Tag: Amazon

Why is my Amazon book at other bookstores?

If you use Amazon to publish your book, you may discover your book listed at other bookstores like Barnes & Noble. Why is your book listed at other stores when you listed it only on Amazon?

The most likely reason is your print book is in Amazon’s Expanded Distribution program.

Amazon’s Expanded Distribution program makes your print book available for other bookstores and libraries to order.

If you don’t want your book to be part of Amazon’s Expanded Distribution program, take the following steps to opt out of Expanded Distribution:

  1. Sign in to your KDP account.
  2. Click the button with three dots in the Paperback Actions section of your book listing in your account’s bookshelf.
  3. Choose Edit Paperback Rights & Pricing.
  4. Deselect the Expanded Distribution checkbox in the Pricing, royalty, and distribution section.

Which Self Publishing Platforms Should You Use for Your Book?

If you are new to self publishing, you will see there are a lot of self publishing platforms. Which one/ones should you choose to publish your book?

Selling at Bookstores

I recommend the following platforms to publish your book and sell it at online and physical bookstores:

Using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) gives you the most from each sale on Amazon.

Ingram Spark is the distributor most bookstores and libraries use to order books.

Draft2Digital lets you sell your books at the following stores with one account:

  • Apple Books
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Kobo (including Kobo Plus)
  • Smashwords Store
  • Tolino
  • OverDrive
  • Bibliotheca
  • Scribd
  • Baker & Taylor
  • Hoopla
  • Vivlio
  • BorrowBox
  • Odilo

Selling from Your Website

If you have an author website and plan to sell your books from the site, I recommend the following platforms:

  • Payhip for selling ebooks.
  • Gumroad for selling ebooks without having to create a Stripe or Paypal account.
  • Lulu for selling print books.

Create a store on Payhip, Gumroad, or Lulu and link to the store from your site.

Payhip and Gumroad give you more from each sale than Amazon, assuming you sell your ebooks for at least $5(US). Amazon takes at least 30 percent from each ebook you sell. Payhip takes 5 percent plus the credit card transaction fee. Gumroad takes 10 percent plus the credit card transaction fee.

Payhip gives you more from each book sale than Gumroad. But you must create a Stripe account or Paypal account to sell books on Payhip. Gumroad does not require a Stripe account or a Paypal account.

Lulu is a print-on-demand service. When someone orders a book, Lulu prints it and ships it so you don’t have to worry about warehousing and shipping print books.

If I publish a book with Amazon KDP, can I sell the book at other places?

A common question I see from authors starting with self-publishing is the following:

If I publish my book with KDP, can I sell it at other places?

The answer is Yes. You can sell your book at other places.

If you want to sell your ebook at other places, avoid Amazon’s KDP Select program because KDP Select forbids you from selling your ebook at other places. Read the following article for more information about KDP Select:

Amazon KDP vs. KDP Select

Amazon KDP vs. KDP Select

Amazon provides two programs for writers to publish and sell their books on Amazon: KDP and KDP Select. KDP stands for Kindle Direct Publishing. What are the differences between KDP and KDP Select? Which program should you use?

KDP

KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) is a program that lets writers publish and sell print and electronic versions of their books on Amazon. If you plan to sell your book on Amazon, you should use KDP to make the most money on each book sale on Amazon.

Can you sell your book at other stores if you use KDP? Yes, you can.

KDP Select

The KDP Select program applies only to ebooks. If you put your book on KDP Select, the book becomes part of Kindle Unlimited. Kindle Unlimited is the ebook equivalent of Netflix. People pay a monthly subscription that lets them read any ebook that is part of KDP Select.

The upside of being part of KDP Select is more people have a chance of reading your book. Kindle Unlimited customers can read your book and don’t have to decide whether or not to buy your book. You get royalties based on the number of Kindle Unlimited subscribers that read your book.

The downside of KDP Select is you can’t sell your ebook at places other than Amazon. You can sell print versions of your book at other stores.

In summary when you enroll in KDP Select, the following happens:

  • Your ebook becomes part of Kindle Unlimited.
  • Amazon is the only place you can sell your ebook.
  • You can sell print versions of your book at other places.

Should You Choose KDP or KDP Select?

Do you want to sell your ebooks at places besides Amazon?

If the answer is Yes, choose KDP because KDP Select forbids selling ebooks at other stores.

If the answer is No, choose KDP Select. You can make extra money when Kindle Unlimited subscribers read your book.