Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion

Dear Indie author:
I am enjoying ___________ but I wish you had published it to Barnes and Noble too. I don't have a Kindle and probably never will. I like the Nook. Having to download your book to Kindle Cloud Reader means I can only read it on my PC, which I can't take to bed or read at breakfast. I've been told I can download Calibre, covert the file to e-pub and move books to my Nook. I have failed to successfully move e-pub files from other sources into the Nook. I’d rather not have to jump through these hoops to read an e-book when I already own a device for reading them. I’d rather just buy the book from Barnes and Noble. Amazon has a monopoly on your book sales if you only publish to Amazon and tech idiots like me are less likely to buy your future e-books.
Goodreads only gives places to add Amazon ISNs and ISBNs, which I think should change. It can make it look as if a reader can only get the book from Amazon. I believe Amazon owns Goodreads, which would explain their bias, but there are readers who have Nook, Kobo and i-Tunes preferences. Spread your books around and let readers know they can get them from other places.
Draft2Digital makes it as easy to publish to all e-book retailers as well as to Kindle and CreateSpace with no extra work or cost on your part. This is not an ad for them, but an observation from an author who has used them happily, and a reader who has been frustrated by wanting various indie books that I can only get on Kindle. I know there are books I have not bought because of the hassle of their being Kindle only.

Thank you for the heads up. I didn't realize that the links for other stores didn't work. I am guilty of never have tried elsewhere other than Amazon and Smashwords.

I just checked and although my book is offered on Barnes and Nobles, Kobo, and ITunes stores, out of the three, the link only works for ITunes, which is rather strange since they all use the same ISBN. I wished there was a way to fix this problem. :(

Amber's point is well-taken. As I've only recently learned, it's also worth considering publishing in print as well as in all of the ebook formats - at least for certain things. I recently released a print version of a health-related book I published under my real name (Fletcher Best is a pen name I use for fiction) and I am pleasantly surprised to have it outselling the ebook version.

G.G., I'm assuming that you published through Smashwords to B&N, Kobo, etc.. Depending on when you originally published, there might have been an issue with the book at those retailers where the link is not working and you may need to make some kind of correction and re-submit through Smashwords (there will be a notice next to the title on your Smashwords dashboard that corrections are needed).

@Fletcher My book can be found in those stores. I checked manually. The link here just doesn't work. How can republishing the book could fix that?

I also agree with the print version. I published with Createspace also. It cost nothing, and gives a choice to the readers. Not to forget that with a print, I can now use Goodreads Giveaway feature. :)

My books are for sale at Amazon (directly), Kobo (directly), iTunes (directly), Barnes & Noble (Draft2Digital) and a host of smaller German and Spanish retailers (through Xinxii).

What's weird is that if I check my links, only Amazon and Kobo show. No iTunes or B&N or NookUK, but half.com, Sony, Indiebound, Indigo, Better World Books... Half of those retailers I haven't even heard of.

Maybe it's best to complain straight to support GR?

Martyn V. wrote: "My books are for sale at Amazon (directly), Kobo (directly), iTunes (directly), Barnes & Noble (Draft2Digital) and a host of smaller German and Spanish retailers (through Xinxii).

What's weird is ..."

Why do you use Direct2Digital for B&N? Is the B&N uploading process too annoying? It kind of looks like it.

I actually just checked my links here (after noticing that they combined the editions available so suddenly many more people have "added" it to lists -- spooky) and found that, much like for Martyn, only some of the links work properly.

But there are options available now that didn't used to work at all before. Maybe they're making changes as we speak.

Amber wrote: "Dear Indie author:
I am enjoying ___________ but I wish you had published it to Barnes and Noble too. I don't have a Kindle and probably never will. I like the Nook. Having to download your book to..."

Yes, x1000. I have lost track of how many times I've told my fellow indie authors that going KDP-Select is a slap in the face to non-Kindle users. I use a Kobo, personally, and that happens to be the most popular eReader abroad.

That said, I am well able to add my Smashwords ISBN, which transfers across to iBooks, B&N, etc. Not sure why you're having issues?

Gregor wrote: "Why do you use Direct2Digital for B&N? Is the B&N uploading process too annoying? It kind of looks like it."

Location, location, location... :)

I'm not a US-resident, so I have to go through intermediaries for B&N. D2D seemed less cumbersome than Smashwords, and they were still in beta, but I like supporting start-ups.

I haven't delved too far into all the alternatives, I'm sure most of you know way more than I do, but here's where I put my books:

1. Amazon (directly)

2. Smashwords (directly, which then distributes to 8 or 9 other spots for me)

3. Createspace (directly) For those who may not know, this is an Amazon-owned print-on-demand company for paperbacks. If I can get at least 100 pages out of a paperback version of my work, I do this. (Partly because I'm a crotchity dinosaur-type of guy who only reads actual paper books and I want to hold my own work in my hands too.)

4. ACX.com (directly) which makes audiobooks. I've only just started this and it's a hefty process involving more people, but I think it'll be well worth it. They are also Amazon-owned I believe (the big A rapidly becoming the overlord of all media) and they distribute thru Amazon, Audible.com, and iTunes.

In my opinion, the more media you put your work into, the more readers you can reach. Of course, it takes more work on your part -- all 4 of these require different formatting and such, but that's part of the job. I don't know if there is an advanatge to directly going with B&N, Kobo, etc, but for me, if SW can get my books there without me having to reformat and individually submit, I'm for that.

That's my 2 cents. Hope it helps somebody else out.

J.D. wrote: "I don't know if there is an advanatge to directly going with B&N, Kobo, etc, but for me, if SW can get my books there without me having to reformat and individually submit, I'm for that..."

Going directly is preferable not just for avoiding the commission paid to the aggregator (SW, D2D), but also gives you direct access to sales figures, description and anything else you want to tweak directly.

I format my books four times:
- mobi (with embedded cover) for KDP
- epub (with embedded cover) for Kobo and B&N
- epub (without cover) for iTunesProducer
- PDF (for beta/reviewers who don't like epub/mobi)

Since I work in Scrivener, I don't have to reformat my books for every retailer. On the copyright page of every book you'll find the ASIN and ISBN.

Uploading to Apple was the worst first time around, because I was stumped by 'images inside the book are too large', until an ITP representative clued me in that the embedded cover is seen as an image. Which explains the epub without cover for ITP.

Do I have to buy an ISBN before I can publish with D2D? I saw that they don't provide one. Or can I use the one provided by Amazon?

Amazon doesn't provide an ISBN, they provide an ASIN (Amazon Standard Index Number?).

I buy ISBN's, but that's about 11 euro a piece in the Netherlands (Bowker in the US is waaay more expensive)

Not every retailer needs ISBN--I think iTunes made the ISBN voluntary instead of mandatory--but the sales figures are aggregated per ISBN, so if you want to track ISBN sales across all retailers, you'd need to buy an ISBN.
However, that's just 'the cost of publishing'. You can couple the ISBN to the ASIN, so your Amazon sales are also recorded.

Ah, I forgot there was a distinction. If I could suck someone else into doing that part, I wouldn't know a single thing about any of it.
I really can't afford to invest any more money into this. If it ever becomes more than a hobby (actually turns a profit), maybe I'll look into ISBN.
thanks for the info.

While I agree in principle, my first book is available on every digital platform under the sun, but it's no exaggeration to say that 95% of the sales have come from Amazon. I don't necessarily like that fact, but I can't deny the reality of the figures, and if I have a chance to gain bigger exposure for future titles, at the expense of a possible 5% of sales (at least one of which was me, now I come to think of it)... well, it's not the hardest choice to make.

I am Smashwording my current title, but they seem to have massive issues understanding that I don't want my name on the cover (it's my translation of an out of copyright French classic, I don't think it's appropriate for my name to be on the front).

@ R.A.,

Your ISBN problem is that you have to buy from Bowker, who charges extortionist prices. In many countries, ISBN is cheap or even free.

In the Netherlands you can buy a prefix for 25 euro, with a reserve of either 10 or 100 ISBN. Every ISBN is 11 euro. You don't pay for what you don't use. I have six publications, so I've spent 91 euro in total, and I have ninety-four ISBNs in reserve at eleven euro a piece. I have to pay for a new prefix if I reserve the next 100 ISBN. Even with two ISBN (ebook + print), that will mean I have to have fifty publications before I run out...

Andrew -- Can you adjust the cover image to have the orginal author's name as well as "Translated by Andrew"? I think that's fair. If you translated it, you certainly can claim that much on the cover.
-- I also agree with you that Amazon is (unfortunately) producing 95% of sales for me too, and probably for everyone. I still don't want to cut anyone out though. It's possible your book could hit it big on another site and really take off there. I've heard of it happening.

ISBN extortion -- Yes! I bought a package deal of 10 from Bowkers when I first statred doing this a couple years ago and I think it cost me 250 bones at that time! (Emabrassed to say it, but it's true.) But I think I only have to use those for my KDP books, and it'll take me a few more years to use them up, so at least they'll last me. If all you're doing is ebooks, most publishers (like Smashwords) provide it at their own cost.

R.A. -- I would agree, if you're doing this more as a hobby than hoping on a future career, I wouldn't suggest spending any more money than necessary. Some never spent a dime until they started making money (like Hugh Howey, though he's the Golden Child, probably shouldn't expect a repeat of his story).

Lou -- i agree with you too. The small sales return isn't worth the extra work for me. Smashwords works for me thus far.

Okay, I'll stop now. :)

I initially misunderstood Amber's original post on this thread and from reading the replies, I think some others did as well. Although she did request for authors to publish to platforms besides just KDP, the other problem is that the book links on Goodreads to a lot of the other retailers besides Amazon don't work. As far as I can tell, this is an issue with the Goodreads website itself, not something the authors are doing or not doing. Goodreads just needs to add an option on the book setup form and do some tweaks on the link coding to allow for additional ISBNs so the searches will work on the other retail sites. While we cannot directly control the correction of this issue, the more of us that request it, the more likely they will make it a priority.

J.D. wrote: "Andrew -- Can you adjust the cover image to have the orginal author's name as well as "Translated by Andrew"? I think that's fair. If you translated it, you certainly can claim that much on the c..."

createspace issues ISBN numbers for free. At least,this is on the back of my paperback:
ISBN 9781493733286. But I'm wondering if this is specific to them, or can be used in another place like D2D?

J.D. wrote: "Andrew -- Can you adjust the cover image to have the orginal author's name as well as "Translated by Andrew"? I think that's fair. If you translated it, you certainly can claim that much on the c..."

PS. Sure I'm HOPING for a future career...

J.D. wrote: "Andrew -- Can you adjust the cover image to have the orginal author's name as well as "Translated by Andrew"? I think that's fair. If you translated it, you certainly can claim that much on the c..."

I certainly could do that, but it's not really the done thing. In fact, my awesome designer put my name on the first version of the cover and I made him remove it.

I can't think of a single translated book I've ever read that has the translator's name on the cover. And I do feel this book is really big news, as far as I'm concerned I'm giving a new Casanova book to the English-speaking world, not a new Andrew book. This probably sounds incredibly pretentious, but I feel it's a point of principle important enough to say "actually, screw you" to some arbitrary automated requirement for Smashwords book covers.

Andrew wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Andrew -- Can you adjust the cover image to have the orginal author's name as well as "Translated by Andrew"? I think that's fair. If you translated it, you certainly can claim that ..."

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever read one like that, either. But really, translating is such a big job that the translator SHOULD be on the cover. Really, how good a job you do will make or break the reader's opinion of the book. I read a comedy, 'Loosely Translated' that deals with the topic. It gave me a new respect for translators!

Lou wrote: "R.A. wrote: "createspace issues ISBN numbers for free. At least,this is on the back of my paperback:
ISBN 9781493733286. But I'm wondering if this is specific to them, or can be used in another pla..."

I'll give it a try and see what happens. When I get around to it. Thanks!

Lou wrote: "I upload to Amazon and B&N directly because they're both very easy. Since I write romance, I also submit to All Romance eBooks. I actually sell more books there than on B&N. For everything else I g..."

How does one do B&N directly?

Lou wrote: "Through Nook Press. https://www.nookpress.com

I don't remember all the details now, but you just make an account and go from there. You need to make an epub file to upload, but that's easy enough..."

Thanks.

Lou wrote: "Through Nook Press. https://www.nookpress.com

I don't remember all the details now, but you just make an account and go from there. You need to make an epub file to upload, but that's easy enough..."

Non-US is in beta:

https://www.nookpress.com/international

R.A. wrote: "createspace issues ISBN numbers for free. At least,this is on the back of my paperback:
ISBN 9781493733286. But I'm wondering if this is specific to them, or can be used in another place like D2D?"

Short answer: no. The CS ISBN can only be used on the print edition distributed through CS. You can't use it for any e-book edition, nor can you use it for a print edition distributed through any other channel (such as Lightning Source). This means that if you find your reach limited by CS and decide to go with another distributor, you'll have to obtain another ISBN for that edition, which means you'll have two print ISBNs running around for the same hardcopy book -- even if they're identical otherwise.

The same goes for every other "free" ISBN that every other distributor "gives" you. It's a mechanism to lock you into that channel.

Lance wrote: "R.A. wrote: "createspace issues ISBN numbers for free. At least,this is on the back of my paperback:
ISBN 9781493733286. But I'm wondering if this is specific to them, or can be used in another pl..."

Well, it makes sense for them to do it that way, I suppose. I can't imagine why I would ever want to move on from them anyway. They make a good product and it's far cheaper than I could even print a cruddy looking book locally. In fact, I'm thinking about getting my beta reader copies through them. It cost me almost $14 a piece to print them out here, and even including shipping I can get them for about $8 through createspace. There wouldn't be much space for edit notes, so I'd have to come up with a solution to that problem... I'll see if I can come up with something. Thanks for sharing your experience.
PS. What kind of creature is that on your avatar?

I like Createspace for that same reason. I focus mainly on ebooks, and get higher royalties from those, but paperbacks add another option for the reader at little or no cost. Being an Amazon Prime member, I can get my own paperbacks cheaper by paying retail at Amazon with free shipping (plus royalty), than I can get them at Createspace at their substantial discount, plus shipping. It an easy and inexpensive way to add your own books to your shelves and, if desired, for distribution to your friends (who would actually buy them if they really were your friends). And if people you don't know decide to buy a few, that couldn't hurt either.

All well and good to spread your book around - and I do.

Unfortunately my stats speak for themselves. In a recent month one of my books (and this is typical of all of them) sold as follows:

Amazon - 92
iTunes - 88
B&N Nook - 1
Kobo - 0
Smashwords-0

The fact is that Amazon and iTunes have the bulk of the market and I would say Amazon comes out ahead even then.

Why should I waste time and effort on sites that don't sell?

Agreed. Amazon and iTunes control the bulk of the market because of traffic, and they have traffic because their brand names are out there--practically in-your-face out there. And their service is top-notch. (I have NO complaints in dealing with them, either as an author or as a customer). The others need to do more aggressive marketing if they can afford it, and if they can't, maybe they're too small to swim in the big pool. They need to tell us why we should consider them instead of putting up roadblocks.

Andrew wrote: "While I agree in principle, my first book is available on every digital platform under the sun, but it's no exaggeration to say that 95% of the sales have come from Amazon. I don't necessarily like..."

This is what I find fascinating; I do my metrics a couple of times a year and my ePub editions *consistently* outsell .mobi (Amazon) by a factor of 5:1. Everyone's business is so different.

R.A. wrote: "createspace issues ISBN numbers for free. At least,this is on the back of my paperback:
ISBN 9781493733286. But I'm wondering if this is specific to them, or can be used in another place like D2D? "

Each edition of your book requires its own ISBN; that ISBN is only valid for the CreateSpace edition.

I sell far more on Amazon than elsewhere but I do sell them on Barnes and Noble, Apple and Kobo. I tend to agree, alienating potential readers is unfair. Ken, I agree about CS. I am not an Amazon prime member but Createspace favours US authors and readers. The cost to get the book shipped to the UK is expensive and slow.

I think it would help all markets if the players would agree to use the book's first ISBN, no matter who issued it. That would be one positive step. Uniform formatting would be another. There are others, but I don't see any of it happening any time soon.

Sharon wrote: "R.A. wrote: "createspace issues ISBN numbers for free. At least,this is on the back of my paperback:
ISBN 9781493733286. But I'm wondering if this is specific to them, or can be used in another pla..."

I used the create space ISBN for my book, but will not for the next book. CS now posts "create space self publishing platform" notice in the book details on Amazon. Also, most brick and mortar stores won't take books with an ISBN from CS.

Ed wrote: "All well and good to spread your book around - and I do.

Unfortunately my stats speak for themselves. In a recent month one of my books (and this is typical of all of them) sold as follows:

Amazo..."

How are you able to glean this information from these sites? They're all so obscure to me, even Amazon. My book is distributed to most of these sites, to include KOBO, B & N, Amazon, etc. and there are ISBNs for all three versions (paperback, hardback and e-book) but to me, it's still hard to decipher the sales.

Each one has reports: KDP (Kindle Digital Publishing), Createspace (Also Amazon and Kindle), Lulu, Kobo, Smashwords.

I assume you're having someone else distribute them instead of doing it yourself? If so they need to provide this data to you.

If you're so inclined you can publish on Creatspace and Kindle for free yourself and you have control.

For Amazon and Createspace you can find your sales by logging onto the account you set up. You also have an "Author central" website at https://authorcentral.amazon.com/

I wouldn't submit my current books to a brick and mortar publisher for those and various other reasons, but I'm considering doing that for the novel I'm currently working on. Since you can do it electronically now, there is no cost, and you might just get editorial feedback on it, if it has value. But I'm still on the fence about that, having no experience with these publishers in the last few years.

R.A. wrote: "Well, it makes sense for them to do it that way, I suppose. I can't imagine why I would ever want to move on from them anyway..."

It's a baby wombat. Can't say why it's in a box.

As someone else pointed out, many bookstores won't take books with a CS ISBN -- it's kind of a mark of Cain. Beyond that, even with the for-fee enhanced distribution, you may find that your hardcopy book isn't making it into other online outlets. I decided to use CS for Amazon distribution (that way, it's always in stock), and LSI for the rest of the world. My books are in Indiebound and the online catalogs of Books-a-Million, Powell's, Hudson Booksellers, and a pile of foreign outlets serviced by Ingram.

Ken wrote: "I think it would help all markets if the players would agree to use the book's first ISBN, no matter who issued it..."

That would be more likely to end "free" ISBNs than let them out of their vendor-specific jails. What would really be helpful would be if Bowker had some competition. The U.S. has some of the highest prices in the world for ISBNs. I bit the bullet and bought ten, but I can see why others enter into potentially bad marriages with their distributors so they can get their "free" ISBNs.

Lou wrote: "Mona wrote: "Also, most brick and mortar stores won't take books with an ISBN from CS. "

It doesn't much matter since there's no money in brick and mortar stores for an indie author."

Yeah, I have mine at our local indie bookstore, but even if they sell them, I won't make anything at all. Literally. They want a 50% cut, and I seriously doubt anyone will even pay the cost of MY cost x 2. But if they do, I'll only break even. Still, it's exposure, for what that's worth. Who knows, maybe someone will see it there and buy the ebook!

Ed wrote: "
Amazon - 92
iTunes - 88
B&N Nook - 1
Kobo - 0
Smashwords-0"

How did you get traction on iTunes? Did you promote somehow, or did that occur naturally?

My stats for last month look almost the same, except put a 0 next to iTunes. :\

Abbott Press is my publisher, which uses Ingram to distribute to the places I mentioned earlier, as well as overseas. I've checked both Amazon and Abbott Press's sales figures but as for the others--I don't know.

I published through Lulu, which got me on iTunes way back when.

That particular book is a DIY guide, which always seem to sell. But no promotion at all.







tunes.

If I publish on Smashwords but don't have covers, can I later add covers and be considered then for the expanded distribution?

Heather wrote: "If I publish on Smashwords but don't have covers, can I later add covers and be considered then for the expanded distribution?"

Yes. But why not wait to publish until you have covers?

Gregor wrote: "Heather wrote: "If I publish on Smashwords but don't have covers, can I later add covers and be considered then for the expanded distribution?"

Yes. But why not wait to publish until you have covers?"

I'm not convinced of how soon that will be.

Heather wrote: "Gregor wrote: "Heather wrote: "If I publish on Smashwords but don't have covers, can I later add covers and be considered then for the expanded distribution?"

Yes. But why not wait to publish unti..."

But who's going to buy a book without a cover?

Heather wrote: "If I publish on Smashwords but don't have covers, can I later add covers and be considered then for the expanded distribution?"

I'll probably get shot down ... but I think almost any cover is better than none. There are people on Fiverr who'll do a pic from a free photo. If you pick a clear, easy to read font, I think you'd be ahead of the game.