THE Group for Authors! discussion

I've published my book through Amazon KDP and Smashwords for everything else. However, I've been disappointed by how long it takes for Smashwords to get changes to Barnes & Noble.

Considering pulling Barnes & Noble distribution from Smashwords and going direct with B&N's Nook publishing. Is the Nook direct process about the same as Amazon's? Are changes generally reflected in 24 to 48 hours, rather than 5 to 10 days?

Any insights on this would be appreciated.

The earlier version of Nook Press, PubIt, could be quirky about approving books for sale, although it was very easy to use—even easier than Amazon.com, if not as fast. Nook Press seems to be more stable and even simpler, so my guess is that under most circumstances you can expect to wait 48 hours at most.

Payments are also faster than Smashwords, from what I understand. Getting sales can be difficult, but that presumably doesn't change whether you upload directly or through a third-party aggregator.

Thanks, C.P.

I just uploaded two books to Nook Press last night. They are both live this morning. The interface was easy to use, although their category taxonomy is a mess. I don't sell much on B&N, but so far, going direct has been worth it. I like having more control over my listing and I like keeping the 15% I'd otherwise lose to a distributor like Smashwords or Draft2Digital. YMMV

You need to have a US bank account to go direct, that's the only reason I didn't.

Thanks James and Kathy.

I went through Lulu alongside my paperback and hardback editions

I've wondered which way to go. This discussion has really helped me decide. I'm going to try B&N direct now.

Philip, I've never used Lulu. Does that cost money to set up?

DM,

Glad you've found it helpful. If I do switch to Barnes & Noble direct, I'll have to figure out how to get my book unpublished just from the Nook.

R.J. wrote: "Philip, I've never used Lulu. Does that cost money to set up?"

There are no charges and their interface is also relatively straightforward, they will also do ePub distribution for Nook and iBook. The cost is that they insist on a preview copy of the edition in Paperback and Hardback including when a version is amended.

As a print on demand service the paperback and hardbacks are not cheap to buy. They will also do global distribution if you have an ISBN into Amazon and other physical booksellers. Only yesterday I came across my books available at Waterstones. Unlike Createspace for non-US citizens they do not require a US tax registration to be completed

Only problem I came across was my ePUB output from Scrivener did not upload so I had to submit a Word Doc. PDF for the paperback and hardbacks with templates for covers as well as flexibility to use pre-done graphics. I'd stick a link in for my offerings but I don't want to be accused of spamming on this forum, but you can search for me.

So I spent about $30 of proof copies before I bought some to hand out to friends and families.

Thanks, Philip. I often forget that Amazon sometimes (like with Audible) makes it hard for people not in the US to interface with the system. I've been happy with CreateSpace, but I'll keep Lulu in mind in the future.

R.J. wrote: "Thanks, Philip. I often forget that Amazon sometimes (like with Audible) makes it hard for people not in the US to interface with the system. I've been happy with CreateSpace, but I'll keep Lulu in..."

It was very annoying as I wanted to keep it all in one place i.e. via Amazon, yet despite CreateSpace being part of the same companay their systems financial and submission are completely different.

BTW I have had no sales from B&N or iBook apart from me doing test purchases. My Lulu sales have been negligible, Kindle seems to be my only route to market where both of my current books tick over and I get reviews!

Everyone, just a quick FYI, news came out yesterday that makes it more likely I'll continue to publish through Smashwords. Smashwords will now let you set up your book for Preorders for Barnes & Noble, Apple and Kobo customers.

I've always felt it unfair that indies didn't get to set up pre-orders while big publishers did, so this is a reason to use Smashwords instead of B&N direct, even though the process is slow for changes.

Here's a link to the preorder article.
http://blog.smashwords.com/2013/07/sm...

I came to this thread to post the news about Smashwords' new preorders, but R.J. got there first. :-)

R.J. wrote: "Everyone, just a quick FYI, news came out yesterday that makes it more likely I'll continue to publish through Smashwords. Smashwords will now let you set up your book for Preorders for Barnes & No..."

The pre-order capability could be a handy marketing gimmick for authors who already have a following. It would definitely help authors who want to plan a big book launch and see a spike in Launch Day sales.

However, I don't think I would use this feature even if I published through Smashwords. You can't put the book on pre-order unless it is finished, so it isn't true "pre-ordering" so much as "delayed availability." For me, if the book is done, I want it on the virtual shelves ASAP.

Plus, doing a big launch has down sides. The Amazon algorithms reward consistency. You get better placement if you can maintain sales over time rather than have a big spike. The faster you climb in the rankings, the faster you fall back down into obscurity.

That said, pre-orders are a *great* opportunity for authors who have eager fans just waiting for their next release. It will also work well for first-time authors whose debut book is so good that it can maintain the sales it gets from the launch. Discoverability is everything, if your book is good enough to take advantage.

However, for the rest of us who already have books out that do well but aren't bestsellers, a slower but consistent build in sales probably works out better in the long run. That's my approach, anyway.

As I read what Mark Coker had to say, you can put the book on pre-order if it's in close-to-final form, and the part available for sampling is suitable for that purpose. You can tweak in the usual way in the days before release, although Mark recommends having the "final final" version uploaded 10 days before as an adequate buffer against last-minute snafus.

Karen wrote: "As I read what Mark Coker had to say, you can put the book on pre-order if it's in close-to-final form..."

That is helpful. I'd be leery of taking that approach though. Smashwords is not known for reliability (or speed) when it comes to book updates, so I wouldn't rely on that 10-day buffer. The possibility of "snafus" is exactly why you should upload a version you are willing to give to readers on launch day. You won't be able to do anything about the bad reviews you will get from readers who accidentally get something that isn't ready for prime time.

James, I get what you're saying about how slow Smashwords is. That's been my main concern with them and why I considered going direct to Barnes & Noble. I felt like because Amazon and B&N are the biggest players, I want to have timely updates there. And truth be told, I've had pretty good luck with Smashwords updates to other vendors (knock on wood). However, the ability to preorder, seems very cool, even if it means it just delays the release of the book.

I like a timed release, even if it is a delayed release.

Karen, I also saw what Coker said about not having to have the book in final form. While I agree with that, I'd prefer to have it in final form. I think it would let me go off and do some other pre-release prep things like writing blogs for guest spots or other promotion.

R.J. wrote: "I've published my book through Amazon KDP and Smashwords for everything else. However, I've been disappointed by how long it takes for Smashwords to get changes to Barnes & Noble.

Considering pu..."

I just pulled my ebooks from Barnes & Noble. Their software messed up 2 out of 3 books. They weren't much help in correcting the problems, so I'm using Smashwords for Nook ebooks. If you do go with the Nook, be sure you check your ebooks to see that they are formatted properly.

Well, Marian, thanks for letting me know. I hadn't heard of people who had problems when they published directly with Nook.

I certainly don't want to trade one set of problems with another.

Marian wrote: I just pulled my ebooks from Barnes & Noble. Their software messed up 2 out of 3 books...."

That's certainly disappointing. Did you upload an EPUB or something else? I've never had problems, but I always upload a pre-formatted EPUB. B&N doesn't seem to change anything if you do that. You have a lot more control over the formatting as well.

On the other hand, I've had MANY problems with the Smashwords Meatgrinder, even when carefully following Mark's style guide. For fiction it isn't too bad, but for non-fiction it can be a nightmare.

James wrote: "Marian wrote: I just pulled my ebooks from Barnes & Noble. Their software messed up 2 out of 3 books...."

That's certainly disappointing. Did you upload an EPUB or something else? I've never had p..."

I uploaded EPUBs that were professionally formatted.

My novel, Realities, doesn't have any chapters. It's the story of a woman writing to her husband who committed suicide, so it it's written as a continuous dialogue. Nook software divided the novel into 4 chapters with inappropriate breaks. Their software insists upon chapters. When I contacted them, I was given laborious instructions on how to fix it. I gave it a shot and then gave up.

The first letter of every line was cut off in my novel The Last Season, The Story of a Marriage. I contacted them twice about it before I received a response. They didn't know how to fix it, but they were "working on it." That's when I decided to pull my books.

Yikes! What a pain.

I know that some vendors (including Apple) have trouble with EPUB files that don't have a certain number of entries in the table of contents. That's probably why B&N added chapters. I think the restriction relates to the fact that a table of contents is a required part of the EPUB specification. Your books probably didn't pass the latest EPUB validation, which actually looks for stuff like that now.

In my first book, I left out the table of contents because my chapters were named Chapter 1, Chapter 2, and so on. Having a TOC with a bunch of chapter numbers seemed stupid. I had to change that when the latest version of EPUBCheck came out and it started rejecting books without a TOC. [sigh]

Well, Marian, your book without chapters sounds like a bit of a departure from most books, which have chapters.

I think I have typical formatting, and sounds like if it's got a TOC and formatted as EPUB, it may have fewer problems.

I've never done anything about a TOC in my Smashwords books. I'm not sure whether the Meatgrinder inserts a linked TOC -- which I agree is somewhat silly for a fiction book with no chapter headings.