How I Self-Published My First Book of Poetry - Part 4 - Setting Distribution and Pricing

Click for part 1 of the tutorial
Click for part 2 of the tutorial
Click for part 3 of the tutorial

Now that you have completed the cover of your book, you will have to submit the uploaded file to Create Space so that they can approve it. They will check to make sure that the Microsoft Word file that you submitted it suitable for printing. You will also have an opportunity to order a proof of the book or view the online digital proofer to make sure that your book looks the way that you think it should.

If you are happy with the way your book is looking you can then finalise your book, or you can go back to make changes. You can make changes even after your book has been approved and has started appearing for sale, however, you must go through the whole review process over again. The review process takes in the neighbourhood of 48 hours.

I cannot actually show the the digital proofer or the review process because this is a project created just for this tutorial, but it is a very straightforward process. Create Space will email you when your file as been approved and then you can go see how it will actually look using the digital proofer.

Now comes the REALLY fun part. We have to select our distribution channels, which means deciding where our book is going to be sold! Let's click on Channels under the Distribute heading.

Standard distribution is already selected and includes Amazon.com and Amazon Europe as well as the Create Space Store. These channels CAN be de-selected but I am not sure why you would want to do so. Note: Amazon.com also included Amazon.ca even though it is not made apparent.

The expanded distribution channels become available when your book has been approved by Create Space. This includes bookstores and other online retailers, libraries and academic institutions and Create Space Direct. Create Space Direct means that your book is available to independent bookshops and other specialty stores.

Note: Just because your book is available to these places doesn't mean that they will be ordered. Don't expect that your book will magically start appearing in Chapters or in libraries across the country.

Once you have selected all the options, click on Save and Continue. You'll want to select them all because, why the hell not? You never know, right?

Now we are into the Pricing section. This is where we get to decide how much our book will cost and find out the royalties that we will get from each copy. You can see that I have chosen $11.99 USD as the base price for my book and checked off the boxes that will suggest a price in British Pounds and Euros for my book. This saves me from having to do the conversions.

What I like to do after that is UNCHECK those boxes and round the prices either up or down. For example, the suggested price in UK Pounds is $9.43 which is kind of an odd number, so I will round it down to $8.99. I will do the same thing for the Euro and round down to $9.99 just to make the prices look better.

On the right side, it will show you what your royalties will be in each channel. I have had success selling from my website as well and ordering direct from the Create Space store and then selling them on. It only costs in the area of $2.15 USD for my book and I can sell it for whatever I want. Your pricing may differ depending on the size and content of your book, but it still should give you good results.

Once you have set your pricing, click on Save and Continue.

We have already selected our Cover Finish so unless you want to change this, click Save and Continue again.

In the next tutorial, I will show you how to write the description for your book that will appear on Amazon as well as your author biography, and you will also learn how to publish your book on the Kindle.

Click for part 1 of the tutorial
Click for part 2 of the tutorial
Click for part 3 of the tutorial

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Images are my own or screenshots.

I am Scott. I write poetry and lyrics and sometimes I write about life. Please upvote and follow. I always follow back. :

To buy an ebook please send me what you think the book is worth to you in Steem or SBD and send your email address in the memo and I will send you a PDF version of the book.