The shipping costs for sending an item (which has the dimensions and weight of my book) to the US from where we are often ends up being more than 30$ (CAD) and I pay for that out of my own pocket. Big corporations like amazon have contracts with shipping companies to get relatively cheap shipping prices (and/or underpay their own subsidiary shipping work force) I do not have that luxury. As I said to another person recently (who had an interest in my book but was surprised by the shipping fees) I cringe at the thought of charging people more than that for shipping so I am paying the difference myself for this first printing run to help get the material in the book into people's hands to help them be able to grow and preserve some of their own food, save seed, build soil and perpetuate the cycle (to send positive ripple effects into their communities) even though I sometimes lose money doing this.
Here in Canada our corrupt government has all kinds of profiteering scams they are imposing on us for shipping items through the postal service (one of those being a carbon tax).
I recently had a few people in New Zealand and in Australia order books (I have all international orders outside the US set as a 35$ CAD shipping fee) and Canada post ended up charging me just under 100$ CAD to ship each book with tracking. I am not gonna change my website so that it charges people 100 dollars shipping on a 60 dollar book, so I just take on that cost myself. It is not a profitable endeavor but it feels right to help those who are motivated to be able to feed themselves and give back to the Earth so I am doing my best to make that happen.
One thing I can do to make up for the shipping fees is slip a few extra packages of heirloom seeds from my personal collection in with your book (as that costs me nothing extra but my own time growing, sorting, labelling and packaging the seeds).
I appreciate you taking the time to write the thoughtful comment/suggestion.
POD services are certainly something I have (and continue to consider) regarding my book.
In fact, I started off writing the book planning to work with a POD service called Blurb for creating and printing my book. This involved me using their book writing software called BookWright to do my best to put the book together. After I realized I had a lot more info I needed to get into the book than I had originally estimated (to provide the reader with a holistic understanding of the subjects covered) and it ended up becoming longer than 400 pages and I was looking at the exorbitant printing costs Blurb was going to charge me per copy (which would have been more than I had charged each person for the book during my initial crowdfunding campaign for the book on kickstarter). Thus, I decided I was going to look for a printing company that could do a small printing run (in bulk) with a higher quality paper/binding.
Dealing directly with a professional printing company allowed me to get the books printed in bulk (at a reasonable price per unit) so I could pay a little extra to ensure the paper was a high grade and that I could have a text book quality binding (section hand sewn).
Section-sewn binding is a time-consuming technique for sure, but the outcome is very impressive. This process has been around for a long time. The process requires meticulous work but it allows you to create a polished book that not only looks neat but is also sturdy. Since each section is carefully sewn together, these books have a long shelf life. Section-sewn books can lay flat on a table or other surface (great for using in the kitchen or garden).
Now that I am dealing with the crazy shipping costs post printing I am re-assessing the potential of doing a POD option. So far the only financially viable option is working with a corporate beast like amazon to get the books printed and shipped at a more reasonable price. I also discussing the ethical implications of dealing with Amazon as an author with Tereza Coraggio in this thread : https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/stumbling-into-the-ecumenopolis-or/comment/42701660
I looked into what it would take to work with a beast like Amazon to get people cheaper, faster shipped POD versions of my book and for one, they want me to give them all kinds of biometric data for identification before I can even create an Author/Online Store account (which is creepy and I do not know if I am willing to do at this point) and then there paper and binding quality is lower than the printing company I am currently working with so there is that as well.
So i`m looking at alternative options, but for now, the POD services I have looked into are not viable.
Thanks again for the thoughtful suggestion and kind comment though.
Oh ya looks like his old website url is not active anymore. I will reach out and ask him if he has any new place online where he is posting about his farm and showcasing his work. He does share some very excellent educational and practical posts on his personal facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/jason.padvorac ) but I do not know if all those posts are public.
Tried to order actual book early on, but the postage drove me away!
Thank you for your interest in my book.
The shipping costs for sending an item (which has the dimensions and weight of my book) to the US from where we are often ends up being more than 30$ (CAD) and I pay for that out of my own pocket. Big corporations like amazon have contracts with shipping companies to get relatively cheap shipping prices (and/or underpay their own subsidiary shipping work force) I do not have that luxury. As I said to another person recently (who had an interest in my book but was surprised by the shipping fees) I cringe at the thought of charging people more than that for shipping so I am paying the difference myself for this first printing run to help get the material in the book into people's hands to help them be able to grow and preserve some of their own food, save seed, build soil and perpetuate the cycle (to send positive ripple effects into their communities) even though I sometimes lose money doing this.
Here in Canada our corrupt government has all kinds of profiteering scams they are imposing on us for shipping items through the postal service (one of those being a carbon tax).
I recently had a few people in New Zealand and in Australia order books (I have all international orders outside the US set as a 35$ CAD shipping fee) and Canada post ended up charging me just under 100$ CAD to ship each book with tracking. I am not gonna change my website so that it charges people 100 dollars shipping on a 60 dollar book, so I just take on that cost myself. It is not a profitable endeavor but it feels right to help those who are motivated to be able to feed themselves and give back to the Earth so I am doing my best to make that happen.
One thing I can do to make up for the shipping fees is slip a few extra packages of heirloom seeds from my personal collection in with your book (as that costs me nothing extra but my own time growing, sorting, labelling and packaging the seeds).
Hope this helps!
I just received it! Very excited!
Thanks for letting me know the book arrived safe and sound! :) I look forward to hearing what you think.
Please let me know if you have any questions pertaining to cultivating the Goji Berry seeds I slipped in with your copy of my book.
Will do!
What about print on demand services and the like? Something to consider perhaps. Best of luck with your important work
I appreciate you taking the time to write the thoughtful comment/suggestion.
POD services are certainly something I have (and continue to consider) regarding my book.
In fact, I started off writing the book planning to work with a POD service called Blurb for creating and printing my book. This involved me using their book writing software called BookWright to do my best to put the book together. After I realized I had a lot more info I needed to get into the book than I had originally estimated (to provide the reader with a holistic understanding of the subjects covered) and it ended up becoming longer than 400 pages and I was looking at the exorbitant printing costs Blurb was going to charge me per copy (which would have been more than I had charged each person for the book during my initial crowdfunding campaign for the book on kickstarter). Thus, I decided I was going to look for a printing company that could do a small printing run (in bulk) with a higher quality paper/binding.
Dealing directly with a professional printing company allowed me to get the books printed in bulk (at a reasonable price per unit) so I could pay a little extra to ensure the paper was a high grade and that I could have a text book quality binding (section hand sewn).
Section-sewn binding is a time-consuming technique for sure, but the outcome is very impressive. This process has been around for a long time. The process requires meticulous work but it allows you to create a polished book that not only looks neat but is also sturdy. Since each section is carefully sewn together, these books have a long shelf life. Section-sewn books can lay flat on a table or other surface (great for using in the kitchen or garden).
Now that I am dealing with the crazy shipping costs post printing I am re-assessing the potential of doing a POD option. So far the only financially viable option is working with a corporate beast like amazon to get the books printed and shipped at a more reasonable price. I also discussing the ethical implications of dealing with Amazon as an author with Tereza Coraggio in this thread : https://gavinmounsey.substack.com/p/stumbling-into-the-ecumenopolis-or/comment/42701660
I looked into what it would take to work with a beast like Amazon to get people cheaper, faster shipped POD versions of my book and for one, they want me to give them all kinds of biometric data for identification before I can even create an Author/Online Store account (which is creepy and I do not know if I am willing to do at this point) and then there paper and binding quality is lower than the printing company I am currently working with so there is that as well.
So i`m looking at alternative options, but for now, the POD services I have looked into are not viable.
Thanks again for the thoughtful suggestion and kind comment though.
Thanks for the extensive info
Well, I certainly appreciate the explanation. I am accustomed to the printed material/“book rate” postage prices in the US.
I could only find https://jasonpadvorac.com/ (I live relatively nearby and am curious) thanks for all
Oh ya looks like his old website url is not active anymore. I will reach out and ask him if he has any new place online where he is posting about his farm and showcasing his work. He does share some very excellent educational and practical posts on his personal facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/jason.padvorac ) but I do not know if all those posts are public.
Thanks for the comment.