3 ms·

Well, let's see... Only one person has asked for it. The actual price for printing the beta was $24. (I told him to go ahead and get his own printed copy.) T

Well, let's see... Only one person has asked for it. The actual price for printing the beta was $24. (I told him to go ahead and get his own printed copy.) That would double the sales paths I have to worry about, collect email addresses from, etc. It's really a non-starter to me. I have made the ebook screen-friendly and it's got a great interactive Table of Contents. I don't think there's a reason to sell a printed copy when you could easily print it out and have Kinko's bind it for like $8.

jsackmann 17y ago
My experience (creating PDF ebooks at gmathacks.com) has been similar. I probably get an email every 2-3 months asking about a printed copy. I have a standard response re: benefits of the PDF & one's ability to create their own print copy, and nearly all of the inquiries result in the sale of an ebook. I'm probably losing a handful of customers who don't email me in the first place, but that's an ok tradeoff for me in that it spares me the hassle of setting up a print-on-demand deal and (I irrationally fear this) inevitable customer service issues that arise from having to physically ship stuff (even it's a turnkey operation and somebody else is doing the shipping).
- ahoyhere 17y ago
  Cool! Plus - if you get it bound @ Kinko's, you can get spiral bound. And spiral bound is vastly superior for reference books. :)
Tichy 17y ago
Just curious, what makes printed books (on demand) so cumbersome? Maybe a better solution could be created? In my mind I would have expected it to be very hassle free: upload PDF, set price, done. At least I see no reason why it couldn't be easy as that?
- ahoyhere 17y ago
  Digital version: * one path of sale (I do not have to integrate 2 systems to deal with my customers, maintain multiple email newsletters or manage some kind of tacky merge) * one service that will be distributing the money to me * one set processing fee that I pay for all sales (predictable income) * no address required to buy (at least, not given to me) * no shipping cost surprises for my customers * no questions of variable quality * no extra cost for color or binding options * no potential for physically damaged or lost copies * higher profit margin The last one is the real kicker, even if I were willing to invest time and resources to handle the other issues (which I am not). The people who want printed copies are very unlikely to pay $70, thus making the entire thing moot. This is the concept: not all customers are equal. I don't want every joe off the street. When customers start costing me money, it's not a business. But the most important thing is: nobody is going to refuse to buy the digital version if there is no paper version available. They can get it printed and bound at their local copy bureau for pittance, much less than Lulu (or equiv.) costs. I don't understand why people don't get this.
  - Tichy 17y ago
    Thanks for the clarification. Personally, I would not have considered the local copy bureau an option, because I only know results that are less pretty than real books. But it makes me think, maybe instead of selling books through print-on-demand, it would be interesting to offer a service where people can order pretty books from POD.

jsackmann 17y ago

My experience (creating PDF ebooks at gmathacks.com) has been similar. I probably get an email every 2-3 months asking about a printed copy. I have a standard response re: benefits of the PDF & one's ability to create their own print copy, and nearly all of the inquiries result in the sale of an ebook. I'm probably losing a handful of customers who don't email me in the first place, but that's an ok tradeoff for me in that it spares me the hassle of setting up a print-on-demand deal and (I irrationally fear this) inevitable customer service issues that arise from having to physically ship stuff (even it's a turnkey operation and somebody else is doing the shipping).

ahoyhere 17y ago
Cool! Plus - if you get it bound @ Kinko's, you can get spiral bound. And spiral bound is vastly superior for reference books. :)

Tichy 17y ago

Just curious, what makes printed books (on demand) so cumbersome? Maybe a better solution could be created? In my mind I would have expected it to be very hassle free: upload PDF, set price, done. At least I see no reason why it couldn't be easy as that?

ahoyhere 17y ago
Digital version: * one path of sale (I do not have to integrate 2 systems to deal with my customers, maintain multiple email newsletters or manage some kind of tacky merge) * one service that will be distributing the money to me * one set processing fee that I pay for all sales (predictable income) * no address required to buy (at least, not given to me) * no shipping cost surprises for my customers * no questions of variable quality * no extra cost for color or binding options * no potential for physically damaged or lost copies * higher profit margin The last one is the real kicker, even if I were willing to invest time and resources to handle the other issues (which I am not). The people who want printed copies are very unlikely to pay $70, thus making the entire thing moot. This is the concept: not all customers are equal. I don't want every joe off the street. When customers start costing me money, it's not a business. But the most important thing is: nobody is going to refuse to buy the digital version if there is no paper version available. They can get it printed and bound at their local copy bureau for pittance, much less than Lulu (or equiv.) costs. I don't understand why people don't get this.
- Tichy 17y ago
  Thanks for the clarification. Personally, I would not have considered the local copy bureau an option, because I only know results that are less pretty than real books. But it makes me think, maybe instead of selling books through print-on-demand, it would be interesting to offer a service where people can order pretty books from POD.