The information in your book can be shared with your readership in many ways, in both physical and digital formats, with variations available for each format. Here are some options to consider. Bear in mind there are pluses and minuses to each format – choose the 1 which best-suits you and your readers’ needs.

Physical books

Paperback

Paperbacks are printed and bound books with a soft cover. They are cheaper to print than hardbacks, but are prone to damage when carried about for prolonged periods.

Hardback

Hardback books are more durable than paperbacks, with a sturdy cover, which makes them idea for reference guides the reader will carry around with them. However, they are significantly more costly to produce and post. Hardbacks are often perceived as being luxurious and give an air of prestige to the author.

Depending on your subject matter and your readership, it may be worth paying the premium to produce this type of book.

Author Tip

If you plan on publishing a hardcover and paperback version, choose trim size that is available for both binding formats.

Multi-format books

Multi-format books consist of a printed or hardback book, with accompanying CD or DVD disks. A good example is a foreign language book with a workbook and some supporting audio files. These are a little more difficult to produce as it requires 2 types of production, book printing and disk replication. Business tend to specialise in book printing or disk production, not both. You can pick up self-adhesive sleeves to fix your disks into the back of your book yourself, then send them to Amazon to fulfil customer orders. Alternatively, you can use a box to store the books and the disks together.

And, of course, you can sell the two products separately, offering the book, the physical disks and / or an online download to the reader.

For your first book, I would keep things simple and offer digital downloads online. (Check out paddle.com if you want to sell them).

In the next post, I’ll explain about which type of paperback and / or hardback book will be best for you and your readers.

Need more help?

If you need some help with your book project, I offer online and one-to-one book coaching. Contact me for details or check out my webinar to find out how  to book a free 90 minute consultation.