I’m sure I’m not the first one to comment on the fact that we all saw the beta version pop up on our KDP dashboards a little while ago. I wanted to do some research on it before posting my two-cents on the subject. So, let’s go ahead and gossip about it, shall we?
First off, I think it’s fantastic! While publishing your book in ebook and paperback is thrilling in itself, it finally feels like us, self-published authors, have finally reached the mecca of publishing: the highly coveted hardcover edition! For some reason, being able to see your work bound in that hard outer shell makes it all the more real, the more tangible, the more…professional.
It’s hard to explain the feeling of it all, but I’m sure someone out there knows exactly what I’m talking about. All the bestsellers have hardcover editions of their books and now, we can too. What a wonderful step forward in the publishing world! Even if we aren’t bestsellers (yet, obviously – never give up on your dreams!) we can now feel like we are.
Of course, the hardcover that’s available through KDP isn’t the kind with the cover wrap which, in all honesty, I’m not mad about. Those cover wraps fall off and they’re kind of annoying. No – what KDP chose to do was have your hardcover book encased which means that it’s attached to the book itself which reminds me of those old school Nancy Drew Books I used to read. The Hardy Boys if you’re my fiancé.
I would say that we’re all still trying to figure out the dimensions for these new covers. One of my writer friends posted a mini review about it where her title was cut off along with part of the summary on the back. That’s probably my biggest fear at the moment, having the dimensions all askew.
So, I’m currently in the process of publishing my witchcraft journals in hardcover and I’m patiently waiting for my proof to arrive. I noticed that it takes a little longer for them than it does for paperbacks which is understandable. I don’t know what all goes into creating a hardcover but I assume it would take a little love and care to put together.
However, I did pay my go-to cover creators, GetCovers, to recreate my paperback cover for a hardcover edition on KDP. I’m really hoping they got the dimensions right, even though I have an unlimited number of revisions I can do with them. Those hardcover proofs are not cheap. I think mine for my 155 page journal was around $7.50 and then you have to add shipping. For standard it was around $3.80. However, my trim for my journals are 7×10, so it’s a little different from the standard 6×9 book.
All in all, I can’t wait to see how it turns out and will update my blog once my proof copy comes in. It’s exciting times to publish. So, have fun with it!
Author Lauren Eason 