Frustrated with all the recent posts by Kindle-only authors

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As to market leader, no way is it Amazon. Amazon is only 45%. Sony at 30%. And then there are all the others. Basically, there are more readers out there that handle ePub then don't. So publishing as ePub as well as AZW would make sense. Publishing only AZW makes no sense. Sure I could use the Kindle App on my wife's iPod to buy these books, but if they don't care enough about the rest of us, I don't care enough to buy their book.

To further support your point, that 45% figure is US-only. Amazon's share of the worldwide market is even smaller. However, I would still nominate Amazon as the market share leader. I wasn't just talking about formats but about the entire selling channel. There may be more total epub sales (although that is arguable for other reasons) but they are scattered among many different web sites. If you are choosing to dip your toes in the publishing world, figuring out how to sell through the Amazon web site gives you your broadest exposure.

However, I don't have a Sony, so I don't use the Sony store. Does anyone know about their support for self-publishing? Their payment terms? If Sony offers more generous payment terms then, one might argue that they offer more profitability even if they don't offer more customers. Especially, when they convert to epub as their preferred format.

[ahi]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As to market leader, no way is it Amazon. Amazon is only 45%. Sony at 30%. And then there are all the others.

What do you think "market leader" means?

- Ahi

[DrMoze]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

As to market leader, no way is it Amazon. Amazon is only 45%. Sony at 30%. And then there are all the others.

This clearly means that Amazon IS the market leader. Sony is #2. There's no other interpretation of these figures.

[Abecedary]

DrMoze and ahi, don't bother trying to correct him. Jon is redefining reality to fit his own beliefs again.

[ficbot]

Originally Posted by emellaich

It's clear that Amazon is by far the market share leader

I would modify your statement to read 'it's clear that Amazon is by far the market share leader IN THE USA.' They are not the 'market leader' i an overall sense because the 'market' encompasses more than just the USA. For example, in Europe, Amazon has 0% of the market share. In Canada, Amazon has 0% of the market share. in Asia, Amazon has 0% of the market share. You see my point?

It's like this one political party we have here that only runs in Quebec. They do tend to dominate and win a lot of seats---in Quebec. But their leader is never going to be the prime minister because---well, they only run in Quebec And you kind of need to be everywhere if you want to be the leader...

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I would modify your statement to read 'it's clear that Amazon is by far the market share leader IN THE USA.'

I definitely understand where you are coming from. I was frustrated for years when we heard about the Sony e-ink reader in Japan-only and about all of the Chinese-only e-book manufacturers.

However, when I refer to 'market share' leader I have a very specific definition in mind. I'm not referring to who has the best approach, or is the most admired, or has the best software. I simply mean to indicate who has the most sales.

Furthermore, my universe of choice is limited by the nature of your initial post where you refer to books released for the Kindle. This indicates to me that we are talking primarily about English language books. Although I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Amazon leads the market in all electronic books, neither would I be surprised to find out that some Chinese language publisher has that distinction. This latter thought is based upon the Chinese government emphasis on ebook technology and the large Chinese population.

Given all of this, and recognizing that Amazon is US only, I suspect that it still sells more English language books than any other e book outlet in the world. Even though it doesn't participate outside the US, I still think it is the worldwide market share leader.

[Abecedary]

Also, the market figures given are from this post: Kindle US Marketshare at 45%, Sony at 30%, so they are most definitely limited to US figures. But fully agreed, the US is certainly not the whole world.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

emellaich, i think you make an excellent point that many independent writers don't know much about the publishing options available to them.

Wasn't there an MR author that wrote a series of articles that went into some writing periodical about creating and publishing ebooks. I want to say it was either Jeffery Carver or Steve Jordan.

I wonder what the exclusive period of those articles was... and if the author would want to put them on line, maybe even here once the exclusivity period ends.

BOb

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Wasn't there an MR author that wrote a series of articles that went into some writing periodical about creating and publishing ebooks. I want to say it was either Jeffery Carver or Steve Jordan.

I wonder what the exclusive period of those articles was... and if the author would want to put them on line, maybe even here once the exclusivity period ends.

BOb

hm, i don't remember hearing about that, but if you can find who it was i agree that could be a very interesting ressource to point to as well if it addresses some of these topics, even if it can't be uploaded here.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by ficbot

So why are so many people limiting themselves unnecessarily and potentially alienating real, paying customers? It makes no sense to me.

They don't know other options exist. Amazon hypes the Kindle as the One Reader To Rule Them All, and most of the media coverage slants in that direction as well.

While Smashwords does sometimes have conversion problems (I've got a short story from them that has a page break after every paragraph; I'm planning on downloading it in HTML so I can tinker with the formatting, even though I'm almost useless with HTML files), most of their content is good, and I plan on trying to politely respond to more of the self-published Kindlebook authors with something like,

"Did you know you can also publish your ebook at Smashwords? They take a smaller commission than Amazon, so you can offer it for less and get the same amount of money, and they offer ebooks in a variety of formats, so your customers aren't limited to people who own a Kindle and live in the U.S."

(Anyone may borrow that or tweak it for individual posts. I'd love more ebook authors to know that Amazon's not the only place they can sell their works. Letting them know they can offer them for free at Feedbooks would also be good.)

If that's followed by replies about problems with Smashwords' formatting, that's okay too; I'd like more authors of all sorts to know that publishing isn't as simple as "throw the Word document into the book creator program and *poof* you have a print- or purchase-ready book!"

[Smashwords]

Emellaich, great idea for your guide. I'd be happy to assist you. Email me (mark coker) at first initial last initial at smashwords dot com. I've written a couple guides for the authors at Smashwords that address some of these issues, including formats, DRM and marketing. I wrote these two free ebooks:

The Smashwords Style Guide - It's written for authors publishing on Smashwords, but the tips help you create a clean source document you can use elsewhere. Contains a summary of several ebook formats, and some of the pros and cons of each.

The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide - This too is written for Smashwords authors, but the marketing ideas apply to any author, even print authors. We recommend Mobileread in the Guide (we recommend authors join and participate in this community, not just come here to flog books).

Let me know how I can help!

Originally Posted by emellaich

So, if we want them to change we will have to help educate them. Possibly a getting started guide for writers on the wiki? Or does one already exist?

I foresee the following arrangement:
First, an intro to ebook publishing that introduces the key concepts and links to separate pages that then explain:
1) Different formats for ebooks and the tradeoffs
2) How to convert between formats: Calibre, Sigil, and more
3) DRM and the problems of using it
4) Web sites that accept self-published books; the pro's and con's of each and where to go to submit books.
5) Options for setting up your own store using your own web site and paypal or ebay or google checkout????
6) Marketing your ebook including does and don'ts on Mobileread

When people post a Kindle only ebook they can be linked to the guide to publishing.

Alternatively, maybe its a business opportunity? You could offer a flat rate fee service or a percentage of sales to convert, submit, and market their book(s) in different places and different formats?

[DawnFalcon]

Originally Posted by Krystian Galaj

So you'd support authors who are good at looking around for sales opportunities, instead of the ones who can write good stories? I think you'd be more precise if you said you support sales managers.

By definition, a good story includes the ability for me to read it.

And while the Kindle might be a "market leader", it's a closed platform. Publishing in HTML and ePuB, open standards, should be the default assumption...then you can look at providing any closed platforms worth the work.

It is extra work though, because the readers in question are not supporting the open standards. (And I'd expect to set a higher price as a result)

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Smashwords

Emellaich, great idea for your guide. I'd be happy to assist you. Email me (mark coker) at first initial last initial at smashwords dot com. I've written a couple guides for the authors at Smashwords that address some of these issues, including formats, DRM and marketing. I wrote these two free ebooks:

The Smashwords Style Guide - It's written for authors publishing on Smashwords, but the tips help you create a clean source document you can use elsewhere. Contains a summary of several ebook formats, and some of the pros and cons of each.

The Smashwords Book Marketing Guide - This too is written for Smashwords authors, but the marketing ideas apply to any author, even print authors. We recommend Mobileread in the Guide (we recommend authors join and participate in this community, not just come here to flog books).

Let me know how I can help!

hi mark, thanks for your very helpful contribution ! emellaich has started a thread in the writers' forum on this topic and i've stuck it. i'm going to copy your post into that thread where it will be very appreciated.

[WFT]

Originally Posted by ficbot

I wonder if these authors truly do not realize that the Kindle (and therefore their book) are, due to their publishing decision, only available to readers in one country out of the whole wide world? Or do they realize and are simply too lazy to care and to investigate other options?

I'm about ready to publish my first novel based on the current financial crisis. I plan to publish in both e-book and conventional book formats. My problem is: which e-book format should I select?

While I have considerable computer experience, I do not own an e-book reader and I have never investigated e-book formats. I know there are a bunch of them, including ebup, pdf, and Kindle among others, but I know almost nothing else about them. While I will certainly publish in Kindle, I'm also wondering what format to publish in for non-Kindle users.

My initial choice would have been PDF, because I regularly make PDF documents for free website distribution. However, a peek at the PDF forum on this board suggested to me that people with e-book readers have many issues reading PDF files. I saw a lot of discussion about different ways to convert PDF to text, etc. This suggests to me that the format is far from e-reader-friendly. Is my impression correct? Or is it a question of making the PDF page a certain size so that the novel can be read without any special conversion?

I'm sure I speak for other authors who are exploring how best to publish in an e-book format when I ask: What format(s) do e-reader users prefer?

I'm sure this seems like a very basic question. I even saw one post that said this is no longer an issue. Well, I beg to differ. It's an issue from my point-of-view because I want to get my new novel into as many e-reader devices as I can sell successfully.

So what format(s) do each of you prefer?

[dreams]

Originally Posted by WFT

...[SNIP]
I'm sure I speak for other authors who are exploring how best to publish in an e-book format when I ask: What format(s) do e-reader users prefer?

I'm sure this seems like a very basic question. I even saw one post that said this is no longer an issue. Well, I beg to differ. It's an issue from my point-of-view because I want to get my new novel into as many e-reader devices as I can sell successfully.

So what format(s) do each of you prefer?

As Zelda posted, the below thread is a good start for new to ebook authors (plus the information in the above posts).

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54309

Many authors on this forum use Feedbooks.com and Smashwords.com. It seems to be fairly easy.

As to format, both sites offer many formats for the purchaser to chose from. (You may have also noted that ePub is a format that can be used on many devices.)