🇨🇦 Product of Canada

Are Jean Oram's books a Canadian product? Great question!

Jean Oram is a Canadian author. She is a romance author who was born and raised in a sleepy Canadian town just east of the Rockies.

You might be wondering where her books are made and printed. Are they 100% Canadian from start to finish?

That's a great question that will take us around the world!

But the short answer is this--Jean is what is called an independent author. That means she publishes her books herself, without the use of a publisher (such a Penguin, etc), from her home in Canada. That means that the majority of what is earned on a book sale typically goes to Jean where she covers her expenses, as well as donate to various charities around the world.

There are a lot of people involved in the publishing/creating of a book. As an indie (or independent artist, if you prefer), Jean handles everything directly. Here's a breakdown of where each book part happens:

Writing and drafting of the book: Done by Jean in her western Canadian home.

Developmental Edits: A rough draft of the book goes to Jean's editor in Eastern Canada where she helps Jean see what is working and what could use some strengthening in the story.

More drafting and revising: Done by Jean at home.

Beta Readers: A group of readers from Canada, the US and Australia who read an early version of Jean's book, and provide feedback from a reader's perspective. They may also catch inconsistencies.

Revisions: Done by Jean.

Line edits: Back to Jean's editor in Eastern Canada for line-by-line nitpicks that are typically centred around grammar, but can include other things.

Final Draft: Back to Jean for the final revision. Almost.

Formatting: Time for an ePub file. Jean formats the digital file at home.

Proofreading: Jean distributes a drafted, early ebook version of the book to a group of fabulous readers from all over the world who read for any remaining errors and flag them.

Final pass!: Jean makes any final tweaks to the completed book! She then prepares it for release on her store as well as through retailers.

Book covers: Jean has created some of her book covers, and others have been hired out to other artists. Currently, her covers have either been created by herself, an artist in the Middle East, or one of two American artists.

Other bits: Jean writes her own book descriptions, researches her own keyword and category metadata to help readers find her books, created her storefront on her own using Shopify. She creates her own ads, sends her own newsletters, creates her own graphics, etc. There's a lot to do!

EBOOKS
Jean uploads the cover and interior files for her books to retailers or her own online store. She directly works with retailers or her store customers to resolve issues, deliver files, etc. Retailers take a cut typically around the 30% mark, but it can be as high as 70% (or more--especially in the case of paperbacks), and those proceeds stay with the retailer.

PAPERBACKS
Jean uploads the book and cover files to retailers or distributors. Paperbacks are then printed and shipped— typically from the country in which they are ordered. For example, if you are in Canada and order a paperback from Jean on Amazon Canada, it will print and ship from Canada. If you order from Chapters/Indigo online that book will be printed by a distributor, IngramSpark. They have print facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Sharjah, but not in Canada. Books ordered from Amazon US are printed and shipped within the US. I believe the UK has its own printer and shipping for paperbacks ordered from Amazon UK.

AUDIOBOOKS
Jean either hires a narrator (both have been American artists thus far), or uses a machine voice from Google or Apple to create the audio files. The narrator records and edits the files and delivers them to Jean upon payment. Jean then uploads the cover and interior files to retailers or her online store. Like with her other book formats, Jean works directly with retailers or her store customers to resolve issues, update book descriptions, etc.

Retailers or distributors do take a 30% or higher fee for every product I sell on their store. So depending where that store is located, that fee will stay in that country/main company.

I hope that helps you understand how books are made a little bit better. If you have any questions, drop me a line at shop @ jean oram dot com.