Smashwords shipping to Amazon by year end.

old goat · 08-25-2011, 06:27 PM

According to Mark: "Amazon's previous target to start accepting our books was September. The new date is "end of year."

On royalties Mark had this to say, "the terms will be essentially the same as for our other retailers - 85% of what Amazon pays us we'll pay you. They pay us 70% for books priced $2.99-$9.99, and 35% for other points, so we'll pay 60% and 30%."

crich70 · 08-25-2011, 07:22 PM

Interesting. I wonder why the change in start dates. I don't have any books for sale at Smashwords but it is interesting that they pushed back the start date. Some computer problem perhaps, or maybe they figure that it will be easier to compute royalties if they start with a new year?

old goat · 08-25-2011, 08:02 PM

To quote Mark, "Why the delay? Amazon is developing a bulk upload facility that will allow Smashwords to create a tight integration between our systems, similar to what we already have in place with all our other retailers. Since the development effort is on Amazon's side, it's subject to further delays that are outside our control."

William F · 08-26-2011, 01:46 AM

Smashwords is beyond great for getting your work into retailers you wouldn't otherwise be able to. (I'm looking at you Apple.) but I'm not sure using them to go through Amazon is something I would do.
Amazon makes it easy to get a well formatted book on the Kindle, and while Meatgrinder does a pretty good job, there are bound to be issues that are easily avoided with a direct upload.
I'm not yet so lazy that I'll sacrifice a couple hours work for a 15% cut in pay either.
But I still love Smashwords and the great work they do, I might be willing to give it a try and see what Meatgrinder does to my work. If it formats acceptably, well 15% of what I make isn't that big of a sacrifice to support a great organization.

VydorScope · 08-26-2011, 06:16 AM

Yea I have my books marked "do no distribute to Amazon." Even after its working, I will likely stick with that. I can get my book listed on Amazon in 48 hours, if I go via Smash it takes 5-10 weeks.

mr ploppy · 08-26-2011, 06:36 AM

It would be useful if you could get the free ones sent to Amazon, but I don't really see the point for anything else. Amazon will convert for you if you don't know how to do it yourself, just the same as Smashwords does.

Lazybones · 08-26-2011, 02:16 PM

It took me a little while to figure out the differences in formatting that Amazon wanted compared to Smashwords, but I think it was worth it. Amazon matched my Smashwords prices within a week (I had one free book at Smashwords, and one at $2, so I set the Amazon prices at $0.99 and $2.99 because of Amazon's requirements and royalties structure).

Smashwords has been great at distributing my books to tons of different stores (I picked up a lot of sales at B&N and Kobo), but Amazon is so big that I think it's worth it to go through them directly. Their book submission system is pretty straightforward once you've gone through it once or twice.

bektamun · 08-27-2011, 06:02 AM

For authors outside of the United States being able to use Smashwords to distribute to Amazon will be a Godsend mainly for receipt of royalties.

Being in Australia, the only option I have through KDP is to receive a cheque. An international currency cheque costs money to deposit at the bank and also takes a looong time to clear and funds be available.

There are other outside US issues, but the royalties payment is the biggie.

08-25-2011, 06:27 PM	#1
old goat Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC Device: Calibre	Smashwords shipping to Amazon by year end. According to Mark: "Amazon's previous target to start accepting our books was September. The new date is "end of year." On royalties Mark had this to say, "the terms will be essentially the same as for our other retailers - 85% of what Amazon pays us we'll pay you. They pay us 70% for books priced $2.99-$9.99, and 35% for other points, so we'll pay 60% and 30%."

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08-25-2011, 07:22 PM	#2
crich70 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 11,305 Karma: 43993832 Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Monroe Wisconsin Device: K3, Kindle Paperwhite, Calibre, and Mobipocket for Pc (netbook)	Interesting. I wonder why the change in start dates. I don't have any books for sale at Smashwords but it is interesting that they pushed back the start date. Some computer problem perhaps, or maybe they figure that it will be easier to compute royalties if they start with a new year?

08-25-2011, 08:02 PM	#3
old goat Enthusiast Posts: 41 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC Device: Calibre	To quote Mark, "Why the delay? Amazon is developing a bulk upload facility that will allow Smashwords to create a tight integration between our systems, similar to what we already have in place with all our other retailers. Since the development effort is on Amazon's side, it's subject to further delays that are outside our control."

08-26-2011, 01:46 AM	#4
William F Pirosopher Posts: 55 Karma: 166972 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: kindle, pc	Smashwords is beyond great for getting your work into retailers you wouldn't otherwise be able to. (I'm looking at you Apple.) but I'm not sure using them to go through Amazon is something I would do. Amazon makes it easy to get a well formatted book on the Kindle, and while Meatgrinder does a pretty good job, there are bound to be issues that are easily avoided with a direct upload. I'm not yet so lazy that I'll sacrifice a couple hours work for a 15% cut in pay either. But I still love Smashwords and the great work they do, I might be willing to give it a try and see what Meatgrinder does to my work. If it formats acceptably, well 15% of what I make isn't that big of a sacrifice to support a great organization.

08-26-2011, 06:16 AM	#5
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	Yea I have my books marked "do no distribute to Amazon." Even after its working, I will likely stick with that. I can get my book listed on Amazon in 48 hours, if I go via Smash it takes 5-10 weeks.

08-26-2011, 06:36 AM	#6
mr ploppy Feral Underclass Posts: 3,622 Karma: 26821535 Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Yorkshire, tha noz Device: 2nd hand paperback	It would be useful if you could get the free ones sent to Amazon, but I don't really see the point for anything else. Amazon will convert for you if you don't know how to do it yourself, just the same as Smashwords does.

08-26-2011, 02:16 PM	#7
Lazybones Groupie Posts: 162 Karma: 1719250 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Sacramento Device: Kindle	It took me a little while to figure out the differences in formatting that Amazon wanted compared to Smashwords, but I think it was worth it. Amazon matched my Smashwords prices within a week (I had one free book at Smashwords, and one at $2, so I set the Amazon prices at $0.99 and $2.99 because of Amazon's requirements and royalties structure). Smashwords has been great at distributing my books to tons of different stores (I picked up a lot of sales at B&N and Kobo), but Amazon is so big that I think it's worth it to go through them directly. Their book submission system is pretty straightforward once you've gone through it once or twice.

08-27-2011, 06:02 AM	#8
bektamun Member Posts: 10 Karma: 25000 Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Melbourne, Australia Device: Kindle	For authors outside of the United States being able to use Smashwords to distribute to Amazon will be a Godsend mainly for receipt of royalties. Being in Australia, the only option I have through KDP is to receive a cheque. An international currency cheque costs money to deposit at the bank and also takes a looong time to clear and funds be available. There are other outside US issues, but the royalties payment is the biggie.