Publishing an ebook is possibly one of the most exciting things you’ll ever do. Many indie authors compare the publication of their book to the birth of a child. You’ve certainly labored over it long enough to feel that way! Now, you need to get it out there everywhere readers go to buy ebooks. We recommend going wide – in other words, allowing your ebook to sell everywhere, rather than be exclusively on KDP. More and more indie authors are seeing the benefit of selling their ebooks on other sites as well as their own website to improve sales and visibility. It all starts with your own website.
Listing Your eBook for Sale on Your Own Website
Selling your ebook on your own website is the ultimate way to retain control over your creation. Not only do you get to control the level of DRM you apply to your ebooks but you also get to control price, launch date, formats you make available, and everything else about the ebook. EditionGuard makes it easy for you to sell on your own site with EditionGuard Storefront, but we also offer APIs to connect to any ecommerce platform you use, including Shopify, Magento, and WordPress. EditionGuard enables you to securely automate eBook fulfillment after an online purchase and control how your eBook content is shared.
Listing Your eBook on the Top Three Indie Platforms
There’s no reason you can’t publish your ebook to more than one place. You should be available to readers wherever they prefer to shop. We recommend these top indie platforms.
List Your eBook on SmashWords
SmashWords is the “granddaddy” of indie ebook publishing. They’ve been around forever, wrote the definitive guide on formatting, and not only provide fulfilment services on their own but also help you get your ebook in front of more eyes by delivering to Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and other booksellers. They offer the following indie author supports:
- Free professional publishing tools
- Daily sales reports
- Consolidated sales reporting and tax accounting
- Centralized metadata management
- Preorder distribution
- Author profile page
- Free ISBNs
- Free ebook conversion from Word .doc files, or upload your own .epub
- Free unlimited anytime updates to books and metadata
- Exclusive marketing tools in the Smashwords Store such as Coupons, Author Interviews and Widgets
- Free training tools to help you publish with pride, professionalism and success
List Your eBook on Kobo
Publishing on Kobo is simple. Just upload your ebook file and within 72 hours you’ll be on the digital shelf. Like EditionGuard and SmashWords, Kobo believes publishing rights and creative control should remain with the author. They state, “You own your rights, set your prices, and run your own promotions. We don’t require exclusivity, so you’re free to publish elsewhere, too.”
List Your eBook on Google Play Books
Google has a huge and dedicated audience, so listing your ebook in their store is a no-brainer. Publisher Drive points out: “Android devices summed up to over 2.5 bn. Google Play Books comes preinstalled as an Android app and runs beautifully on Android and iOS. It is also accessible through browsers like Google's Chrome web browser. The Google Books library has millions of books in their catalog that's growing rapidly.”
It’s a simple process, requiring you only to upload the file, specify the price, and set the price and territories. You’ll need to provide Google with information about the book, including the blurb, and an ISBN. If you don’t have an ISBN for your ebook, you do not have to purchase one; Google will issue a Google identifier for the book. Google takes care of hosting and sales.
Listing Your eBook on the Three Major Platforms
Even if you’re not exclusively publishing with the major platforms, you should certainly still list your ebook with them.
List Your eBook on Amazon
Amazon does try to encourage readers to exclusively publish with them through KDP Select. When you do, you get certain marketing benefits that you don’t get if you don’t enroll. However, by enrolling in KDP Select, you aren’t allowed to sell your ebook anywhere else for 90 days. Indie authors are heatedly split over the KDP Select vs. Go Wide debate. We lean firmly to the side of going wide, because while Amazon may seem like the largest ebook fulfillment center, there are so many other platforms through which people access their ebooks that you’re limiting your audience.
List Your eBook on Nook
Nook is experiencing a resurgence in popularity and in the last two years, more than a million Nooks have been sold. Sales of all e-readers, including Kindle, are dropping, because more and more people are opting to use the app already installed on their phones to read. Publishing your ebook through Barnes & Noble is a smart idea that allows you to reach an entire audience of readers who, for one reason or another, eschew Amazon.
List Your eBook on Apple
Apple distinguishes itself from Kindle by providing 70% royalties regardless of the price of the ebook. Amazon forces authors to price their ebooks within a certain range in order to earn a 70% royalty; Apple says no matter where you price it you’ll get 70%. They also promise things like:
- 70% royalties on every book, regardless of price
- No file delivery fees
- No limitations on offering free books to customers
- No payments for preferential store placement
- No price matching
- No third-party ads
No matter where you decide to publish your ebook, congratulations! Reaching this stage of the game is a huge accomplishment, and you should be proud.
If you are looking for ways to keep creative control of your ebooks, we recommend taking advantage of all of the indie and major platforms on which you can list your ebook and publish, for free. But the best way to keep all of your money from the sales of your ebook is to make it for sale on your own website.
To learn more about how EditionGuard can help you transform your domain into a bookselling machine, sign up for a free trial.
