UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion

We are going through feedaread at the moment. It is quick and very user friendly. We weren't initially going to make our book available in paperback until we had a good ebook readership going, but so many family members and friends have asked us for a paperback that we thought it would be worth it just for that.
We weren't sure how much extended distribution would help sales, considering how expensive the books are, but from the feedback on this thread we might just give it a go.

I say go for it with extended distribution.

However, one thing that FeedARead don't mention is that wholesalers such as Gardeners are not always popular among bookshops, because they apparently tend to give bookshops a lower margin than publishers do.

Having said that, all three shops I've approached have been happy to stock mine.

Apparently the wholesalers charge bookshops £7.20 for my FeedARead book, which retails at 7.99. They are not happy about it.

Oh wow Rosen! You mean your books that are being sold in Waterstones now?

Can't blame them for not liking that!

Having said that, your books will draw in the punters who will then buy the books that they get a bigger cut off of, right?

They should be grateful to have your books in their shop.

Having said that, your books will draw in the punters who will then buy the books that they get a bigger cut off of, right?

That's a good way of looking at it!

Seesaw is in two Waterstones - Truro and Exeter Roman's Gate.

Today - Pastyland, tomorrow - the universe!

Hey fellow FeedAReaders,

Has anybody else managed to get their books into Waterstones? I know you said you have Rosen - but I’m having no luck whatsoever. I got close to organising a book event at one of my local Waterstones stores, only to be told that they won’t be able to go ahead with it after all because of the low commission rate. I even offered to take my own stock - but they didn't seem very responsive to that. I guess I’m just feeling a little disheartened and was wondering if there is any solution to this at all?

Cheers
Rachael

The low commission rate has been a problem for me too. I was lucky to find managers who were prepared to be flexible. I was going to suggest taking your own stock, but obviously you've thought of that.

Have you tried submitting your book centrally, as per http://www.waterstones.com/waterstone... ? I haven't done that myself yet, but it's certainly an avenue to be explored.

I believe there is a community programme that you can apply to at branch level which, if successful, will allow you to sell your own stock to the shops. It may be getting phased out (things are changing for Waterstones) but it's worth asking.

Rosen wrote: "The low commission rate has been a problem for me too. I was lucky to find managers who were prepared to be flexible. I was going to suggest taking your own stock, but obviously you've thought of t..."

Thanks so much for all that info Rosen - that was something I didn't realise you could do with Waterstones. I'll try submitting and let you know how it goes :-)

I have switched operations from Lulu to Createspace as I found that the 6x9 format wasn't popular with readers (this info gleaned from a Waterstones signing). CS allow sensible formats, the process is easier and much more intuitive, plus I can keep the price point around £7.99 - and yes, the great British and US public are happy to pay this for my paperbacks. It may help that my Kindle sales have been good for the last six months - but the CS paperbacks are excellent quality.

I dislike the 6x9 too, as a reader, and really felt cheated when I bought one recently and it was virtuall double spaced with lots of spare pages.

Still not sure whether to go with CS with all the dollar conversion hooha, or the Feedaread which come out really expensive per copy. I just got a quote from a local firm. If I go for 100 copies, it's 5.64 per book (cheaper if I order more). Tempted.

Will the local firm do distribution for you though? That's the beauty with FeedARead etc.

Is FeedARead really that expensive per copy? They boast excellent royalties. I've played around with a few other calculators and nothing else seemed to match.

MY publisher, and I know he's not alone, Uses Lightning Source. Not least because their disytribution is fine for the shops ( I'm in quite a few Waterstones now) but also sales aroung the world all go at local rates...

Lightning Source prints FeedAReads books.

And Lulu.

What's the situation with ISBNS? I'm publishing my friends books for him under my sole trader name, which specialises in media production - so hey, why not offer a self publish service to boot!

He has written two books, the first of which is on amazon kindle (under kdp select) I'm now looking to get this set up as a pod. I can't see this being a mainline service I offer so not sure really.

With feedaread (FAR), can I have the book listed as 'published by 'standard cut media' (my sole trader name) or will it be 'published by FAR

If FAR are reg. as the publishers, could I supply my own ISBN (obtained from Nielson) but still go in for the £88 distribution offer or not?

I guess I could just list with FAR but have 'Self published by standard cut media'

And then FARs publishing statement.

Are you able to sell books to book shops if published by f
FAR, or is it essential to have your own ISBN ?

I don't see why you shouldn't be able to bring along your own ISBN. They once changed mine from the one sequentially assigned to one we'd discussed previously.

When it comes to book shops, theoretically the can stock a book with a FeedARead ISBN. However, the biggest issue is profit margin. The wholesalers used by FeedARead take such a big cut, that it's difficult for shops to make a profit from selling them.

I think I'm swaying towards having my own isbn and using cs - seems to be a bigger market to that of FAR.

If I go with CS and my own ISBN, am I then able to list the same exact books (dimensions and all) with other sites like lulu and FAR? But deselect amazon (or where ever the book is distributed?)

Perhaps o with cs and contact water stones direct?

I believe Waterstones don't deal with CS produced books.

They only buy from Gardners, the wholesalers. But Lightning Source are owned by gardners, I believe, so books from that source are fine.

Waterstones stores have been given instructions to buy from wholesalers wherever possible, not directly from authors, despite the wholesalers hefty cut, because it cuts down admin for them.

I've managed to get FeedARead into three Waterstones branches, but they will not host signing events.

Could you have the book (using your own ISBN) on CS (using their $25 service) and at a later date or at the same time, have it published via FAR or even LULU - but obviously would there be conflicts as they all say they publish on amazon.com?

Rosen wrote: "Waterstones stores have been given instructions to buy from wholesalers wherever possible, not directly from authors, despite the wholesalers hefty cut, because it cuts down admin for them.

I've m..."
That may be as much because of the 'New Policy' as any thing else. I've backed off asking for any more signings until the new year (I'm booked up in branches until December anyway) in the hope that things change there.

Just got my first royalty statement from FeedARead. I thought that my only paperback sales were to friends and family but when the statement arrived I'd sold twice as many as I thought - where from, I do not know, as I monitor Waterstones stock and any jumps in Amazon rank.

I maintain my confidence in FeedARead. It seems that the premium distribution is working hard for me!

Are you on sale or return, or hard sales to waterstones, Rosen?

Could be some group stock there?

I don't know - but there are only three branches that ever stock it (one of which is sold out), and they only ever stock 1-2 copies at a time, so the maximum number sitting on Waterstones shelves is 4. Amazon currently have 1 stock copy.

It's perfectly possible that other online stores have stock copies which they haven't sold yet.

P.S. Burst my bubble why don't you? ;-)

Hey, if they are gone as hard sales, that's what matters! Someone somewhere will be getting hold of the book to read it. And when the book sells, they will re order...

So that's all positive, right?

It is, indeed, all positive. :-)

:)