Sophie and Spot: Preorder Now!

Exciting news! It's here! Sophie and Spot is here!

If you just want to find out where to order, skip this next section and jump down to the order info below.

Crossing the Finish Line: Behind the Scenes

I passed the initial review by both Ingram Spark and Amazon, proofed the digital versions of my book and e-book, and have been waiting for a physical proof of each book to come in the mail. And on Tuesday, they were delivered and the books look fabulous! At first I thought they looked identical, but eventually I have been able to see very small differences between the book printed by Amazon and the book printed by Ingram Spark.

Have you ever gotten to the end of a book and wondered why there are several blank pages? Apparently, that's a choice that the printer makes. I absolutely love that Amazon doesn't add extra pages, but simply prints its barcode and printing info on the last blank page of my book. Ingram Spark, on the other hand, added two extra pages at the end, which is disappointing and unnecessary.

While the front covers look identical, the back covers are slightly different. Ingram Spark printed the back cover font in darker ink, which I much prefer as I think it makes it easier to read. They also sized the barcode to fit the entire white rectangle, which I also prefer.

For some reason, the Amazon book looks slightly thicker than the one from Ingram Spark, which is interesting considering they didn't add the two extra pages. The title font on the spine of the Amazon book shows more yellow than the Ingram Spark one. So there you have it. Those are all of the differences that I can find. And they're very subtle differences, so rest assured that whichever book you end up with will be excellent. All of that time formatting paid off because the covers look great, the text didn't fall into the gutter (the middle of the book where the pages stick together), and I am so excited to show them to you.

 

(c) Amber Byers

How to Order

You can order the paperback on Amazon right now. Preorders are available through Tuesday, October 23. This simply means that you can order now and your book will be shipped on Tuesday. Preorders benefit authors, because all of the sales during the preorder phase are combined into the first week's sales, which gives them a boost in the rankings.

And, because I also published through Ingram Spark, you can also go to your local bookstore or library anywhere in the country and ask that they order a copy for you. I don't think you can order directly from Ingram Spark as an individual, but let your bookstore know that you want to buy a copy and they should be able to help you out.

If you run into any issues, or if the options above just don't work for some reason, feel free to reach out to me directly—either through the comments below or via Tadpole Press—and I'll be happy to help you out.

Thanks so much and happy reading!

What About an E-Book?

Yes, Sophie and Spot is also available as an e-book! Ask your bookstore or library to order you a copy.

Because Amazon was in the middle of transitioning its publishing platform from CreateSpace to Kindle Direct Publishing when I published, I need to transfer my files over to KDP. Once I do that, you will see an option to buy an e-book on the same page on Amazon that you can find the paperback version.

What About an Audiobook?

My next steps are to promote and market the paperback and e-book versions of Sophie and Spot and then create an audiobook. So stay tuned!

One Final Request

After you read the book, please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. One of the first things that bookstores and libraries will look at when deciding whether to order a book is how many reviews it has, so this is a fantastic way to help your favorite authors. Please note that Amazon typically deletes any reviews that aren't linked to a verified purchase, so make sure you use the same account you purchased the book with to leave your review on that site.

If you loved the book and are wondering how else you can help support it, then please share it with your friends and family, buy an extra copy to donate to your local school or thrift store, and stock up on early holiday gifts for the young readers in your life.

Thank you a million times over!