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Looking to expand from Amazon
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Createspace for print, Kindle, and ACX for audio.
I love Smashwords because their meatgrinder and distribution allows you to end up with your e-book on the shelves of 13 other e-book sales sites (including Kobo, B &N, Ibooks, and Baker & Taylor.) I am looking into IngramSpark with the release of my next book, but not relishing buying an ISBN to be used across all platforms. Still, better that than having a bunch of different ISBNs for one book. With one ISBN, Bowkers will recognize all sales, whether they happen on Amazon, B & N, or an indie book store.
I use Createspace and Lulu for paperbacks and hardcovers. I used Smashwords for ebooks, but switched to Draft2Digital because it has a much faster response to changes, and uploading is easier.
Ken wrote: "I use Createspace and Lulu for paperbacks and hardcovers. I used Smashwords for ebooks, but switched to Draft2Digital because it has a much faster response to changes, and uploading is easier."I've been trying to figure out Smashwords without much luck :/ I'll definitely look into Draft2Digital. Thanks!
Heidi wrote: "I love Smashwords because their meatgrinder and distribution allows you to end up with your e-book on the shelves of 13 other e-book sales sites (including Kobo, B &N, Ibooks, and Baker & Taylor.) ..."Is it difficult getting an ISBN? You have to get a different ISBN for ebook and print editions, right?
I'm a huge Createspace honk. You'll never hear me talk bad about them so of course I suggest them. They are very helpful and are there 24/7 if you need help during your book uploading process.As for others, I've heard good things about Lulu, Ingramspark is good although you need to pay a $50 fee. Then finally Smashwords and Draft2digital are solid as well. I myself use Draft2Digital because I can't upload on Smashwords but another good thing about D2D is they upload your book to iBooks, Barnes and Noble, Kobo as well as other well known places.
Grace wrote: "I'm a relatively new author and so far, I only have ebooks on Amazon. I'm thinking about expanding to print books and other platforms. I've heard about Lulu, Smashwords, IngramSpark, BookBaby, and ..."I found Createspace easiest to work with. I use KDP for Kindle- it limits you to Kindle only, but you get a perk of being able to run a promotions where the book for free for a day. This hopefully exposes you to people who might not have known you before and can build interest in your novel. ACX is what my son uses for his audiobooks. Createspace generates an ISBN right away. We found their software easy to use and they give you a publishing consultant for any questions. I found them trustworthy and reliable. I love that they are connected with Amazon. Our books are on Barnes and Noble and we have sales of mass distribution through Createspace. As we do both e-books and paperbacks, I think it works well for us.
Grace wrote: "Is it difficult getting an ISBN? You have to get a different ISBN for ebook and print editions, right?..."
Createspace, Lulu, Smashwords, and D2D all provide you with free ISBNs unless you want to buy your own
Createspace, Lulu, Smashwords, and D2D all provide you with free ISBNs unless you want to buy your own
Grace wrote: "I'm a relatively new author and so far, I only have ebooks on Amazon. I'm thinking about expanding to print books and other platforms. I've heard about Lulu, Smashwords, IngramSpark, BookBaby, and ..."Hi Grace, I use Createspace for hardcopies, and Amazon / Smashwords / Google Play for e-books (of which Google is basically netting me zero sales BUT excellent search results :) )
I only use Createspace, KDP Select and ACX for Audible. It was not worth the time for no sales in the other places. Plus I love a 70% royalty.
Martin wrote: "I only use Createspace, KDP Select and ACX for Audible. It was not worth the time for no sales in the other places. Plus I love a 70% royalty."I agree. That 70% percent royalty is a real plus. People complain that you are restricted to Amazon with Createspace, but I have seen our books on many other sites.
Melanie wrote: "Kobo gives 70% sales. Canadian ISBN's are free."The Kobo market it tiny and shrinking daily. Sale were nil. After a while it didn't seem worth the extra effort.
Are your Kobo Sales good?
Kobo is the smallest of the non-Amazon markets for me. You can use either Smashwords or Draft2Digital for Kobo distribution (along with iBooks, Nook, etc.), if you don't want to go direct.
I recently switched from Smashwords to D2D, but, really, my only significant sales are on Amazon. I was with Smashwords for more than two years, and sold barely a dozen, mainly on Smashwords itself. That dozen includes one or two sales each on Kobo, Apple, and Scribd. Never sold anything on B&N. I'll probably go back Amazon exclusively in a little while.
Ken wrote: "I recently switched from Smashwords to D2D, but, really, my only significant sales are on Amazon. I was with Smashwords for more than two years, and sold barely a dozen, mainly on Smashwords itself..."The info here is amazing! Thank you! I am a new author, my book was released in April. I have learned so much this year from learning Micro soft word, publishing and trying to market it, I have been on brain overload and overwhelmed the past 6 months. When I published to Kobo, it seemed like it was buried from the word go and I was so unsure of the many options available. I am on Amazon and will certainly try and use Draft2Digital. I find I have been so busy with trying to have a part-time life apart from this endeavour and struggling to learn all of the tech aspects of publishing, it leaves minimal amount of time to actually sit down and write. I will certainly try to keep following this thread. Thanks so much! :)
I've literally just taken the big scary step into print (having been on ebook format only for over 3 years!).Createspace are fab, and their expanded distribution is now free (which gets you onto Ingram so book stores can buy in). Note: you have to talk to book stores to ask them to stock your book. They only give you the ability for them to order.
I bought my own ISBN. I'm in the UK so used the UK peeps to get this.
But Createspace can generate their own (this means you can't sell your paperbacks via anywhere else). But if you don't select this they won't distribute to libraries and educational centres (I discovered this too late!).
It's very exciting holding your actual book in your hands!
All the best of luck.
xx
Hi TL Clark, I am a newbie and will be getting my first book out in a few months (going to use Createspace) and I was advised to buy my own ISBN (buy a packet of them) and I know this means the book won't get into libraries (although I have heard of a work-around) and I see that you are saying that bookstores will be able to order my book from createspace (if I have bought my own ISBN, right?) But are you advocating that it is better instead to go with an ISBN that createspace generates? Thanks in advance for your reply!
Thanks!