KDP proof copies

[HareBrain]

As far as I understand it, I could get proof paperback copies of a book from KDP, up to five copies at a time, without immediately planning to publish. Is that so and would there be any downsides? It seems a cost-effective way of getting some hard copies to hand out to test readers rather than sending them Word docs.

 

[Brian G Turner]

It seems a cost-effective way of getting some hard copies to hand out to test readers rather than sending them Word docs.

If you want to send out copies for reading, you can also send Kindle ebooks, which would probably work out a little more cost-effective than physical books.

When you're in the Edit Content section for your book in KDP, you can download a copy via the Previewer > Download > Mobi version. This will effectively be a copy of your ebook to that point, and you can update the copy at any time.

I'm currently doing that myself for my own test copies, simply to check on formatting.

 

[HareBrain]

you can also send Kindle ebooks, which would probably work out a little more cost-effective than physical books.

True, but Kindle users could already email Word docs to their Kindles for conversion. I'd rather have a few hard copies both for people who prefer them and to mark up with corrections (which is really annoying to do with kindle notes). Just wondering if there's a downside or any restrictions I haven't thought of.

 

[Pyan]

Sorry, HB, I was wondering why you wanted kid-proof copies, then I read it properly...

 

[tinkerdan]

This is exactly what I do.[Keep in mind I'm in the US and what they offer in the UK could vary.]
Once they have accepted my files I order 3 of the review books to give to my helpers to find any errors we have missed.(Do not yet submit for publishing.) They email you when they have a private page ready from which you complete the order.
These come without the isbn and with a special amazon number and the cover will have a watermark band that says not for resale or some such.

If you have to make changes you can still load new files for both the cover and the main doc or html or whichever you send.

You should be able to order more review copies-with the changes-however I have only done that with createspace with my first novel and have recently done three novels with KDP and only needed one pass with the review books. It does not get officially published until you click the button that publishes it.

Once you finish and publish you can then order Author copies for the same price as the review copies. Those should come without that watermark; though I have not yet ordered author copies.

This method works great because there is always something that we miss in all the initial edits. [Also it was a familiar process since when I published with Xlibris they sent me a hard copy to review and submit corrections for before publishing.] There are differences in how we scan things in print as opposed to the electronic version that are enough to somehow highlight those things we were missing in prior edits.

 

[Pemry Janes]

As far as I understand it, I could get proof paperback copies of a book from KDP, up to five copies at a time, without immediately planning to publish. Is that so and would there be any downsides? It seems a cost-effective way of getting some hard copies to hand out to test readers rather than sending them Word docs.

You do still have to pay for the printing and shipping, so that's the downside. It can get even more expensive if those test readers don't live close by so you can do the handing out yourself.

 

[HareBrain]

I went through the whole format (Word->PDF) and upload process this evening. It was all fairly straightforward, though a few aspects were a bit irritating. I've ordered three copies, so I'll see soon enough how they turn out.

 

[tinkerdan]

If you managed all your formatting of the pages well, you should be happy.
If you haven't, then that's one good reason to get the copies before publishing it.
Either way for what little it does cost for the book and the shipping it's well worth the price.

 

[HareBrain]

If you managed all your formatting of the pages well, you should be happy.

I think so. I did get an error message to say the fonts hadn't embedded properly, though I'd chosen the recommended options when creating the PDF. And then the on-screen version of the preview made the lettering look fuzzy -- but it looked very sharp on the downloadable PDF proof. At the moment, that's about the only thing that looks a bit uncertain at the moment.

 

[tinkerdan]

I always send up .docx files, that way I have them all formatted as I expect to see them and it accepts them fine. The last time it took just a matter of minutes for their system to okay it and have the on line review file ready.

 

[Cosmic Geoff]

The pre-publication paperbacks are marked 'Not for Resale' or some such, as noted above.
The fonts can be a headache, as the system is liable to silently substutute your fonts without giving any clear messaging. I belatedly realised something was going on when page makeup in "The Witch's Box" changed between the LibreOffice .doc paperback design files and the online proofing. With a little guesswork and experimenting I deduced that the font had changed to Times New Roman (same point size as before) and that my previous paperbacks were also in Times New Roman and not what was in the source files.
Actually Times New Roman looked fine to me, so I changed the font in the source to Times New Roman to keep the page makeup consistent.

I recommend culling errors digitally by spellchecking and using ProwritingAid on the source text, then keep a look out for 'wrong word' typos that evade spell check, and at digital proof stage look out for formatting errors, e.g. a short line justifying to full width. With the paperback proof you can check the 'real book' look, whether the cover aligns as you expected, and have a final check for anything that may have got through the previous checks.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Minor note that you might get a paperback without the 'not for resale' tag.

I had the tag for both Crown of Blood copies (there was a minor spine error [Amazon was being finickity]). I didn't for Sir Edric and the Corpse Lord.