Pause For Thought - And Improved Quality

We’re going to be a little bit controversial this week, so we will understand if you don’t agree with us (by all means, tell us in the comments section). But we have given this subject a bit of thought and our reasoning is solid, we think.
 
We are recommending that after you have published an ebook, you wait for a period before you publish a paperback (or hardback) version. We suggest waiting 4 - 6 months.
 
This is contrary to the way mainstream publisher’s operate. They publish a hardback copy first (mainly to send to reviewers) then a paperback then, finally, the ebook. Nowadays it is common to publish all three fat the same time, but some publishers still spread the process out over 9 to 12 months.

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So, why are we recommending publishing the ebook first and then delaying a hard copy for up to 6 months, when mainstream publishers do the opposite?
 
Mainstream publishers have an army of proof-readers and editors who work with the author to get it ready for publication. 


So, when they put out their hardcopy version, they are already confident about its narrative quality and that it is error free. Even then I’m sure we have all read books from mainstream publishers that have been error strewn.
 
But Indie authors only have an army of one; themselves. If you want to change an ebook after publication, it is easy to do so. If you wish to change a paperback, it is much harder.
 
OK, I’ll have to qualify that and say that some publishing platforms make it harder than others.

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Because of the way Draft2Digital publish their paperbacks, using 3rd party printers, they don’t allow you to change the paperback content once you have approved the book for publication.

​You have to purchase “print change tokens” which cost $25 (about £20), which covers the cost of getting the 3rd party printer to make the changes..
 
So, why should this matter?
 
Well, experience shows us that 30 seconds after you click on the “publish” button, you will spot a typo in the MS. Or, more likely, your readers will spot a typo.
 
Secondly, once the book starts to sell you start to get reviews and if the reviews are negative you will want to do something about them.

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So, you need to give yourself some breathing space to correct the typos and to make changes to the MS to address the issues that have resulted in you getting the negative reviews.
 
There is a psychological factor that will come into play as well and that may affect the sale of future books.
 
If someone pays $5 for an ebook and they aren’t happy with it, you may get away with it. For those sorts of prices, the reader may not  bother posting a review. They may even give the author  a second chance and buy their next book.

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BUT
 
For a $15.99 (£13.99) paperback the rules change. For that price the readers are much more likely to leave a negative review if they don’t like the book and they almost certainly won’t buy a second book by the same author.
 
OK, in an ideal world your book will be perfect the day you publish it. You will have used the feedback from both your alpha and beta readers to improve the book. You will have formatted it properly and you will have eradicated all those pesky typos and incorrect homophones.
 
But we don’t live in a perfect world. Some of those things will have slipped through. Even if you have paid a proof-reader to check your book (like a mainstream publisher does) some may still slip through because proof-readers have human failings too. You also may not have used alpha or beta readers, so you have no idea if your book is any good or if it can be improved.

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By delaying the publication of your hardcopy version, you give yourself the time to sort out the teething problems. Your ebook readers effectively become your beta readers, editors and proof-readers.
 
As a quality strategy it isn’t one we would recommend, but we are realists and we know from experience that this is what some authors are unwittingly doing.
 
Now, I haven’t mentioned Amazon, but that is because they are more forgiving.

If you want to change your MS for the hardcopy on Amazon, you are able to do so. But, as we’ve said in other blogs, Amazon is only one sales channel, and you need to be covering all possible bases. That means that if you are going to change the MS on Amazon you will also need to change it on D2D and that is going to cost you money.

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And don’t forget those psychological connections between pricing, reviews and future sales. They apply equally to books bought on Amazon.
 
So, when you’ve published your ebook and you get that prompt that says “Do you want to start your paperback?” please resist the temptation.to say yes.
 
Take a step back, take a deep breath and say “No, I’ll leave it for now. I’ll come back in 4 - 6 months’ time when I’ve seen if there is anything wrong with my ebook version and had time to fix it”.
 
Finally, if you are lucky enough  for your ebook sales to go stratospheric, you can always change your mind and roll out the hardcopy before the 4-6 months has elapsed.
 
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