Quote:
Originally Posted by jhowell
The point I was trying to make about print books is that the author/publisher may be unhappy with the limited options KC has for adding features needed within print books, such as page number, header, and footers. If someone desires more flexibility they can obtain that by adding those things in the Word document and producing a PDF from that. That is probably the most common workflow for producing a print book.
|
I would certainly agree with you that preparing and uploading a PDF is probably the most common way of producing a print book on Amazon. However, as I've already pointed out, there are alot of people having trouble with uploading a PDF as seen on the Kindle Community Forum. And alot of these PDF upload problems produce errors with no error messages. The difficulty factor is also much greater for PDF uploads than the difficulty factor when you upload a print book using KC. Indeed that's probably why so many people are using KC for their print book uploads now. Because using KC, it's so easy and usually error-free on upload because the whole process of calculating or setting values for trim, spine, margins, gutter, bleed etc is done automatically on upload from the metadata on your KDP Paperback Contents page. I would also agree with you that KC does standardize certain setting values like margins, gutter etc. And, as I see it, that just gives you a choice: Do you want to use the traditional and more complicated method of preparing/uploading your book as a PDF(with outside distribution) or do you want to use the quick and easy hassle-free method using KC(which locks your book into Amazon only)?
And, before you mention it, I realize that using KC for your print books will also perhaps limit your book distribution to Amazon only whereas if you prepare a PDF you can upload that to other online book distributors. But that's just a choice. I like choices. But before you make that choice you should also be fully informed as to the advantages and disadvantages of those two choices. And if you're not fully informed -- and you goof -- then who else can you blame but yourself?
I mean you and I both know that Amazon is after your wallet and wants to lock you into their apps. That's pretty much a given that will
never change, right? We know that but does that newbie author over there know that? And if he doesn't know that and still uses KC(while fully intending to publish elsewhere) then whose fault is that?