Where to Sell? - Page 4

pdurrant · 11-07-2009, 11:25 AM

I made a sale at Lulu! Hopefully the first of many...

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The Lulu ePub contains embedded fonts, and clever drop-cap graphics. It's a lot prettier.

But mostly, it's another outlet. Probably not a very good one yet, since Lulu doesn't have a very good search site or ebook reputation. But that might change.

It's certainly the first site to have my preferred version of the ePub available for sale.

kennyc · 11-07-2009, 12:10 PM

Cool!

kennyc · 11-07-2009, 12:14 PM

I just got an email containing this link, looks interesting, but I know nothing about it at this point:

http://bullspec.blogspot.com/2009/11...bull-spec.html

pdurrant · 11-09-2009, 03:31 PM

Well, my hand-crafted ePub (same as as Lulu) is now accepted at Lightning Source. It will indeed have Adobe ePub encryption. Sigh. But as there's nothing I can do about that, I'll have to live with it.

I had a little trouble submitting the file, as my first file had the fonts already encrypted. Apparently, since it's going to get Adobe adept encryption applied anyway, the fonts shouldn't be encrypted to start with.

According to the acceptance email, I "can expect to find this title on retail websites in 1-2 weeks".

We shall see! ISBN 978-1-905946-06-8, "Desbarollda, The Waltzing Mouse"

If anyone spots it before I do, I'd love to hear about it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

As well as Lulu, it seems to be that Lightning Source also accepts ePubs for distribution. I'm in the process of getting my book listed with them too.

Unlike Lulu, where you can opt out of Adobe DRM entirely, it currently looks like it's compulsory at Lightning Source, but since I'm not fully through the process I can't be certain.

Lightning Source require a minimum wholesale discount or 25% - worse than Smashwords, but better than Lulu (for moderately priced ebooks).

I'm not entirely sure whether any retailers actually get any ebooks that Lightning Source distributes. It'll be interesting to see where it turns up, if anywhere.

cmbs · 11-10-2009, 08:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by llreader

OK, I'm on it. I have created a project page at: https://dev.mobileread.com/trac/ebookpublishermatrix/

I will muddle through the format. If anyone wants to lend a hand, feel free.

Cheers,
JP

Hey,

You have to go to the wiki, not the dev hub.

There is a store matrix, but it's geared towards buying, not selling. Possibly add on some columns geared towards selling - some of the info overlaps. Or maybe make a new one for people looking to sell. If you do, make a link on each page to the other page to make them easier to find.

https://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_stores_table

I can tell you one place where you can upload your own created files, no drm: pdf, mobi, and epub. Genre specific.

https://www.horror-mall.com/

I suggest a title for the page "eBook Sites for Distribution" or "Sites for eBook Distribution" so it can include free sites and stores. You go to the wiki and type in the search box the title of the page you want to create. The page that comes up will say no such page exists and will give you the option of creating it.

llreader · 11-11-2009, 01:40 AM

cmbs: Thanks, that makes sense, but when you create a new page, it sends you there. Try it. I can't figure it out either.

And thanks for the link to that page - it looks like it is just what we want. We might have to create a second table, since that one is already getting big (it might be good to put the different formats in a singe column. I will talk to the maintainer.

pdurrant · 11-12-2009, 07:42 AM

Aha! First retail sighting:

http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781905946068

I'm glad to see the world-wide permissions has worked. Sad to see that it seems to have had a text-to-speech restriction added.

The cover image hasn't made it yet. Soon, I hope.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

According to the acceptance email, I "can expect to find this title on retail websites in 1-2 weeks".

We shall see! ISBN 978-1-905946-06-8, "Desbarollda, The Waltzing Mouse"

If anyone spots it before I do, I'd love to hear about it.

pdurrant · 11-12-2009, 08:48 AM

And checking at other bookstores, I see it's spreading... It's on both the UK and US versions of BooksOnBoard, with cover image:

http://www.booksonboard.com/index.ph...ok&BOOK=538114

(UK and US sites use the same URL - you have to switch between stores on the web pages)

BooksonBoard are even discounting it by 5%!

It seems to me that (DRM aside) Lightning Source are a really good place to distribute ePub (& presumably also PDF, Lit and eReader)

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Aha! First retail sighting:

http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781905946068

I'm glad to see the world-wide permissions has worked. Sad to see that it seems to have had a text-to-speech restriction added.

The cover image hasn't made it yet. Soon, I hope.

cmbs · 11-13-2009, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdurrant

And checking at other bookstores, I see it's spreading... It's on both the UK and US versions of BooksOnBoard, with cover image:

http://www.booksonboard.com/index.ph...ok&BOOK=538114

(UK and US sites use the same URL - you have to switch between stores on the web pages)

BooksonBoard are even discounting it by 5%!

It seems to me that (DRM aside) Lightning Source are a really good place to distribute ePub (& presumably also PDF, Lit and eReader)

Congratulations! Good luck with the books.

llreader · 11-13-2009, 02:52 AM

Congrats!

I am a little lost with all the ins and outs of this - could you recap what sites you used and how those re-distributed to other sites? For example, did you go to BoB directly, or through Lightning Books?

pdurrant · 11-13-2009, 04:16 AM

A recap:

I have a Smashwords Edition at Smashwords - this currently goes through their automatic conversion process. The PDF is quite good, the ePub is OK, the rest are poor. No DRM on any of them. Sales through Smashwords return $4.70 (78%). No set-up fee.

I have a hand-made ePub and PDF at Lulu.com, both with no DRM. Sales of the ePub return $3.61 (60%). Because I set up the PDF before their new system came it, it returns $4.80 (80%). If I set it up now, it would bring in the same as the ePub. No set-up fee.

I have the hand-made ePub distributed by Lightning Source, who add Adobe DRM. Currently it's turned up at booksonboard.com and Powells.com. Sales through LS return $4.50 (75%). Set-up fee: $25, I think. (I haven't been invoiced yet). Note also that setting up an account at LS isn't simple.

If I was able to sell through the Kindle store, sales would return $2.10 (35%)

Quote:

Originally Posted by llreader

Congrats!

I am a little lost with all the ins and outs of this - could you recap what sites you used and how those re-distributed to other sites? For example, did you go to BoB directly, or through Lightning Books?

llreader · 11-13-2009, 04:19 AM

Thanks! That helps sort things out. Also, doesn't Smashwords make their catalog available to Amazon and B&N? You should end up in the Kindle store eventually (but I am not sure how much money ends up in your pocket after everyone takes their cut).

pdurrant · 11-13-2009, 04:23 AM

Smashwords are making some titles available to B&N. Not mine yet - I suspect that putting all the copyright details at the end was a mistake for the Smashwords Edition.

I'll probably have another go at Smashwords to get the formats other than PDF and ePub to not suck so much, and move the Colophon (or the copyright bits) to the front.

I don't think that Amazon take feeds for the Kindle store from any distributor. I believe you have to work directly with Amazon, and so far to do that you must have a US address and bank account.

Quote:

Originally Posted by llreader

Thanks! That helps sort things out. Also, doesn't Smashwords make their catalog available to Amazon and B&N? You should end up in the Kindle store eventually (but I am not sure how much money ends up in your pocket after everyone takes their cut).

llreader · 11-13-2009, 04:25 AM

Ok, that clears things up. Thanks!

pdurrant · 11-18-2009, 12:57 PM

On the PoD Publishers list, someone has just posted links to a very useful web page that they have.

http://ebookarchitects.com/conversions/retailers.php

which lists all current options for selling through retailers. I've read through, and it seems to be accurate. I've added the link to the first post in the thread too.

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llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	Congrats! I am a little lost with all the ins and outs of this - could you recap what sites you used and how those re-distributed to other sites? For example, did you go to BoB directly, or through Lightning Books?

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llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	Thanks! That helps sort things out. Also, doesn't Smashwords make their catalog available to Amazon and B&N? You should end up in the Kindle store eventually (but I am not sure how much money ends up in your pocket after everyone takes their cut).

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llreader Mesmerist Posts: 331 Karma: 506558 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Spain Device: PRS-600 Silver. Much nicer than I expected.	Ok, that clears things up. Thanks!

11-18-2009, 12:57 PM	#60
pdurrant The Grand Mouse 高貴的老鼠 Posts: 74,082 Karma: 315558332 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norfolk, England Device: Kindle Oasis	On the PoD Publishers list, someone has just posted links to a very useful web page that they have. http://ebookarchitects.com/conversions/retailers.php which lists all current options for selling through retailers. I've read through, and it seems to be accurate. I've added the link to the first post in the thread too.