Bookstores to Sell Kindle and Amazon Books???

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My first thought was: A joke!  But no, Amazon offers bookstores to sell Kindle e-Readers and to participate in e-book sales – copying Kobo’s entry into the Indie book store market. Amazon calls it: “The Best of Both Worlds: Now your customers don’t have to choose between e-books and their favorite book store.” Jeremy Greenfield, wrote: “Today, Amazon has offered an olive branch in the form of a business opportunity to indie booksellers.”  Read his story at Forbes.com.
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Harsh Words Came from BusinessInsider.com
“Amazon Has A Plan To Get Indie Bookstores To Kill Themselves” – which they explained: “Once a customer is on the Kindle platform, odds are they’re going to buy fewer physical books, thus killing the Indie bookstore. In essence, Amazon is telling these companies to on-board customers to a digital platform that will destroy their business. We suppose 10% of revenue is better than nothing, but this seems like a suicide mission for any bookstore that signs up.”
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TechCrunch.com writes: “Amazon has not been seen as a fast friend of the brick-and-mortar bookstore business….” and Tim Carmody, writer at Kottke.org mused: “I have often wondered if an independent bookstore could sell their usual selection of paper books but also sell Kindle books to those who wanted them.”  And my own first reaction was: Most bookstores refused to carry author-published books – and now authors come into bookstores through the “back door” thanks to Amazon?
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Amazon’s Press Release

“Independent Bookstores Can Now Sell Kindles and Earn 10% from Future Kindle Books Sold
Amazon Source makes it easy for independent bookstores and small retailers to earn additional revenue by selling Kindles.

Booksellers can receive 10% of the price of Kindle books purchased from the devices they sell. The first order is worry-free for retailers—Amazon will buy back the inventory for up to six months after the first order, no questions and no penalties.

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 6, 2013– (NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon.com today introduced Amazon Source, a new program that enables independent bookstores and other retailers to sell Kindle devices and accessories, and earn money while doing so. In addition to a discount on purchasing Kindles and Kindle accessories for resale, retailers will have the option of receiving 10% of every Kindle book purchased on Kindle devices sold by the bookstore for the first two years after a customer buys a device. Learn more at http://source.amazon.com.”

What are YOUR thoughts on this?

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More Options for Authors to Sell Their Books

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Amazon’s global competitor Kobo sells not only in Great Britain and Ireland. More countries will follow as Kobo will be soon the second-largest international online e-book retailer.  In former blog posts we covered the benefits of Kobo’s “Writing Life“.  Uploading is easy and you get 70% royalties, same as on Amazon.
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More and more bookstores will sell books in any form, on any platform, Kobo e-books is one of them. The Huffington Post published an article a while ago, how independent bookstores can survive and mentioned the iconic San Francisco bookstore Kepler’s in Menlo Park, CA, who is listed under the Independent Bookstore participants and the Kobo e-reading program.

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Indiebound.org
Indiebound offers more than 3.5 million titles. Check out these independent Bookstores in your town/State, that are participating at Indibound.org  and upload your book or e-book to Kobo.  And than for sure, you can arrange a book signing with these “brick & mortar stores”.  Indiebound.org’s website offers also a North America map, the “Indie Store Finder” for USA and Canada where you get lists of all indie bookstores in your area.
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Authors can also earn on their website from Indie books. As part of the IndieBound.org Affiliate Program, they can extend the passion and knowledge of independent bookstores into your online community, and earn generous commissions.
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Writer Molly Greene explained on her blog Kobo to her (non-Canadian or UK) writing audience and how they set up and sign in with Kobo and how to upload and sell your e-book with Kobo.
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In a recent article we reported about the great improvements for Kobo Authors.  Kobo lets you sell your e-books to readers worldwide, e.g. Canada, USA, Australia, Japan, Brazil and European countries.  Kobo customers own their books for life! Read your Kobo books on any open standard device and bring your books to a growing number of Kobo eReading Apps.  Free Kobo eReading apps are offered for smartphones, tablets and computers – Kobo automatically saves your place and syncs your bookmarks across devices.
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Why sell books only to one or two companies? Well, actually, it’s not even selling, it is a kind of consignment… as online book retailers don’t pay you upfront, only when your book is sold will you get money. Upload your book not only to Amazon and Barnes&Noble, but to Kobo as well, an online retailer where your books can be sold in independent, local bookstores.

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are
almost 700 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email?
Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the
“SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+,
Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

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http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

Don’t forget to spread the word on other social networking sites of your choice for other writers who
might also enjoy this blog and find it useful. Thanks

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Pingates

 

Not Happy With the Sales of Your Book?

What do you do when the first book you self-publish isn’t a hit? Give it a new face and try again!

Sheryl Steines describes in a guest post at Lindsay Buroker’s blog how she re-invented her first work with the help of a marketing pro.

She writes: “Always measure twice, cut once.  It’s far less work if you do the job right in the first place. Besides selling to friends and family, I didn’t have much luck in the way of marketing.

I spent much time on the internet trying to figure it out. I had book marks, business cards, and posters. I sent letters to independent bookstores, hoping for book signings. I had a Twitter account, a Facebook author page and a blog. Why wasn’t I selling any books?

So I hired marketing help.  Sometimes, it’s far better to ask for help than think you can figure it out on your own.  I realize my limitations.  Her plan to sell my second book actually started with my first book and thankfully I put my trust in her when she suggested we re-issue the first book.

I started the process a little sad; as if someone told me there was something wrong with my child.  But it was the right decision.  The book needed to be re-edited.  While my manuscript was at the editor, the next goal was to work on my new cover, something far more eye catching. I did like my cover, but it blended together, nothing stood out. But my artist was a genius, took what I liked about my first cover and improved it.  I couldn’t stop looking at it, realizing that sometimes, it helps to have an extra set of eyes.

As we worked on the physical book, I needed to work on my internet presence. Not just getting noticed, but being more professional…….”  Read the whole story here:

http://www.lindsayburoker.com/guest-posts/self-publishing-tips-the-re-issue-process/

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