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Archived Author Help > Does anyone sell ebooks from their own website?

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message 1: by April (new)

April Wilson (aprilwilson) Does anyone sell ebooks from their own website? I'm talking about .MOBI files to Kindle users, or ePUB files to readers with other tablets.

How feasible is this? How secure? Not secure at all? Does the book go directly to their tablet, or are you e-mailing the electronic file to them and they load it onto their tablets themselves?

I'd love to hear what people are doing in this space.

Thank you.


message 2: by Ann (new)

Ann Werner (writingfool) | 39 comments I'm not certain how that would work, but it seems to me that you would send them the mobi or ePub and they would transfer it to their device. Not like the automatic download to your Kindle from Amazon. It would be like Smashwords - the buyer downloads the book and transfers it to their reading device.

I considered doing it at one time but discarded the idea because of tax issues and in the offchance that I'd be inundated with requests, I'd be sending out copies instead of writing. Oh, to have such a problem!

But again, I'm not sure, so could be wrong. There may be a program that would automatically send the requested book.


message 3: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Emme (Lisa_Emme) | 212 comments I think some authors use Gumroad to sell their own work. I don't have any experience with it. I just remember someone mentioned it.

https://gumroad.com/sell/books


message 4: by Martin (new)

Martin Wilsey | 447 comments I sell them with links to amazon, I get 70% royalty plus the Amazon Associate fee. I only direct deliver free ebooks from my own sight.

I do send signed paper copies from my sight as well.


message 5: by April (new)

April Wilson (aprilwilson) Martin wrote: "I sell them with links to amazon, I get 70% royalty plus the Amazon Associate fee. I only direct deliver free ebooks from my own sight.

I do send signed paper copies from my sight as well."


Martin, are you in KDP Select? Are your e-books offered only through Amazon?


message 6: by Ashley (new)

Ashley Capes | 90 comments I offer direct purchase from my website, yeah - I set-up 'buy now' buttons via PayPal.

Tiny amounts of sales via this method so far :)


message 7: by Martin (new)

Martin Wilsey | 447 comments April wrote: "Martin wrote: "I sell them with links to amazon, I get 70% royalty plus the Amazon Associate fee. I only direct deliver free ebooks from my own sight.

I do send signed paper copies from my sight a..."


Yes. KDP Select for my novels. My Short stories are on Smashwords.

http://wilseymc.blogspot.com/
www.amazon.com/Martin-Wilsey/e/B00VDK...
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/vi...


message 8: by Victor (new)

Victor Davis (victor-a-davis) | 16 comments Same as Ashley. There's a Wordpress plugin called "Easy Digital Downloads." They click a "buy" button, pay via PayPal, and receive an email containing the mobi, pdf, and epub. I just send them all three assuming giving the option will over-complicate matters. I get 100% royalty, minus paypal fees. It's a trickle, because (a) your site is not a marketplace, and (b) there's no credibility, people prefer to entrust their CC#/email with the Amazons.


message 9: by Justin (new)

Justin (justinbienvenue) | 790 comments I thought about this But then my web user would need my PayPal info and I honestly don't trust them enough to give it so I stick with links to other places.

You know what's a good thing to look into though? Those credit card swipers you can attach to your cell phone and sell your books when your out and all people have to do is swipe their card.


message 10: by [deleted user] (new)

Justin wrote: "I thought about this But then my web user would need my PayPal info and I honestly don't trust them enough to give it so I stick with links to other places.

You know what's a good thing to look in..."


I don't know how it works now, but I once had a business and wanted to accept credit cards as any business would. I looked into it, and each company charged as much as a $5000 up-front fee for the setup. My business couldn't afford that, especially considering the many types of cards out there. That was a long time ago, though, and it may have changed.


message 11: by Victor (new)

Victor Davis (victor-a-davis) | 16 comments Justin wrote: "You know what's a good thing to look into though? Those credit card swipers you can attach to your cell phone and sell your books when your out and all people have to do is swipe their card."

It's called "square" and it works fantastic. You don't necessarily need a smartphone either, it can plug into a laptop. I think paypal has a similar device.

Ken, you're right. Lots of small businesses are still getting screwed by merchant services the infrastructure necessary for credit card swiping. Luckily, companies like square and amazon and paypal are revolutionizing the way businesses are able to take payment. Most artists and artisans and a handful of small businesses are using the swipers now to the benefit of everyone. No more "cash only" signs at public events! So yes, times have changed. It seems to be part of the overall narrative, that individuals have had to rely (and pay) less and less on the authority figures to get things done.


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