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Something for you to mull over while i'm away.
- I'm thinking of producing Kindle versions of the Gaby books.
- it looks like a lot of hoop jumping, is it worth it?
- could I just reformat and rename the volumes? or do I have to completely remove the Lulu versions from sale?
- give me some real reasons for spending time doing it!
ttfn
Mads
Comments
Gaby
Maddy; One of the best reasons to convert to Kindle - Is it is the most popular of e-readers out there then ask a few of the other authors that have books on Kindle like Tanya Allan, or Karin Bishop which both have their books on Kindle and both have sold good on Kindle. I would love to have the whole Gaby series on Kindle over LuLu. Just my thoughts! Thanks!
Richard
Terms and Conditions
The Terms and Conditions of both sites will tell you what else you are permitted to do with your works, should you publish there or wish to. I am aware that certain sites desire exclusivity so that might mean pulling your stories. I know that authors at BCTS have removed stuff from here because other sites object to them being in two places at once.
Another point you might consider is the "Kindle is American, you'll pay US Tax" problem. Fine if you're a US citizen, hoops indeed to jump through if you aren't and want to have it refunded.
I can't answer for formatting, others more knowledgeable can do that.
Penny
It looks to me
that Amazon does not expect an exclusive right to publish your books, but does expect that you are free and clear to grant them rights to your book. Not being lawyer, I'd say that you cannot have granted anyone else exclusive rights anywhere you wish to sell Kindle versions, but non-exclusive rights are okay. I cannot say for sure if it is alright if you have stories currently available through a non-profit venue such as BCTS, but the way I read their instructions, you simply need full rights to your own work. Did Lulu require you to relinquish your rights?
And, yes, I will buy Kindle versions of your Gaby books!
SuZie
Gladly do it for you
1. You don't have to take it down from Lulu. Just don't join the KDP select program
2. If you are afraid to format, I have it down to a science and could probably format each book in the matter of minutes and would be willing to do it for you (as long as you expect no other editing)
3. Much larger audience, better sales, better site (except you may be lumped in with the likes of me, tanya allan and Karen Bishop, only kidding).
4. Another avenue to make yourself a star.
5. Don't forget to ask for reviews from readers here.
P.S. Readers here, you loved The Test Taker, would you leave a review for me so I don't have to do a separate blog.
To Maddy... if you want me to format, send a PM. It really only takes me a little time, then you can see what I did and do it yourself in the future.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
An Alternative
Personally, if your going to jump through hoops, I'd rather see you go with Smashwords. I don't own a Kindle, but I do own a Nook. Amazon will only publish in Mobi, the Kindle format and will only offer your work for sale at Amazon.com. Smashwords will make it available in epub (the other most popular format), Mobi, PDF, RTF, LRF (for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub),Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices), Plain Text (download)and Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)
Whats more, they promote your book at most major online ebook retailers, including the Apple iPad iBookstore (Smashwords is a certified Global Apple Aggregator distributing to iBookstores in 51 countries), Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo (their books also go to FNAC and WHSmith, powered by Kobo), Baker & Taylor (Blio + Axis360 service for public libraries), the Diesel eBook Store and EbookEros (Romance & erotica only, operated by Diesel) and Page Foundry (their Android ebook store app powers the ebook stores of Asus and Cricket Wireless' pre-paid smart phones; also operates online retailers Versent.com and Inktera.com).
I guess I'm prejudice because I own a Nook. But there's my two cents worth or is that a 'hay-penny's worth in the UK?
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
The problem is
I've never heard of Smashwords, but I suspect very few have not heard of Kindle.
While few have not heard of Kindle
The Kindle is only ONE of the two most popular reader devices, and by offering it to the Kindle store (Amazon) you limit your audience to them.
What Smashwords does is translate you .DOC file into 9 different formats INCLUDING MOBI for Kindle, they then release the book to the Nook store, the Sony reader store, the Apple (iPhone, iPad) book store, and a number of other stores (just not the Kindle store). By advertising it you can also sell to Kindle from Smashwords, as well as to Nook Sony reader, iPad, etc.
For these services they charge 15% of list for any sold from THEIR site (you get 85%), and 40% (15% for them + 25% for other site) of list for outside sales (you get 60%).
If you include a link to Smashwords in your chapters, and as part of your chapter lists here for the books you release, it would take care of most of your ad needs.
Not a problem.
Smashwords promotes the book on a multitude of ebook sites. There are tons of ereaders out there that are not Kindle and won't read mobi. Why limit yourself to Kindle?
Having heard of Kindle doesn't mean I own one or that I'm willing to buy one to read any particular book. I chose to buy a Nook because of the number file formats it read. Kindle only read four formats at the time I made my purchase, the Nook Tablet (The one I bought) reads 11. The only one I gave up was Mobi.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Someone here said
UK publishers have to pay american taxes at 30% of raw sales. This in addition to other fees collected by amazon per sale.
Dayna
Correction
I'll fix that for non-UK readers: Everybody would have to pay US taxes of 30% whether they are US citizens or not, based in the US or elsewhere. That is automatically deducted by Amazon - and probably any other US publisher.
Of course US citizens can get that back easily (if applicable) as part of their normal tax returns. Everyone else has to jump through US-specified hoops to get their money back. If you are lucky.
Penny
DRM issues
I bought book 8 and liked it. I wanted to buy book 9, but it used adobe DRM and I already had 1 book I couldn't read so I didn't bother purchasing another (book 9,10,...)
From a readers view point, the kindle is seamless even for DRM-ed books. I just buy it and it works.
So short answer - I won't buy gaby until it's on kindle, then I will buy the kindle version.
PS. Why use DRM on a book that you are going to be giving away soon?
DRM
Book 9, 10, 11 that I bought from Lulu were copyable .pdf files. According to Wikipedia, Kindle has supported .pdf files since November of 2009. Yes for short time, Lulu was using Adobe DRM, but they are not anymore. According to this page they started phased out DRM support on January 15, 2013. And they finished phasing it out on the 2nd of July.
Kindle
I will say that I will never buy an e-reader, kindle included. But .pdf format that Lulu uses is readable on lots of platforms. So please don't limit it to kindle.
Another reason to go with Smashwords
The list of formats includes PDF, plain text and html. These can be read anywhere.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Mobi v Epub v Kindle v Nook v DRM v Open v ETC :P
I own a Kindle and a Nook, plus the Kindle and Nook apps for Windows/Mac/Android (they have iOS ones too) .
Both formats are equal in how the user sees them, but ePub is advanced for authors. it's easier to format for, and more widly accepted in non-kindle devices.
Saying you only need to publish for Kindle is like saying app developers only need to develop for iPhone/iOS...
While iPhone may be the MOST popular phone model at any given time, there are more Android phones out in use than Apple as a whole.
Just like there are MANY more people using readers that Support ePub (drm and non-drm formats) than there are that support Kindle (Only Kindle and Kindle Made apps OFFICIALLY support the AZW/Mobi DRM format).
That being said, you can't really ignore Kindle/Amazon either. The best thing is to publish to BOTH SmashWords AND Amazon. Once you've done one, it's not hard to do the other.
Choosing one, not the other, is the same as selling your book at Barnes and Noble, but refusing to sell it at Books a Million. You should feel free to sell it at BOTH!