Thread by @kadavy

I recently published my first hardcover-edition book through @IngramSpark.

How did it go? (a thread)

I published a hardcover edition for two main reasons:

1. To serve as a "souvenir" edition of The Heart to Start. I figured some of the 15k readers wanted something more substantial.

2. To consider launching a future book straight to hardcover (instead of paperback).

At the time, IngramSpark had two options:
1. Case-laminate (printing glued to the cover)
2. Digital Cloth w/ or w/o dust jacket

They’ve since added a third option: Case laminate with dust jacket.

The specs for my hardcover:

B&W 5" x 8"
Gray Digital Cloth™ Cover w/Jacket
White 50lb Paper (my only option)
Matte finished dust jacket
Page Count: 140
Spine Width: 0.37500 in
Weight: 0.566 lbs

List Price: $24.95
Print Cost: $9.05
Wholesale: $17.47
Profit: $8.42

Here's what my hardcover looks like.

Note the spine printing off-center. It's a thin book (140 pages). There'd be more margin for error on a thicker book.

Unfortunately, I had trouble with the in-stock status of the book on Amazon. It showed "ships in 1-2 months" for quite a while.

Amazon blamed Ingram. Ingram blamed Amazon. (FWIW I believe Ingram.)

The book actually shipped quickly, but this didn't help sales.

However, recently the book has been showing up as in-stock, with Amazon Prime printing.

Notice I did *not* launch my latest book, Mind Management, Not Time Management, in hardcover.

This Amazon in-stock problem with The Heart to Start made me weary.

I would absolutely consider doing another hardcover through IngramSpark, but not as my only print option.

For more details, including how my profit for an IngramSpark hardcover compares to my KDP Print paperbacks, read my full blog post here:
kadavy.net/blog/posts/ing…