Q & A Questions on CreateSpace, Kindle Books, Coloring Books, Selling Books

I received a great email just loaded with questions on publishing, coloring books, CreateSpace.com, Kindle Books, all kinds of things. I thought the best thing to was record a video and share the answers.

Question: I like your Youtube on creating children's books in powerpoint. We followed that video for the Mandalas. You use the same format, correct?
Answer: I use PowerPoint and I use Adobe Indesign. My go to program is Indesign but most people don't have that. But almost everyone has PowerPoint, combine that with Kindle Kid Creator and it is pretty easy to make a book.

Question: Do you put your ebooks on for free for a couple of days on Kindle?
Answer: What you are talking about is the Kindle Select Program. No I am not a big fan of that program because it locks you up for 90 day periods of time and restricts you from releasing content. I am big on releasing content

Question: I notice that on kindle you can put your ebook up for free for a couple of days and it does not really cost you anything, however when I checked out Createspace it gave me a negative when estimated my book on for 99c, so that is not a good idea.
Answer: This is the Kindle Select program, CreateSpace does not have anything like this. CreateSpace creates an actual physical product while Kindle does not. You can't really give it away if it is real

Question: I notice some people are putting their colouring books on kindle. Something about they can colour online on their ipads.
Answer: I have done this also because other people were doing it. Amazon is kind of frowning on this. There is no way to color that I know, mostly they just become picture books. There are coloring apps for smart phones and tablets, don't know if you can feed a pdf into them or not.

Question: Would you put a colouring book on kindle ebook and for how much?
Answer: I think maybe, if it is more of a picture book then maybe so. You use the 35% royalty and sell for $2.99, otherwise you pay for the download

Question: Is it not easier to pirate the colouring books that way?
Answer: This is a common question, I don't worry about books being pirated, just keep moving forward. Most book will never be something that people want to pirate. I don't know how they would do this from a Kindle.

Question: What file do you use for Createspace, also mobi?
Answer: CreateSpace uses high res pdf file for both the interior and the cover, Kindle uses a html for the book and jpg for the cover.

Question: Do you just charge the full price when you put it on Createspace?
Answer: Yes I do, usually around $9.95

Question: I looked at Amazon and there seem to be a lot of complaints about markers bleeding through the pages. Does Createspace give you a choice of
Answer: They do but it is just between white and off white, I use the white. I put images on just one side of the page, seems to work fine, this is how I deal with it.

1. Thickness of paper
What they have is what they have

2. Opportunity to perforate the pages?
No, I wish they did

3. What would be a good thickness?
80lb text? but you would have to print them with a regular printer. Not a fan of a garage full of books. Print on demand is amazing.

4. Is starting an account with Createspace free?
Yes it is, all cost come out of the royalties, same with Kindle

Question: if not, what do you know about Ingramspark?
Answer: It would be the option if books stores are in your marketing mix, I have a good video in the resource area http://brucethebookguy.blogspot.com/p/resources.html

Question: Is starting an account with them free?
Answer: I think it it, but there are costs for each book, see the video or the site

Question: Do they give the above two opportunities?
Answer: Do you mean Kindle and paperback, they do, but there are restrictions

Question: Do you sell many adult coloring books?
Answer: Yes I do, Mandalas books and my Geography books

Question: I notice that you have two sizes: 8.5X11 and 6X8   Which one sells best? Is the 6x8 for kindle?
Answer: This month yes, the smaller size sold more

Question: What is the best way to sell children's books on kindle?
With a good marketing plan, I release a lot of my book content on blogs, websites, Pinterest, and then wrap my own ads around the content.

Question: Which way makes the most money? I attempt to write and my daughter sketches.
Answer: I sell way more print books than Kindle, it depends on the book and your market. I recommend releasing on both platforms, except maybe for the coloring books

Question: Do you have a membership group? How much does it cost a month to join?
Answer: Yes I do, just started, it is in BETA, $19.month, $119/years and then a coaching program
http://bruce-the-book-guy.usefedora.com/courses/publish-your-book-membership-site