Horse, then cart!

The last book printer I've been looking at is blurb.com who have mmp-like books available also around the $10/book price.

What I'm liking about Blurb is that the company founder specifically set out to set up a company where someone could get a single copy of a book printed. Which is exactly what I want.

I figure I'll have a fair amount of down time when I'm off shift at work and rather than just watching movies or killing time I can do something productive and write. It may even become a potential revenue stream some day. Since I'll be away from my family, may as well do something to potentially generate more income.

But before I can print, I need to actually write stuff. So carts and horses and all that...

Book printing

Well, after a bit of hunting around, the two leading contenders for my needs are Amazon's createspace.com and thebookpatch.com

Both seem to offer me the ability to print a handful (5 or less) physical copies of a book in mass market paperback (mmp) size for around the mmp price. Under $20 per copy, possibly as low as $10 per copy.

That's ridiculously cheap considering some Australian printers (not publishers) charge around a thousand dollars in setup fees with minimum orders of 100 books.

And createspace.com offers the option of a sales outlet (for a fee) should I choose to try and sell my book(s) {Note the optimism!}

So at the moment the plan is to write as much as I can, and if I can get enough words down for several halfway decent books I'll get physical copies printed. Both of the above companies allow me to upload my own cover artwork so I can make the spines match so the books look good next to each other on the shelf.

I doubt I'll apply for ISBN's though. I mean, I can get 10 for under $100 but that's still $100 I could spend on bills or fuel or food.

* Note for any aspiring authors who might read this: I'm looking for a printer who can just provide me with a physical copy of my manuscript in a halfway decent looking book. A publisher is a company that wants to promote and sell your manuscript. A (proper) publisher will pay you and never ask you for money. (And read the fine print! Before signing or agreeing to anything.)

Getting back into writing

Well, it's been a while since I've posted. The good news is that I have a new job which will hopefully turn into a stable long-term career.

The down side is that I will be spending time away from the family. This last stretch went from the start of September to the middle of December. Three and a half months away from everyone I care about and love. And this next stretch will be even longer. Ouch.

Well, since I will be spending so long away from my family, I may as well put some of my time back in to my writing. Who knows, it may bring in some money someday.

Just for the fun of it, I was having a look at some printing options. I don't plan on trying to sell my books, but being able to get them printed and have a physical book would be really cool. I've found a couple of on demand printers that will let me print as little as five or just one copy. Most Australian printers seem to hover around the $60 per book price, but there are a couple of online printers hovering around the $10 a book price.

Still looking at hidden costs, set up fees and minimum order quantities but it shouldn't be too hard to locate a decent printer. I doubt I'd go to the extreme of getting an ISBN issued.

Unless I felt a book I wrote was marketable. Not at that level yet, but it could happen.

Though I guess I should write first...