Corrections/resubmissions are free, you can pull your work at any time, rights are non-exclusive, no DRM, price is self-controlled, ISBN freely assigned, conversion to all the different formats is done for you, and the online editor is pretty nifty....in addition to supplying it to all the major retailers. It honestly just seemed like the easiest, most practical way to go for someone inexperienced in literary publishing and starting from scratch. I also saw a lot of people's negative reviews of, and struggles with, Smashmouth and BookBaby; Booktango just kind of won out for me in the selection process. I didn't find out about the parent company (Author Solutions, yes...thank you) until yesterday.
I also honestly could not find any dirt on Booktango. The few complaints I did come across were technical difficulties or things they didn't make very clear (or weren't available) back around when they launched. They at least
seem to genuinely listen and care about that stuff and have worked on it; all of the complaints I saw were clarified or resolved long ago. That also influenced my decision. I also email customer service with several questions before proceeding, and they were more than happy to clarify and help along the way. Like I said, I tried not to be
too naive about it, haha.
But like I said, I ran across something that detailed the parent company a bit, so as soon as my account here got validated, well, here's the thread. Lol.
Also, the book
just became available this weekend through Amazon, Scribd, and elsewhere, so there's that. I do know I've made at least two sales on Amazon (family members); maybe it takes a business day or two to show up on the site? Idk. I have also been pushing Booktango's link more than any of the other retailers, as that's where it became available first last week, and Booktango offers it in PDF, MOBI, and EPUB. Figured the flexibility there was a better marketing strategy. *shrug* Not to mention I don't have to pay the retailer's cut, as Booktango doesn't take a cut and the other retailers do.
As far as the pricing goes, if that's something you feel pretty strongly about, I'll reconsider. I priced it there because it seemed comparable to the average with other socio-political type eBooks, and everywhere else I read on pricing cautioned against pricing it too low, for a variety of reasons. It seemed to be the consensus that 2.99-5.99 was the most ideal range that eBooks performed the best at. I guess I also overvalued the quality of my opinions
I'll revisit that for sure, thank you. I appreciate the input.
On categorization, I don't recall what I put as a second option on Booktango, I'd have to go look. I do know that Social Sciences [subbed into sociology (general)] made the most sense as the main to me, so that's what I put. The only other categories that even come close were Politics and Self-Help, but 90% of the book focuses on basic social behavior and social issues arising therefrom; while I only very briefly touch on strictly political issues. There was no "Socio-political" option, lol. So idk.
As far as excerpts are concerned: I give away a free chapter on Booktango itself, as Booktango does give a "free preview" option that you can put whatever in. It seems Amazon and Scribd take it upon themselves to choose what to share, though. [Amazon shared the intro and part of Chapter 1, Scribd shares about 30% of the book...random sections throughout it, at that). I don't know about Kobo, Barnes&Noble, or Google Play; I haven't checked yet today but they weren't available yet as of yesterday. [Update: B&N does the same type of thing; not sure Booktango has control over preview excerpts. No word yet on Google.]
So yea, that's how we got here. Lol. I appreciate the input for sure, as well as any further advice or input you might have! Again, I'm new to this whole thing, but I tried not to be too dumb about it, as I do have some experience in related fields.
