The last few months we have focused on the number one reason why writers today choose self-publishing over and over again—CONTROL.  Via self-publishing, writers control book titles, book covers, book content (story and words), publishing, copyrights, and promotion.

But we also have to sell our e-books.  To do this, we turn to Direct Sale Vendors.  Direct Sale Vendors sell our e-books for a percentage of the sale.

Who are the top Direct Sale Vendors?

• Kindle Direct Publishing Platform (Amazon) – KDP
• Barnes & Noble ePubit Platform (Nook) – Pubit!
• Apple iTunes Connect Platform (iPad) – iBookstore

Introduced in 2009, Barnes & Noble released its own brand of e-reader utilizing an Android operating system to compete with the Kindle—the Nook.  Since its inception, new and improved versions including the Nook Color, the Nook Simple Touch, and the most recent Nook Tablet have hit the shelves with color touch screens and Wi-Fi access.

Last week, we discussed the first two questions we must ask ourselves before uploading our book to Barnes & Noble to sell:

1)      Do we have an account at www.pubit.com?
2)      Do we have a converted manuscript?

So what’s next?

First we want to log into our Pubit! account.

Once inside, Barnes & Noble will take us through the process, step-by-step, after we’ve agreed to the Terms and Conditions.  This is where we will add our title and complete other information including:

• Book Details
• Contributor Details  – if self-published, the contributor is the author
• Publisher Details  – if self-published, the publisher is the author
• Language
• Publication Date
• Rights
• DRM – this can’t be changed once selected
• Categories – we can select up to five
• Keywords – up to 100 characters
• Book Summary – up to 5,000 characters
• Author Bio – up to 2,500 characters

There is also a section requesting an ISBN number.  This is not required to sell electronically via Pubit! at Barnes & Noble.

Once we’ve completed all of the above sections, we’re ready to upload our book and book cover.  Upon completion, we will have the opportunity to preview our soon-to-be-published e-book.

That’s it.

Seems simple enough, right?

How long will it take Barnes & Noble to actually load our e-book for sale?  It depends, but authors can usually expect anywhere from twenty-four to seventy-two hours.

Come back next week when we continue our Direct Sale Vendor series with the iTunes Connect Platform.  But for now…

Remember—selling  e-books through a personal website and through Direct Sale Vendors provides us with the best of both worlds when it comes to distribution and maximizing our revenue.

For more information on selling with direct sale vendors, please check out our free resource: Getting Started with Direct Sale Vendors.