Questions about self publishing a book

I think its my understanding that you can use the same isbn in multiple companies if you buy your own, but

Q does anyone know if I can have the price be different at each print od company with the same isbn? (the cheapest price may vary from pod to pod paperback)

 

I found an article that addresses the ISBN question: https://indiesunlimited.com/2017/09/24/do-i-need-different-isbns-for-createspace-and-ingram/

However, this doesn't address the cover price question. I would read each service's Terms of Service VERY carefully, because using different cover prices gives one a competitive advantage over the other, and I don't think they would like that.

 

The cheapest price WILL vary from one POD service to another, but not that much. So what? I still think you are overthinking this, and making it massively more difficult than it needs to be.

The "cover" price (which doesn't actually have to appear on the cover) isn't built into the ISBN. The cover price can be built into the bar code box on the back cover -- but it doesn't have to be. Use the code 9000 and that leaves the price unspecified. But why try to figure the MSRP for each service down to the last penny and run the risk of violating one service's or another's terms of service by offering the same product cheaper through another source? Run the calculators for KDP and IngramSpark (and maybe Barnes & Noble Press, while you're at it), figure out the one that's going to result in the highest minimum MSRP (or "cover" price), and use that price for all of them. If you accidentally get a few cents in royalties every couple of months, so what?

Have you heard of the KISS principle? "KISS" is an acronym for "Keep It Simple, Stupid." Respectfully, I think that's what you need to do. Stop trying to push the river by manipulating the POD services to work in a way they were never intended to work*, and just get on with publishing the book.


* By this I mean that these services were not designed to NOT make money.

 

right as soon as you said some days ago that it would possibly upset those pod's i concluded that i should probably make it the same across the board

but do they care if i provide the book for free on my webpage, the entire book is the webpage and also a download which is a simple word version only that may include my cover but the consumer would have to print it off themselfs on their printer.

 

My English professor educated me on the polite form of that "Keep it Straight and Simple"

 

does anyone here use disclaimers in your books, and is it complicated, my book is a christian self help book talking about allot of things and giving constant advise throughout the book

 

I have used disclaimers. It's become fairly standard in certain romance subgenres but I don't know about other genres.

It doesn't need to be complicated and if you think it will help potential/new readers then it's worth it. Just a few sentences as the preface, stating what you think readers should be alerted to--for instance, that the book is christian and/or if you discuss any difficult topics. You can also be clear that you give advice within. If you don't already discuss your authority on the topics within you could mention that too.

 

I would suggest that, if you are giving advice (please note: the noun is "advice" with a 'c,' the verb is "advise" with an 's'), unless you have some sort of professional certification (doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, MSW, licensed marriage and family counselor, clergy, etc.) that you include a disclaimer that you are not a licensed or certified professional and that any advice you give is based solely on your studies and your life experience.

 

did you(anyone) hire an attorney to review the book or did you just put a simple disclaimer that you felt covered the potential issues

i looked at many examples of christian books and they dont seem to have any disclaimers, is there a reason for this or its not necessary somehow

 

Good point.

Being licensed in two professions, holding a professional title in a third, and having in the past been certified in a fourth, I tend to be a bit anal about practicing outside one's area of expertise. I agree -- rather than a disclaimer, it would be better not to give advice that might be construed as "professional" advice (unless one is a member of that particular profession).

 

The disclaimer would have nothing to do with legal matters. It's just a direct sentence to make it clear to readers if there is sensitive content.

 

i have read countless webpages about disclaimers and made a very long one but then thought it should be simpler, i reduced to to about a page lol

off of my readings in a disclaimer you say something like this is not professional advise and these represents my opinions kind of thing, and if you dont have expertise in an area that should not say that you do(even if you give advise about potentially professional topics, your covered if you say its an opinion and not fact), but if you do have expertise then disclaim that they are not your client, and that is it for general educational or entertainment purposes only

would it hurt me if i used my 1 page long disclaimer (2 page on 6x9) i tried to make is more freindly and personal

here is what my current disclaimer includes:quick description of book,that its my opinons,disclaim not opinions of the association im with,not inteded to malign people ,expereinces may vary, every attempt to make sure not errors but no gaurentee of it(error disclaimer),as is no warrenty,not professional advise,figuritively speaking,fair use statment,other misc issues addressed, and a final of agree to bound by this disclaimer(2 sentances)

i started off with a disclaimer generator and modified it and added other things that i saw on other sites

SapereAude did you use a disclaimer in your book(s)

 

As I commented above, my views on this are perhaps coloured (or, as some might say, 'informed") by the fact that I hold multiple professional licenses, registrations, and certifications, and I know that I can step into deep kimchee if I presume to practice outside of my areas of expertise and licensure. I have to disagree with marshipan: a disclaimer has everything to do with legal matters. You put in a disclaimer so that if someone follows your advice (again, please note: the noun form is "advice" with a 'c;' the verb form is "advise" with an 's') and gets hurt, killed, or loses their entire life savings, you have at least something to hang your hat on when they sue you.

[ https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/advise-vs-advice-usage ]

That said -- I have been involved in organizing and officiating at any number of automobile speed and off-road events. We always had each entrant (and passengers, for the off-road events) sign a waiver, but our lawyers also cautioned us that the waivers only provide limited protection. The same applies to disclaimers, I suspect. "I'm not a trained psychologist or an ordained clergyman so I'm not really qualified to give anyone advice, but here's my advice anyway. Take it for what it's worth." I don't know how much legal protection that would give you if, for example, someone going through a rough patch read your book, mentioned it to a close relative, and then went out and committed suicide.

On reflection, I have to agree that big soft moose's suggestion that if you're not qualified to be giving advice, it's probably better to not give advice. How important is the advice-giving to the book? Do you have to give advice?

 

An interesting distinction. I would not (and don't) consider the latter to be a disclaimer; that's just a notice.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disclaimer

 

im not that good at grammar are you saying i use advice in a disclaimer rather than advise.

i dissagree off my readings of multiple disclaimer webpages you can give advise about anything you want even its professional as long as you have a disclaimer stateing its options and not facts, and that it is not professional advise of any sort, people have blogs talking about all sorts of things includeing professional matters. they also suggest having a disclaimer built into your webpage (they have disclaimer generators for webpages)

this is a legal matter someone can sue over these matters, but it is of course good to warn people also, but it is a legal warning to prevent "negligence" on the behalf of the writer.

 

I have provided the correct word twice, as well as giving you a link to an article explaining the difference between "advice" and "advise,"and big soft moose has also now explained the difference. I'm venturing off-topic here but, since you came here looking for help with self-publishing and, by your own admission, you are not good with grammar, I feel I should ask you if you are going to have an editor go over your manuscript before you publish it. If your book contains grammatical errors, and things like using the wrong word, you and your book will not have any credibility.

Don't rely on your word processor's built-in spelling and grammar checker. Those tools can only go so far. Both "advice" and "advise" are words. If you use the wrong one, it won't show up in a spell checker and, depending on the sentence, it also may not show up in a grammar checker. Writers should never think they can get by with checking/editing their own work.

I have written articles for an on-line magazine. Before they get published, I post them to a behind-the-scenes area on the magazine's web site, where anywhere from one to three other contributing editors read the drafts and flag any errors they see or things they consider in need of polishing. Only after that review do any of the articles go live. Despite that process, I have on occasion gone back to articles I wrote years ago, looking for information or quotations, and the first thing I see when I open the article is a typo or spelling or grammar mistake that escaped me and all the editors at the time of publication.

Please get someone besides yourself to edit your manuscript.


As to the disclaimer: Yes, you can certainly offer opinions and even advice about anything. And, as big soft moose mentioned (and as I tried to point out), if someone follows your advice and gets hurt or suffers a loss, they can sue you. Doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, and other professionals whose work is providing advice carry professional liability insurance. I believe most (or all) clergymen do, also. A written disclaimer is not a magic talisman -- it won't and can't protect you from or against all lawsuits. That's why big soft moose suggested that, if you are going to use a disclaimer, you should have it written by an attorney. You want to make it as good as possible.

Personal opinion: The purpose of a disclaimer is not to be friendly, it's to protect you against lawsuits. I think a disclaimer that takes up two pages, or even all of one page, is probably much too long.

 

Yeah, we call them "content warnings" or "author notes". I thought he was talking about these since I see them frequently in the front of books I've been reading the last year. I wasn't aware he was talking about legal issues.

 

Timing is everything. I just found in my e-mail inbox a link to a checklist for book disclaimers. It may be of some use or interest to readers of this discussion.

https://cascadiaauthorservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/The-Book-Legal-Disclaimer-Checklist.pdf?__s=noaoihubuah9e8yp9rgg

A couple of points that struck me as pertinent to this discussion: