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Zilla here (one of the Sad Bastard Cookbook authors). Thanks so much for your support ... I'm lowkey dropping "front page of Hacker News" when I talk to Amazon

Zilla here (one of the Sad Bastard Cookbook authors). Thanks so much for your support ... I'm lowkey dropping "front page of Hacker News" when I talk to Amazon Service reps now, in the vague hope they have any power to actually help me. I think I've reached at least one real person, but in the days of AI voice chat, who can tell? Many of you asked why we use Amazon as the exclusive printer/distributor of the print edition. Variations of this happened to basically every self-pub author I've met, so why didn't I use another platform? 1) Reach. As Ma8ee pointed out, there's literally dozens of people buying books online but not on Amazon. If I want readers to find it, I need to be on Amazon. Bonus, one of the most important controlling factors in new people finding your book is whether the Amazon promo algorithim suggests the book to them, so any sale off Amazon doesn't contribute to building an avalanche. The game's rigged, but it's the only game in town. 2) Money/quality. Last time I checked (few years back, things might have changed), Draft2Digital print books were bad quality. Ingram print books are decent quality but their calculation for printing fees and royalties means they usually don't pay out at nearly the same rate. I've not compared directly for the Cookbook, but for Instant Classic, it's the difference between making a couple dollars or a couple cents. We did it for Instant Classic as a service for people who despise Amazon, but the royalties from the Cookbook are a substantial factor in "eating" and "making rent" for one of the Cookbook team, so there's a limit to how much I want to give away the print edition of the Cookbook. Especially if "giving it away" involves the reader paying Ingram, just not us. If anyone knows a print-on-demand distributor who pays out enough in royalties for authors to make money, please respond to this. 3) Distribution. We're small fry self-pub, without a big publishing house behind us. I've looked around for places which will take us on self-pub books and distribute them, and the options are pretty limited. I'm convinced we'd sell in brick-and-mortar stores, but that's typically not an option for self-pub unless you approach the owner of an independent bookshop on an individual basis. (We approached a couple proper distributors who accept query letters from non-traditionally published books, but they focused on specific genres and we weren't the right fit.) Basically, if you're not traditionally published, you're looking at Amazon, Ingram, or Draft2Digital to print and distribute your books. If anyone knows of other printer/distributors which take self-pub books, PLEASE tell me. ETA: people are informing me that Ingram can make money, and that Lulu exists. I am investigating.

wishfish 3y ago
I've had good luck with Lulu. My experience was short-runs. I sometimes like to make custom notebooks for myself and friends. But the quality was good. Lulu will print spiral fold flat editions. Might come in handy for a cookbook. I've also had good luck with Blurb. They do high quality photobooks. Which isn't what you're selling, but I'm mentioning them because they will offer your book for sale, print-on-demand, via their site. And wouldn't be surprised if they have a way of selling via Amazon. They wouldn't be a bad choice if you wanted to sell a $50+ coffee table edition of your cookbook. Or a bit lower for a paperback edition.
- zillanovikov 3y ago
  Oh thank you, I'll look into that!
  - ghaff 3y ago
    I'll second both LuLu and Blurb for photo books though it's been quite a while since I used either. (I've usually used Blurb but I did go with LuLu once or twice for reasons I forget.)
ilamont 3y ago
Indie publisher here. Sorry to hear about this. Among the numerous frustrations that publishers and sellers report when dealing with Amazon, automated lockouts are near the top of the list. Inability to get a clear explanation or knowledgeable human support are close behind. I always tell other publishers that Amazon's seller tech is like a rickety roller coaster with lots of kludged together components - built to go fast, but with lots of loose bits that rattle and sometimes cause the system to fail. Technology glitches, bad UI design, poor communication, and complex policy requirements lead to a huge support burden. Even if you can get a good Amazon support agent, they are not always able to diagnose certain problems, let alone provide a fix. The parts of the company facing small publishers and third-party sellers is extremely siloed, which makes things even worse for sellers trying to get through complex issues touching multiple services. Reporting something like "I can't get Amazon Advertising to connect with my KDP account" can lead to runarounds that require multiple tickets or are never solved. Regarding distribution: I don't use a distributor owing to the lead time required and the huge commissions involved, but a few I know work with IPG (https://www.ipgbook.com/ https://www.ipgbook.com/). If you have a track record of sales, that can open the door to distribution and potentially help get through the Amazon problems you are experiencing as they have direct contacts with back-end Amazon staff.

wishfish 3y ago

I've had good luck with Lulu. My experience was short-runs. I sometimes like to make custom notebooks for myself and friends. But the quality was good. Lulu will print spiral fold flat editions. Might come in handy for a cookbook. I've also had good luck with Blurb. They do high quality photobooks. Which isn't what you're selling, but I'm mentioning them because they will offer your book for sale, print-on-demand, via their site. And wouldn't be surprised if they have a way of selling via Amazon. They wouldn't be a bad choice if you wanted to sell a $50+ coffee table edition of your cookbook. Or a bit lower for a paperback edition.

zillanovikov 3y ago
Oh thank you, I'll look into that!
- ghaff 3y ago
  I'll second both LuLu and Blurb for photo books though it's been quite a while since I used either. (I've usually used Blurb but I did go with LuLu once or twice for reasons I forget.)

ilamont 3y ago

Indie publisher here. Sorry to hear about this. Among the numerous frustrations that publishers and sellers report when dealing with Amazon, automated lockouts are near the top of the list. Inability to get a clear explanation or knowledgeable human support are close behind. I always tell other publishers that Amazon's seller tech is like a rickety roller coaster with lots of kludged together components - built to go fast, but with lots of loose bits that rattle and sometimes cause the system to fail. Technology glitches, bad UI design, poor communication, and complex policy requirements lead to a huge support burden. Even if you can get a good Amazon support agent, they are not always able to diagnose certain problems, let alone provide a fix. The parts of the company facing small publishers and third-party sellers is extremely siloed, which makes things even worse for sellers trying to get through complex issues touching multiple services. Reporting something like "I can't get Amazon Advertising to connect with my KDP account" can lead to runarounds that require multiple tickets or are never solved. Regarding distribution: I don't use a distributor owing to the lead time required and the huge commissions involved, but a few I know work with IPG (https://www.ipgbook.com/ https://www.ipgbook.com/). If you have a track record of sales, that can open the door to distribution and potentially help get through the Amazon problems you are experiencing as they have direct contacts with back-end Amazon staff.