Today the topic is:
‘What was the best money you ever spent as a writer?’
Well, I’m still spending it, and how they love me for it! I’m slowly adding all my books to Ingram Spark and advertising them in their ‘Advance’ catalogue. This catalogue goes out to bookstore buyers, and I’m pleased to see that most mornings when I check sales I sell one or two books. I’m doing this slowly because it’s $49 to set up a paperback, and then another $85 to get it added to Ingram’s sales catalogue, and so each month when I receive my wages from the hospital I use some of it to publish another book on Ingram Spark.
Of course I also paid out for ISBNs, so the pounds are adding up, but I hope it’ll be worth it in the long run. One morning I checked, and somebody had bought 27 copies of ‘A House Without Windows’! I don’t bother adding the e-book versions, as it’s paperbacks that go on display in bookstores.
What did other authors spend their money on? Click on the blue button below to find out, or even add your own blog.
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rollercoasterrideonlife said:
https://www.amazon.in/How-Much-Can-Live-Love-ebook/dp/B07V4NLJ5B/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=B07V4NLJ5B&qid=1563313135&s=digital-text&sr=1-1….How Much Can we live, love and die?
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lyndellwilliams47 said:
I invested in a formatting course and use KDP. Formatting is a PAIN, but I always choose to have as much control over my content as possible.
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Stevie Turner said:
Formatting never goes right for me, so I usually pay.
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dgkaye said:
Do keep me posted on how Ingram is profiting for you Stevie. Interesting Brits can use Ingram and Canadians can’t. We are treated like shit by Amazon and the likes. Best spent money for me is hiring and editor and paying for my book covers. 🙂 x
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Stevie Turner said:
Didn’t realise you couldn’t use Ingram. Funnily enough, when I try and price any book for Canada (yes, the choice is given), no royalties appear!
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dgkaye said:
The discrimination for Canadians authors and the self publishing giants is atrocious. I just got paid last week for my books that were moved from CS last October!. I sent numerous emails to the Zon telling them they’ve held my royalties captive on CS for years and after being told they’d pay my hijacked royalties in a month after moving to KDP, it’s been 7 months more! 😦
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Stevie Turner said:
So sorry to hear this. Don’t know why Canadians are treated this way, and also not sure why there would be no royalties for me if I sold any books in Canada via Ingram.
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dgkaye said:
It’s ludicrous!
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Stevie Turner said:
Yes.
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P.J. MacLayne said:
Stevie, did you know that there are frequently codes that allow you to do the upload to ingram for free? (You still need to buy the ISBN.) I’ll message you privately.
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Stevie Turner said:
No I didn’t know that. Please email me at stevie@stevie-turner-author.co.uk
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aurorawatcherak said:
Reblogged this on aurorawatcherak.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thanks for re-blogging.
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Phil Huston said:
An editor with their eyes on who wants better content without changing you.
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aurorawatcherak said:
I consider Ingram every so often, but they really think highly of their service and I’m not convinced it’s worth it. On the other hand, you’re having good results, so ….
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Stevie Turner said:
I’d say moderate… not going to buy that Porsche just yet!
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aurorawatcherak said:
Same thing. By not getting ahead of my return on investment, my books are now (mostly) paying for themselves and now I’m hoping for profitability, but I’m not going to get rich this way. There’s a local author who spoke at a guild meeting a while back. He’s a retired lawyer, so he had a lot of money to throw at his early career (about a decade ago). He’s pulling down over $100,000 a year now from his books. But he talked a lot of about return on investment too – the experiments he tried and now doesn’t recommend. He said spend your money on editors and ads. Craig Martell is his name. It’s been a while since we’ve had an Alaska-based author who was actually more than a hobbyist.
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Stevie Turner said:
That’s good advice. I’ll certainly try ads when I’ve finished publishing on Ingram.
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richarddeescifi said:
If I’d have known how many ISBN’s I would have needed, I would have bought 100 instead of 10!
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Stevie Turner said:
I’ve bought 21 so far and stopped at that.
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jenanita01 said:
Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Stevie Turner said:
Thank you for the re-blog.
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jenanita01 said:
Ingram Spark sounds like a great idea, but are the ISBN’s essential? I have heard they are crushingly expensive…
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Stevie Turner said:
You can buy a single one or a block of 10. I get them from Nielsens.
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jenanita01 said:
but do you need them for Iingram Spark?
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Stevie Turner said:
Yes I think so.
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jenanita01 said:
Ends up quite expensive, but you think it’s worth it?
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Stevie Turner said:
It is if your book sells well. It’s all a gamble, isn’t it?
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jenanita01 said:
Definitely…
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lyndellwilliams47 said:
I’ve read a breadth of opinions about ISBNs and from where to acquire them. I get so confused.
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Stevie Turner said:
I get mine from : https://www.nielsenisbnstore.com/
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franklparker said:
That sounds like an investment with potential, Stevie. Worth considering.
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Stevie Turner said:
Yes, I sell just as many on Ingram now as on Amazon.
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robertawrites235681907 said:
That sounds like good use of your advertising money, Stevie. I must look into that for my new book.
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Stevie Turner said:
Good luck with it, Robbie.
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