Sighhh... Self-Publishers Should Choose What Color Paper?

This is a quick one. I have belonged to PODpublishing@groups.io (formerly a yahoo group) for ages and every once in a while I pick up something that I didn't know before from one of their many experts. Aaron Shephard, a children's author who also writes books for authors--especially self-publishing authors--is one of my favorites. 

One of our publishers was concerned about matching paper color (he prefers cream) on a book he is publishing with Ingram as well as Amazon's KDP and that wasn't going so well. Aaron's advice was short and sweet and contains two very specific things to think about when choosing the paper you use for a book:

He says, "Ingram offers #70 stock for color, which is thicker than their cream. Anyway, I don't think you should ever use cream for color printing, because you're automatically reducing your contrast."

And this is the part I should have known, but didn't. Self publishing authors, especially those printing images in color, should choose the whitest paper available. 

And this! A general rule for paper color. "Cream paper is meant for text only, usually fiction and general nonfiction"

Thank you, Aaron. Thank you PODpublishing! 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER

 Howard-Johnson is the multi award-winning author of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. She is also a marketing consultant, editor, and author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers including the multi award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter (https://bit.ly/FrugalBookPromoIII), now offered in its third edition by Modern History Press. She is also the author of" How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically." She has two booklets in the that series, both in their second editions from Modern History Press. "Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers" (https://bit.ly/LastMinuteEditsII) and "The Great First Impression Book Proposal" (https://bit.ly/BookProposalsII). Both are career boosters in mini doses and both make ideal thank you gifts for authors. The one on writing book proposals is also available as an Audio Book.

 "The Frugal Editor" (https://bit.ly/FrugalEditor), recently released in its third edition, is the winningest book in the series. Carolyn also has three frugal books for retailers including one she encourages authors to read because it help them understand what is needed to convince retailers to host their workshops, presentations, and signings. It is "A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques" (https://bit.ly/RetailersGuide). In addition to this blog, Carolyn helps writers extend the exposure of their favorite reviews at https://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. She also blogs all things editing--grammar, formatting and more--at The Frugal, Smart, and Tuned-In Editor (https://TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com). Learn more and follow her for news on her new releases direct from Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile.

Your Book's Subtitle: Or How to Get Free Ad Space on Amazon

In Aaron Shepherd's book, Aiming at Amazon, he recommends a two-tiered subtitle. It's something I suggest in The Frugal Book Promoter, too. In that book, I suggest having two different subtitles because it gives a book a marketing edge in a bookstore where people turn books over to read the blurbs on the back. An additional subtitle header on that back cover is a second chance at letting a prospective reader know what is inside the book or how the book might fit their needs.

When Aaron makes that suggestion, though, he is thinking more about how to get enough keywords into online bookstore's search engines to benefit that book's sales. In fact, he advocates getting the right keywords in at the expense of a literate or extremely memorable title, if it comes down to that kind of a choice for the author. As an example, if the book is about writing, he'd like to see the title and subtitle include the different forms of that word. "Write." "Writer." "Publish." "Publishing." Maybe even "Publisher" if that version of the word applies. If the book is for children, one might try to include both the search words "children" and "kids" so the book will come up regardless of which the prospective book buyer searches for.

He tells us Amazon's computers will "accept subtitles of up to 300 characters, including all letters, punctuation, and spaces. But Amazon will truncate the title if the main title and subtitle together come to over 200 characters and the characters won't get cut off the end but out of the middle, replaced by an ellipsis!" That means that authors will want to limit the complete title to 200 characters, if possible. He also notes that longer titles take up more space in the prime field of visitors' vision when they are on the book's sales page and other places on Amazon. So, with a great title and one that is long, too, an author has literally "purchased" a great ad online without spending an extra penny to do so. Very frugal, no?

Aaron also advises that other listings have shorter limits. Ingram and Lightning Source won't accept more than 116 characters in the subtitle. Baker & Taylor will take only about 113. So, authors might want to decide on two versions of the subtitle. A big one for Amazon and a smaller one with about 110 characters when the full one won't fit. Or, you could do a shorter one for wherever you need one that is more literate or jazzier. You would just decide which one to submit for each specific venue.

In any case, most authors will see that having some well-considered choices will be an advantage in marketing their book both online and in bookstores.

CHJ

PS: You'll find more resources on publishing at Aaron's publishing page at www.aaronshep.com/publishing and more resources on promotion on the Resources for Writers pages at my website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and two how to books, The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. She is also the author of the Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal". Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor blog.