Smashwords distributing to Oyster

sarahdalton · Sep 6, 2013

This is a heads-up. If you're in the premium catalogue for Smashwords your book will be opted in to distribution to Oyster (a new pay monthly books service akin to Netflix and Spotify) in three weeks time.

http://blog.smashwords.com/2013/09/smashwords-signs-distribution-agreement.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2013/09/05/oyster-launches-netflix-for-books/

I'm not gonna lie. This makes me really nervous. As a self-publisher I rely on tech-savvy voracious readers to buy my books. I rely on the 70% royalties. If this dominates the market it could be bad for us mid-ranking sellers.

Smashwords say they are sending an Email out 72 hours before the books are distributed to Oyster. This should detail royalties. On their blog they say it is 'author friendly' but is it as author friendly as 70%?

I've heard bad things about Spotify and the distribution to musicians. Is this going to be the same for authors?

We can opt-out, but that's not the issue. It's whether it takes off, how quickly it takes off, what happens with the royalties and will Amazon, Apple etc jump on board?

Definitely something to keep an eye on.

Polenth · Sep 6, 2013

It's basically like having a library that pays you if someone reads your book, similar to the Amazon lending library. So I don't see the general concept as a bad thing. Obviously, if they don't pay that'd be an issue, but that's down to the company rather than the business model.

girlyswot · Sep 6, 2013

I think the issue is more how much they'll pay.

LBlankenship · Sep 6, 2013

I think I'll watch my email box closely for that notification, and decide once I see the payment rates.

Admittedly, I'm in the "a little is better than nothing" boat and the exposure may be of more use to me than anything else. I'd have no qualms about not publishing the later installments of my series on Smashwords so that readers who see my first three books on Oyster would have to buy the last three on Amazon or whatever.

sarahdalton · Sep 6, 2013

LBlankenship said:
I think I'll watch my email box closely for that notification, and decide once I see the payment rates.

Me too.

The only thing I'm worried about is waaay down the future. If this becomes the new trend it could be quite tricky to earn a living in the same way I am now.

But, apparently they only have two publishers on board and it's only on iPhone/iPads so far. It's not the best of starts. Don't think there's much cause for panic just yet.

Only thing is that I was thinking of trying Select soon. So I'll have to think about whether I want to stay in Smashwords or not.

Kevin Brennan · Oct 5, 2013

I'm curious/concerned about this too and am preparing a blog post on the potential downside for authors. I was wondering what's in it for authors from the Oyster side of things, but the Smashwords issue is even more troublesome if, in effect, there is no actual purchase of one's book. Tricky stuff.

I agree with you, Sarah, that there's no need for panic at the moment, but this is the kind of thing we need to be watching.

sarahdalton · Oct 5, 2013

Yeah, there's Scribd to worry about now, as well!

My instincts tell me that it won't catch on, but we'll just have to see.

I've actually taken my books down from Smashwords because I'd rather move to Draft to Digital and I'm putting my first book in Select for 90 days. I'm interested to know the details when it comes to royalties though.

PortableHal · Oct 6, 2013

sarahdalton said:
I've actually taken my books down from Smashwords because I'd rather move to Draft to Digital and I'm putting my first book in Select for 90 days. I'm interested to know the details when it comes to royalties though.

Sarah, why move from Smashwords to D2D? Is there a financial advantage?

sarahdalton · Oct 6, 2013

PortableHal said:
Sarah, why move from Smashwords to D2D? Is there a financial advantage?

No, it's just easier to upload and the sales reports are reported more quickly.

juniper · Oct 6, 2013

PortableHal said:
Sarah, why move from Smashwords to D2D? Is there a financial advantage?

sarahdalton said:
No, it's just easier to upload and the sales reports are reported more quickly.

How about marketing and exposure? Smashwords is pretty well known for self-pub and small press books. Who's using D2D? I only heard of it about a month ago, and only one mention, here on AW somewhere.

Maybe in a few months you can report on sales at S vs D2D.

sarahdalton · Oct 6, 2013

juniper said:
How about marketing and exposure? Smashwords is pretty well known for self-pub and small press books. Who's using D2D? I only heard of it about a month ago, and only one mention, here on AW somewhere.

Maybe in a few months you can report on sales at S vs D2D.

I just use them to distribute to Barnes and noble and apple. I never sold much at Smashwords anyway.

merrihiatt · Oct 6, 2013

I sell a few books at Smashwords' site, but my sales have increased this year at B&N, Apple, Sony and Diesel. Smashwords distributes my e-books to all these channels. I haven't had any problems with the meatgrinder (knock on wood). It does take a bit longer to get paid (Smashwords pays quarterly) and there is a lag in payments to Smashwords from other sales channels, but you can view reports and see where you stand at any given time.

I also like their business model.

DeleyanLee · Oct 6, 2013

This Oyster sounds interesting.

As for people not buying books--I don't know. There have been libraries around for ages--libraries you didn't have to pay extra to use--and bookstores have survived. The fact that Oyster's willing to pay the author every time their book is reviewed is interesting, and welcomed.

I'm a video gamer and there's a service along this line for video games called Gamefly. Yes, there are people who only play games once and they're done and they get them from Gamefly. But the vast majority of gamers with little extra money (like myself) will get games from Gamefly to try them out and see if it's something we'd like to replay so we're not constantly laying out $60 for a new game and discovering it sucks. It's a preview option for many, many a gamer.

I see this Oyster as something akin to Gamefly--those who want to read once and continue to something as cheaply as possible will use it. Unlike traditional libraries, authors will get paid more than once. However there will be those who buy but have to be careful about spending money who will use it too.

I just talked to my editor about this and her comment was, "If it gets us in front of more people, it's worth it. We just have to make sure what we're getting out there is worth coming back again and again for."

girlyswot · Oct 6, 2013

Just to make sure everyone knows you can opt out now, if you want to. You don't have to wait for the official email. But you do have to do it - you will automatically be opted in. You can choose which books to opt out - I've left a couple of mine in, but taken most out.

sarahdalton · Oct 6, 2013

DeleyanLee said:
This Oyster sounds interesting.

As for people not buying books--I don't know. There have been libraries around for ages--libraries you didn't have to pay extra to use--and bookstores have survived. The fact that Oyster's willing to pay the author every time their book is reviewed is interesting, and welcomed.

I'm a video gamer and there's a service along this line for video games called Gamefly. Yes, there are people who only play games once and they're done and they get them from Gamefly. But the vast majority of gamers with little extra money (like myself) will get games from Gamefly to try them out and see if it's something we'd like to replay so we're not constantly laying out $60 for a new game and discovering it sucks. It's a preview option for many, many a gamer.

I see this Oyster as something akin to Gamefly--those who want to read once and continue to something as cheaply as possible will use it. Unlike traditional libraries, authors will get paid more than once. However there will be those who buy but have to be careful about spending money who will use it too.

I just talked to my editor about this and her comment was, "If it gets us in front of more people, it's worth it. We just have to make sure what we're getting out there is worth coming back again and again for."

We don't know what the royalty will be for authors yet... If the business model follows something like Spotify it could be very little. Personally, I don't think it would be worth it if it's not earning me enough money to live on.

Perhaps it would be possible to put the first book in a series in something like Oyster. Or books that have been on sale for a long time, things like that.

But it's all speculation. When the Email comes out we'll know more.

LBlankenship · Oct 9, 2013

juniper said:
How about marketing and exposure? Smashwords is pretty well known for self-pub and small press books. Who's using D2D? I only heard of it about a month ago, and only one mention, here on AW somewhere.

Maybe in a few months you can report on sales at S vs D2D.

I already can: one sale at Smash in a year vs. two sales through D2D in a month.

Yes, Smash is well known for self-pub, but as Uncle Jim pointed out elsewhere, the first 50 pages or so of top sellers there are erotica/porn. On the whole, I have not been overly impressed with Smash. I may be in the wrong genre to tap its audience, though.

C.R. Baker · Oct 9, 2013

My hunch is that Oyster will pay itty bitty pennies per read. I don't think this reflects well on Smashwords. Offer it as an opt-in? Sure. Announce that it will happen unless you say no, with a very brief window to scrutinize terms? Nah.

Doesn't smell right.

Tim_I · Oct 14, 2013

I have mixed feelings about this as I think Oyster has the potential to be a massive discoverability tool for authors, especially those self-publishing and in publisher's backlists.

Very probably very low royalties - I imagine this is why none of the big publishers are signed up other than HarperCollins. If you're going to make money of your books anyway, then there is virtually no point in being on Oyster (also why the Beatles, Pink Floyd etc are not on Spotify).

But for Backlist titles and self-published authors I think it's going to be a great help in the initial stages.

merrihiatt · Oct 25, 2013

Mark Coker sent an email today outlining the terms.

Snipped this part...

A single Oyster user could conceivably read multiple books by the same Smashwords author in a single month, and the author will be paid for each book. As a Smashwords author or publisher, you’ll earn 60% of you book’s retail list price whenever an Oyster subscriber reads more than 10% of your book, starting from the beginning of the book forward. It’s an author-friendly model. That’s the same rate Smashwords authors earn when we sell ebooks through the major retailers such as Apple and Barnes and Noble

.

Authors have 72 hours to opt their e-books out or they will be distributed to Oyster. I believe the terms are fair and want my books available through this new channel.

If someone (a reader) cancels their Oyster subscription ($9.95 per month), they lose access to all their books.

girlyswot · Oct 25, 2013

I'm impressed, I admit. 60% is a LOT higher than I was anticipating. And since I always have 30% available as a sample, I'm happy with the 10% read limit, too.

LBlankenship · Oct 25, 2013

I agree, the terms are a lot better than I was expecting! The caution to keep expectations down since it's a new service is reasonable too.

merrihiatt · Oct 25, 2013

LBlankenship said:
I agree, the terms are a lot better than I was expecting! The caution to keep expectations down since it's a new service is reasonable too.

Agreed.

I love the idea that a reader can read as many books as they desire in a month. I know some people who read a book a day. That is not me! Even if it took three days to read a book, anyone who signed up could read 10 books a month -- $1 a book. A great deal.

The question is going to be the quality of the books offered. I wouldn't pay $9.95 a month to read slush. I can get all the slush I want for free on other sites. Oyster will need to offer some major players to compete.

Norman D Gutter · Oct 25, 2013

I guess I'm not optimistic that it will make any difference. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised.

Parametric · Oct 25, 2013

I'd initially opted out of Oyster, but just opted back in. I've made a few sales through obscure retailers I've never heard of, so by all means, let's try Oyster.

docmarty · Oct 26, 2013

I think Oyster will provide self publishers with a lot of exposure, which is a good thing. It will create word of mouth advertising and, at this time, most of the people who buy ebooks don't subscribe to Oyster so when someone tells them about a great ebook they read on Oyster, they'll look for it on Amazon, Kindle... or whichever Website they use to buy ebooks.

It'll be interesting to see how royalties are paid though.

Smashwords distributing to Oyster

sarahdalton

Polenth

Mushroom

girlyswot

LBlankenship

VPXV 4EVA

sarahdalton

Kevin Brennan

sarahdalton

PortableHal

Not-so-new

sarahdalton

juniper

Always curious.

sarahdalton

merrihiatt

Writing! Writing! Writing!

DeleyanLee

Writing Anarchist

girlyswot

sarahdalton

LBlankenship

VPXV 4EVA

C.R. Baker

Tim_I

merrihiatt

Writing! Writing! Writing!

girlyswot

LBlankenship

VPXV 4EVA

merrihiatt

Writing! Writing! Writing!

Norman D Gutter

Engineer Sonneteer

Parametric

docmarty