Should I use smashwords to sell ebooks or configure each store myself?

mcsolas · Apr 23, 2014

I have recently finished the ebook version of the first book I released. It took me a while, it was a rather involved process because I had tables, images, cross references and other features I wanted to include. Now that I have the kindle version online, I am looking into the next step which is the iBook store, BN and other ebook vendors.

I know smashwords is quite popular in these forums ( it was where I first learned of their services ). I am trying to decide between going to these places directly and configuring them myself and using a service such as smashwords to assist with this process. A few questions I have is:

How much more of a cut does smashwords take versus if I do the work myself to get them into each store?

Are there stores that smashwords helps with that don't take individual submissions?

Are there any options other than smashwords that people are happy with? I saw lulu.com pop up in some searches and draft2digital was mentioned in some other threads I was participating in a while back.

Thanks for any advice. I am looking forward to finishing this part of the process up and moving into the promotion phase of the project...

bearilou · Apr 24, 2014

There are lovers and haters of smashwords. Writers who prefer d2d over smashwords. I haven't checked into d2d except a cursory glance because I distribute through smash. Those I've heard talk about d2d are very pleased with them.

Amazon, Kobo and B&N I upload on my own because I have small issue with having SMASHWORDS splattered all over my front matter. I get that it's needed and desired at smash so I do it there.

WriterBN · Apr 24, 2014

It really depends on how much effort you want to put into the other (non-Amazon) channels. I decided it was worth the 15% cut to have one account, one submission, and one place for sales reports, so I used D2D. As it turned out, my sales on those channels combined were less than 2% of my total.

I haven't used Smashwords, but I've been very pleased with D2D. They are quick to respond to changes, and customer support is excellent.

shelleyo · Apr 24, 2014

Both take about 15%, though Smashwords also sells directly from its site. They take a smaller cut from those.

I recommend you go direct everywhere you can, because you have much more control over things like keywords and other metadata, categories and the general state of your listings, in addition to more money from each sale. The control of your metadata, categories and listings is a bigger deal than many people realize. I had books for sale at Kobo through Smashwords for months without a single sale. As soon as I pulled them and went direct, I started averaging about $100 a month. That's not much compared to other outlets, but it still amounts to several hundred dollars I could have earned but didn't thanks to using Smashwords. I also used them for B&N at first (in 2011) because I didn't know any better. Sales tripled the very first month I went direct and did better as time went on.

For outlets you can't go direct with, I'd recommend D2D over Smashwords for a variety of reasons. In a nutshell: better and faster distribution, actual customer service that replies to you, quick remedies when there are problems, and monthly payments instead of quarterly.

D2D will get you into Barnes and Noble (if you're not in the US, still can't go direct, and if you want to offer something free there, your only option is to distribute it through Smashwords) and the iTunes store (a pain to go direct if you have more than one pen name or want to use a pen name without having a business in that name). Kobo is best uploaded to directly. More control over your metadata, categories and listings give you a better chance at more sales. And you need those chances because Kobo is a hot mess.

mcsolas · Apr 24, 2014

bearilou said:
Amazon, Kobo and B&N I upload on my own because I have small issue with having SMASHWORDS splattered all over my front matter. I get that it's needed and desired at smash so I do it there.

What exactly do you mean regarding having them splattered all over your front matter? It sounds like your saying that they add content to the beginning of the ebook..

shelleyo said:
Both take about 15%, though Smashwords also sells directly from its site. They take a smaller cut from those.

Ok, this is good to know. Although on the D2D site, they are saying they take 10% on the front page for the iBookstore.. but it does vary. Maybe they offer a slightly better payout structure.

shelleyo said:
I recommend you go direct everywhere you can, because you have much more control over things like keywords and other metadata, categories and the general state of your listings, in addition to more money from each sale. The control of your metadata, categories and listings is a bigger deal than many people realize. I had books for sale at Kobo through Smashwords for months without a single sale. As soon as I pulled them and went direct, I started averaging about $100 a month. That's not much compared to other outlets, but it still amounts to several hundred dollars I could have earned but didn't thanks to using Smashwords. I also used them for B&N at first (in 2011) because I didn't know any better. Sales tripled the very first month I went direct and did better as time went on.

Every little bit counts! I would be quite happy with those #'s. I am going to try and go direct where I can, then fill in the gaps with a distribution service.

shelleyo said:
For outlets you can't go direct with, I'd recommend D2D over Smashwords for a variety of reasons. In a nutshell: better and faster distribution, actual customer service that replies to you, quick remedies when there are problems, and monthly payments instead of quarterly.

I'm still figuring out which ones I can go direct with. It sounds like the most important 4 places - Kindle, BN Nook, iBookstore and Kobo are the main ones and each of them will accept direct submission in some form.

shelleyo said:
D2D will get you into Barnes and Noble (if you're not in the US, still can't go direct, and if you want to offer something free there, your only option is to distribute it through Smashwords) and the iTunes store (a pain to go direct if you have more than one pen name or want to use a pen name without having a business in that name). Kobo is best uploaded to directly. More control over your metadata, categories and listings give you a better chance at more sales. And you need those chances because Kobo is a hot mess.

One last question - does D2D or smashwords allow you to select which channels you want their help with? I figure they do, but just checking as that would be important if you go direct with some and only want them to handle the other places.

WriterBN said:
It really depends on how much effort you want to put into the other (non-Amazon) channels. I decided it was worth the 15% cut to have one account, one submission, and one place for sales reports, so I used D2D. As it turned out, my sales on those channels combined were less than 2% of my total.

I haven't used Smashwords, but I've been very pleased with D2D. They are quick to respond to changes, and customer support is excellent.

Regarding those sales #'s.. I wonder if what shelleyo mentioned regarding the metadata and improved sales figures are related to this. // Thanks for your feedback as well.http://absolutewrite.com/forums/member.php?u=44388

shelleyo · Apr 24, 2014

mcsolas said:
What exactly do you mean regarding having them splattered all over your front matter? It sounds like your saying that they add content to the beginning of the ebook..

You have to add it. It's a bit about how it's Smashwords Version and some boilerplate stuff. It's something D2D doesn't do.

I'm still figuring out which ones I can go direct with. It sounds like the most important 4 places - Kindle, BN Nook, iBookstore and Kobo are the main ones and each of them will accept direct submission in some form.

Yes. And if you're in the US, you can go direct with all of them. Even then, though, going direct with Apple can be a pain. I uses D2D solely to get my books into Apple, because it's more trouble than it's worth for me to go direct. Not only do you have to have a Mac or use their Mac in the Cloud service to create your ebook and upload it, they have requirements involving company name/author name that are dealbreakers for me. Totally worth paying a little extra for the distribution in my case.

One last question - does D2D or smashwords allow you to select which channels you want their help with? I figure they do, but just checking as that would be important if you go direct with some and only want them to handle the other places.

Yes, you can opt in or out of any of the outlets offered by both Smashwords and D2D. They let you choose.

Regarding those sales #'s.. I wonder if what shelleyo mentioned regarding the metadata and improved sales figures are related to this.

I'd be concerned at the distribution making up only 2% of overall sales, especially since D2D only distributes to three pretty big retailers. (If we were talking about Smashwords many smaller ones, I'd be surprised if they reached 2%.)

I'd upload them direct to each place without removing them from distribution, in fact, and just let two copies of each ride in the stores for a short time. This will show you if the newer ones sell more than the older versions did when they were new. It's possible they won't, but I'd be willing to bet there's a distro problem there.

mcsolas · Apr 24, 2014

shelleyo said:
You have to add it. It's a bit about how it's Smashwords Version and some boilerplate stuff. It's something D2D doesn't do.

Ok. Good to know.I actually ran into a little gotcha when signing up for smashwords last night that I forgot to mention. As is, my EPUB file is image heavy and comes in at 16mb. Smashwords said their limitation is 10mb. I am going to look into the other options but it appears that I may want to compress the jpg's more to get it under this file size to avoid problems with various publishers.

shelleyo said:
Yes. And if you're in the US, you can go direct with all of them. Even then, though, going direct with Apple can be a pain. I uses D2D solely to get my books into Apple, because it's more trouble than it's worth for me to go direct. Not only do you have to have a Mac or use their Mac in the Cloud service to create your ebook and upload it, they have requirements involving company name/author name that are dealbreakers for me. Totally worth paying a little extra for the distribution in my case.

Yeah I just signed up at iTunes connect and they said it may take 2 days to process the submission. I see they are careful about who they let in there. I will see how that process goes. I guess I will go ahead and work on the nookpress site and kobo now just to try and keep the ball rolling and see how far I can make it on my own...

Thanks for your feedback on this thread!

girlyswot · Apr 24, 2014

Just to add a clarification - B&N have very recently expanded their service outside the US. I haven't done it yet but I know that in the UK, at least, you can now upload directly there.

shelleyo · Apr 24, 2014

mcsolas said:
Ok. Good to know.I actually ran into a little gotcha when signing up for smashwords last night that I forgot to mention. As is, my EPUB file is image heavy and comes in at 16mb. Smashwords said their limitation is 10mb. I am going to look into the other options but it appears that I may want to compress the jpg's more to get it under this file size to avoid problems with various publishers.

Is it non-fiction that's image-heavy? You have to compress the images, definitely.

Yeah I just signed up at iTunes connect and they said it may take 2 days to process the submission. I see they are careful about who they let in there. I will see how that process goes. I guess I will go ahead and work on the nookpress site and kobo now just to try and keep the ball rolling and see how far I can make it on my own...

Do you publish your books under your real name? For iTunes you have to have a registered business with a name you use to publish (whether a company name or legal name) or a registered DBA for the pen name. If you're publishing with your name, and your business IS your name, then you're golden. Otherwise, woe and potential fees and paperwork.

Good luck!

girlyswot said:
Just to add a clarification - B&N have very recently expanded their service outside the US. I haven't done it yet but I know that in the UK, at least, you can now upload directly there.

I thought they'd sent an invitation to certain international users but hadn't expanded beyond that beta group yet.

mcsolas · Apr 24, 2014

shelleyo said:
Is it non-fiction that's image-heavy? You have to compress the images, definitely.

Yes. I was leaving them at maximum quality but now I see this may not be the best option. I had been doing that because it looks like some of the ebook readers are going with higher rez. screens, so I figure if the images expanded to fill the screen (as its set to do) they would still look fairly good.

I am not sure if D2D enforces the same file size restrictions. Either way, I can start tweaking the compression settings.

shelleyo said:
Do you publish your books under your real name? For iTunes you have to have a registered business with a name you use to publish (whether a company name or legal name) or a registered DBA for the pen name. If you're publishing with your name, and your business IS your name, then you're golden. Otherwise, woe and potential fees and paperwork.

Hrm.. I have a business but was trying to sign up as an individual. Sounds like my application may get rejected.

// For some strange reason.. I am starting to consider going with D2D.

EDIT: I ended up using D2D just to simplify the account creation process 3x. The book is already approved on Kobo and BN. Only waiting to hear back from one specific store (itunes) before I go on a marketing spree. Thanks for the feedback in this thread.. I did a lot of searches and reading before deciding on them. I also ended up calling support once during the submission process to sort out an issue ( I was using embedded fonts ). I was on the line with them within 1 minute of calling. I figure its a small operation but so far so good, I am happy with the process.. waiting to see if I have any results. I may end up going direct at some point but I want to see if this is enough. It will also help that I have only 2 places I need to send out ebook updates instead of 4, as I plan to keep working on this one pretty often when I have the time.

Should I use smashwords to sell ebooks or configure each store myself?

mcsolas

Aspiring writer

bearilou

DenturePunk writer

WriterBN

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit

mcsolas

Aspiring writer

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit

mcsolas

Aspiring writer

girlyswot

shelleyo

Just another face in a red jumpsuit

mcsolas

Aspiring writer