🔴 Are you looking for alternatives to Amazon KDP? If so, why? 🔴 👉 Get my candid insights about KDP in this video: th-cam.com/video/Tzy9wsNXw-o/w-d-xo.html
Not much for kissing tail, but your channel has been an absolute godsend. I was getting dangerously close to prematurely launching a book with no professional polish, no sense of marketing, and no idea how to even begin with browse paths or keywords. Taking a lot longer than I’d intended to get it released, but I’m feeling more comfortable in my ability to actually sell the book. I’m actually working on figuring out Kickstarter for the purpose of building awareness and covering production cost.
Self-Publishing with Dale Of course! Although full disclosure I’m only really trying to kickstart the various costs of production in order to self-publish through KDP, (at least for the first one), and to hire a narrator. Hope to be able to start building hype on a more official and widespread level by New-year. Fingers crossed.
Hi Dale, great video as always! I’ve self-published 4 books with Amazon (previously Createspace) but have a new project that I want to publish elsewhere due to the limiting layouts on Amazon. Will document my journey on my channel too. Thanks for all the amazing advice as always!
Listening to you while downloading great stuff from Vexels. Wow, I am impressed. Thank you so much for that tip! Extremely happy with your content so far.
Very nice! Thanks for the kudos. How are you liking Vexels so far? Ridiculous the number of things they have. And, talking to the team, they have plans to expand that aggressively. Wow!
Kobo is able to distribute in Turkey i guess. They look pretty promising. They have an agreement with D&R which is a solid book seller in Turkey. Thanks for the video Dale!
I've had good sales with Smashwords with Barnes and Noble and Apple without going through their proprietary platforms. Not all out buy a car sales but nice steady sales. Google play I load up directly and I use Smashwords for Kobo
Heyyyyyy, Sylvia! Always great hearing from you. Yeah, Kelli has had great success with Gumroad. Dare I say, "buy a car sales" at times. She's mastered Gumroad on a number of products.
haha thanks! It's for functionality more than aesthetics. Ohio winters aren't particularly nice to me. Last year I got deathly ill before I went on vacation. The year before wasn't an issue and that's when I grew the beard last. So, it made its comeback this year. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great Information as always, Breaking things up for me as am getting started, my book going on air any time from now. Just A quick question and to clarify a few things. Did you mean Kobo do not do print on demand or they do not do print at all? You message on lulu express was very enlightening since i wish to sell my own copies on my website but i have a question on that. What happens if you have already submitted your paperback on KDP and now you want to use Lulu express. Is there no conflict of interest since they will have also to submit your paperback on Amazon?
Dale, great content, as always. If you build a large and rabid mailing list, you can sell your books anywhere. Bookfunnel can really help you build a wide list. Lots of wide readers can be obtained by joining a Bookfunnel cross promo in your genre. Don't sleep on Story Origin either. It's in open beta right now, so it's currently free. Bunch of newsletter swaps available there. Pro tip. At the 99-cent price point, you actually get a higher royalty more sale than through Nook Press and Kobo. It's only true at the 99-cent price point, however. Also, did you know that you can get over 200 Apple promo codes per book? You can get them by contacting Draft2Digital or Apple Books directly. Then you can distribute them to your ARC team for reviews. In addition, the fact that Google Play indexes your blurb content into searches is incredible. Which is great if you include keywords in your blurb. Happy holidays, everyone.
Great tips! Yes, Story Origin is an amazing opportunity, especially fiction writers. Fun fact: I did NOT know about the Apple promo codes. Awesome tip. I'll have to give your channel a look see. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@DaleLRoberts I'm always happy to help. You've done so much for the self-publishing community. I would love for you to check out my channel. I actually didn't know about the Apple codes until recently. They were mentioned during a Draft2Digital ask me anything livestream video about two months ago. As far as I know, they are just for e-books. Would be great to find out if iTunes offers promo codes for audiobooks.
Yes, as long as you are not enrolled in KDP Select. If you are or don't know if you are, you can check and unenroll from your KDP dashboard by clicking the 3 dots next to your title and selecting KDP Select info.
And... when it comes to the personal online store process, it's best to have a team of sorts. I found working on my comics or books is time consuming alone. The joy would be if I had one person doing promotion and another running the shop (shopify, woocommerce, etc). That webmaster is really a beast because they have nothing to do but fulfill orders and make sure everything is running smoothly. Friends man... you need friends with drive.
Using Draft2Digital, do you think the 15% royalty is worth the convenience? Would a web-savvy, spreadsheet-savvy individual do just fine going wide manually with each platform?
I don't lean on D2D too much. I'd already had my roots sunk into Smashwords. Here's what I said in a review of D2D: th-cam.com/video/pioDGHuWvL0/w-d-xo.html But, if you don't mind the extra tax forms, dashboards, logins and what not, then go for it. To me, it nickel and dimes my time and I'd rather just go to an aggregate and be done with it. That's just personal taste and not a belief I'd force on other people. I try to be as impartial as I can on this channel. Keyword: try.
Hey Dale, if I'm newer to self-publishing and only want to work with one site, would you suggest KDP or LuLu? I have one book published on KDP which I was thinking of unpublishing and re-publishing to LuLu, but I've seen some reviews about LuLu that scare me (that being said, many others are great!). Wanted to get your opinion. Thanks for your help, your videos are awesome.
Go with KDP. As much as I like the team at Lulu and believe they have good quality products, Amazon truly has the advantage. Amazon has the wider reach, the larger audience, the best compensation model and decent products. And, I haven't had any issues with Lulu. Keep in mind, all businesses have issues. Sadly, Lulu might have a few issues that haven't set well with authors. I can't speak on that and can only share my experience with them. All that to say, stick with KDP for now. Master that platform before considering aggregate publishing.
There is lot to be said for the satisfaction of going it alone. I don't have to make a living from my books, which is just as well. But certain platforms are making an absolute killing from our collective desire to hit the big-time. I'm in the process of going it alone. Great video, as always.
B&N Press how many free ISBNs can you provide for Publish ?, It is information that I did not find. In my case it has a limit of 20 publications with ISBN from B&N Press, then it tells me that I have to buy my own for more publications. It is a somewhat silly policy, it is natural that Amazon is eating B&N Press.
I don't understand what you're talking about. You can publish an unlimited number of books and choose a free ISBN. If you're getting a limit, you're doing it wrong.
@@DaleLRoberts This is the message after publishing 20 books with Free ISBN from BN Press, This account has reached the limit of free ISBNs. You can buy your own ISBN from Bowker or through your local ISBN agency. In B&N Press: ISBN FAQs does not appear information about it, I also asked service@bn.com thinking that there is an error but to date they have not answered. They offer a service in one way, the reality is another.
@@DaleLRoberts Maybe I offended them somehow. The thing is, before they changed their policy, that was my best outlet at Publish Drive. My books were selling great there.
For e-book, it is not safe to publish on your own website. Not even with bookfunnel. I tried to copy my friend's books from his kindle and put them on my kindle. It doesn't work.
@@jinraigami3349 That's VERY true, but the way you worded it was confusing to me 😜. Anyway, with the right platform and software one can add DRM to the files and limit the amount of downloads from the personal website. You can also add special codes and security to your website or downloadable products to prevent pirating. The biggest con of all this can be the time it consumes. As I said in another comment, you need a webmaster/developer who can do that part. It's too much for one person.
Amazon, although on the buyer's side, is a great store on the side of the authors or providers of products or services for it, it is a setback in terms of rights and good practices. Amazon has become in practice a monopoly, which tramples the authors to close accounts without justified reason, in a discretionary way violating laws in the United States already established on discrimination, monopoly, civil rights, something similar to the case of Facebook and Donald Trump . Very large fast growing companies need to be regulated by governments as their monopoly policies and practices are mistreating citizens, authors or employees. Although the G20 this year is acting on tax matters, it is not enough, an arbitrator is necessary to review Amazon's policies and help in this case the authors to whom accounts have been closed in an unjustified and discriminatory way. Amazon is packed with a lot of power.
Meh. I find that if you aren't publishing controversial information, you don't have problems. I get it, free speech and all, but I choose to stay out of political matters and it works great for me. You can choose to either be a participant in the crap or not. I go with not.
So true they just closed my account and the reasons don't make sense..I keep asking for explanation and they won't give it...I will never rely on platforms like Amazon for an income..they are ruthless!
It can be, but it can also be a great opportunity. It never fails...anytime you are working with someone else's platform, there's going to be things you don't like.
🔴 Are you looking for alternatives to Amazon KDP? If so, why? 🔴
👉 Get my candid insights about KDP in this video: th-cam.com/video/Tzy9wsNXw-o/w-d-xo.html
Not much for kissing tail, but your channel has been an absolute godsend. I was getting dangerously close to prematurely launching a book with no professional polish, no sense of marketing, and no idea how to even begin with browse paths or keywords. Taking a lot longer than I’d intended to get it released, but I’m feeling more comfortable in my ability to actually sell the book. I’m actually working on figuring out Kickstarter for the purpose of building awareness and covering production cost.
Wonderful! Keep me updated on your progress with Kickstarter. I respect people who can go that avenue and succeed at it.
Self-Publishing with Dale Of course! Although full disclosure I’m only really trying to kickstart the various costs of production in order to self-publish through KDP, (at least for the first one), and to hire a narrator. Hope to be able to start building hype on a more official and widespread level by New-year. Fingers crossed.
Thanks Dale, you are indeed a SP Guru!!!
Hey, thanks for watching and for the kudos.
I love this video and I appreciate all information that you provide ;)
Thanks for the kind words. Stay tuned for more!
Super helpful, this is a great comprehensive video full of crystal clear information. Thank you 🙏🏼
Hey, thanks for the kudos! 😀👏👍
Everytime great contents! Almost nowadays this is one of the best tips... I strongly believe that the solution, as you said is going wide!
Bingo! There are some exceptions, but not often.
Hi Dale, great video as always! I’ve self-published 4 books with Amazon (previously Createspace) but have a new project that I want to publish elsewhere due to the limiting layouts on Amazon. Will document my journey on my channel too. Thanks for all the amazing advice as always!
Sweet! I'll give you a look. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Self-Publishing with Dale thanks so much Dale!! 😊
Good info, Dale man. Thanks.
You're welcome. Thanks for your comment!
Thank you. Learned so much from this video.
Awesome! Thanks for watching and commenting.
Listening to you while downloading great stuff from Vexels. Wow, I am impressed. Thank you so much for that tip! Extremely happy with your content so far.
Very nice! Thanks for the kudos.
How are you liking Vexels so far? Ridiculous the number of things they have. And, talking to the team, they have plans to expand that aggressively. Wow!
Kobo is able to distribute in Turkey i guess. They look pretty promising. They have an agreement with D&R which is a solid book seller in Turkey. Thanks for the video Dale!
Kobo is REALLY moving aggressively on the market. Keep an eye on them.
I've had good sales with Smashwords with Barnes and Noble and Apple without going through their proprietary platforms. Not all out buy a car sales but nice steady sales. Google play I load up directly and I use Smashwords for Kobo
I also use gumroad to fulfill the eBook exclusive books
Heyyyyyy, Sylvia! Always great hearing from you. Yeah, Kelli has had great success with Gumroad. Dare I say, "buy a car sales" at times. She's mastered Gumroad on a number of products.
I wanna grow up and be like Kelli. 😍
Thank you, Dale, By the way, you are looking fab in this look
haha thanks! It's for functionality more than aesthetics. Ohio winters aren't particularly nice to me. Last year I got deathly ill before I went on vacation. The year before wasn't an issue and that's when I grew the beard last. So, it made its comeback this year. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Great Information as always, Breaking things up for me as am getting started, my book going on air any time from now. Just A quick question and to clarify a few things.
Did you mean Kobo do not do print on demand or they do not do print at all?
You message on lulu express was very enlightening since i wish to sell my own copies on my website but i have a question on that. What happens if you have already submitted your paperback on KDP and now you want to use Lulu express. Is there no conflict of interest since they will have also to submit your paperback on Amazon?
Correct, Kobo doesn't do print at all. And, you can use both Amazon and Lulu Xpress for print fulfillment.
Dale, great content, as always.
If you build a large and rabid mailing list, you can sell your books anywhere. Bookfunnel can really help you build a wide list. Lots of wide readers can be obtained by joining a Bookfunnel cross promo in your genre.
Don't sleep on Story Origin either. It's in open beta right now, so it's currently free. Bunch of newsletter swaps available there.
Pro tip. At the 99-cent price point, you actually get a higher royalty more sale than through Nook Press and Kobo. It's only true at the 99-cent price point, however.
Also, did you know that you can get over 200 Apple promo codes per book? You can get them by contacting Draft2Digital or Apple Books directly. Then you can distribute them to your ARC team for reviews.
In addition, the fact that Google Play indexes your blurb content into searches is incredible. Which is great if you include keywords in your blurb.
Happy holidays, everyone.
Great tips! Yes, Story Origin is an amazing opportunity, especially fiction writers.
Fun fact: I did NOT know about the Apple promo codes. Awesome tip. I'll have to give your channel a look see.
Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@DaleLRoberts
I'm always happy to help. You've done so much for the self-publishing community.
I would love for you to check out my channel.
I actually didn't know about the Apple codes until recently. They were mentioned during a Draft2Digital ask me anything livestream video about two months ago. As far as I know, they are just for e-books.
Would be great to find out if iTunes offers promo codes for audiobooks.
Are we able to put our ebooks on multiple platforms if we have already published through KDP
Yes, as long as you are not enrolled in KDP Select. If you are or don't know if you are, you can check and unenroll from your KDP dashboard by clicking the 3 dots next to your title and selecting KDP Select info.
@@DaleLRoberts ok thanks
And... when it comes to the personal online store process, it's best to have a team of sorts. I found working on my comics or books is time consuming alone. The joy would be if I had one person doing promotion and another running the shop (shopify, woocommerce, etc). That webmaster is really a beast because they have nothing to do but fulfill orders and make sure everything is running smoothly. Friends man... you need friends with drive.
Excellent insights. Thanks so much for watching and commenting.
Using Draft2Digital, do you think the 15% royalty is worth the convenience? Would a web-savvy, spreadsheet-savvy individual do just fine going wide manually with each platform?
I don't lean on D2D too much. I'd already had my roots sunk into Smashwords. Here's what I said in a review of D2D:
th-cam.com/video/pioDGHuWvL0/w-d-xo.html
But, if you don't mind the extra tax forms, dashboards, logins and what not, then go for it. To me, it nickel and dimes my time and I'd rather just go to an aggregate and be done with it. That's just personal taste and not a belief I'd force on other people. I try to be as impartial as I can on this channel. Keyword: try.
Hey Dale, if I'm newer to self-publishing and only want to work with one site, would you suggest KDP or LuLu? I have one book published on KDP which I was thinking of unpublishing and re-publishing to LuLu, but I've seen some reviews about LuLu that scare me (that being said, many others are great!). Wanted to get your opinion. Thanks for your help, your videos are awesome.
Go with KDP. As much as I like the team at Lulu and believe they have good quality products, Amazon truly has the advantage. Amazon has the wider reach, the larger audience, the best compensation model and decent products.
And, I haven't had any issues with Lulu. Keep in mind, all businesses have issues. Sadly, Lulu might have a few issues that haven't set well with authors. I can't speak on that and can only share my experience with them.
All that to say, stick with KDP for now. Master that platform before considering aggregate publishing.
@@DaleLRoberts Thank you!!
There is lot to be said for the satisfaction of going it alone. I don't have to make a living from my books, which is just as well. But certain platforms are making an absolute killing from our collective desire to hit the big-time. I'm in the process of going it alone. Great video, as always.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I appreciate you watching and commenting.
Hi Dale, what do you think of the Smashwords platform?
I really like them. In fact, here's a review from a couple years ago:
th-cam.com/video/oI5OCn4nf7M/w-d-xo.html
B&N Press how many free ISBNs can you provide for
Publish ?, It is information that I did not find. In my case it has a limit of 20 publications with ISBN from B&N Press, then it tells me that I have to buy my own for more publications.
It is a somewhat silly policy, it is natural that Amazon is eating B&N Press.
I don't understand what you're talking about. You can publish an unlimited number of books and choose a free ISBN. If you're getting a limit, you're doing it wrong.
@@DaleLRoberts This is the message after publishing 20 books with Free ISBN from BN Press, This account has reached the limit of free ISBNs. You can buy your own ISBN from Bowker or through your local ISBN agency.
In B&N Press: ISBN FAQs does not appear information about it, I also asked service@bn.com thinking that there is an error but to date they have not answered.
They offer a service in one way, the reality is another.
Can I publish my book to all 4 alternatives along with Amazon ?
You can! So long as you are NOT opted into KDP Select.
What about DRM protection on these other platforms?
I cannot recall off the top of my head. You'll have to check with each platform.
Hmmm, I can't recall of the top of my head. KDP has it, but you must opt in to it when uploading your manuscript for publishing.
I would like my books back I don't recommend Amazon to anyone . I wished I saw your video before hand
You're not alone. There are many people who feel the same way.
Google Play is still ignoring me. I'm starting to feel slighted...
You were the one I was thinking about when it came to getting no love from GP.
@@DaleLRoberts Maybe I offended them somehow. The thing is, before they changed their policy, that was my best outlet at Publish Drive. My books were selling great there.
Google play no longer in all countries
Correct. But it was never in all regions.
Thank you for this book list. I have added a few of these to get in paperback form next month.
Nice! Thanks for watching and commenting.
I published a book on KDP and sold a book. I only earned 10 cents.
Yeah, that can happen. Especially if you aren't setting the pricing high enough.
For e-book, it is not safe to publish on your own website. Not even with bookfunnel. I tried to copy my friend's books from his kindle and put them on my kindle. It doesn't work.
You tried to "copy" his books? How does that relate to his personal website?
@@will_sketch It means your ebook could be pirated. The files like epub, pdf and mobi are not protected like it was on kindle.
@@jinraigami3349 That's VERY true, but the way you worded it was confusing to me 😜. Anyway, with the right platform and software one can add DRM to the files and limit the amount of downloads from the personal website. You can also add special codes and security to your website or downloadable products to prevent pirating. The biggest con of all this can be the time it consumes. As I said in another comment, you need a webmaster/developer who can do that part. It's too much for one person.
Nothing is ever truly safe from piracy. Thanks for the open dialogue and for watching.
Amazon, although on the buyer's side, is a great store on the side of the authors or providers of products or services for it, it is a setback in terms of rights and good practices.
Amazon has become in practice a monopoly, which tramples the authors to close accounts without justified reason, in a discretionary way violating laws in the United States already established on discrimination, monopoly, civil rights, something similar to the case of Facebook and Donald Trump .
Very large fast growing companies need to be regulated by governments as their monopoly policies and practices are mistreating citizens, authors or employees.
Although the G20 this year is acting on tax matters, it is not enough, an arbitrator is necessary to review Amazon's policies and help in this case the authors to whom accounts have been closed in an unjustified and discriminatory way.
Amazon is packed with a lot of power.
Meh. I find that if you aren't publishing controversial information, you don't have problems. I get it, free speech and all, but I choose to stay out of political matters and it works great for me. You can choose to either be a participant in the crap or not. I go with not.
So true they just closed my account and the reasons don't make sense..I keep asking for explanation and they won't give it...I will never rely on platforms like Amazon for an income..they are ruthless!
Amazon gives you now 60%
Yes, for print books. But, for ebooks, it's still 35% or 70% (with fees) based on the pricing.
Don't rely on Kdp ..they can terminate your account with little explanation!
Facts!
Amazon KDP is a real pain in the ass
It can be, but it can also be a great opportunity. It never fails...anytime you are working with someone else's platform, there's going to be things you don't like.