When people hear the words “eBook publisher” Amazon is usually the first company that comes to mind. Forbes compared the earnings of Amazon to other book publishers in 2014. Their analysis showed that Amazon had a 65 percent share of the eBook space with Apple and Barnes and Noble comprising the majority of the remaining 35 percent. Amazon has won the war of exclusivity. If you want to take advantage of the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) Select program, your eBook has to be featured exclusively on Amazon. Most authors are able to receive a 70 percent royalty on their book sales. Additionally, your eBook will be available to readers in the Kindle Unlimited program. Kindle Unlimited readers are allowed to download one free eBook per month. Authors are paid based on the number of free downloads of their books. The Kindle Unlimited program also offers Kindle Countdown Deals where you can offer your eBook for a reduced price for up to 5 days. You can also utilize the option to give your eBook away for free for a maximum of 5 days. The main pitfall of Kindle Direct Publishing is payouts. For the Amazon.com store, you won’t get any royalties until your book’s sales have reached the 100 USD threshold each month. Furthermore, payouts are only made every 60 days. So, you’re waiting for your money for basically two months.
Another issue with KDP and the KDP Select Program is the exclusivity. As an indie author, it’s important for you to maximize the exposure of your book. Amazon may have the lion share of the eBook market, but the iBookStore and Barnes and Noble Nook store shouldn’t be ignored. How will readers who use these channels get access to your book if its sales are restricted to Amazon?
Apple’s iBookStore offers greater flexibility for authors as stated by indie author Giacomo Giammatteo. Giammatteo did an extensive comparison of the iBookStore and Amazon’s KDP in 2015. Apple has no exclusivity clause for eBooks, free and reduced price promotions can be done at any time, you earn greater commission, payment is disbursed more frequently, and international pricing is flexible. Furthermore, Apple offers a 70 percent royalty for all eBook sold on its platform regardless of the book’s list price. An indie author who gets sucked into Amazon’s exclusivity trap misses out on these vast benefits.
This then creates a need to find an eBook publisher that enables you to publish your eBook on all major platforms. Some of the best eBook publishers that offer this service are: Smashwords, BookBaby, Pronoun and eBookit. These platforms don’t make it mandatory for you to publish your eBook on their own platforms, although it is strongly recommended. They all accept your eBook in Microsoft Word format with the correct formatting. Visit each of their websites to learn more about their specific formatting requirements.
SmashWords
Ruth Ann Nordin, author of a series of romance novels including Forced into Marriage , is one of SmashWords’ success stories. In 2011 she was able to earn $75,100 from SmashWords sales across 5 eBook platforms. Nordin entered her self-publishing journey with a desire to write books and have fun. She has found the SmashWords eBook selling process to be liberating.
Smashwords published 437,000 books in 2016 and has maintained profitability. In fact,
SmashWords was place on INC’s list of the top 500 fastest growing privately held companies in America in 2014. Authors who self-publish on SmashWords are able to earn 85% or more in royalties through selling on the SmashWords website and 70.5% from selling on affiliate websites like the iBookstore.
BookBaby
BookBaby was established in 2011 and distributes print and eBooks to several distribution channels including Amazon, iBooks and Barnes and Noble. The beauty of this platform is that the author keeps 100 percent of the book’s net sales.
BookBaby allows its users to experience the best of both worlds. Users are able to enroll their eBook(s) in a 90 day exclusive KDP Select program. After that time has elapsed, the eBook(s) are distributed to other channels such as iBooks, Google Play and Barnes and Noble. The only snag with BookBaby is their upfront fees (they have to make money somehow!). Their Complete Self-Publishing Package costs roughly 1,000 USD.
Pronoun
Pronoun, originally known as Vook, is a platform that provides users with book creation tools, distributes books to all major retailers, and provides detailed sales tracking and analytical tools for each book. They take a percentage of your royalties and require that you pay the PayPal transfer fee in order to receive your money. Pronoun is best used for simple books with minimal formatting. The more design elements you add is the more changes the Pronoun formatter will make to the document.
eBookIt
eBookit is a one stop shop for everything an indie author could need. They offer the following services: eBook creation, print on demand, audiobook creation, author websites, cover design, proofreading and formatting, and book promotion. The only upfront costs are for file conversions. It costs $149 to convert an rtf file and $249 to convert a PDF file. There are no other fees, but eBookIt does take a portion of your royalties.