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Paperbacks and Pre-Orders

I just had a reader ask me where they could preorder paperbacks. I am really sorry, but I only do preorders for eBooks, not paperback.

Why?

Well, maybe I should explain.

These days there are typically three types of authors. First, there are the traditional trade authors—meaning they publish through a trade publisher, and the publisher handles the formatting and release of all the books. Then there are the Indi authors (or self-published authors)—a phenomenon that took off around ten years ago. Oh, there were self-published authors before, but before that time they garnered little respect in the industry.  Then eBooks became a thing, and publishing changed.

There is a third type of author—the hybrid—which like the Indi is becoming more common these days. That’s the author that is both traditionally published and self-published. 

I’m a hybrid author. While I self-publish my eBooks and paperbacks, I’ve sold the rights to my audiobooks. Tantor Media has thus far bought the rights to all 29 of the Haunting Danielle books, including The Ghost and the Church Lady, which comes out next week.  Dreamscape Media has purchased the rights to my Coulson Family Saga series and have released all five of those books in audiobook.

What this means, my audiobook publishers are responsible for the production, release, and distribution of my audiobooks. Heck, I don’t even know in advance when the books will be released. I check on Tantor’s website to see if it’s listed yet! 

As for the production of my eBooks and paperbacks—that’s all on me. I’m responsible for hiring the editor, finding beta readers, and seeing that the books get properly formatted and uploaded on the sites.

Because of that, I simply haven’t the time or energy to make my paperbacks pre-orders. But, I do work very hard to make sure they are available around the same time as the eBooks.

The Ghost and the Church Lady eBook file has been loaded to all of the vendors. A copy of the book has been sent off to Tantor, so production of the audiobook can begin. And I am currently working on formatting the paperback. I offer two types—regular print and large print. 

The next step, I am waiting for my illustrator to send me the finished cover files, and then I will get them uploaded along with the manuscript file, and other pertinent information.

I suppose it would be more impressive to say my people do all that formatting and uploading stuff. But the fact is, I have no people. It is just me.

Okay that is not entirely true. I have an amazing cover artist/illustrator, some incredible beta readers, and an editor.  

Writing and baking…

The Ghost and the Church Lady comes out in two weeks! (You can preOrder the eBook!) It’s the 29th book in the Haunting Danielle series, and I plan to start on book 30th in February, for a May release. That story is already rolling around in my head. I’ll wait a little before I reveal that title and cover. 

For now, I’m spending a some time in my kitchen, trying to decompress. Yesterday I baked five loaves of banana bread (Mom loves it with her coffee in the morning). Did you know you can substitute flaxseed for eggs? I didn’t have enough eggs for five loaves, so I tried the flaxseed trick. To use in baking, use one tablespoon of flaxseed for each egg. Grind, mix with three tablespoons of water for each egg, whip together the ground flaxseed and water, and let it sit for about five minutes before you use it. It really worked. Plus, flaxseed has health benefits and is a great vegan alternative if you happen to be vegan. 

The banana bread turned out great with the flaxseed. The chocolate chips I added might have helped too.

Paying a lower price for a paperback book…

When it comes to paperback books, I prefer large print, because… well… they are easier for me to read. All books in the Haunting Danielle series come in both regular paperback and large print.

Unfortunately, large print paperbacks tend to be pricy because they contain more paper. The regular price of a Haunting Danielle large print paperback book is $22 these days. But did you know you can often get them for under $5? And if you have Prime, there is no shipping costs. (I am talking about new paperbacks, not used books.)

Amazon frequently offers paperbacks at a reduced rate—often lower than my production cost. How do they do this? I’m not really sure, but someone once told me it had something to do with overruns and then they want to move the books. I have no idea how true that is.

But, if you want to take advantage of these deals, this is what you do…

Log into my Amazon Author Page (click on Link).

Once there, scroll down and you will see a horizonal menu listing the offered formats. Click on PAPERBACK.

Once that pages opens, go the “Sort by” option on the right side of the page and choose Price: Low to High.

When I just did this, The Ghost Who Lied popped up at $4.23 in large print. It says there is only 1 left in stock. While I don’t always believe those “in stock” claims, I imagine there may only be one currently available.

But that’s not the only book offered at discount. There are two other ones from the series offered under $5, and about a half a dozen listed below the regular sale price.  All have limited copies at those prices.

If you check today and they are all gone, check back. I do this periodically and always find new ones on sale.

I suspect you might find this true for the paperbacks of other authors you read.

Happy bargain hunting!