Subscription boxes have become one of the most versatile, income-boosting and business-building products we’ve seen lately. Customers receive monthly shipments filled with products for everything from pets, beauty and crafts to gardening, food, and fitness.
Coaching or training professionals use this business model for customers who sign up for their services as well, starting with a welcome box, then transitioning to monthly shipments filled with products that complement their services such as printed coaching materials, USB flash drives, workbooks or worksheets, journals, checklists, challenge cards, calendars of upcoming events and recordings of coaching calls.
If you’ve been thinking of adding a subscription service to your business, Vervante can help create, package, and fulfill each monthly shipment for your customers. Here’s how:
We can print or produce some or all of the products to be included in your monthly shipment
Sample items or other outside products can be sent to us to include in each box
Each month we assemble and ship packages directly to your customers
We also offer a wide range of packaging options to help you create a box or package that stands out from the crowd. Customize your packaging on the outside with creative graphics, branding or stickers. And customize the inside with colorful tissue paper, attractive bags, mantra cards, or other unique inserts.
If creating a subscription box is on your to-do list, we’ve got the products, resources and experience to help you make that dream come true.
Questions, brainstorming, and quotes are free! Email us at [email protected] or schedule a phone call with our subscription service pros by clicking here.
Here at Vervante, we’re often asked about the differences between our services and those of Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing KDP (formerly CreateSpace). If you only have time to read just this paragraph, then we’ll sum it up quickly:
You need to capture each customer’s email address to grow your subscriber database. Vervante allows you to do this – CreateSpace does not.
We can work with any shopping cart to automatically process your orders, print and ship your book, and give you full access to critical information you need to keep in touch with your customers. AND we’ll list your book on Amazon as another purchasing option.
If you’d like to know more details about the differences between Vervante and KDP, please read on. At first glance we appear very similar, but there are significant differences, as you’ll see here.
Setting Up
Selling your books and products from a site you control, and not sending your buy button links to Amazon, allows you to grow your database of customer information. As business owners, building our email lists should be our #1 Priority because email subscribers are product buyers.
CreateSpace directs customers to Amazon to purchase your book, which makes them customers of Amazon, leaving you in the dark about who is buying your book.
We recommend that all of your marketing and sales efforts direct customers to your site to purchase books and products. You process the transaction, collect the customer data, and build your community. We’ve got super simple systems that work with ANY shopping cart for automatically gathering customer information so that we can print and ship your book.
True Cost
CreateSpace can print and ship books directly to the author’s door, usually at rates cheaper than most. These special prices are only applicable for “member orders” that are placed by you for your own title. However, this leaves you shouldering the responsibility of supplying packaging, processing payments, addressing the packages, and taking them to the Post Office for shipping, steadily chipping away at your bottom line.
Vervante prints your books, then we can either store bulk orders in our warehouses until they are needed, or print or ship books directly to your customer as they are ordered. In short, we handle everything from printing the book to getting it directly into your customers’ hands. You avoid the expense and hassle of processing and shipping your own books.
Amazon as a Secondary Distribution Channel
We want you to sell lots of books and we’ll help you do that, so as a secondary distribution channel to your site, we recommend Amazon Marketplace. We list your books and products on Amazon for you, then we handle orders and shipping. This way you will know who is buying your product because we will receive the orders and shipping addresses and will provide that information to you.
More than Just Books
We offer a variety of other products and services. Your book could lead to more products down the road such as a recipe book, a home study, an audio or video program, a coaching or training program, card decks, etc. We can print and ship your books, CDs/DVDs, binders, card decks, etc. You can also send us complimentary products such as apparel or branded promotional items to include and ship with your book or products. View our product catalog HERE.
Customer Support
Our staff of publishing professionals are happy to help with any questions about publishing. We also offer ISBNs, UPCs, Copyright Registration and LCCN applications. And we have a full library of free expert guides you can access any time online.
It’s All in the Details
Profit and Royalties
We hope this helped create a clearer picture of our services, and inspired you to let us help you create your next book or product. Questions, ideas, comments? We're here for you at [email protected].
If you’re a publishing consultant, book coach, or author mentor, one of the main goals of your business is to help your clients create the best book possible. All too often, though, once your client’s manuscript is ready for publishing, they move on to the next step without you and the relationship ends.
Here at Vervante, however, we give book coaching professionals the ability to offer clients complete idea-to-finished-product services – expanding your impact on their journey as an author, as well as your ability to increase your income as a business.
Complete oversight of publishing process
We offer book coaches the ability to guide their clients through the self-publishing process by overseeing the process of ordering sample copies, approving all print and design decisions, and placing the actual, physical book in their clients' hands.
This is all done using a system set up for book coaches with Vervante that allows oversight of the full publishing process, from uploading files to approving samples and ordering first runs. Once the author is ready to take over, we can make that happen easily too.
Products you can offer through your business
We also offer book coaches the ability to offer products that complement books, such as bookmarks, cards, journals, postcards, spiral workbooks, CDs or DVDs, adult coloring books, card decks, and other creative solutions.
These are perfect for special events, upgrades, book signings, or to offer as special bonuses. You can easily add these options to your services, offering lucrative bonus services and products that authors will love.
Help clients sell books AND grow their business
By using Vervante, your clients have access to their customers contact information. Other publishers, such as CreateSpace, do not offer this. This is not usually on the radar for new authors, but it's a game-changer. Especially for those who are also entrepreneurs, business owners, or want to keep in touch with loyal readers.
Here's why you can't collect customer information when using CreateSpace: When an author sells their book directly on Amazon, the buyer becomes Amazon’s client (not the author’s), leaving the author in the dark about who is buying their book.
Here's how Vervante is different: We encourage authors to sell the book from their own sales page, process the transaction and we'll print and ship the book to the buyer. This scenario provides the author with more profit on the sale PLUS the buyer's contact information and email address.
If the author doesn't want to deal with credit card transactions, we can list the book in our store and the author simply redirects the buy button from their landing page to their book in our store.
The three big differences between our bookstore solution and redirecting to Amazon are:
We don't take 40% of the price of the book like CreateSpace
We share the customer data with the author
We take pre-orders for the book. An author can take pre-orders on their site or in our store and when the book is ready we'll print and ship to the buyers. This isn't possible on Amazon.
You can still sell from Amazon, though, and we recommend it be set up this way:
While we DON'T recommend redirecting buyers from the author's landing page directly to Amazon, we DO suggest using Amazon as a secondary retail distribution channel. Amazon Marketplace is a great option for selling books and products on Amazon. We'll manage all of the details from listing the book on Amazon to managing and shipping orders.
We receive so many questions about using Vervante vs. other publishers like CreateSpace that we've created a special report with more details you can read HERE.
Additional profit potential for book coaches and authors
On-demand printing and complete fulfillment services
While other publishers may offer cheap rates for initial press runs to the author, there are usually hidden costs. These special prices are commonly only applicable for bulk orders placed by authors for their own title. However, this leaves them shouldering the responsibility of storing the books in their home or office, supplying packaging, processing payments, addressing packages, and taking them to the Post Office for shipping, steadily chipping away at their bottom line - and adding time and stress to the process.
Vervante will print and ship books directly to customers. A copy of the order confirmation email generated from the author's shopping cart is all we need to print and ship the book. We can print and ship on demand or we can print bulk orders at further reduced costs, with the option of storing in our warehouse until they are needed. This helps authors avoid the expense and hassle of processing and shipping their own books.
Increased perceived value of book
While some people opt to list books with Baker & Taylor or Ingram, this can result in resellers taking the opportunity to sell your book through their own services, underbidding the set author price, and devaluing the book. Even if your clients are not writing a book for the money, when they try to offer their books at events, as promotions, or to support other products and programs, this causes the book to lose its value in the eyes of consumers.
Retaining control of the book's price is essential to retaining its value. Listing books with a wholesaler like Baker & Taylor releases control and can result in plummeting sale prices and royalties. Whereas selling and distributing through a personal sales page and shopping cart, as well as using Vervante's Amazon Marketplace listing services, retains control of the book - and ensures the continuation of its value.
Have you ever noticed when searching for a book on Amazon that there are a number of resellers offering the book at random prices? This is because the book has been listed with a wholesaler such as Baker & Taylor or Ingram and resellers then sell the book on Amazon at their discretion. The end result is that prices can drastically fluctuate, causing buyer confusion and devaluing the book even more.
Exceptional customer service
We have dedicated publishing professionals who will answer your emails and talk to you on the phone. Something pretty much unheard of in this industry.
Authors retain all rights
Authors retain all rights and creative control of their books and products. And we offer complete services for ISBNs, UPCs, LCCN Assignment and Copyright registration. You even have the option to list yourself or your own company as the publisher of your book.
However, if you use CreateSpace's template builder for your cover, they technically own the artwork for your book. And if you use their ISBN services, they own the ISBN and are listed as the publisher. This means if you decide to use alternative publishing services in the future, you must get a new ISBN and new design for your book.
We'll work with you and your client as a team
You've got experience in publishing. Your client probably doesn't. We'll work with you and your client to get their book published, distributed, listed on Amazon, shipped to speaking events, and whatever other support you need.
Satisfaction guaranteed
We stand behind our products and services, creating the highest quality books and products for our clients supported by the best in customer service. If you are not delighted with your experience with Vervante, we pledge to work with you to make it right - or we will refund your money. Furthermore, all products we publish are guaranteed against defects in quality and design. If any of our products are defective in quality, we will replace or repair that product at no additional charge.
Subscription boxes have become one of the most versatile, income-boosting and business-building products we’ve seen lately. Customers receive monthly shipments filled with products for everything from pets, beauty and crafts to gardening, food, and fitness.
If you’re a publishing consultant, book coach, or author mentor, one of the main goals of your business is to help your clients create the best book possible. All too often, though, once your client’s manuscript is ready for publishing, they move on to the next step without you and the relationship ends.