Tag Archives: paperbacks

My ‘Bold Coast’ Books Have Started To AGAIN Sell On ‘Amazon’ — It MUST Be Summer In Maine.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on May 26, 2024

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE.

NO question. During the summer most of my ‘Bold Coast’ books get bought in ‘Lubec‘. That makes sense. But, people DO, to my joy & relief, buy them online — all the paperbacks from ‘Amazon‘ & eBook versions from Amazon, ‘Apple‘ & some other outlets. Haven’t started selling many Bold Coast audiobooks (i.e., ‘Audible’ (from Amazon)) as yet. I am hoping that that will start.

I know many of YOU don’t believe me BUT I don’t make any money from these books!

Check the prices, then compare them against other books. The ‘Ambling Guide‘ paperback is $9.42 & ‘Cut to the Chase‘ is $9.15. The eBook versions are all under $4. SMILE. Yes, {I will readily admit that while there is an element of ‘sour grapes‘ in this} I don’t try to make money from the books I publish. My first FIVE technical books, all written prior to 2004, helped make sure that I should be able to struggle by for the remainder of my life.

I make around 50 cents per PRINTED book, even less on ebooks!

My sellers make MORE per book than I do. LoL. I am FINE with that. I am actually in favor of that. I do everything to make sure that I help THEM make a profit.

I WRITE for pleasure & for my SANITY. People just don’t understand HOW HAPPY writing makes me. Yes, it is never as good as sex, but writing makes me happy. Relaxes me no end. My heart rate drops into the 50s. Yes, I have writing OCD. I have to write. Writing has never been a bother, a problem, or hassle. I have never had writer’s block. I am blessed. So, that is the story. SMILE.

Summer is here. Enjoy.

Thanks for buying my Bold Coast books. It sure makes me happy.

‘Bold Coast’ books (now available). Click on images for details.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Amazon’s ‘KDP’ Paperback Printing (nee ‘CreateSpace’) Still Has Issues 3 Years After Merger.

Leave a reply

by Anura Guruge
on October 15, 2021

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com

Click to ENLARGE.
Click to ENLARGE.
Click to ENLARGE.

Amazon’s KDP paperback printing DEFINITELY works & KDP, to its credit, has made it quite slick. Moreover, there is still, quite good, telephone support.

But, over the last two weeks, with the publication of my latest paperback I encountered some frustrating anomalies.

The most aggravating is the discovery that KDP is not really a ‘Print on Demand‘ (PoD) service as they should be — & allude as being. ‘So what’ you may ask.

Well, it makes a huge & costly difference IF & when you publish an update to your book.

With a genuine PoD service there is no stock of old books lying around waiting for the next order. You do a revision, & the next book to get ordered get printed afresh with the UPDATED PDF you uploaded.

Not so with Amazon KDP. It appears they NEVER print just one copy. Transpires that they invariably print at least 2 copies. OK, yet again, you may say ‘so what‘?

We now come to the next ‘issue’ — though in the long run, down the road this will prove to be an asset, i.e., a benefit. KDP now has multiple paperback printing centers, at a minimum in: Middletown, DE; North Haven, CT; Las Vegas, NV; Monee, IL, etc. So, if a few copies of your book have been ordered, it doesn’t take long to discover that there might be 8 (or more) copies pre-printed awaiting new orders. Even if you do an update, & the update is ACTIVE, Amazon insists on shipping all of the OLD stock it has before it starts printing new copies.

In my case, after an update, I had to buy 8 copies, over a 10 day period, before I managed to flush out all the old (out-of-date) copies. Very frustrating.

Having multiple print centers is (of course) good, IF Amazon uses decent artificial intelligence to channel orders to the nearest — & maybe least busy — print center. That is NOT happening as yet.

So, you could order two books on the same day. One is getting printed at one center, the other at another. There could be a week’s difference in delivery dates! I kid you bloody not. One will be scheduled to be delivered in 3 days (after order), the other 10 days later. I can show you examples. Plus, the printing quality is, ALAS, NOT the same. Some centers have better, i.e., higher resolution (or maybe just newer) printers than others.

So, it is frustrating, but better than NOT having paperbacks via Amazon.

I am just letting you know so that you will at least know what to start looking for if you start running into problems.

Follow Anura Guruge on WordPress.com