Don’t know if you want to publish an ebook or paperback?

Should I publish and ebook or paperback?

Become an eBook or Paperback Author

When traditional publishing was the only game in town, you had to work with a publisher or pay a vanity press to become a published author. Nowadays it’s easier to self-publish digital versions of your book.

Under the digital banner are:

Ebooks
Print-on-demand paperbacks, and
Audio books

As an indie author you have the option of choosing which digital version you produce. Some authors only publish ebooks, but if you’re writing a travel guide your readers are just as likely to purchase a paperback version if it’s available. I’m using travel guides as the examples below, but this strategy is relevant for any book, in any niche.

Three Publication Strategies

Here are three options for releasing your book, ranging from simple, intermediate and advanced:

Simple Option: Only publish your travel guide as an ebook.
Intermediate Option: Publish your travel guide as an ebook first, and release a paperback version at a later date.
Advanced Option: Publish your travel guide ebook and paperback at the same time.

The more advanced your strategy the longer it’s going to take to get your book into the hands of your readers. If you want to get a book into the marketplace as soon as possible, just focus on creating an ebook.  You’ll notice I haven’t included a strategy to only publish a paperback. Creating an ebook is more straightforward than creating a print version, and if you’re creating the cover art and internal content for a print version, it’s a complete waste of effort not to release an ebook version as well.

Simple Format Strategy

Only publish your travel guide as an ebook.

This is also the quickest path to becoming a published author. By publishing in one format you simplify your book formatting, cover design, and book distribution decisions. There are also plenty of free tools available to help you achieve your publishing goals.

Intermediate Format Strategy

Publish your travel guide as an ebook first.
Release a POD paperback version at a later date.

If you’re a newbie author, releasing an ebook at the same time as a paperback could overwhelm you because of the technical requirements of creating different versions of your file and cover art. Plus, in addition to choosing which ebook retailers and aggregators you’re going to sell through, now you have to decide which print partner to distribute through.

Staggering your format releases will allow you to focus on producing and releasing an ebook and get your feet wet by trying different promotional and marketing activities. There will undoubtedly be changes you want to make to your travel guide’s content (maybe a few typos made it into the final edit, or you’ve had a change of heart around the structure or organization of the content)—so during this initial release period you can continue to edit and refine your ebook content.

When your ebook has settled comfortably into its final version, you can switch your full attention to the activities related to creating a paperback version of your travel guide.

One of the benefits of a staggered release is you can use the paperback release as an opportunity to cross-promote your ebook. This approach extends the life-cycle of your content. Marketing for marketing’s sake can feel forced, but when you release a new book version, it’s an excuse for a fanfare and some ebook promotional pricing or incentives to attract a reader’s attention.

Advanced Format Strategy

Release an ebook and POD paperback at the same time.

If you do have the time, skills, and budget to create and publish an ebook and paperback concurrently, my book is an invaluable tool for understanding and mastering the steps involved to navigate this dual path.

If you thrive at multitasking, you’ll find it enjoyable to work on your paperback while the related elements of your ebook are fresh in your mind.

Your readers benefit from a concurrent release of both versions, because it gives them a choice of formats (and a choice of price-points) to purchase on launch day, so there’s less chance of losing book sales because your travel guide isn’t available in their preferred format, or within their budget.

I’ve released my travel guides and travel writing books as ebooks, and this approach creates the foundation for my writing brand. But my long-term content marketing strategy involves creating a paperback version of each book. I’ve also started releasing workbooks that are only available as paperbacks.

The different Format Strategy approaches I’ve taken

For my first book, The Bodrum Peninsula Travel Guide, I knew I wanted to publish an ebook and also tried to incorporate a paperback release at the same time. But trying to master the elements required to publish a paperback, at the same time as I was coming to terms with ebook file formatting, cover design, and distribution networks was too much to handle.

I had a limited budget available so I needed to do all of the self-publishing steps myself. This was also my first book and I wasn’t sure if I would sell any, so I was content to release my first travel guide as an ebook to test the waters and forego the print version.

In hindsight, the biggest challenge was the complexity of the print distribution options I needed to navigate in order to get my paperback into bookstores. Since then, the indie author options have changed dramatically and some of the rogue publishers have exited stage-right. What we’re left with is a short list of reputable aggregators I’m happy to use and recommend.

For my second travel guide, The Gumusluk Travel Guide, I decided on a simple format strategy, and just focused on releasing an ebook.

Over the years I’ve had numerous requests for paperback versions of these Turkey travel guides, so during the next round of content updates I’m releasing print versions as well. For all future travel guides I’m following the intermediate plan of an initial ebook release, followed three months later by a paperback release.

My Nonfiction Writing Books

I initially released Freewriting for Travel Writers as an ebook, and a few months later I released it as a POD paperback so I could use this print version release as a promotional opportunity. Based on the number of copies sold, my ebook sales exceed my paperback sales. But based on the higher list price, my paperback is more lucrative.

The following year I released two companion workbooks in this Freewriting series. Given these are workbooks it didn’t make sense to release them as ebooks, so they’re only available in paperback. I also released a travel-related journal, which again, is only available in paperback.

I am in the process of writing and self-publishing a four-part How to Write and Self-Publish a Travel Guide series, which has a staggered ebook release. Once the ebooks are available, I’ll release print versions and companion workbooks.

So is it going to be an ebook or paperback?

So, are you going to focus on creating an ebook, or do you want the challenge and benefit of creating a paperback version too?

For our niche travel guides, there is definitely a market for printed versions. But it’s by no means mandatory.

Look at your own buying patterns and ask your friends or social networks what formats they purchase their travel guides in. I’m a huge ebook purchaser, but when it comes to travel guides, I buy a combination of ebook and paperback. If there’s no print version available, I’ll settle for the ebook.

If the thought of creating a paperback is getting in your way of becoming a published author, then take a stepped approach and focus on your ebook before trying to master your print version, or just forego it altogether.

What about releasing an audiobook?

Audiobooks require a completely different skill set and expertise than an ebook and paperback. I wouldn’t mind listening to a travel narrative or travel memoir on audio, but I wouldn’t want to digest a travel guide this way.

A cursory search on Amazon’s Audible site shows some authors are publishing audio versions of their travel guides, but Audible specifically recommends against recording a travel guide audiobook. That’s not to say you can’t explore this route, but as audio books require a higher investment than ebooks and print, you need to evaluate the cost of creating your book against the sales potential.

Not sure whether to release an ebook or paperback version of your book? Here's some tips for helping your make this critical #selfpublishing decision. Click To Tweet