selling a workbook online

Xios

Hey guys,
I've a simple idea i'd like to move forward, it's basically a workbook for a popular computer game, it's filled with maps and sections for you to jot down ideas for your strategies.
I was wondering if there are any companies that take your template, then print and sell it on for you in places like amazon or ebay. I'm gonna look at publishers, but it's gonna be a tiny operation.

Any help is appreciated.

Abelloid

An e-book would be your best bet.

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/ebooks-ebook-readers/

Xios

JustinOval wrote: »

An e-book would be your best bet.

Well the idea was that it'd be physical, so people can draw on the maps and scribble ideas down, (plus, ain't e-books are limited to kindles and other reading devices?) That'd cut down my customer base a lot.

GoldenBoot

Possibly market it in pdf format and take payment through paypal/moneybookers/neteller. Ebay should be all you need and if it is good the positive comments will get you further sales.

your customers can then print the pdf.

Abelloid

Xios wrote: »

Well the idea was that it'd be physical, so people can draw on the maps and scribble ideas down, (plus, ain't e-books are limited to kindles and other reading devices?) That'd cut down my customer base a lot.

Short-run colour printing and binding might be prohibitively expensive.

How many pages?

PaulPinnacle

JustinOval wrote: »

Short-run colour printing and binding might be prohibitively expensive.

+1

It might be worth having a chat with the guys at www.selfpublishbooks.ie (@printbooks on twitter) for ballpark costs if you believe it's the way to go. I'd suggest doing a bit of market research first though to make sure it's a smart investment.

(No connection to or experience of the above company, just happened to come across them just prior to reading this thread)

Xios

PaulPinnacle wrote: »

+1

It might be worth having a chat with the guys at www.selfpublishbooks.ie (@printbooks on twitter) for ballpark costs if you believe it's the way to go. I'd suggest doing a bit of market research first though to make sure it's a smart investment.

(No connection to or experience of the above company, just happened to come across them just prior to reading this thread)

Thanks for the link, it's handy to know what kinda ball park figures i'd be looking at.
I'm a student, so this kinda investment in say 100 copies of an a4 hardback is just in my reaches.

So with Ebay, i just keep the books at home and mail them to a buyer, but with amazon how does it work?

TheWaterboy

Personally I would look at this two ways:

Produce a proper book that you sell on Ebay and Amazon that is professionally produced.

OR

Produce a PDF that can be downloaded from your website and paid with using Paypal etc.

You have to think of your target audience...As its a computer game it is probably aimed at younger people who are more interested in the contents of the book rather than how the book looks. A PDF that can be printed out if needed is the better option then - cheaper to produce and thus keep your costs down

Is printing a book justified - extra cost to get it printed and then the cost of postage.

I would go with the PDF version first. You can sell this on ebay and just email it to them after use. The only disadvantage is that they can send it to their friends but adding something to the terms and conditions might help with this.

Just regarding your question about Amazon - You can use Amazon to sell your book and you ship it when an order comes in. Alternatively you can use Amazon as your fulfillment provider. You ship them a load of books and pay a certain amount per book. Prob more expensive for 1 off items.

DoMyBooks

Try www.lulu.com for self publishing.

fintan

Also make sure you are not breaching any copyright as "popular game" would indicate big company with a big law team.