Current print-on-demand technology means that copies are printed as they’re ordered and ship directly to the customer. You never have to purchase and store copies or do your own fulfillment. The original remains ready to print for future generations. Your book can even be entered into the Library of Congress and made into a Kindle, iBook or Nook version. And the royalties come directly to you.
Yes. It is possible to write, edit, lay out, and design the cover of your own book. There will be a steep learning curve and your end product most likely won’t be as polished and professional looking. But we understand that that’s not what everyone is after.
We’ll offer tips, from time to time, on how to do it yourself so be sure to subscribe to our newsletter!
Even editors need editors. An editor will catch errors even the best writer will make. Additionally, an editor can give feedback on how clearly your story is coming through. You do however have options.
If your aim is to have a clean, professional book that would look good as a best seller, it is worth it to pay for the most comprehensive editing. If you’re writing for your family only, they’ll be more forgiving reading a less polished story. So, you’ll have to decide a balance between your budget and the end product.
One option would be to ask a trusted friend to read your manuscript and make suggestions and corrections. We also have varied levels of editing to choose from to fit different needs and budgets.
Yes, the royalties come directly to you. We create your own personal account with the printer. They make your book available on Amazon.com, through your own shopping cart, and through whatever other channels you choose. When someone orders a book, they print and ship it and you get the royalty. How much you get depends on what price you set and where they order from. Here’s an example:
You have a book that is 200 pages
You set the price at $15
Someone orders through Amazon
The printing cost is X
Amazon takes a fee of Y
You get the rest.
If the same book sells through your shopping cart page the fee is slightly less.
Is it better if people order through amazon.com or through my createspace.com shopping cart?
That depends on your goal. If you want higher royalties, they’ll be higher when ordered through your shopping cart.
If you want higher rankings on amazon.com, the best way to achieve that is to have people buy through amazon.com and then ask them to write a review. If they’ve bought the book through amazon, the review is marked “verified purchase” and will increase your ranking.
You can also buy books at cost and resell them. No fees are taken out in this option. This is good for book signings or talks that you give.
There are several ways to sell your book.
- Buy wholesale and sell retail. When you buy through your personal account, you pay only the printing costs so you’ll make the most this way.
- Send people to your personal shopping cart. This is automatically set up when we publish your book. The printing costs plus a small commission is taken out so you make a little less. The advantage is that they ship directly to your customer.
- Send people to amazon.com. Amazon takes a slightly higher commission than through your shopping cart. The advantage to this is that Amazon will mark reviews written by their customers as a verified purchase. If you want high ratings to sell more books, this will help.
An ISBN number comes with the cost of designing your book. The publisher will be listed as Your Legacy Press. If you would like to list yourself or another publisher, you may supply your own ISBN and barcode.