New Publishing Options
Recently, while going through old papers from my filing cabinet, I've been struck by the advances in self-publishing in just the past five or six years. I dumped into the recycling bin all the flyers and price quotes gathered from offset printers while I was putting together my first poetry chapbook. Even then, I opted for print-on-demand as the best investment of my money, publishing Picturebook of the Martyrs first on Cafe Press and later on Amazon.com's CreateSpace.
Ten years ago, ebooks were primarily sold from individual author's sites as PDFs and MS Word documents. Contrast that to the many formats available via Smashwords, which converts author's manuscripts into the proper formats to be sold at a variety of online retailers.
I've begun checking out Smashwords as a potential publisher for my next book, a collection of poems and writings about my son, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda. The book, which will be called "Now with Kung Fu Action Grip," I believe has the potential to appeal to a variety of readers, especially (but not limited to) parents. Therefore, I'm beginning to think it would be best to make it available in as many places as possible.
From what I've read so far, the only possible drawback would be that Smashwords does best with very simply formatted books. However, the style guide did include instructions for inserting photos, so that could still be an option, should I choose to use any. It wouldn't, however, be worth the time and effort to do a reformat of Dedicated Idiocy, since that book is chock full of graphics.
If I chose to go with Smashwords, in addition to Kindle and a print version, I'd have to format the manuscript three different ways. However, if I use MS Word styles as I put the collection together, that should help a great deal.
I also like the fact that short fiction is published widely on the site, allowing me the option of publishing stand-alone pieces, should I choose. Perhaps I could upload one or two of my essays as a free sample of the book?
I'd be interested in hearing any feedback from authors who have published on Smashwords. What are the advantages and disadvantages?
Ten years ago, ebooks were primarily sold from individual author's sites as PDFs and MS Word documents. Contrast that to the many formats available via Smashwords, which converts author's manuscripts into the proper formats to be sold at a variety of online retailers.
I've begun checking out Smashwords as a potential publisher for my next book, a collection of poems and writings about my son, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda. The book, which will be called "Now with Kung Fu Action Grip," I believe has the potential to appeal to a variety of readers, especially (but not limited to) parents. Therefore, I'm beginning to think it would be best to make it available in as many places as possible.
From what I've read so far, the only possible drawback would be that Smashwords does best with very simply formatted books. However, the style guide did include instructions for inserting photos, so that could still be an option, should I choose to use any. It wouldn't, however, be worth the time and effort to do a reformat of Dedicated Idiocy, since that book is chock full of graphics.
If I chose to go with Smashwords, in addition to Kindle and a print version, I'd have to format the manuscript three different ways. However, if I use MS Word styles as I put the collection together, that should help a great deal.
I also like the fact that short fiction is published widely on the site, allowing me the option of publishing stand-alone pieces, should I choose. Perhaps I could upload one or two of my essays as a free sample of the book?
I'd be interested in hearing any feedback from authors who have published on Smashwords. What are the advantages and disadvantages?
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What is the process like in order to get on Kobo, Apple and Google? Did you have to format it differently for each of those platforms?
You'd be able to submit the same file to Kobo, Apple, and Google, but they request epub files, which is different than what you submit to Amazon. I had to fix my epub file for Apple, so I'd say once you've got it uploaded there properly, it would be accepted anywhere. The only thing with Apple is that you have to use special software to submit to them directly, and it's only available for Apple computers. If you don't have one, you have to get someone else to submit to them for you. There's also a somewhat long approval period after you sign up to sell with them, and it takes several days after you upload your book for it to appear on their site. Kobo is a bit quicker - registration is simple, and your book will be there within 72 hours. Although they may be changing policies since the latest self-publishing scandal, where they temporarily took down a lot of self-published books for quality assurance (ie, checking for filth).I ended up not signing up to Google because it looked like I probably wouldn't be able to sell there since I live in Malaysia, even though I'm a US citizen and would've wanted to receive any income in my US bank account.
Thanks for the info. Since I have a PC, I think I'll stick with Kindle and Smashwords for now. While I said previously that my Monty Python fandom book was too complex to be worth the conversion process for Smashwords, I'll be using it to sell my next collection, which will be primarily words with just a handful of photos.
No problem. That's why it's good there are many options out there for indie publishing - authors can choose what suits them best. :)
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The only upside I thought I could get from Smashwords was that they distribute to other ebook sites, but I have since learned I could get my book on most of those places myself. I'm up on Kobo and Apple with my own contracts with those companies, and I have the Google one open to look at getting onto at some point, when I have the patience to read through everything. The only reason I couldn't get on B&N's Nook is because I don't live in the US.