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.

===

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: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Getting Started with Direct Sale Vendors

May 12, 2012 By

Over the last seven 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 need 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

By setting up an account with each of these Direct Sale Vendors, our e-books can be found on all three of these platforms.  There are additional Direct Sale Vendors available, like Kobo for Canadian book sales, but these are the big three.

Getting started with each of these Direct Sale Vendors may seem like a lot, but it’s really quick and easy…

Over the next few weeks, we’ll discuss how writers can get started with these Direct Sale Vendors and hopefully answer any questions our readers may have.  Selling e-books through a 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, e-Book Conversions, Selling Ebooks - Helpful Tips Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.