There is a huge debate when it comes to publishing wide versus KDP. There are good arguments on both sides, but I ultimately chose to publish wide. The primary reason for choosing to publish wide versus KDP was because I wanted my book to be available for libraries and I wanted to offer a hardcover version of the book.
If you are debating whether to go wide versus KDP, it’s best to first figure out what your goals for publishing are. Do you want your book in libraries? Do you want your book available at a wholesale discount so big bookstores like Barnes & Noble, Target, and Walmart can order it in bulk?
Publishing strictly on Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) has its advantages, especially for authors of thriller, horror, sci fi, and romance series because when you are exclusive to KDP, then you can make your book series available on Kindle Unlimited (KU), which is sort of like Netflix for books. When readers with KU subscriptions download your book, you get paid for page reads instead of copies sold. If you hook a reader and they devour your book series, then you receive income for all of those page reads.
Publishing wide, however, lets you publish wherever you want. There certain are aggregates out there that help with this, and I chose to use KDP for my paperback and ebook and IngramSpark for my paperback, ebook, and hardcover everywhere else. Because I wasn’t exclusive to KDP, then I could not take advantage of KU. But I didn’t care about that so much because, again, my number one goal is to get the book into libraries. Once the wide versus KDP question was figured out, then I could plan most of my next steps.
I’ve had some back and forth with my cover designer. The paperback cover files will be done today, so I should have the format files and cover files uploaded to IngramSpark and Amazon KDP by the end of the day. It looks like he needs to do two versions. He’s really going above and beyond. He doesn’t have to be so accommodating, but it’s appreciated and I’m going to continue to use him. Things are moving. Next will be the hardcover dust jacket. That should be done by the end of the week, I imagine. That will cost something, but I’m willing to pay. Then I’ll work on branding. That stuff will come in handy for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, my website, newsletter.
I am 54 pages into The Old Man and the Sea, a little under halfway through. He’s just hooked the big fish, and it’s pulling him out to sea. He’s had it on the line for about 18 hours. It’s a test of will. Hemingway did a great job of setting it all up. The character, the stakes, all of that. In the first twenty pages, we know that Santiago is not the type to give up on a fish. It’ll be a fight to the end if necessary. It seems at this point, he is losing. But he is confident the fish will tire and jump, which means he will have the upper hand. It’s such a joy to read.
I need to work on a couple of projects today. Anything I have for Naughty Week, uploading the files and such, can be done between things. I need to write a minimum of 500 words in The Swedish Fish. I also need to turn in another draft of Operation Bombshell. I need to make it seem shorter than it is. I’ve cut some things, but it’s not entirely enough. I’ll have to work some of my script coordinator magic.
My work in The Swedish Fish should be fun and should flow. I’m working up to the legend of the Swedish Fish. It’s mostly dialogue-based, and there are four points of view weighing in, so it should move along nicely. I don’t think the fish can be too big. The legendary fish can be as big as I want it to be, but the fish the character Lola hooks can only really be twenty pounds or so. Even that’s a lot for a ten-year-old to haul in. That doesn’t matter, the actual size. Perception is everything. So a ten-year-old girl would think a twenty-pound fish is three hundred pounds because it’s so overwhelming. It could be fifteen pounds. It could be ten pounds. It really doesn’t matter. All that matters is it’s the biggest fish she’s ever hooked.
