probably going to wonder why I’m making such a big deal out of this that I’d
write a blog about it. Well, to me, it’s
BIG!!
not aware, I’ve published my work exclusively on Amazon.
fib. Here’s what happened.
Years ago, when
I first went Indie, I personally formatted and published My Cheeky Angel on
Smashwords also. Vicious headaches, suicidal thoughts and a near divorce later,
getting my book through that blasted meatgrinder and equal to their Style Guide
so it would get in the premium catalogue, had put me through a meatgrinder—oh
yeah! After those 2am nights redoing the upload over and over, I decided that I
would rather lick clean every window of a twenty story building rather than go
through that again. Funny enough, because I’m stubborn, I was eventually
successful and the book was made available. In the next few months it earned
such a pittance that when I finished the next in the series, His Devious
Angel, I quickly changed my path. Publishing exclusively with Amazon
became my goal.
I told myself that the Amazon market was
big enough for little ole me. True!
Their select program was worth not
spreading the books to other channels and those 5 free days were gold. True!
Amazon’s site was easy to work with and
they took a word.doc easily. Very true!!
And… I wouldn’t have to face that
freaking meatgrinder again. Sooo true!
Until now!
I’m beginning to
see that the free books aren’t such a draw anymore. Let’s face it, the market
is becoming saturated. Once an author has a following, I feel that not every
new book released needs to be made available as a freebie. I’m sure the readers
who know they’ll get their money’s worth are more than willing to spend the few
dollars we charge nowadays to be able to read what they know is worth the
price.
their affiliates have some pretty impressive numbers now. Is it smart to disregard
those opportunities?
up a good amount of wages now earned by many authors and that just seems silly to ignore.
be a big percentage of the market if their plans continue working the way they
surmise.
Canadian, lots of my personal friends have Kobo e-readers and so I figure why
not share the wealth, right?
do you think – are you publishing on all channels? Sure would like to hear your
views?
you’re a reader and not an author, is it important to you that books be
available on multi channels?
Thanks for sharing this Mimi. As I move forward with my ms I've been debating all the pros and cons of the self-publishing world. I've heard that Smashwords has made giant strides to become more user friendly for both authors and readers, has this been your experience? Also, have you worked with Createspace and what did you think of that?
Thanks, 🙂
Hi Jacqui, First let me tell you about Smashwords and why I put myself through the grinder to publish with them. First, nothing is too hard once you know what you're doing. (Watch for a blog coming up with step by step instructions on how to format a book for Smashwords.) Secondly, they will let me put a book permanently free which is my aim down the road. Thirdly, because we live in Canada, we can't publish direct on B&N and Smashwords distributes to them. And fourthly, they send the books to a lot of other booksellers which gives one more visibility.
Createspace is a whole other ballgame. Used to scare the heck outta me until I pulled up my big girl panties and learned how to use their services. Now I think it's simplified to where even a techie nerd as myself can get through it without too much trouble. Remember there are people here to help you if you run into any problems.
Hugs, Mimi