Amazon & Smashwords & Self Publishing - Oh My!

The ever excellent Richard Flores IV (and a fellow Hatracker to boot), put together a survey about independent publishing and received nearly 300 responses. The results are truly fascinating. Please take the time to visit his site, The Flores Factor, and read the whole thing.

The survey covers a broad range of topics from personal statistics to promotion using social media. Since most of us are working on novels here at the Prosers, the information about independent publishing was particularly interesting.

Of the respondents,  55% were unpublished, 5% pro published, 11% small press, and 30% self-published. This seems typical (maybe even a little high on the pro end) for authors out there, so I trust that the data on the survey is close to accurate.

When asked which companies were used to self publish, the majority (40%) said Smashwords, followed in a near tie, by CreateSpace and Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Lulu was far behind, and PubIt! only garnered 1%.

This seems about right. The most successful self published authors try to reach the most markets. Using the above strategy, Smashwords targets both the .ePub devices and Amazon (KDP sells directly to the Kindle Market), and CreateSpace covers print sales.

The second question asked which company the respondents liked best. Here there was a virtual three-way tie between CreateSpace, Smashwords (which fell to 22%) and Kindle Direct Publishing. Nearly as many said they preferred doing it themselves.  I wondered if the rise in DIYers is due to dissatisfaction with Smashwords, or the growing abilities and confidence of authors in navigating the self publishing world.

 Here at the Prosers we’ve already had some great discussions about self publishing here and here, and I think this survey just adds to those. I hope that Richard will consider doing the survey again in a year to see how the results have (or haven't) changed. And, have I mentioned to please go visit his site for even more information on books sales, competitive pricing, and lots of other good stuff?

In case you were interested in a little of the nuts and bolts of the companies spotlighted in the survey, I've put together a little piece with links below.

Basics of Formatting

At the very heart of self publishing are the different formats used in eReaders.Though there are a plethora of eBook formats (see this Wikipedia article), two are dominant in the field. The fastest growing and most popular format, .ePub, is used by most major readers (Apple, i devices, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, etc.). The Kindle, however, uses a proprietary (.mobi) format. Getting a file from Word or PDF documents to a readable format is one of the key functions of ePublishers.

Basics of ePublishers 

Here’s a quick rundown of the major players in self publishing (focusing on those from the survey – there are many other companies out there): 

• KindleDirect Publishing (KDP) – one of the self publishing powerhouses, Kindle Direct Publishing allows authors to publish books for the Kindle. Using a Kindle app, the platform also reaches (per their website) “iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, PC, Mac, Blackberry, and Android based devices” – i.e. pretty much everything. Authors can publish in five languages and can also be paid royalties in different currencies, making this an excellent choice for international authors. 
• CreateSpace – offers publishing services for filmmakers and musicians as well as authors (on demand print materials).  Distribution is available through amazon.com, through direct sales by an eStore, or using an Expanded Distribution Channel, which reaches retailers and libraries. 
• Smashwords – is one stop shopping for an author’s publishing needs. Files are converted to fit all major platforms. While this may be fairly painless for authors, there is some grumbling that the formatting is not as high quality as could be achieved if done individually. 
• Lulu – provides both print and eBook services. Lulu uses an ePub converter to format eBooks for use on multiple readers. 
• PubIt! – Barnes & Noble’s offering to the ePublishing world launched in October of 2010. PubIt! allows authors to tap directly into the Nook market. However, PubIt! is hard to access by authors outside the US since a US bank account is mandatory to sign up.

It seems that when looking at independent publishing, there are a lot of options (a good thing!) and resources to help (an even better thing!). How do you see the future of publishing evolving? And how do you plan to approach self publishing (if it’s in your future)?

~ Susan

674 reasons why I love Vampire Diaries.

Hello Vampire Diaries fans!

Here's a post on self-publishing.

:)

So I got a Kindle for Christmas...

Trouble.

Yes, that's ungrateful.

I've been on the fence about ereaders in general, because I don't get why you have to pay a bunch of money just so you can read a book. God gave me eyes for free.

Is that ungrateful?

My husband got me a kindle fire, and I'm in love with it. The first thing I did was download all those classics I've always wanted to get around to reading but haven't. And then after reading a few first pages, I realized why I haven't got around to reading them, and then got around to not read them for a little longer.

Then I tried the county library, and found out my elibrary is kinda lame. I didn't realize this before we bought the Kindle, but the elibrary hasn't caught up to the rocks and mortar library in terms of books available.

After that, I searched the Kindle library for a free good library book, and realized that all of the good books available for free, I've already read. So then, not one hour after opening the package, I started looking at self-published books.

This probably proves that I'm cheap.

 I'm not cheap, I just like to show people
the insides of my pockets.

 I think I'm just feeling guilty. I'm a mom. I don't get things that cost two hundred dollars. Think of all the baby clothes my son could blow out on for that kind of money.... But I digress.

Because I was still hurting from the cost of the kindle, three dollars seems like a lot of money for me to buy a book. I read twelve books last month. If I were to pay full price for an ebook, 9.99. I'd be paying 119.88  a month.

But if I don't buy any books, then I just wasted two hundred dollars. I can spend three dollars so I don't waste two hundred.

That'll be five hundred dollars.

That's why I think self-publishing your book to an ebook is a money making idea. I have a reader, so I want books on my reader, especially free/cheap/good books.

I've since downloaded a couple of self-published ebooks, and this is what I've learned.

1. Make your sample pages shine. In fact, make that whole book shine. Don't be the reason self-published books get a bad name. Edit. Proofread. Send it to a friend. Proofread again. And then, once more for good measure, proofread it again. Don't be afraid to send it to a professional, if you can't make it perfect on your own. Know your limits.

2. If you are offering more than one book, especially if you have a series of books available, offer your first book for free. Yes, you might lose a couple of bucks, but you will gain more than a couple of readers. After all, if you can't hook a reader with an entire novel, then you aren't ready to be paid yet anyway. Hook them with your first novel, and then make them pay for the others.

3. Cheap is king. Trying to offer your self-published book for too much money is the first thing that will leave your book ignored. Doesn't matter the quality. Doesn't matter that this book is brilliant. Being published by a traditional publisher carries with it a brand label, and self-publishing is like selling an off brand. I saw a few self-published books selling, (or not selling) for twenty dollars. Seriously? I'm not going to spend 10 bucks on a good book I know I'm going to love. I'm not going to risk my money on some book I've never met before.

Why does that make me feel like showing off the inside's of my pockets...?

4. No one is going to buy your book if they can't find it. Make it available. Market it. If you figure out how to market it successfully, leave a comment below. I don't know how.

5.The cover counts. Make a great cover, or if you can't do that, pay someone to make you a great cover. Every single self-published book I've downloaded so far has had an AWESOME cover. Not just good. Not just good enough. AWESOME.  Don't stop until you've reached the awesome.

Basically what I'm saying, is try to make people wonder if your self published book was published by a traditional publishers. Traditional publishers pay for editors to polish the book. They pay marketers to place your books on the lists...somehow. They pay designers to design great covers.

And they've made a ton of money, and a ton of brilliant books.

Do not try this with an ereader.

There are worse things to emulate.