Wonderful! I had no idea such was the state of things. Thanks. blog: http://1513fusion.wordpress.com/

Happy New Year too!

The big problem getting into many stores is the need for ISBNs, which are expensive in the UK and US for individual needs, and some stores (Sony, Diesel, etc) don't deal with individual authors regardless.

Amazon of course is indie-friendly and does not require ISBNs, but as per post, Amazon are not the only show in town.

For Kobo and iTunes ISBNs are essential, but worth getting in with.

That can be done through an aggregator like Smashwords who provide ISBNs as part of the package. But Smashwords provide two service levels, and the premium service can be nightmare trying to get through if something isn't right.

And while Smashwords do well with iTunes they have an abysmal record with Kobo and B&N.

We've found a simple way round this by setting up our own publishing company, teaming up with existing and new writers to build enough titles to open doors to the big players direct, with a US arm to list UK authors direct on B&N, for example.

In the UK, while you'll find very few indies in Waterstone's ebook store there are some, and being a smaller market means you can become a big fish in a small pool. We managed to have two titles in the top ten simultaneously at one stage, and missed the #1 spot only thanks to the Steve Jobs biography.

The WH Smiths store, now teamed with Kobo, means getting onto Kobo is a very good idea for UK sales, especially when WH Smiths move to ebook kiosks in store on the high street.

Amazon's 70% royalty is impressive, of course, but unless you signed up to the predatory KDP Select programme there's no reason not to be more widely available as well.

Signing up for 50% with other distributors / small presses makes a lot of sense if they can get you sales you're not getting by only being on Amazon.

Not just the obvious ones like Kobo and iTunes, but also OverDrive, the book depository, etc, and elsewhere stores like kalahari (South Africa), fishpond (NZ) and numerous other smaller but not insignificant players. We're also looking at listing with non-English-language stores for their ESL readers and hope to have access to stores in Germany and China in 2012, among others.

Amazon is great for Kindle and Kindle app users, but that's just one part of the market place. 50% may not be as good as 70%, but when it's 100% of nothing or 50% of something it's really a no-brainer.



Don't get left behind by the e-publishing revolution.

There's never been a more exciting time to be a writer!

http://www.markwilliamsinternational.com

I wonder if anyone can advise me on a slightly different problem regarding internationals sales for my book, which is being published right now via FeedARead? The book is on a Titanic theme (very timely for distribution now with the 100th anniversary of the sinking in April) and a magazine with a large distribution across the Republic of Ireland has agreed to review it but they have said the bulk of their readership are over fifties who are less than internet savvy, and indeed many are in rural no-broadband areas. They ask how potential readers might obtain the book via mail order.This does not seem available via FeedARead or Amazon. I'm approaching high street book stores to see if they'll stock it, but I think these rural customers would prefer an old fashioned mail order address. I could order and send out the books myself, but 2 lots of delivery costs would bump up the cost. All suggestions gratefully received.

Thanks Pam. That's helpful and reassuring advice. I suppose I could even set up a postbox address to receive orders by post - hah, here's me assuming I'm going to sell anything! The triumph of hope, etc.