painting a wall with three bright colored paint rollers to represent updating your book

A past client contacted me to inquire if I would brand a few pocket-size changes to his volume, which we'd published iii years earlier. I decided that if nosotros were updating his volume anyway, I should reread the whole thing for other needed editorial adjustments.

Equally I read, I flagged items for consideration. I was happy to note only one small typo; everything else was so small it would fly under most readers' radar. But with three more years of book work nether my belt, I'd refined my preferences around commas, capitalization, and similar way decisions and had honed my sense of when to consult Chicago Manual of Mode or Merriam-Webster for correctness. Still, of the dozen or so items flagged, I concluded up changing only a handful.

Overall, I was tickled how well the book read. The author had a lot to be proud of, and I was glad to exist a part of information technology.

The feel raised the question for me: When should you update your volume? Or should you?

In the world of traditional publishing, it'southward hard to brand updates to an existing print book. When in that location's inventory sitting in a warehouse, the publisher is not likely to do a new print run just because the writer wants to modify a few words. Just in the indie world of ebooks and print-on-demand publishing, updating your volume tin be done at virtually any time.

Types of book updates

Let's first distinguish the types of updates yous might brand: reprinting an existing edition, revising an existing edition, or publishing a new edition.

Reprinting an existing edition

In the traditional impress world, when the commencement impress run sells out, they do a second printing, or a "reprint." The reprint may exist identical to the first run, but it sometimes entails corrections of the sort I fabricated for my customer—small adjustments that don't materially modify the volume. (If someone were to read both versions, they'd exist hard pressed to discover the differences.)

Even though y'all aren't doing a print run in the traditional sense, if you are making pocket-size updates—typos, wording, punctuation, grammatical issues, style choices, or small-scale factual changes (e.yard., a changed URL)—consider it a reprint.

Revising an existing edition

If you get across pocket-size corrections and showtime adding or updating content, yous may consider your new version to be a revised edition. For example, you may incorporate the latest version of a study, offer more relevant examples to make your points, or have a new foreword by a notable person in the field.

While these things may exist worth noting in your marketing ("Revised edition"), they probably still don't change your book content materially.

Creating a new edition

If you are making more than than minor revisions, you'll demand to assess whether your volume should be treated every bit a new edition. As a dominion of thumb, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Amazon'southward ebook and print-on-demand service, suggests that a new edition entails a change of at least 10% of the content, but it's still a subjective decision.

I've non notwithstanding had a client asking changes that warranted a new edition. That doesn't hateful you lot won't need a new edition at some point, but it may exist several years postal service-publication before you gather enough changes to create one. For example, if in your business you continue to work with the content, you'll likely gather more than stories, develop new models, and start to articulate your ideas in new ways. It may become important to update your volume to friction match how you speak about your work.

Tips for updating your volume

Updating your book is technically pretty straightforward—if you lot made it through publication the commencement time, you tin handle updates. Merely the post-obit tips can make it easier.

Be strategic nigh when you update

When y'all publish ebooks or use print-on-demand, you lot can make updates at any bespeak. But updates have time and energy, then don't brand them too often. If yous become your first batch of paperbacks and suddenly find a couple of typos that volition seriously bug you lot, become ahead and set up them right after release while your mind is still in the book game. Then terminate. Wait for a year or ii, read fresh as I did in my case, then make a batch of changes all at in one case.

Track your changes in one place

Once your print book is published, set bated a copy and mark the cover "errata" or "changes." Each fourth dimension y'all notice a needed modify or someone tells you virtually a typo or misplaced word, write it into the book (carmine pens encouraged!) and flag information technology with a viscous note. And then when you are ready to make an update, you lot'll take everything in one place.

Label your updated version

When y'all publish a new edition of your book, the notation on the copyright folio gets inverse from "1st edition" to "2nd edition." You tin brand a similar notation for minor updates so you lot can tell unlike versions apart. For example, change "1st edition" to "1st edition, 2nd printing" or "1st edition, revised May 2020." Or, if yous want to make it less evident to readers, you could place an inconspicuous lawmaking elsewhere in the volume.

Cautions when updating your book

When updating your volume, go on in listen a few publishing logistics.

New edition=new ISBN

When you publish a new edition, information technology is a new book and requires a new ISBN and a new listing on Amazon and other retail sites. Every bit a result, you may lose existing customer reviews—they will stay with the original (if it is still available). Some publishing platforms may help yous proceed reviews, but do your homework so you lot aren't surprised. Visit Bowker, the U.s. ISBN provider, for more FAQs about ISBNs.

Library of Congress cataloging

If you originally submitted your volume to the Library of Congress (LOC) for cataloging, you typically don't need to resubmit reprints unless certain elements alter (e.chiliad., new publisher, changed pagination due to new material), and fifty-fifty then you may be able to use the electric current cataloging information. Revisions and new editions require new cataloging data. Visit loc.gov to read more about how the LOC procedure applies to your state of affairs.

Setup/upload fees

Some platforms, such every bit IngramSpark, charge a fee every time you lot upload a new file, unless you have a promo code. (KDP does not charge for updated files.) While the fees may not be huge, they can add upward if incurred oftentimes.

Delay in availability

Almost platforms put updated books through the aforementioned type of technical review new books receive, which may make your book temporarily unavailable for purchase online. In my experience updates seem to go faster than new books—I suspect the review process tin distinguish the level of scrutiny needed for new versus update—but make sure you don't upload changes at an inconvenient time, such equally right before an event that you expect to bulldoze online sales traffic.

Ebook updates

When yous update your ebook, new customers will get the new version. However, current readers may or may non go updates, depending on the platform—Kindle, Nook, Apple Books, and so on.

Kindle, for case, does not push out updates automatically. Only if y'all have a serious error, you can contact KDP to request they push out updates. On other services, rules vary. Some services allow the reader redownload the volume, which gets them the fresh version; others don't. Some services let the reader know an updated version is available to download if they wish; others don't.

While some customers may like to get the latest version, fresh downloads can overwrite whatsoever highlighting or notes they've fabricated in the current version. This may be a factor for you to consider when updating your book.

Some data can't exist inverse

When y'all brand updates to an existing edition, some data cannot be changed. For example, on ebooks, once you ready the DRM (digital rights management) status, it tin can't be changed. On paperbacks, you usually can't modify the championship, subtitle, or author. Visit KDP to learn what tin/can't exist inverse on that service, and be sure to inquiry other platforms' requirements before making changes.

Ready to update your volume?

Writing and publishing a book is a lot of work, and I find most people are tired of the project by the time they're done. Updates tin can feel like a expletive as much as a blessing, so be strategic near them.

If yous find corrections immediately subsequently publication, go ahead and brand them to put your mind at residuum. Then, gather subsequent changes over a period of time then do them all at in one case. At that signal, assess advisedly what type of update you've got: reprint, revision, or new edition. And be sure to understand the implications for making changes on the publishing platform yous use.

Remember: Naught is ever perfect. At some point, information technology's okay to stop. Appreciate your accomplishment—and motility on to your next volume!