Earlier this year, before moving and improving our Digital Content Center Blog, we discussed 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) – ePubit
• Apple iTunes Connect Platform (iPad) – iBookstore

But, wait—there’s more!

Last week, we talked about the Kobo e-Book Reader, which is particularly popular in Canada and France.  Much like the other readers, Kobo has produced multiple versions of the device, including: the original Kobo, Kobo Wi-Fi, Kobo Touch, and the most recent Kobo Vox that runs on an Andriod-based system.

But more importantly, we also touched on Kobo’s recent program that allows writers to have public access to sell their e-books—the Kobo Writing Life platform.

We’ve already discussed the first two questions we must ask ourselves before uploading our book to Kobo Writing Life:

1)      Do we have a free account with Kobo?
2)      Do we have a properly converted manuscript in the ePub format?

Remember—Kobo offers a simple process to convert most documents (Word, Mobi, and text) to the correct file for the author; however, if authors would like the conversion ahead of time, Kobo also offers this as a paid service as well.

So what’s next?

First we want to log into our Kobo account.

Once inside, the Kobo Writing Life program 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
• Categories – recommended to select at least three
• Book Summary

There is also a section requesting an ISBN number.  This is required to sell electronically via Kobo.

The ISBN number, or International Standard Book Number, uniquely identifies our published books internationally.  Also, remember to register all ISBN numbers (and book titles) with the Bowker Link Publishing Access System.

This may sound daunting, but it’s not.  By assigning an ISBN number to our publishing, we’re taking CONTROL of our stories, our products.  We’re saying that we are the publisher.

For more information on ISBN numbers, click here.

For more information about the Bowker registrations, click here.

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

That’s it.

Seems simple enough, right?

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

Come back next week when we wrap-up and summarize our Direct Sale Vendor series.  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.