If you follow book publishing and marketing news, you will no doubt see that eBook sales are on FIRE. In fact, according to the American Association of Publishers (AAP), in January of 2011 online e-Book sales totaled an amazing $69.9 million, up from $32.4 million in January of 2010, a 115% increase.
Amazon.com has long been the traditional and most desirable website to market and sell eBooks, but they are far from the only avenue. To effectively reach the masses and connect with a large and diverse group of readers, eBook authors should explore all options and sell their books in as many places as possible. A sampling of those places is included below.
Smashwords: One of the fastest growing online eBook stores, Smashwords provides free registration. Authors earn 85% of net sales, and their eBook format is readable on any e-reading device, including the Amazon Kindle, the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, the Nook, Sony Reader, a PC, and Android devices.
Ebookee: Requires a minimal listing fee, but also allows bulk distribution if you have more than one eBook. Author receives 50 percent of all sales, paid quarterly. Books are sold at www.ebookmall.com.
Amazon.com: The largest Internet retailer, where you can upload eBooks Kindle (.mobi) format. There are no fees, but Amazon receives approximately 30 percent of each sale if the book is priced under 9.99. If you price over 10 dollars, the royalty structure switches and you only receive 30 percent of each sale. Amazon.com is doing this to keep prices low for consumers, and to encourage massive sales of low cost eBooks. They realize it’s a numbers game. There’s no overhead and they have unlimited shelf-space.
Clickbank: A place where authors can sell digital and audio books. Clickbank offers an affiliate program, too, meaning other websites can help market and sell your products. There is currently a $49.95 one-time activation fee. Clickbank makes payments to authors via direct deposit or Paypal.com on a weekly basis.
eBay.com: eBay is more than a bidding store—you can sell unlimited numbers of eBooks at a set price on eBay.com or set up your own store. eBay.com charges a fee based on the value of your product; however items sold under their classified ad format are not incurred a fee.
Ebook Karma: This site will convert your book to PDF format, which is standard for eBooks. They don’t accept all manuscripts, though, so your book first needs to undergo their approval process. Ebook Karma pays authors 50 percent of all sales.
Lulu.com: Lulu is a self publishing site where you can sell your eBooks. Lulu also allows authors to create their own store and blog. The fee: Lulu charges 20 percent of all sales and sends authors their 80 percent via Paypal.com.
PayLoadz: Any downloadable product can be sold on PayLoadz, which also has their own eBay store. The service is free as long as you don’t sell more than $100 worth of products and your file is less than 1 gigabyte in size. A service upgrade is available for either more sales or larger files.
PaySpree: PaySpree is another place to sell your eBooks, as well as other digital products. Unlike many, they pay eBook authors immediately upon each sale via PayPal. The first eBook you upload is free (additional titles will require an upgrade). There is a $1 fee for every sale greater than $5.00; however, if your eBook is sold for less than $5, the transaction is free.
Scribd: The Scribd Store lets anyone upload and sell in multiple formats, including MS Word, PDF, rich or plain text, etc. Scribd earns 20% commission, plus 25 cents for each copy sold.
YouPublish.com: Bestselling author Mark Victor Hansen developed YouPublish.com, which allows authors to publish and sell their eBooks without startup fees. YouPublish.com allows authors to set their own price, and they receive a 50% commission from each book sold. YouPublish.com also lets authors create their own social networking group within their site.
Let’s not forget that another great place to sell your eBook is on your own website, where you get to keep 100 percent of each sale. Make sure you offer buyers a secure payment method and have your book formatted so that it is downloadable via any computer. It’s also a good idea to explore the opportunity to promote your eBook through other websites, creating an affiliate relationship, where you reach their visitors, in addition to yours.
Don’t forget the increasing popularity of eBook readers! Formatting your eBook for Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, and Border’s Kobo will allow you to sell your eBook through the online stores of the three major book distributors.