Do I order a Proof copy or Author's copy?

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I'm about to launch my first print copy through Amazon. Should I order a proof copy or author's copy? I seem to recall a discussion about the merits of ordering an author's copy . I'll probably have to use a courier as we have virtually no post office service in SA 

[R. C.]

FWIIW - Proof copies come with a "do not sell" banner across the cover. Author's copies do not have the restriction.

R.C.

[TimothyEllis]

Proof can only be ordered before the book goes live.
Author copy after it goes live.

There appears to be no difference in price.

Next lot I do, I'll be doing author copies instead of proofs.

Last time I did them, they were so slow processing the proof request that 2 of my books went live and I got request refused emails. That's when I found out about the proof only being available before the book goes live, and then discovered the author copy was the same price as the proof.

[Bill Hiatt]

Proofs take more time to arrive, as they seem to be shipped by the slowest method at Amazon's disposal. Author copies get delivered as fast as anything else, at least in my experience.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Proof can only be ordered before the book goes live.
Author copy after it goes live.

There appears to be no difference in price.

Next lot I do, I'll be doing author copies instead of proofs.

Last time I did them, they were so slow processing the proof request that 2 of my books went live and I got request refused emails. That's when I found out about the proof only being available before the book goes live, and then discovered the author copy was the same price as the proof.

Thanks for this. 
I would like to see the proof copy before I go live in case there is a problem. I had to put page numbers in the contents page as it's non-fiction and I want to make sure they are correct. I won't put a date to go live until I've checked them. I hope I don't have to wait a long time, and that the courier doesn't cost a fortune 

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Proofs take more time to arrive, as they seem to be shipped by the slowest method at Amazon's disposal. Author copies get delivered as fast as anything else, at least in my experience.

Thanks. That's worth knowing. I think I will have to pay to have the book couriered as we have no postal service to speak of. 

[TimothyEllis]

I would like to see the proof copy before I go live in case there is a problem. I had to put page numbers in the contents page as it's non-fiction and I want to make sure they are correct. I won't put a date to go live until I've checked them. I hope I don't have to wait a long time, and that the courier doesn't cost a fortune 

You can do that in the previewer.

As long as you put in page numbering, you can double check the contents against the pages. Don't need a proof for doing that. The proof is more use for making sure the cover fit properly, especially if the spine was very fiddly to get right.

The only other thing I'd use a proof for is making sure the images come out sharp, but if you used high definition images, they should be fine.

I don't bother waiting anymore. I was ordering the proof then submitting straight away. I've had to redo a few bad covers, but I sell paperbacks so rarely the mistakes never went out to anyone.

[Vijaya]

I always order the real book and make changes if need be... it's only with my first book that I had to upload multiple times. Big learning curve.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I would like to see the proof copy before I go live in case there is a problem. I had to put page numbers in the contents page as it's non-fiction and I want to make sure they are correct. I won't put a date to go live until I've checked them. I hope I don't have to wait a long time, and that the courier doesn't cost a fortune 

You can do that in the previewer.

As long as you put in page numbering, you can double check the contents against the pages. Don't need a proof for doing that. The proof is more use for making sure the cover fit properly, especially if the spine was very fiddly to get right.

The only other thing I'd use a proof for is making sure the images come out sharp, but if you used high definition images, they should be fine.

I don't bother waiting anymore. I was ordering the proof then submitting straight away. I've had to redo a few bad covers, but I sell paperbacks so rarely the mistakes never went out to anyone.

Thanks.
I have checked in previewer, but I'd still like to make sure by seeing the actual book, and also how the cover fits. But if it's going to take forever then I might take a chance. I think with non-fiction readers often like to have a print copy, and I've got someone waiting for the print before buying.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

I always order the real book and make changes if need be... it's only with my first book that I had to upload multiple times. Big learning curve.

Thanks.
My previous print books were all done through CreateSpace. This is the first one I've done through Amazon so I'm a bit nervous about the result. 

[Bill Hiatt]

Since the shift to KDP Print, I've not had any problems with the quality of my paperbacks.

I know it's different in nonfiction, but in fiction, paperback sales are rare, though somewhat more frequent than they used to be. I can easily fix a problem before anyone buys the actual book.

[TimothyEllis]

Since the shift to KDP Print, I've not had any problems with the quality of my paperbacks.

I've had issues with the spine. They never do get it perfectly centered.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Since the shift to KDP Print, I've not had any problems with the quality of my paperbacks.

I know it's different in nonfiction, but in fiction, paperback sales are rare, though somewhat more frequent than they used to be. I can easily fix a problem before anyone buys the actual book.

Good to know you are happy with KDP print.

I've had a few print sales of my children's books, but that's not surprising as parents buy for their children.
My non-fiction has four parts divided into sections and lots of bullet points and checklists and examples and anecdotes, so there is a lot of formatting that can go wrong. It looks okay in preview, but in my experience mistakes hide in the computer lurking ready to gleefully appear in the print version.    

[LilyBLily]

Amazon reserves the right to mess up the spine registration (oh, excuse me, they use different words), so I always instruct my designer to blend and fade color between front, spine, and back so it's less noticeable. Nothing to be done about that.

As for the actual printing, it's if anything a bit better now. I had to send a lot of CreateSpace books back for poor registration of the interiors.

The proof copy is useless since the banner Amazon slugs across it makes it impossible to see if every element of the cover is okay. I order an author copy. If all is well with it, then I order my usual number.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Amazon reserves the right to mess up the spine registration (oh, excuse me, they use different words), so I always instruct my designer to blend and fade color between front, spine, and back so it's less noticeable. Nothing to be done about that.

As for the actual printing, it's if anything a bit better now. I had to send a lot of CreateSpace books back for poor registration of the interiors.

The proof copy is useless since the banner Amazon slugs across it makes it impossible to see if every element of the cover is okay. I order an author copy. If all is well with it, then I order my usual number.

Thanks. 
But can you order an author copy before you've actually published the print version?

[TimothyEllis]

But can you order an author copy before you've actually published the print version?

Not on KDP. You order the Proof before, the Author copy after.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Ordered a proof copy. They now need my ID number for customs. Reluctantly gave it to them. Now my credit card is the old one so I had to put in details of the new one. Went to the cart to complete the order to get the message : Sorry, this item can't be shipped to your selected address. Learn more. You may either change the shipping address or delete the item from your order. . They no longer ship to SA. Most of my readers are in SA  .
 Now I will have to gift a copy to a relative in the UK and try to find someone who is coming here on holiday. A courier service is so outrageously expensive to be dismissed as a possibility.   

[Bill Hiatt]

If nothing also, surely there must be a printing company in SA that Amazon could partner with to produce paperbacks. It isn't exactly a small country. And there must be a fair number of English speakers in large parts of Africa, so one would expect it to have some market potential for works written in English.

[TimothyEllis]

Ordered a proof copy. They now need my ID number for customs. Reluctantly gave it to them. Now my credit card is the old one so I had to put in details of the new one. Went to the cart to complete the order to get the message : Sorry, this item can't be shipped to your selected address. Learn more. You may either change the shipping address or delete the item from your order. . They no longer ship to SA. Most of my readers are in SA  .
 Now I will have to gift a copy to a relative in the UK and try to find someone who is coming here on holiday. A courier service is so outrageously expensive to be dismissed as a possibility.   

Used to be the same in Australia. Took them a long time, but finally they arranged printing here.

[Bill Hiatt]

I'm glad at least they got Australia straightened out. I hope that produced somewhat lower book prices. As I recall, they used to be way higher than in places like the US and Europe.

[TimothyEllis]

I'm glad at least they got Australia straightened out. I hope that produced somewhat lower book prices. As I recall, they used to be way higher than in places like the US and Europe.

Not really. They're still based on the US$ price and our lousy exchange rate. Makes them expensive here.

But the price from D2D with the same royalty pay would make them extremely expensive, which is why I've not done them through there.

As far as I'm aware, I've not had a single sale of a paperback in Australia.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

If nothing also, surely there must be a printing company in SA that Amazon could partner with to produce paperbacks. It isn't exactly a small country. And there must be a fair number of English speakers in large parts of Africa, so one would expect it to have some market potential for works written in English.

We've only just got Amazon.co.za. this year. It was a soft launch with no fanfare as they have very little on their site compared to other countries. My paperback books are all listed as 'unavailable', although there are some paperback books advertised. Can't find any Kindle books. 

I have managed to have an author copy sent to a friend in the UK who is on holiday there. I'm hoping she will receive it before she returns to SA on 2nd July. I'll have to make the same arrangement to get more copies through the UK if I want to sell them in SA.

[Bill Hiatt]

Odd about the Kindle books. The same is true in the China store, but there it's because of government preference. That's also the reason Amazon can't sell ebooks in some parts of South-East Asia and the Middle East. I've never heard that in reference to South Africa, though.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Odd about the Kindle books. The same is true in the China store, but there it's because of government preference. That's also the reason Amazon can't sell ebooks in some parts of South-East Asia and the Middle East. I've never heard that in reference to South Africa, though.

We've always previously bought through Amazon.com. They kept sending messages to ask if I wanted to shop at Amazon.co.za when they launched, but I've elected to stay with Amazon.com. I don't think it's a problem with not being allowed to sell in SA as we've been buying for years. It's probably to do with the way everything is set up and they are not ready yet.

[TimothyEllis]

Odd about the Kindle books. The same is true in the China store, but there it's because of government preference. That's also the reason Amazon can't sell ebooks in some parts of South-East Asia and the Middle East. I've never heard that in reference to South Africa, though.

We've always previously bought through Amazon.com. They kept sending messages to ask if I wanted to shop at Amazon.co.za when they launched, but I've elected to stay with Amazon.com. I don't think it's a problem with not being allowed to sell in SA as we've been buying for years. It's probably to do with the way everything is set up and they are not ready yet.

I did the same when the AUS store was setup. They kept badgering me to change, but after I found so much not available, I went back to the US store for a long time. It was only after they started blocking US purchases that I went back to AUS again.

[Jan Hurst-Nicholson]

Odd about the Kindle books. The same is true in the China store, but there it's because of government preference. That's also the reason Amazon can't sell ebooks in some parts of South-East Asia and the Middle East. I've never heard that in reference to South Africa, though.

We've always previously bought through Amazon.com. They kept sending messages to ask if I wanted to shop at Amazon.co.za when they launched, but I've elected to stay with Amazon.com. I don't think it's a problem with not being allowed to sell in SA as we've been buying for years. It's probably to do with the way everything is set up and they are not ready yet.

I did the same when the AUS store was setup. They kept badgering me to change, but after I found so much not available, I went back to the US store for a long time. It was only after they started blocking US purchases that I went back to AUS again.

Yes, you look at all the items for sale but most of them are listed 'not available'. Very frustrating not seeing any Kindle books.