Publishing on Amazon

[Marianne]

Mhairi wrote: "I'll be going with Smashwords because it's the only way to get my book into Barnes & Noble. They won't accept authors from outside the US. You can't buy from their online store outside the US, eith..."

Ah! I didn't know that. Thanks, Mhairi,

[Mhairi]

Murdo wrote: "Mhairi wrote: "I'll be going with Smashwords because it's the only way to get my book into Barnes & Noble. They won't accept authors from outside the US. You can't buy from their online store outsi..."

Making a stand is all very well, but I want sales. Nook owners buy most of their books through the online B&N store, so I want to make sure my book is in there. I don't mind making sure the file is clean for Smashwords, because after that, formatting for Kindle is a doddle.

[Mhairi]

Marianne wrote: "Mhairi wrote: "I'll be going with Smashwords because it's the only way to get my book into Barnes & Noble. They won't accept authors from outside the US. You can't buy from their online store outsi..."

Yep. Worth bearing in mind, eh? I'm hoping, like a lot of others, I'm sure, that they'll come round at some point, but so far, Smashwords is the back way in :D

[Murdo]

Your point of view is valid and makes sense in your situation. My print version is available on B&N and for now that is enough for me.

One afterthought. I am in the US and our market is large compared with the UK. Amazon is the major player. If I get sufficient requests from Nook users then I will rethink my position. Also, frankly, despite attempts to fire interest in my book (which has a Scottish theme) in Scotland, the demand just hasn't built yet in that arena.

[Wendy]

Marianne wrote: "Hi Murdo and Wendy, just eavesdropping in your conversation, hope you don't mind :) Interestingly, we (that is the 'royal') at Pilrig Press decided against publishing on Smashwords for my book The ..."

You're quite right, Marianne. I understand Smashwords has a long way to go to handle complex formatting smoothly. But for straightforward, unillustrated novels, it is really not that difficult.

[A.F.]

Smashwords and Amazon have not yet worked out distribution and technical issues, but I believe people have published separate Kindle editions of books they have on Smashwords.

[Mhairi]

A.F. wrote: "Smashwords and Amazon have not yet worked out distribution and technical issues, but I believe people have published separate Kindle editions of books they have on Smashwords."

I intend to publish to Kindle independently of Smashwords, simply because of the timelag, both when it comes to changes and when it comes to payment.

Edit: I believe Amazon pays every thirty days in arrears, but Smashwords pays quarterly from third party distributors. I think :S

[Wendy]

Mhairi wrote: "A.F. wrote: "Smashwords and Amazon have not yet worked out distribution and technical issues, but I believe people have published separate Kindle editions of books they have on Smashwords."

I inte..."

You're quite right, Mhairi. But that's the least of the reasons why you need to publish on Amazon. Amazon is incomparably larger than Smashwords! That's where the bulk of your sales will come from. Smashwords will help you to offer a full range of formats, which is only common marketing sense, but Amazon must be your primary sales venue.

[Marianne]

Mhairi wrote: "A.F. wrote: "Smashwords and Amazon have not yet worked out distribution and technical issues, but I believe people have published separate Kindle editions of books they have on Smashwords."

I inte..."
Hi Mhairi, payments from Amazon UK are very regular but I have no idea what has happened to our US Amazon payments from Kindle sales, of which we have had quite a few now. It could be we have done something wrong from this end, but we are updating our account details now so will let you know of there are still tricky issues after we get sorted!

[Mhairi]

Wendy wrote: "Mhairi wrote: "A.F. wrote: "Smashwords and Amazon have not yet worked out distribution and technical issues, but I believe people have published separate Kindle editions of books they have on Smash..."

Oh don't worry, I'm definitely publishing on Amazon. But I won't ignore all the other platforms. A sale is a sale, regardless of where it originates.

[Christine]

I published my own book on CreateSpace, and I format other authors' books for CreateSpace, so message me and I'll try to help.

[A.L.]

Smashwords don't usually publish direct to Amazon, you need to go to KDP for that. So long as you don't sign up for KDP select you can have the books on both.