So Where’s the Book?

Firstly, thank you to all of you who are trying to support me by wanting to get a copy of my book. I am so overwhelmed with gratitude!

A little over a year ago I embarked on a self publishing journey that would see my book published on the 8th September 2023.

Choosing to Self Publish with Tellwell Publishing was an amazing way to learn the all the complexities of publishing, through a self guided, step by step, activity driven process. Although support was available along the way, I didn’t always know what I didn’t know, so couldn’t ask. I guess that’s what learning is all about. The overall process can be overwhelming and having a publishing company that can guide you was a true asset.

So why is it taking so long, what’s the hold up?

I won’t go into the detail of what I would do differently, but there are a few things I have learned along the way, as I hold my precious new book in my hands.

A “Print on demand” model for a children’s picture book is NOT a good option. A single book is printed once the buyer has paid, and is then shipped to the customer. Due to high quality paper not being kept in stock at the printer, the quality is poor, resulting in dull colour reproduction on flimsy “photocopy” paper.

Selling your book through an online retailer like Amazon is not ideal either. Even though the model is print on demand, a retailer will state that the book is “Out of Stock” or “Unavailable”. All the retailer is actually responsible for is collecting the money and sending a print request to the printer. Your order should NOT take months to fulfil?!?! This is not a very good customer experience.

Whilst my book is now available (print on demand) via Amazon, Barnes& Noble, Booktopia, AbeBooks, WaterStones, Walmart, just to name a few…these retailers are completely out of my control. In some cases I have seen my book listed as “Rare – $85 USD”. Regardless of what a retailer sells my book for, I receive the same royalty.

I also learned that I did not possess the necessary skills to take my vibrant illustrations and convert them to print quality images, as I thought I did. Although the resolution was excellent, I was not happy with the colour, and the designer seemed to overexpose the images. Combine this with the poorer quality paper from the Print on Demand model, I was left with poor quality images throughout my book. You can see the difference between the original (first image) and that of the book:

       

Why am I not Marketing the book yet?

I have not bombarded you with requests for likes, follows and “buy my book” pushy ads. The main reason, is that I am not fully satisfied with the book itself. So, until I have a quality product that I am proud of, I will not be putting it out there for sale.

It’s not all doom and gloom though!

Part of the Tellwell package included my very own website jodifranzke.com.au I have been busily building up content here in preparation for exposing my book and hopefully including a way to order directly from me. My website already includes resources, such as colouring in sheets of characters from the story, for kids to print out and colour in.

I also have full rights to my book and own the editable, print ready files. This means that I can make alterations to my book myself and deal directly with a printer. I am in the process of engaging a local printer and hope to have books ready in time for my book launch.

So lots and lots has been going on in the background and I really appreciate your patience.

Watch this space and I‘ll keep you updated!

Thanks for reading,

Jodi and Erick the Snail