Selling via Direct Sale Vendors – Wrapping it Up with a Pretty Little Bow

August 17, 2012 By 2 Comments

We’ve already established that the number one reason why writers today choose self-publishing over and over again is control.  Via self-publishing, writers control book titles, book covers, book content (story and words), publishing, copyrights, and promotion.

But probably even more importantly, we 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.

The last few weeks, we’ve discussed the top Direct Sale Vendors today:

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

Now, each and every one of these Direct Sale Vendors will help authors convert their manuscripts to the appropriate format in order to sell via their platforms:

  • Amazon – Mobi files
  • Barnes & Noble – ePub files
  • iTunes – ePub files
  • Kobo – ePub files

But just because each platform helps us with the conversion process doesn’t mean we won’t run into snags here and there.  Because we want to help as many writers as we can, we’re going to share a few of the snags we’ve run into in the past.

Let’s start with the largest Direct Sale Vendor today—Amazon.  Amazon is the only of the four that we’ve discussed that uses a Mobi file for all e-books.  For the most part, this conversion was the easiest; however, don’t use the TAB button for new paragraphs in your manuscript when using Word.  Take advantage of Word’s automatic new paragraph function (the ruler looking image at the top of the page).

Next, everyone is probably thinking that once we master one ePub file, we’re good to go with Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo.  After all, they all require the same file type.  But that’s not necessarily true.  We feel it’s best to format an individual file for each Direct Sale Vendor.  And while we don’t have any “warnings” for iTunes and Kobo at this time, we do for Barnes & Noble.

It seems spacing is a common issue when uploading e-books to Barnes & Noble’s Pubit! platform.  To avoid this, don’t use the Page Break function between chapters.  Instead, use the Section Break function located on the Page Layout tab of Word (all of our conversion tips today are for the sake of Word documents).  Also, double-check all manuscripts to ensure the actual line spacing is set to single.  To verify this, click on the Paragraph symbol located at the top of the Home tab and see all of the formatting throughout the document.

These are just a few quick “fix-it” tips that we’ve run into uploading e-books to the individual Direct Sale Vendors.   But don’t let this deter anyone from conquering their self-publishing dreams.  And…

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.

Thanks for reading and remember if you have any questions give us a call or submit a support ticket and we’ll be there to help.

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Remember to follow us on Twitter @DCCservices, “Like” us on Facebook, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Benefits to Self-Publishing, Selling Ebooks - Helpful Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Selling via Direct Sale Vendors – Getting Started with KDP

May 25, 2012 By

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) — ePubit
  • Apple iTunes Connect Platform (iPad) – iBookstore

Listing the KDP platform first was not by accident.  Why?  Because the leading e-reader on the market today is the Amazon Kindle.

First introduced in 2007, the Kindle continues to improve and has multiple versions available today:

·         Kindle
·         Kindle 2
·         Kindle DX
·         Kindle Keyboard
·         Kindle Touch
·         Kindle Fire Tablet

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

1)      Do we have a converted manuscript?
2)      Do we want to sell via the regular Kindle Direct Publishing Platform, or do we want to sell via the exclusive Kindle Direct Publishing Select Platform?

So what’s next?

First we want to visit the KDP home page.

From there, we will sign in using our Amazon account.  If a new user doesn’t already have an Amazon account, there is a button allowing them to set one up.

Once inside, we want to click over to the Bookshelf where we will add our title, select which platform we want to use, 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  – specifically copyrights
  • DRM — this can’t be changed once selected
  • Categories — we can select two
  • Keywords — we can use seven

There is also a section requesting an ISBN number.  This is not required to sell via KDP.

Once we’ve finished 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.

When satisfied, users sign (or electronically approve) the Terms & Conditions.  That’s it.

Seems simple enough, right?

How long will it take Amazon to actually load our book for sale?  It depends on the language — English usually takes twelve hours and all other languages can take up to forty-eight.

Come back next week when we continue our Direct Sale Vendor series with the Barnes & Noble ePubit 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.

Thanks for reading and remember if you have any questions give us a call or submit a support ticket and we’ll be there to help.

===

If you’re not a client – Get the #1 Digital Content Delivery Service for as little as $4.95 per month – Sign Up Now

Remember to follow us on Twitter @DCCservices, “Like” us on Facebook, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Benefits to Self-Publishing, Selling Ebooks - Helpful Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Selling via Direct Sale Vendors – Amazon

May 18, 2012 By

The last few weeks we have 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

Listing the KDP platform first was not by accident.  Why?  Because the leading e-reader on the market today is the Amazon Kindle.

First introduced in 2007, the Kindle continues to improve and has multiple versions available today:

·         Kindle
·         Kindle 2
·         Kindle DX
·         Kindle Keyboard
·         Kindle Touch
·         Kindle Fire Tablet

The Kindle application can also be downloaded to most mobile devices, including Blackberry and Android, as well as PCs and Macs.

So how do we get started?

First we need to convert our manuscripts to the Kindle format in order to sell our e-books on the Amazon platform.

Amazon offers a step-by-step process, assisting users with the conversion via script off the Internet.   This do-it-yourself conversion process accepts Word documents and other digital formats, and most importantly stays within the KDP platform requirements.

Once we have the converted manuscript, we must sign into our Amazon account to continue.  But before we get carried away filling in all of the necessary information, we must first answer one question:

Do we want to sell via the regular Kindle Direct Publishing platform, or do we want to sell via the exclusive Kindle Direct Publishing Select Platform?

The main difference between the two platforms stems from the word select, meaning exclusive in this particular instance.

Both platforms allow authors to publish their books on their own.

But the KDP Select platform offers a 90-day exclusive agreement with Kindle/Amazon, making the author’s book exclusive to Kindle/Amazon for ninety days.  This means the author cannot sell on any other platform during this 90-day period – not Barnes & Noble and not the iBookstore.

Of course, with any limitation comes an advantage.  Using the KDP Select platform also gives the author’s book access to the Amazon Lending Library.  By participating in this program, the author has the ability to share in the library “Fund” made available by KDP.  Currently, this fund is $600,000.  The author will receive a share of this fund depending on how frequently his or her book is borrowed.  For example, with the $600,000 April fund, KDP Select authors earned just over $2.00 per borrow.

Additionally, KDP Select users have the ability to offer their e-books for free to their readers for a limited amount of time (five out of the ninety days) — a very clever marketing tool.

Now it’s up to the individual author to determine whether or not these benefits are worth the exclusivity.

Come back next week when we summarize the steps in completing a writer’s journey with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.  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.

Thanks for reading and remember if you have any questions give us a call or submit a support ticket and we’ll be there to help.

===

If you’re not a client – Get the #1 Digital Content Delivery Service for as little as $4.95 per month – Sign Up Now

Remember to follow us on Twitter @DCCservices, “Like” us on Facebook, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Benefits to Self-Publishing, Selling Ebooks - Helpful Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hot Topic: Amazon versus Barnes & Noble

February 17, 2012 By

As if the decision whether to seek traditional representation or master the self-publishing route for a writer wasn’t a big enough headache already, the latest round of news between the two largest selling e-book vendors isn’t helping.  A writing friend said it best when she said “this Amazon vs. Barnes & Noble thing is getting ugly.”

So what is going on exactly?

According to multiple online sources, including NY Times.com and The Huffington Post, Barnes & Noble will no longer sell Amazon published books in their stores.

Let’s backtrack just a bit, and explain that both Barnes & Noble and Amazon each own their very own publishing divisions: Barnes & Noble has Sterling Publishing and Amazon has a new imprint with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt called New Harvest.

Barnes & Noble released a statement that implies Amazon’s search for exclusivity in the publishing market has prohibited the retail giant from selling certain e-books via the store’s e-reader (Nook).  If Amazon has exclusive rights for certain titles, why should Barnes & Noble waste valued space in their stores to promote their biggest opponent’s products?  Perhaps this has something to do with the new Kindle Select Program that Amazon offers to self-published authors.

With the Kindle Select Program, the author agrees to three months exclusivity with Amazon and also gains access to the Prime Lending Library, which could translate into more money depending on the download percentage of each author.

Adding flame to the fire, it was reported this week by Goodreader.com and the MSNBC.msn.com that Amazon would soon try their hand at their very own retail book store in Seattle, focused on selling their exclusives and e-reader (Kindle).

This game is exhausting.  So let’s ask one of the most basic questions most people are already thinking:

What does a reader want?

A reader wants access to whatever book title he or she is looking for, whether it is online or in a physical book store.  Period.  A reader wants to search through multiple titles, read blurbs, and base their purchases on their personal preference, and not to worry with whether or not a certain title will be available at one place or another.  And sometimes, the very same reader wants to enjoy a cup of coffee while browsing through the rows and rows of books at an honest-to-goodness bookstore.

What does a writer want?

A writer wants to sell books by as many avenues as possible.  Period.  Oh, and a writer wants to keep writing.  That’s what they do.  A writer doesn’t want to mess with the headaches of whether or not they want his or her titles to be exclusive with one vendor or another, closing the door on potential sales.  Certain offers may be enticing, at first; but even the best offers have a silver-lining of sorts.  This is one reason that self-publishing is taking off the way that it is.  Self-published writers have control of everything – their title, their cover, and their future.

So what does this all mean?

  • Barnes & Noble will not sell Amazon exclusive titles in the stores, but some titles will still be available online.
  • Amazon is growing rapidly and the new “test” store in Seattle could mean more locations, giving Barnes & Noble even more competition.
  • Self-published authors can still sell their e-books via both Barnes & Noble and Amazon if they so choose, and Digital Content Center can help!

Thanks for reading and remember if you have any questions give us a call or submit a support ticket and we’ll be there to help.

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If you’re not a client – Get the #1 Digital Content Delivery Service for as little as $4.95 per month – Sign Up Now

Remember to follow us on Twitter @DCCservices, “Like” us on Facebook, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Digital News, e-Book Conversions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hot Topic – To DRM, or Not to DRM

December 16, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The digital world has increased worries of copyright infringement for both individuals and companies.  Attempting to give control back to the seller, Digital Rights Management emerged.

What is Digital Rights Management (or the more commonly used term DRM) besides a very controversial topic today?

By definition, DRM is the control of digital content (and some devices) after the point of sale.  This technology prevents the buyer from unauthorized use of content.

How is DRM controversial?  Some say Digital Rights Management is necessary, while others insist DRM is too restrictive.  This controversy affects authors, musicians, producers, as well as other industries.

For example, self-published writers usually use DRM to protect the future sharing of the e-book:

  • Adobe DRM technology protects ePubs and PDF documents
  • Apple DRM technology protects the i-books
  • Marlin Trust Management Organization protects Android products

There is also the E-DRM (Enterprise Digital Rights Management) to protect Word and PDF documents, as well as emails and web pages.

But many are opposed to DRM, or feel the technology isn’t as advanced as it could be.  These same people feel that such advancements might actually decrease the numbers of individuals and organizations that argue DRM violates buyer’s rights.

Because so many people oppose the current DRM technologies, many artists and companies advertise their digital content and products as DRM-free.

Recently, we read Charlie’s Diary (blog hosted by Charles Stross) and his post titled, “Cutting Their Own Throats.”  In this post, Mr. Stross discusses the Big Six in publishing and how they do not publish e-books without DRM.  This makes sense; they don’t want the books they publish pirated.  But Mr. Stross also claims that the biggest threat to the traditionally published e-books by the Big Six is the online giant we know today as Amazon.  He continues by stating that by Amazon locking their e-books down with DRM, the company is in essence locking buyers into their Kindle format.

We can see obvious pros and cons emerge with this one example:

Pro: DRM protects the writer, the publishing company, and the e-books from unlawful sharing

Con: Buyers may be limited to reading particular e-books using only certain devices

For a very interesting conversation piece, check out Charlie’s Diary and read the hundreds of comments.  We also found this Slashdot post continuing the discussion.  DRM is obviously a very heated debate.

Let’s look at digital content in the form of video for a moment.

Comedian Louis C.K. doesn’t use DRM to sell his direct downloads.  Simply put, he used his own money to convert his own comedy show digitally to make available to his audience for the low price of $5 via a personal website.  This allows the buyer to stream the video and download a minimal number of times.

By doing this, Louis C.K. has made it less expensive and more about the material with the hopes he can continue to do this risk free.

Comments left on a TorrentFreak.com article criticized Louis C.K. for doing this, calling him dumb to not expect people to watch his video for free.  But others still applauded him.

While it’s safe to say that some people will inevitably rip or steal a video or music online regardless of the securities in place, Louis C.K.’s experiment was a success.  According to this Geek.com article, he made his money back in a matter of days.  He proved that selling digital content without DRM can work, but at what consequence?

Maybe none.

Many of the large online music industries are now DRM free, including: Amazon MP3, iTunes, and Napster.  This wasn’t always the case.

Is it because some have called DRM nonsensical?  An invitation to pirate?  A convenient strategy for reducing the e-book?  Self-defecating?  These are pretty harsh statements.

What do you think?  We’d like to open up the comment section to hear your thoughts.  Please, keep it clean.

Thanks for reading and remember if you have any questions give us a call or submit a support ticket and we’ll be there to help.

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If you’re not a client – Get the #1 Digital Content Delivery Service for as little as $4.95 per month – Sign Up Now

Remember to follow us on Twitter @DCCservices, “Like” us on Facebook, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: Digital Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ready to Convert to Kindle?

November 4, 2011 By

The leading e-reader on the market is the Amazon Kindle. 

First introduced in 2007, the Kindle continues to improve and has multiple versions available today: 

·         Kindle
·         Kindle 2
·         Kindle DX
·         Kindle Keyboard
·         Kindle Touch
·         Kindle Fire Tablet 

The Kindle application can also be downloaded to most mobile devices, including i-Phone and Android, as well as computers and Macs. 

How do we convert our manuscripts to the Kindle format and sell our e-books at Amazon.com? 

Option One:  Writers can use a do it yourself script off the Internet or within the Amazon Digital Text Platform.  Most of these scripts are free or require very little capital to use, but remember we always get what we pay for.  Most people find that these scripts do not convert properly because of the complexity of formatting for all types of electronic readers. 

Converting a manuscript on our own can be a very daunting task.  If we’ve attempted to convert our e-book and it’s just not working, why not explore other options? 

Option Two:  Writers can have a manuscript professionally converted by Digital Content Center.  DCC offers professional Kindle conversion & formatting services. 

These services include: 

1. Converting all of the text of the manuscript to HTML Format (Hyper Text Markup Language).  This allows the e-book to be read almost like a website.
2. Manually integrating visual items such as images, graphs, and charts with the HTML.
3. Manually applying text formatting such as italics, bolds, and indentations.
4. Reviewing the e-book on the actual device by a human, not a computer program.
5. Correcting any and all necessary adjustments to the e-book once read on a Kindle device.
6. Repeating Steps 4 and 5 until the e-book renders properly within the Kindle reader. 

Ready to convert to the Kindle format?  Click here to learn more about our process. 

Want a quote to convert & format your manuscript to Kindle? Click here.  Note: DCC will need a word and pdf version of the manuscript to perform a quote.

Thanks for reading and remember if you have any questions give us a call or submit a support ticket and we’ll be there to help. 

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If you’re not a client – Get the #1 Digital Content Delivery Service for as little as $4.95 per month – Sign Up Now

Remember to follow us on Twitter @DCCservices, “Like” us on Facebook, and connect with us on LinkedIn.

Filed Under: e-Book Conversions Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Using Social Media for a Fourth Quarter Giveaway!

October 3, 2011 By 32 Comments

The past three weeks, we’ve blogged about how social media can increase our e-book sales.  This isn’t only applicable to writers; musicians and other industries can sell more products by utilizing the different forms of social media as well.

We can use Twitter….

Twitter Success = 1/4 Socializing + 1/4 Promoting Others + 1/4 Promoting Our Products + 1/4 Provide Information

We can Blog….

  • Make a list
  • Create a theme
  • Promote
  • Consistency

We can use Facebook….

  • Join groups
  • Create lists
  • Invite fellow writers and musicians to join
  • Promote

We can use Google+….

  • Create an industry specific circle
  • Join other circles
  • Search “Sparks” to locate others interested in the same industry and topics
  • Promote

The best way to increase our followers is to share great content.  If someone likes us as a person, they are more inclined to buy our works, whether we have met in real life or not.

Which of these social media platforms has been the most successful for you?  What other platforms do you use to sell your e-books, music, etc.?

Keeping with the socializing theme, we’re giving away a $25 Amazon gift card to one lucky participant.

To enter to this giveaway, answer the question/s above in the comment section of this post.  Be sure to include your name and email address. 

Extra entries (+1) can be earned by:

  • Tweeting and Re-Tweeting the contest (be sure to include the @DCCServices handle in all Tweets and RTs)
  • Following DDC Services on Twitter
  • Signing up as a new DCC customer (referred by code = TWITTER25)

Entries will be accepted until midnight October 14th. The winner will be contacted via email Monday, October 17th and announced on a future DCC blog post.

This contest is for US residents only.  Winner agrees to have their name published on the DCC blog and website, as well as announced via Twitter.

Filed Under: Promotions and Giveaways Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
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