Releasing to Multiple E-Readers

Today was spent releasing my book The Great Heist to all the e-readers (in addition to Kindle, in which it was already available.)  I was intending for this pots to be the announcement that it's available on all these readers, but I had forgotten what a bureaucratic mess it all is, and how long it takes for the book to become available on the other sites.

First, I should explain the top places to release your e-book.  They are:

Kindle

Smashwords

Google Play

Goodreads

Drivethru Fiction

Scribd

I have placed them in the order in which I do them based on a delicate balance of value for you vs. how much of a headache they are.  Below I list each one and how I feel about them.

Kindle is the number one spot for independent writers/publishers.  It just is.  There are other places with a great independent spirit, like Smashwords, but the simple fact is that Kindle makes it easiest for independent writers/publishers, and they help promote them the most.  By placing our books in Amazon alongside larger publishers' books, we get the same respect and potential sales as anyone else.  Amazon also recommends our e-books when someone buys something similar.  But most important to this particular blog post, the publishing process is easy.  First of all, it's a very streamlined process.  The amount you need to do to prepare your document is rather minimal, and when you upload it, their program will help fix little problems you may have, and you can check it right away, seeing how it looks on various readers immediately.  And if there are any problems, you can call them and they'll actually talk to you!  Many other distributors complain about Kindle having unfair competitive policies, but there's a reason they're ahead, and rather than complain about them, other e-readers and distribution channels should learn from Kindle and maybe do what they do.  It's for these reasons that I typically start my books on the KDP Select exclusive deal with Kindle for the first 90 days before making it available on other readers.  I'd love to open up to the other sites right away, but Kindle is just simply the most supportive and easiest to deal with.

Smashwords is the second place to go.  And in some ways, one could go with just being on Kindle and Smashwords and be fine.  When you publish something through Smashwords, it goes out to just about everyone except Kindle, so everyone you want to carry the book has it.  It's run by Mark Coker, probably the largest supporter of independent books.  It's because he's so supportive of independent artists that I want to go to Smashwords first, but in order to upload to them, a publisher has to go through a whole bureaucratic process that's extremely complicated and frustrating.  The good news is that when you finally get it right, it's formatted for a whole bunch of different readers, so you only have to do it once.  This is true, and it's nice to not have to do it multiple times, but by the time you prepare this one file,  you'll feel like you've done it a bunch of times.  Smashwords provides a guide to help you prepare your document... that's literally more than a hundred pages long.  And if you get lost, there's no one to call; just a note that tells you that it's wrong after you upload it.  You can't even preview it to see what it looks like and where the problem is exactly.  The excuse for this is simply that it's publishing, and therefore complicated.  I would accept that if it wasn't for the fact that Kindle is so easy to publish onto.  I don't blame Coker or the team at Smashwords.  I think they're doing their best to make it easy on us.  I think it's the fault of the companies it gets distributed to, like Barnes & Noble, Sony, etc.; these companies that complain about Amazon having unfair business practices rather than learning from them and improving their services.

Google Play is fast becoming an important distribution platform, particularly because of the Android tablets they sell to.  Also, the way Google is growing, it's got its fingers in many areas.  Personally, I like the convenience.  I know some people feel like it intrudes on their personal lives, but I really like the way I can connect all my various projects and jump between them with ease.  I can have a book trailer on Youtube that connects to these blogs which connect to my calendar which connect to my email, etc.  And now my books can be part of this mix.  The biggest problem has been a very poorly organized site with which to upload the books.  Every single time I used the system I had problems.  Links were broken, instructions were incorrect, it was a mess.  Worst of all, they had no phone number to call for help.  I could email and maybe get a response sometime that week, but that's all.  I often begged the people to give me some phone number because the issues were usually easily solvable in less than a minute over the phone, but they took more than a month by email.  I write all this in past tense, however, as they seem to be solving their problems now.  Let's hope it gets better... and that they start to have phone support!

Goodreads is of course the place where people generally go to talk about books, but they now have an option to purchase e-books directly on their site.  This is a great thing, as the majority of people on there are book fans.  If they can instantly purchase books they've been recommended, so much the better.  The problem with this is that these services are just being implemented, and it needs vast improvement to work properly.  Like Google Play, there's no phone service, and issues that could be resolved in minutes take over a month.

Drivethru Fiction is a personal favorite of mine, but the number of people who know about it is limited.  It's nice because it's connected to several other game and comic book sites, so it attracts a lot of fantasy and sci fi fans.  What's wonderful for writers is that they have a great method of advertising.  Every month you get a certain number of points you can use to advertise.  You can get more points by doing various activities that help the community, such as reviewing other people's work.  Also, don't let the name fool you.  Just because it says "fiction" doesn't mean you can't sell non-fiction on it.

Scribd hardly needs mentioning if you do Smashwords.  It's supposed to already be distributed there if you go through Smashwords.  However, I haven't noticed many sales through Scribd when I went through Smashwords, but I have seen sales when I put things on directly, so I always upload here separately.  Scribd is a great place to get noticed.  Every time I upload I instantly get dozens of reads.  I usually have 10 to 20 before I switch from the uploading screen to the reading screen.  It seems to be the perfect place to get people to notice you so they then start purchasing.  Plus, it's easy to upload!  No bureaucratic nonsense!  Google, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Goodreads, these guys could learn a few things from Scribd and Drivethru Fiction.