Author Pages and Walmart

Sarah M

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I'm about to release my first book in a couple months and am wondering, should I have an author's page on B&N, Kobo and Apple, etc? Is there even a place for one? I know there's a place for one on Amazon, but I wasn't sure about the others sites.

Also, I recently realized that I could sell my ebooks through Walmart. How does that work exactly?
 
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cool pop

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All have author pages but it's not so simple as Amazon. First, you have to be direct with the retailer to get an author page meaning you can't go through Draft2Digital or Smashwords. You have to upload straight to the retailer from a dashboard. B&N has "so-called" author pages. In fact they consider it an "author page" when you type in your name and your books come up. Some claim when they emailed they got more detailed pages but seems to be a select few. Not sure it's available for everyone but asking is the key. Not sure Kobo has author pages and that means Walmart won't either since you have to go through Kobo to get on Walmart. I'm not sure but never heard of an author page on Kobo. I'm not direct with Apple because I don't have a Mac so I don't know for sure but I am betting Apple has author pages but again you can only access these things if you go direct.

Don't forget Google Play. They do offer author pages but you need to email them and let them know you want one and they will give access.

The other stores have the same things Amazon has but you just have to ask for some of their features and you need to publish direct. I strongly encourage going direct so you have access to in-house promos at the other retailers.

Again, to be on Walmart you must publish through Kobo and your books will be eligible for Walmart. There is no contact between you and Walmart.

Good luck to you.
 
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Al X.

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Me personally? You certainly want one on the Zon. I sell so few through the other outlets that it's pointless to have to have an author page on other outlets if they support it.

Regarding Wally World, D2D will now distribute to them.
 

lorna_w

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I can't tell how many of my Kobo sales are to Walmart, but I know how many books I sell to Kobo, which is very few. Last 30 days at Amazon: 3400 books sold. B&N: 740. Last 30 days at Kobo: 41. So Kobo and Walmart are honestly not worth thinking about for me, and not worth spending any time on, not for author pages, ads, or ... anything, really!
 

cool pop

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My biggest seller outside Amazon hands down is Barnes and Noble. Kobo is not my favorite and isn't the best but it's brought me International fans I wouldn't have found elsewhere. It's cool when I log into my Kobo account and see I've sold books in different parts of the world. Canada is my number one selling location there. I also sell regularly in Australia and UK. The US is my worst performing location which proves that Kobo is about the International crowd. Kobo is to the International audience like Amazon is to the US. Many authors don't realize that or seem to not take into account global sales but I have a bigger plan of having my books go worldwide so reaching that audience is important to me. So while Kobo doesn't bring me much, I do gain rewards. It opens me up to an audience I wouldn't find elsewhere. I also tried out Kobo Plus and so my books were rented in Belgium. I didn't make much from being in the program but again it opened me up to another audience. I also just scored two in-house, romance promos for Kobo so hopefully it helps things.

When you are wide it's best to concentrate on what you can gain in the long term and not just on immediate sales. Everything you do is not going to bring you fast sales but doesn't mean it didn't help you in any way. A good ROI is not just measured in money. It's about building something and it takes time to do that. Any time you place your books somewhere and someone buys them you are getting more exposure.
 
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Sarah M

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How long does it take for a book to show up in Walmart's catalog after being listed on Kobo? I'm just curious because my first book is listed, but I can't find it on Walmart’s site.
 

Al X.

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Okay, you had to make me go and look.

Yes, my books are listed in Walmart. But, two things: 1. A search for my author name does not bring up my books. A search for my author name and a book brings up that book. 2. There does not appear to be a preview feature on Walmart's site. Nobody's going to buy a book without looking at the preview.
 

cool pop

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How long does it take for a book to show up in Walmart's catalog after being listed on Kobo? I'm just curious because my first book is listed, but I can't find it on Walmart’s site.

It can take a week or more but if your book is erotica, erotic romance or anything Walmart feels is explicit they won't add it to the site. They don't have some of my more explicit books on there either.