self publishing and selling your book as an ebook

[jbcohen]

Has anyone noticed any authors, without the benefit of a publisher, setting up an estore and selling there work as an ebook self published? I would imagine that this would be a good way to maximize income from the novel and some web sites are doing this for minimal cost, hemstead will do it for $5 a month, sell one novel and you have made up your costs and turned a small profit.

[Kemp]

If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting, then the issue is primarily, one hundred percent, traffic.

Now, if a self-pubber has enough of a name that people will seek out his/her work, that's not so much of a problem. However, customers are more likely to purchase from sources they know and trust, and there's also the whole, "window shopping" element to consider.

Simply, an author who sells from a personal website will probably move about a tenth of the copies, maybe less, than he/she would from a place like Amazon. Case in point: in 10 months, I saw about 4500 downloads from Smashwords, a decently established site by that point. When Amazon made it free, it got 9000 in five days.

Of course, if you're talking about something else, then I look mighty silly.

[MichaelFStewart]

I'm with Kemp. The 30% fee to Amazon is certainly worthwhile from the standpoint of readers finding authors and books. I see your point though. Many epresses have stores of their own where they don't have to give up the margin and can set their own pricing.

MFS

[jbcohen]

Excellent Kemp this is what I was looking for. Perhaps a better known author such as John Grisham, who incidently already has a web site of his own, might possibly sell his ebooks from his oweb site as well as via amazon or borders. He already has the site there might as well make full use of it.

[greencat]

Not forgetting, of course, that if you're selling on Amazon but publicizing on your own site that you can sign up to be an affiliate and crawl back another 5ish%.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

This is essentially what I do now. In 2006 I set up my own site and started selling, before Amazon et al started offering their services to indie authors. (Today my books are also available at other booksellers, but always with references to my site, in the hopes to drive more customers directly to the source).

I agree... it's all about getting people to your site. In one year, where I was connected to the Read an E-Book Week site as its web developer, I got enough cross-traffic to make over $500 in sales. That was (sadly) my best year, but it illustrates what can happen if you can just get people to your site.

Originally Posted by jbcohen

Perhaps a better known author such as John Grisham, who incidently already has a web site of his own, might possibly sell his ebooks from his oweb site as well as via amazon or borders. He already has the site there might as well make full use of it.

Authors working with major publishers are often contractually forbidden to self-sell their books, so selling from their own website may not be permissible for some authors. (They can always use their website to point customers to the booksellers, of course.)

[randyflycaster]

I have a link on my website to Amazon and Smashwords. I don't feel many people would buy my book directly from my site.

Randy

[MaggieScratch]

You are assuming the author wants to be bothered with formatting an ebook, creating a webpage, maintaining the storefront, etc. etc.

Some like doing that sort of thing, some don't mind it too much, some prefer to subcontract out and perhaps give up part of their profit to not be bothered with it. Just saying.

Also, some publishers insist on retaining ebook rights when they purchase hard copy publication rights, and the authors don't know enough to separate them out, or don't see the benefits, or are afraid that the publisher will reject them if they try to do it.

[bookmark]

There are many self published authors out there that do well selling on their own sites. But, as Kemp said, it’ s all about the traffic. You really have to be able to market yourself online. With that said, it’s always a good idea to have your book for sale through as many places as possible, including your site.

Setting up PayPal on your site for customers doesn’t take much and can earn you a few more sales.

[Russell Brooks]

I opened up a store through my website yesterday using PayPal. I obtained ALL available formats for every e-reader which I will sell in addition to Amazon, etc. I'll let you know how it goes.

[SimonKewin]

I agree that it is all about traffic. I have links to my Amazon and Smashwords pages on my web site but I'm willing to bet I get most sales from elsewhere - e.g. searches within Amazon. That said, perhaps it is best to cover as many bases as possible and sell directly as well as via Amazon etc?

[Russell Brooks]

Originally Posted by SimonKewin

I agree that it is all about traffic. I have links to my Amazon and Smashwords pages on my web site but I'm willing to bet I get most sales from elsewhere - e.g. searches within Amazon. That said, perhaps it is best to cover as many bases as possible and sell directly as well as via Amazon etc?

Amazon holds 30% of each sale of your ebook. If you go through your own site, you keep everything. If you can do a kick-ass job and keep driving traffic to your site, then you're on your way.

[NoahMGillman]

Yeah, I also think Amazon earns their 30%. How will new readers ever find you if your book is only available on your own website?

Of course, an author can decide to do both, can't they?

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Russell Brooks

Amazon holds 30% of each sale of your ebook. If you go through your own site, you keep everything.

Don't forget Paypal will take a transaction fee plus a percentage of the asking price, plus a bit more if your buyer is from another country. On a cheap ebook that could easily add up to 30% of the sale price.

[doreenjoy]

As a consumer, I can't imagine giving my credit card info to a random site. And not all buyers want to use PayPal.