Why Buy Here?
You may or may not get your book as quickly as you would, ordering from Big Retailer.
I've been watching fulfillment times and on average, your book will be packed and shipped in around a week. Big retailers sometimes get you your book faster. (Sometimes, though, they don't. This one's a dice roll.)
You have to pay shipping.
For some reason the postal services won't give me the discounts they give bigger companies. Alas!
But let's move on to the advantages!
You pay less per book.
Amazon and other retailers force me to set ridiculous prices on my print-on-demand books to make a tiny return... $16.99, $17.99, 21.99, etc. I can set my prices here at $10-12 and make the same amount.
You can buy entire series at once, and get a discount!
Once again, I can bundle these books and sell them to you for cheaper. In this case, I'm not making as much, but I know how it is when you start a series and don't want to wait to get the next (and don't want to spend too much, either).
You can, in fact, buy SUPERBUNDLES and get that discount!
Yes, I'm crazy, but I did in fact make a paperback Peltedverse superbundle.😆 Not only do you get all the paperbacks with that one, but I threw in the ebook editions too... because I figure if you want to drop that much money at once, you shouldn't have to wait to start reading!
Here are a few more things you should know about this process:
- I don't touch these books. They are printed and packed by my print-on-demand publisher. I can't sign them, and the packaging won't have little personal touches. Your package will arrive just like it would from a retailer.
- On the other hand, my print-on-demand publisher is a small, passionately book-loving company in the UK that just established a US plant. It's more personal, in that regard, than having your book printed by Big Retail.
- Because that US plant is new, some of the print options aren't available here yet. In particular, my coloring books are being printed in the UK facility, so if you're a US customer you'll have to pay international shipping charges.
I'm also not clear how all this works for non-US customers. If you live elsewhere on our great home planet and want to test that with me, let me know!
What's Next
My next targets, in order:
- Audiobooks! I have one set up so far, more are coming!
- Hardcovers! These will be normal hardcovers like you'd get in a bookstore, with paper jackets.
- Special editions! Like a Haley omnibus (these will also be available only through the store). Also, my small passionate printer offers astonishing bespoke options, like cloth binding, foiling on covers, sprayed edges, custom end papers, ribbons, etc. I'd like to try making a few of those!
I'm waffling about merchandise, which is handled for now through Etsy... mostly because charging and collecting tax on small items feels like a lot of work. I'm researching it. The other thing I'd like to experiment with before the end of autumn is "touched by the artist" listings, like my autographed/doodled books. That should be easier than small merch. I think!
So that's the news! If you've been waiting for paper, it's here!
