New for old?
Since I’m setting up a print-on-demand publishing operation for the enterprise-architecture books anyway, it seems to make sense to bring some of my other former titles out of retirement, in particular:
- Pendulum Dowsing (aka ‘Elements of Pendulum Dowsing) – originally published by the now-departed Element Books in 1989
- The Dowser’s Workbook (aka ‘Discover Dowsing’) – originally published by Thorsons, also in 1989
If I can get my act together in time, and if I can make sense of the whole ISBN / print-on-demand confusion, I would hope to have them out in time for the Megalithomania conference in Glastonbury in mid-May, ‘cos I’m supposed to be spouting there and I’s gotta pay me way somehow. 🙂
As far as I can do the costings, it looks like I should be able to get them out for around GBP9.95 and GBP11.95 respectively. But is there a realistic market for them, at that price, or at all? Comments and suggestions would be much appreciated…
Your reputation in these circles is good, isn’t it? And if the books looks nice (p-o-d books tend to look quite horrible) and are updated, expanded etc, then I think the prices are good. The market is there, the crux is how to reach it!
How about publishing them as e-books?
Hi Joakim – I’d agree, POD used to be ‘quite horrible’, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality Lightning Source have been delivering: paper isn’t wonderful, but it’s adequate, but the covers and binding and general production-quality seem fine. It should be okay, I think.
As for e-books, yes, I’m already experimenting with that – should be able to release a proper e-book (i.e. formatted for screen, not paper) at the same time as the paperback version.
Any suggestions/recommendations on price differential between paperback and e-book editions?
Lightning Source is the printer that many of the POD outfits use. They’re professional and good.
You might also want to look into http://www.booksjustbooks.com depending on how many you want to print.
E-books tend (afaik) to do better as how-to books rather than as reading-books.
What is the issue with ISBNs?
You might want to check out my recent self-pub series on Raven’s Range, especially the first one which covers pricing. See what similar books are selling for and price accordingly.