Last week, we answered some of the commonly asked questions our authors ask about D2D Print. We aren’t done yet, either! Our support team has been helping authors get a handle on print-on-demand for years. We know the questions you may want to ask about D2D Print, so we have five more answers to help you along!
What Will This Cost Me?
Draft2Digital was made by authors, for authors. We understand that publishing is a business, and indie authors must be smart about where they spend their resources. Unlike ebooks, paperbacks are a physical product and print production comes with a cost. Before investing your time and money into print-on-demand, you should know what you’re expecting to pay.
Let’s get the best news out of the way: there is no up-front cost to publishing with D2D Print. You will never have to pay out-of-pocket to cover the cost of printing your book.
When your book is ordered and printed, the cost of printing and publishing the book is deducted from your royalties, so you can never “lose money” on your sold books.
What Is My Royalty Split for Print?
As the old idiom goes, you have to spend money to make money. Now that we’ve got the spending out of the way, we can talk about everyone’s favorite part: making money.
Print publishing is a process that involves printers, retail partners, and a team that manages your listings. Once all is said and done, an author earns 45% of their listing price minus the production cost of the book.
To get a better understanding of how this would affect your royalties, visit our Print-On-Demand calculator. The current royalty breakdown and the estimated cost of printing your book will give you a better picture of what to expect.
Can I Order a Print Proof? Do I Have To Order One? What About Author Copies?
Am I cheating by answering three questions in one? Possibly, but it would be a disservice not to talk about both ways authors can order their own book directly from our print partners.
A print proof is a single copy of your book you can order before approving your paperback for publication. This option is for authors who have to see their book in person before they’re ready to release it into the world.
If you choose to order a print proof, you would order the copy for the cost of production, and there would be a $30 priority charge that would include high-priority shipping. Since this blog post was originally published, we have since announced a variety of shipping options for print proofs. So, if you don’t need your print proof shipped to you right away, there are several less expensive options. (Ordering a physical print proof is optional; you can also choose to approve your digital proof to proceed with publishing.)
Once your proof, print or digital, has been approved, you can order author copies at cost, plus shipping based on your selected method and region. Unlike your single print proof, you can order as many copies as you need. If you’re looking to fill your bookshelf with your own book, more power to you!
Do I Have to Fulfill Orders or Handle Shipping to Readers?
Shipping and processing orders can be a hassle, and D2D Print is not here to put that burden on our authors. The retailer making the sale processes the order when someone buys your book through their platform. From there, our print partners handle printing your book and shipping it directly to the reader. The package never has to end up on your doorstep and you never have to lick a stamp.
If you did want to try your hand at direct sales, that is also your prerogative! Our author copies have no watermarks or disclaimers, so they are no different than a retail copy of your book. You always have the option to order author copies for the cost of production, and those are yours to do with as you wish. You can sell independently, use them for giveaways, or place them prominently on your coffee table. We won’t judge you for showing off!
What Features Does D2D Print Hope to Add in the Future?
D2D Print is available to our wide user base, but we are not going to rest on our laurels. There are options and features we did not launch with that have always been in high demand for our authors. We hear your requests, and we are excited to explore them.
Launching new features takes time and technical resources, and we always want to work out all the kinks along the way. We have a wish list full of options we are excited to send down the production pipeline in the future, and we’ll let our authors know when something new is coming.
While the best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, some features we hope to add in the future include:
- Hardcover Books
- Full-Color Printing
- Autoformatted Large Print Options
- Print Sales on the Smashwords Store
Do you have other feature requests for D2D Print? Maybe you have questions that are still unanswered? Our support team is happy to assist at support@draft2digital.com
Happy Writing!