How and Why to Publish Your Book in Hardcover
/As you navigate the exciting journey of publishing your book, exploring the many formats available to maximize its potential reach and impact is crucial. From eBooks to audiobooks, paperbacks to hardcovers, each format offers unique advantages in engaging readers.
Traditionally, authors often kick off their launch with an eBook and paperback. However, allow me to suggest a strategic approach: consider staggering the release of the audiobook and hardcover editions after the initial buzz of your launch settles.
Why? This deliberate timing allows you to leverage each format's release to drive traffic back to your book's listing via retailers such as Amazon.
By getting eyes on your book's product page, you are showing online retailers that people are interested in your book, which reignites their sales algorithm, and you want Amazon to show your book to potential readers on your behalf. They do this by sharing it in search results, emails, and on similar books' product pages.
Moreover, pursuing publication in all available formats is essential for landing on the esteemed New York Times bestseller list. While achieving this milestone may be challenging, ensuring your book is available in all formats enhances its eligibility, and you just never know when a book is going to take off!
Take a cue from traditionally published books, which commonly feature all formats—a testament to their level of professionalism and readiness for success.
Personally, I find hardcover editions to be a particularly special offering. There's an undeniable allure to gifting or receiving a beautifully crafted hardcover book.
When it comes to hardcover options, you have two popular choices available through print-on-demand:
Case Laminate: An option where the cover is directly printed and laminated onto the boards of the book, similar to schoolbooks.
Jacketed Case Laminate: This style features a separate dust jacket enveloping the case laminate cover. The dust jacket not only adds aesthetic appeal but also serves as a protective layer.
My personal preference leans toward the Jacketed Case Laminate because I prefer to have a dust jacket that wraps the book, with the inside flaps tucking behind the front and back cover.
For those interested in this format, I facilitate the process through IngramSpark, ensuring seamless distribution across major online retailers like Amazon and Barnes&Noble.com.
When clients wish to distribute their books solely through Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), the only hardcover option is Case Laminate since KDP does not offer the jacketed option at this time.
Note that hardcovers need their own ISBN, separate from the paperback and other published editions, along with a cover file sized specifically for Case Laminate hardcover or Jacketed Case Laminate hardcover.
Therefore, if you wish to publish a hardcover edition of your book, you'll want to assign a separate ISBN for it and ask your cover designer to create the print-ready cover files for the format of the hardcover style you prefer. The files must be sized based on the final page count of the print-ready interior file, and in the proper trim size.
If you're intrigued by the idea of publishing your book in hardcover format or require further guidance, this is a service we offer at Transcendent Publishing.
