I experimented so you don't have to!

Through this journey as a self-published debut author, I've learned a lot! A lot of that learning also comes with some errors along the way.

The biggest lesson learned was through printing paperbacks. I ended up utilizing three separate printers and I want to share the good, bad, and ugly! I know there are printing shortages at the moment, so I definitely am extending some grace and I would probably use each of these printers again, but I did find one I am partial to along the way. I'll also add, none of the errors change the sellability of the books and the interiors of each of the books were perfect, with no known flaws.

The first company I found was Barnes & Noble Press. I thought it was awesome that I could publish my book through B&N and have it printed all in one go, but I did run into a few snags. I ordered proofs from B&N as soon as my final copy was ready to go. Estimated turn around time was four to six weeks and as I approached three weeks of waiting, I determined I needed to place a bulk order without seeing the proofs to ensure I had them for my debut release which was about five weeks away. My proof arrived a few days after I placed my bulk order and it was very disappointing. I immediately panicked when I saw the way the cover had printed.

The front cover looked fine, but the back cover was incredibly close to the edge, so much so that I felt I needed to place a new order immediately. The binding was also not great on the proof. It was almost as if they used too small of a template when they printed and cut the book. It is significantly smaller than the others I received. My cover artist sat down and edited the back of the cover to move the blurb over and make the font smaller. With this edited photo, I submitted another order, hoping to have a "corrected" cover for my release, which was four weeks away.

Both bulk orders arrived on the same date, despite being ordered weeks apart. Below are the results from the first bulk order before changes were made to the cover.

The first bulk order from B&N turned out much different than the proof copy and were much better than expected. However, I had already placed a "corrected" order, which are below.

This order was...okay. I was more comfortable with where the wording was placed since it gave a little more space between the edges, but they were blurry. Which was disappointing. The photo quality was not changed and I didn't notice any issues with the proof when it was uploaded prior to placing my order.

After this whole debacle, I chose to give in and order from IngramSpark. When I had researched this company previously, I was annoyed that there was a fee to upload the book on top of the printing fees. However, the printing fees ended up being less than what they were through B&N and there were no delays in shipping, so I didn't feel obligated to pay for express shipping. I placed my order about two weeks ago and got it today. It looks like there are one or two books in the whole box that got cut a little funny, but other than that, the covers are perfect.

One last review is Amazon. I accidentally published my paperback about four weeks prior to official release because I was trying to figure out how to order my proofs. These turned out great! The quality is amazing. The books feel very sturdy and the cover feels stronger than the other books. The strangest thing to me is that the Barnes and Noble proof and the proof from Amazon are totally different even though the same photo was used to print both. (Amazon is on the left in the photo on the left and on the bottom in the photo on the right).

All in all, I think all three of these companies would be just fine for printing copies of your own. I do think that the quality of the books is better at both Amazon and Ingram, but if the price is right, I may consider ordering through B&N again. B&N seems to have quite a bit longer of a print/ship time than the others as well. I paid for express shipping on each order, which added about $25 to my total order price. I did not have to do that with Amazon or Ingram, which will save me money in the future. I'll also say, the interior of these books was perfect at each printer, the only issues I had was with the outside covers.

Do with this information what you will, and feel free to reach out with any questions you might have!

XO,

Kenzie