you may know/remember/have forgotten/don't care about. I'm independently publishing a novel and I need a bit of help.

I hired an overpriced Cambridge graduate editor. I hired an under priced art school graduate cover designer whose CV was written on toilet roll. I'm just getting ready to publish it now and I have a question I need answering.

For anyone who reads, and those who ordinarily don't... How much would you expect to spend on a book?

A 700 page Noir monster to be precise

Paperback and/or Kindle answers please.

Thank you in advance.
Click to expand...

I'll pay over a tenner if I know the author, under a tenner if I don't but the subject is really interesting and £5.99 if it has a nice cover shot and I'm about to board a train/plane/ferry.
 
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Disco down under said:
Straight off the bat... I've already learned a lot. Thank you all.

Everyone's favourite tech and retail giant's paperback print-on-demand costs are, to my mind, pretty extortionate. Working in dollars, they want to charge 17 AUD per copy printing costs and bizarrely they won't let me sell it for any less than 28 AUD plus shipping.

So I'm thinking that can be a bit of a vanity thing, for friends and family who are curious.

And then I need to flog it cheap through kindle to likely make up the bulk of the sales. That's likely where I will concentrate any marketing effort.
Click to expand...

If you can build up a following then you'll be able to sell later books at a higher price. I now buy books by a few authors that I initially read on a 99p deal for more than that
 
cumbrianmackem said:
Love my Kindle, it's my computer, follow the lads, 606 on here and read books til my hearts content.
Can't get the hang of lap tops etc, mind thats something to do with being an old twat.I
Kindle are simple, just like me.
As for the book £8 or there abouts.
Click to expand...
Must be a newish one then. Hers was just a book reader when Kindle's first came out. Is yours not a fire tablet thingy which is what they later became?
 
Disco down under said:
Straight off the bat... I've already learned a lot. Thank you all.

Everyone's favourite tech and retail giant's paperback print-on-demand costs are, to my mind, pretty extortionate. Working in dollars, they want to charge 17 AUD per copy printing costs and bizarrely they won't let me sell it for any less than 28 AUD plus shipping.

So I'm thinking that can be a bit of a vanity thing, for friends and family who are curious.

And then I need to flog it cheap through kindle to likely make up the bulk of the sales. That's likely where I will concentrate any marketing effort.
Click to expand...

Can you shop around and get a better price? That sounds like a rip off and a non starter. Or is there any way to self publish?

You're probably right that an electronic version is the way to go for a new author these days. Personally I don't like Kindles to read on but we have got two and I believe they are going strong in terms of popularity.
 
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Disco down under said:
Straight off the bat... I've already learned a lot. Thank you all.

Everyone's favourite tech and retail giant's paperback print-on-demand costs are, to my mind, pretty extortionate. Working in dollars, they want to charge 17 AUD per copy printing costs and bizarrely they won't let me sell it for any less than 28 AUD plus shipping.

So I'm thinking that can be a bit of a vanity thing, for friends and family who are curious.

And then I need to flog it cheap through kindle to likely make up the bulk of the sales. That's likely where I will concentrate any marketing effort.
Click to expand...
For an unknown author around £4.99 is my guess for paperback. But it is a few years since I last bought a book other than kindle.
 
Nacho said:
Can you shop around and get a better price? That sounds like a rip off and a non starter. Or is there any way to self publish?

You're probably right that an electronic version is the way to go for a new author these days. Personally I don't like Kindles to read on but we have got two and I believe they are going strong in terms of popularity.
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, that's likely the only option for me.

Ingram Spark are basically an identical service in which it costs the same and your books end up on amazon anyway.

If you print 1000 books up front you will definitely save printing costs. But you have to pay to print a thousand ****ing books which just isn't an option. I have to do print on demand.

I think it just means I see it as an eBook and any paperback sales are just a welcome bonus. Which is no problem whatsoever.
 
Dancingstripes said:
What’s the book about mate?
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I always say it's LA Confidential meets Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But that's a pretty big claim. The blurb on the back reads...

"Darlinghurst, Australia, 1963. A sinister series of murders takes a turn for the darker when those charged with protecting the innocent, and bringing the guilty to justice, attempt to cover up the crimes.

While a broken society and a corrupt institution allow a monster to commit a series of crimes that embody the spirit of cultural and social cleansing; two lost souls wearily step forward in an attempt to end the injustice.

As they chase shadows across an apathetic frontier forming on an ancient continent, they must contend with the demons that haunt them if they are to bring an end to the Devil in the red dirt."
 
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