I can see that you are at the beginning of this very exciting journey - and you have made a good choice to start - you have decided to truly self-publish by establishing your own ISBN block at Bowker. That will separate your works (in a good way) from all the people who use the “POD Publishers” or better known as the “vanity or subsidy presses.”

I as mentioned above, yo do not HAVE to have trade distribution - if you have a strong following on your website, you can certainly market just there. However, I would advise, at a minimum to get an Amazon Advantage account and have a presence on Amazon. They take 55% of your retail price and you ship to them as they order from you.

If you want it available (not stocked, but available) to the book stores, then you must print with LSI (as of now) because they are the only on demand printer that has the connection to the book trade. If you do that, you don’t need a separate Amazon account - LSI will supply Amazon.

LSI will let you set your discount anywhere between 25-55%. Of that, the retailer normally gets 40-48%. Unless you set it at the industry standard of 55%, you will get less orders (only fill demand). You cannot control what the retailer sells it for - that would be restraint of trade - a no-no in the US! You also need to make it returnable, if you decide to “play the trade game” as that is also industry standard. You can figure your printing costs on the LSI website.

I do need the printer. I will add the book to my website to sell direct.

You are saying that I need LSI (or a similar printer) that prints the book POD and handles the distribution of it to the retail trade through Ingram?

If I retail the book at $13.95 (it’s a non-fiction soft-cover of 72 pages, 6×9),what does Ingram get as the wholesaler, and what does the retailer get? Is there anything left for me? Can the book be discounted without my permission?

If I want copies for me, what would LSI charge me?

Thanks for your input!