After publishing 13 of my own books so far, plus helping at least 15 other authors from at least 11 countries to write, edit, design, publish or do wide distribution or promotion, I have 6 tips to share with you regarding all of the above. They cover audiobooks, ebooks and print books. My list of 6 tips also includes a particular trap to avoid like the plague. It’s something I sadly didn’t know back in 2008 when I published my first book. You can learn from my experience by reading ahead, including the multiple benefits of creating your own online bookstore or membership site, together with all of the other worldwide bookstores and libraries, both online and physical. Finally, I cover the expanded acceptance of the EPUB format in several popular devices and platforms.
In this article
- Never accept a free ISBN from Amazon or other similar platform
- Always get your ISBN with freedom instead of restrictions
- For your ebook, give Amazon only 90 days of
- Say NO to exclusivity with ACX/Audible/Amazon for your audiobooks
- Multiple benefits of your own online bookstore or membership site
- Expanded acceptance of the EPUB file format on more devices and platforms
1: Never accept a free ISBN from Amazon or other platform
Back in 2008, I made that same mistake. I didn’t know that it would thwart my later desires to go beyond Amazon distribution of my books. You can learn from my mistake and do it the right way, as covered ahead. Although legally, you can distribute to other bookstores with a “free” ISBN from Amazon, you’ll very often discover that if you are not already a bestseller or already famous worldwide, most other bookstores will reject any ISBN from Amazon, to avoid supporting their competition.
2: Always get your ISBN with freedom instead of restrictions
Whether you decide to get your ISBN directly from the official source at the official price of U$125 (if you live in the United States)… or to get it at 50% discount from TecnoTur Publishing (only for publishing clients), you’ll have the freedom to distribute anywhere with no snags. Of course, if you happen to live in a country with free ISBNs (like Canada or Venezuela), indeed get it free from your government, even though it takes much longer to receive it.
Remember, you must have a separate ISBN for each version of your book. That means one for the ebook, one for the paperback, one for the hardcover and one for the audiobook (if you decide to create one of each). They all multiply again in the future, if and when you offer a second or third edition of the same title. Also, each language version requires a different ISBN.
3: For your ebook, give Amazon only 90 days of exclusivity
Especially for new writers who are not yet world famous, there is indeed some advantage to giving Amazon exclusivity (for the ebook only), since they will promote it more. However, after the minimum 90 days, it no longer behooves you to continue with that. That’s why, on the 88th day or sooner, you should pull the plug. Of course, it will still last 90 days, but you won’t forget. If you forget, the exclusivity will auto-renew. After the exclusivity is gone, you’ll be able to distribute the ebook widely too, as long as you have followed steps 1 and 2 above.
You may have noticed that this section includes the term ebook. That’s because (fortunately) Amazon never requests exclusivity on the printed versions.
Even though Amazon Kindle is ebook king within the United States, there are many other competitive ebook platforms that you should be using, like Apple, Google, Kobo and more. One of those can distribute your ebook to libraries at much higher prices than your normal price. Libraries are willing to pay much more, since they get to lend the ebook an infinite amount of times.
4: Say NO to exclusivity with ACX/Audible/Amazon for your audiobooks
ACX/Audible/Amazon is great for audiobook distribution, in themselves and because ACX feeds Audible, Amazon and Apple Books. However, you are leaving money (and exposure) on the table if you only distribute your audiobook via them, for reasons already covered in the prior section. It is true that your royalty from ACX will be lower if you choose the non-exclusive option, but that loss should be dramatically overcome by the additional opportunities and extra income when you sell your audiobook via the many other audiobook platforms, including your own online bookstore (where you can earn about 97% after credit card commissions) or your own membership site, as covered in the upcoming section.
Unlike with Amazon KDP (where suspending your exclusivity is as simple as clicking on a checkbox within your account before the upcoming renewal date), with ACX, the rules are more complex: Even if you qualify to drop the exclusivity (which varies depending upon the type of ACX contract you accepted initially), you must request it via email and it takes longer to have it be accepted and implemented.
In a future article, I’ll share an unusual way to distribute your audiobook (and profit from it) that you probably never thought about before.
5: Multiple benefits of your own online bookstore or membership site
If you sell your books (especially your audiobooks and ebooks) via your own website (i.e. your own online bookstore), you get the following advantages:
- You get paid within a maximum of three business days (instead of about 90 days with the other platforms).
- You receive the email of the purchaser (which you never get with the other platforms like Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google, Kobo or Walmart).
- You earn about 97% of the selling price, much higher than with the other platforms.
At TecnoTur Publishing (or in the Castilian language editorial TecnoTur) we help authors from A-Z or with any portion of the different publishing roles they need or haven’t resolved by themselves. At TecnoTur, we also host basic websites, podcasts (with Branded RSS), online bookstores and membership sites with subscriptions.
Here are two examples of online bookstores for particular books:
- Laconspiracióndelcastellano.com (This one offers the audiobook, ebook and printed book.)
- TheCastilianConspiracy.com (This one offers the ebook and printed book.)
The above two examples allow for direct sale by the author and also include links to popular online bookstores (including Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, BookShop, Google, Kobo, and Walmart), considering that some people might prefer to purchase from a source where they already have an account and registered credit card, rather than buying directly from the author.
The experience for those who purchase the audiobook or ebook is the same from the author’s own online bookstore as smooth as with any major online bookstore, since the download is immediate, even though the digital file’s URL is not sharable and expires shortly after the purchaser’s download. You (the author) can be sleeping or otherwise engaged while your online bookstore delivers the file to the purchaser instantly. Both of the above examples are hosted on my TecnoTur server.
6: Greater acceptance of the EPUB file format on more platforms and devices
Although EPUB version 2.0 was born in 2007, it has only been fairly recently that it has been so widely accepted in so many different places and ways. (The current version of EPUB is now 3.2 from 2019. EPUB 2.0 was a successor to OEB from 1999.)
Before recently, people who bought an ebook in the EPUB format directly from our websites might ask: “How do I open that?”
Fortunately, there are now a plethora of ways to do so, whether the individual has Android, iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Kobo, Mac or Windows. That’s why I now publish the following information on our online bookstores:
How to read the EPUB file
Apple
The free Apple Books app will read EPUB directly on iPhone, iPad or macOS.
Kindle
If you have a Kindle device or the free Kindle app, read this recent article from PC World:
The Kindle app is free for Android, iPad, iPhone, macOS, Windows and more.
Kobo
The free Kobo app and Kobo devices can read EPUB if transferred via USB from your computer. Read this official Kobo article.
Other options
See this recent article:
10 Best Epub Reader For Android, Windows And Mac [2023 List]
Conclusions
I hope these 6 tips have been helpful for you in your journey as an author looking for distribution beyond Amazon. I have many other suggestions. These have been on the tip of the iceberg. That’s why at least 15 authors from at least 11 countries have asked me for consulting or publishing services and continue to do so. Soon I’ll be announcing new online bookstores from authors from Honduras and Guatemala. For more info, visit TecnoTurPublishing.com.
Lee este artículo en castellano
Distribución amplia de libros en 2023: Mis 6 consejos
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