Since removing my paperbacks from Amazon, I’ve had excellent sales at the local bookstore, but only one paperback sale through my web site. This makes sense. Buyers of physical books do much of their discovery by browsing shelves.
So, I’ve been thinking about the tourists who picked up book one, The Calling, at Black Cat Books and Coffee. If they want book two, Shaman’s Blues, will they look at the end matter, find my web site, notice the “buy paperbacks direct” link, and order from me? Will they remember the name of the bookstore and look up its contact information and order from them? More likely, they’ll look on Amazon and not find a paperback. Maybe they’ll buy the eBook, but probably not, if they’re the type of reader who likes to hold what they call “ a real book.”
My plan was to eventually republish the paperbacks with Ingram, Lulu, or Draft2Digital, but the prices on any of them would have put my books out of range for the average book buyer. Paper is expensive stuff. My books are longer than average, which obviously means more paper, and with the books going through a distributor, the prices increase. Will readers spend twenty-four dollars for a paperback? The same book published through KDP print can be priced six dollars lower. Despite my reluctance to drive business to this company, my ultimate goal is to make books available and affordable to those who want them.
I risk Amazon once again discounting the paperbacks to the point that I lose money on eBooks with their “price match” game. But I also risk losing readers who want the rest of the series in paperback after they passed through Truth or Consequences on vacation. The readers win.
I’m republishing on Amazon. I’ve also made the books available for expanded distribution, meaning other online stores may carry them if they chose. If you want to support small business, you can buy paperbacks for a slightly lower price from me or from Black Cat.
Amber Foxx Mysteries 
Amber, I’m sorry paper has made such a leap that it could price books out of reach. I covet your paper books and have them all nicely up on my shelf.
In our City, 2 independent bookstores flourish as well as the college B+Ns and the 2 Barnes and Noble stand alones. Interesting thing is these 2 independent stores opened post COVID. Our city is changing and the challenge for them is to keep the millennials interested enough (reports are they are the paper buying groups) to keep it up.
Is there a distribution hub for indies? The “great and powerful ‘Zon” is driving these days and the trend is not going to stop.
Keep on writing. You aren’t the only author lamenting
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Black Cat Books closed during the pandemic and then reopened under new ownership, and is thriving. I believe there’s a central web site that small independent bookstores can be listed on, to encourage buyers to purchase from them rather than the big guys. Indie authors go through the same distributors as traditionally published authors, and that’s part of the cost of print on demand publishing if one prints with any company that isn’t part of the store (as in, Amazon/KDP). Thanks for your appreciation of my work.
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