Supporting Your Local Bookstore with Kobo

By Christine Munroe

If you’re like me, you read in both print and digital formats. You love your local bookstore, but you also love your eReader. Luckily, through Kobo’s partnership with booksellers across the world, you aren’t faced with a dilemma of choosing one over the other. You can continue to support your favorite bookstore with every eBook you buy.

In the US, Kobo partners with the American Booksellers Association. Creating a Kobo account affiliated with a bookstore is easy – just head over to www.kobo.com/indieapp  Once your account is affiliated, a portion of every Kobo purchase you make will go directly to the store you’ve chosen. You don’t need a Kobo eReader to participate – you can download the free Kobo app on any tablet, mobile device, or PC.  Outside the US, Kobo supports partnerships with Chapters Indigo in Canada, WHSmith in the UK, and FNAC in France, to name a few.

Our relationship with bookstores is also an important component of our self-publishing platform, Kobo Writing Life. When an indie author clicks “Publish” on KWL, their eBook isn’t just launched on kobo.com. It also lands on the virtual shelves of our bookstore partners worldwide. This is an exciting way to reach new readers and an opportunity for collaboration with your local bookstore.

Over the last two years, I have created unique, fun events across the US bringing together local bookstores, indie authors, and Kobo Writing Life. From digital-only book launches, to panels bringing together digital publishing experts, the possibilities are endless!

A panel of self-publishing experts speaks to over 100 attendees at Housing Works Bookstore Café in NYC.

Launch party for author Barry Lyga’s digital-only title, UNSOUL’D, at WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn, NY.

How can indie authors take advantage of this program?

            1) Publish on every platform.  By publishing directly on every platform available, including Kobo, you’re able to utilize the unique features of each one and reach fans using the various digital reading ecosystems.

2) Spread the word. Encourage your fans to buy their eBooks through their local bookstore, via Kobo.

            3) Become part of your bookstore’s community. Support your local bookseller by attending events, participating in writing groups, shopping there. Hopefully, you can establish a relationship and find a way for them to support you in return.

            4) Keep KWL in the loop. If you are an indie author collaborating with your local bookstore in a unique way, we’d love to hear about it at writinglife@kobo.com

In other exciting news, Kobo’s parent company, Rakuten Inc., recently acquired OverDrive Inc., a market leader in serving libraries and schools with eBooks, audiobooks, and video. I’m very excited about the new possibilities this partnership will create for Kobo readers and indie authors. Stay tuned for more details as our partnership grows in the coming months.

Christine Munroe is the US Manager of Kobo Writing Life, a self-publishing platform that allows you to reach millions of readers in over 190 countries for free. If you’d like more information on KWL, our bookstore partnerships, or just want to say hello, contact me at writinglife@kobo.com

Additional Links

KWL Blog: www.kobowritinglife.com

Twitter: @kobowritinglife

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KoboWritingLife

http://www.bookweb.org/news/kobo-writing-life-teams-booksellers-author-events

Creating Community Through Books

By Judith Ashley

Jan’s Paperbacks is a supporter of romance authors. I know that because I've had the pleasure of signing my books there as well as attending other authors’ signings. Also, in November 2013, owner Debbie Burke was a featured speaker at a Kobo Event held in Beaverton, OR with a massive book signing (eighteen authors) in her store that evening. Not only was I impressed with how everything was set up at the mega-signing, I found the information she shared about how to approach book stores if authors wanted them to carry their books to be invaluable.  

Diana McCollum, Judith Ashley, Sarah Raplee 

One tip was to make an appointment. Another tip was to respect that the book store as a place of business. Therefore, when customers come in, the staff need to wait on them and we, the author, need to step aside. I took those tips to heart so I made an appointment to talk to Debbie at a time that worked best for her. Jan's Paperbacks does much more than support romance and other genre authors. 

One of Debbie’s passions is creating community: a community of authors and readers.

How do Debbie and her staff do this?

Mark this date: Saturday May 16^th.

Jan’s is spinning off on the BOGO idea by promoting local authors. If you are in the area, stop by and meet local authors, purchase a book, and you’ll get a used book free. As you can see, there is something for everyone – definitely a win-win opportunity.

Want to self-publish a book? Want some ideas about marketing? Check out Jan’s educational programs for writers. Sign up for their newsletter so you can attend the next educational event. If you can’t make one of the seminars, you’ll find great books on self-publishing on the shelves.

National recognition for Debbie’s work supporting local romance authors came in the form of Jan’s Paperbacks being named a Romantic Times Book Review Magazine Bookseller in 2012.

While Jan’s Paperbacks has supported authors for many years, the other half of the equation is readers. Creating a community of young readers is one way Debbie supports readers. She works with schools, giving them discounts on books, problem solving to get new reading material into school libraries with minimal funding. She has a teachers’ “wish list” of books. Want to help? Contact Jan’s to see how you can put books into schools and make wishes come true.

Win-win is a fundamental piece of creating community. Jan’s Paperbacks has chosen to become part of the Kobo community of independent book stores. Readers can purchase digital books from Kobo through their website. Why would an independent bookstore who sells paper books promote Kobo e-readers and digital books?

“E-books are not going away,” Debbie said. “With Kobo, I’m able to educate my customers about e-books providing them with another service.” You can click on Jan’s Paperback’s website and order an e-book anytime. If you don’t have a Kobo e-reader, you can purchase one from Jan’s or just download the Kobo app to your tablet or cell phone.

Jan’s Paperbacks is located in Aloha, Oregon. If you aren't in the “greater Portland area” look for an independent book store near you. Ask about local authors, sign up for their newsletter. Supporting our local independent book store creates community and supports our local economy.

Judith Ashley is the author of The Sacred Womens' Circle series, romantic fiction that honors spiritual traditions that nourish the soul. She is also a co-founder of Romancing The Genres.

Indie Publishing, Part 2

by Madelle Morgan

I wrote about Amazon's KDP and CreateSpace platforms for self-published authors in a previous post dated August 12, 2014. The platforms enable authors to upload and sell ebooks and print books on Amazon's retail websites. 



This month I will cover Kobo, Apple's iBooks and Google Play Books. All have self-publishing platforms that enable the indie author to upload ebooks for global sale on their websites.

Kobo and Kobo Writing Life

Like Amazon, Kobo sells books in print and electronic formats. Authors upload EPUB documents via the Kobo Writing Life platform. Unlike Amazon, Kobo does not have the equivalent of CreateSpace to upload files for print on demand books. Authors have to use Lightening Source, IngramSpark or another company.

Kobo's KWL self-publishing platform went live a mere two years ago. KWL's small team of fewer than 10 employees is headquartered in Toronto, Canada and led by Mark Lefebvre, Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations. 

It's no secret that Kobo has not (yet) invested as heavily as Amazon in marketing ebooks. Kobo was bought by Japanese retailing giant Rakuten in 2011, so the potential exists for a great amount of money to be invested in the retail side of Kobo. Kobo's catalogue expanded when it absorbed Sony e-store and Borders e-store books when those ebook retailers closed.

Why should authors ensure their books are available on Kobo as well as Amazon, you ask? There are a few good reasons. First and foremost, Kobo has global retail partners. While as of July 2014 Amazon distributed to 246 countries via its own websites, Kobo has partnerships with overseas distributors and retailers such that its books are sold in 190 countries. Kobo also partners with independent bookstores who receive a percentage of sales. 

If your ebook is priced higher than $9.99 USD (Amazon's upper limit for author's 70% of list price) know that Kobo does not have an upper limit. KWL authors receive 70% for ebooks priced at $2.99 and above.

Yes, authors can save time and effort by having Smashwords (which takes its cut of revenue) distribute to Kobo. However, by uploading to Kobo via KWL yourself, you gain access to real time sales data.

You may not be aware that, beyond Kobo's extensive support to indie authors, KWL helps authors support authors. Check out the helpful author posts in The Craft of Writing and The Business of Writing. 

Apple's iBooks Store and iBooks Author

Apple owns the iBooks retail e-store for ebooks (no print). Ebooks are sold in EPUB, PDF and iBooks Author formats in approximately 50 countries. Readers download the iBooks app to their devices to access the iBooks Store. With an iTunes account you can seamlessly access video, music, apps and ebooks.

iBooks Author is Apple's self-publishing platform. The Apple ebook format is proprietary, just like the Amazon KDP format, and cannot be used to upload to other retail sites. It is not necessary for indie authors to create a file using iBooks Author. Uploading to Smashwords is the easiest channel to get indie books into the iBooks Store.

Google Play Books

Goggle Play Books is the newest retail website for ebooks (no print distribution). Authors can upload their ebooks in EPUB or PDF format through the Google Play Books Partner Center. Readers buy the books via Google Play and can preview the books via Google Books. Google Play sells ebooks in 61 countries, according to Wikipedia.   

Google Play offers the temporary advantage of improved discoverability, since relatively few authors have uploaded their books as yet. Joel Friedlander in his blog post Selling Books on Google Play: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly has more to say.

There are some concerns to note. First, the word is that uploading your ebook file via the Goggle Play Books Partner Center is no easy feat. Scarlet Cox has written a useful article entitled How to Publish to Google Play. 

On the sales side, unless a buyer knows the author name or book title, discover functionality is poor. Your cover had better be outstanding, because the buyer basically scrolls through a sea of covers. Check out the contemporary romance collection and click on a few covers. 

When signing up for an account, you'll read this in the Terms and conditions: "Revenue Split" is 52% of the List Price or Fixed Net Price as applicable." It makes Amazon's 70-30 revenue split (for ebook prices in the range of $2.99 - $9.99) appear generous. However, as with Kobo, you are not at a disadvantage if your Google Play list price is outside of Amazon's optimal range. Apparently Google Play discounts the price you list at, but you receive 52% of the list price, not the discounted price. The consensus seems to be that author net revenue from Google Play Books sales will be similar to that from retailers such as Smashwords and B&N. 

One major disadvantage: authors have no control over the Google Play discount. It makes it tricky when you are trying to price-match across retail sites.

How-to-Publish Books for the Indie Author

Are you just starting out on the self-publishing learning curve? Catherine Ryan Howard is on Santa's Good List for her blog and book Self-Printed: The Sane Person's Guide to Self-Publishing (3rd ed.). Both are excellent information sources and are written in a fun style. Be entertained while you learn!

On Kobo Writing Life's blog I discovered The Global Indie Author - Your Guide to the World of Self-Publishing, 3rd ed., by M.A. Demers. This Canadian's well-researched book and blog contain a wealth of information useful to all authors who sell ebooks globally, whether you are traditionally or indie-published. 

Cover Reveal

Tra-la! My new cover, courtesy of Kim Killion. 

Please "Like" my new Facebook page to be notified of KDP Select deals upon the January, 2015 release of this romantic suspense set in Canada's Sub-Arctic.

Happy Holidays!

Madelle

Indie Publishing via Amazon: Bits, Bytes and Bucks

by Madelle Morgan

I learned a few promotion-related tidbits important to indie romance authors (and readers) at the Romance Writers of America conference in San Antonio, Texas last month.

When I wasn't having fun with a couple of cowboys, that is...

www.facebook.com/kindlelovestories 

At a two hour workshop, Amazon representatives described how Amazon continues to evolve its services to support indie authors. Why? Simply put, self-publishing is profitable. Latest figures available show that a third of the top 100 e-books on Amazon.com were indie-published. One hundred fifty (150) authors publishing via Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) sold over $100,000 worth of books in 2013 on Amazon. That's not the total. That's the amount each author earned.

Other pluses for KDP authors are global distribution and sales data. Amazon distributes to 246 countries. KDP offers real time sales reports. Bookscan data is available describing where, geographically, books are selling for a specific period. This provides valuable, timely feedback on the impact of specific marketing initiatives. On the print side, CreateSpace is going to be offering professional services for editing, cover design and marketing indie-published print books.

Amazon's Discovery Options for Readers & Authors

KDP Select
When an author puts an e-book into the KDP Select program, the book is sold exclusively on Amazon for up to 90 days. While the author's book is in that program, the author can make it free for up to five days within that 90 day period. When not free, that book can be discounted via the Kindle Countdown Deals for up to seven days. You are probably familiar with Kindle Daily Deals. As well, a KDP Select e-book is automatically enrolled in the new Kindle Unlimited "loan" program. See below.

Stay Up To Date
This feature on the right menu on an Amazon Author Page allows readers to subscribe to an automatic email when the author has a new release. I'm absolutely loving this alert option, because when the next books in my favorite series are published I'm automatically notified.

Series Promotion
A new feature (or at least new to me) allows an author to set up a Series Landing Page - a list of all the books in a series. When a reader searches for an author and gets the list of all the author's works, she'll see a link that takes her to a page with a list of all the books in the series, in order, as well as any connected works such as box sets and short stories. If the author sets up a page for each series, that is!

Here's Marie Force's Amazon page for her series "The McCarthys of Gansett Island."

Hot New Releases
To my surprise, the books on this coveted list are chosen by the Amazon merchandizing team! It's a curated list. The books on it are not selected because of some mysterious algorithm magic.

Amazon is Enabling Readers to Read a Lot of Books Cheaply

Kindle Lending Library
This is available exclusively to Prime members. Readers have to read at least 10% of the book before the author receives any money (currently approx $2 per book loaned).

Kindle Unlimited - NEW
This service for U.S.-based subscribers has just launched. They pay $9.99 per month for unlimited reading and listening on any device. Books in KDP Select are automatically added to the Kindle Unlimited library of over 600,000 works for the duration of the time the book is in the KDP Select program. This is a wonderful way for readers to discover new authors without a financial commitment. Readers, as I understand it, please note that the book will disappear from your device the moment the audio or e-book is no longer in the KDP Select program.

Kindle Daily Deals
This has to be one of your go-to pages on Amazon.

Match Book - NEW
Purchasers of a print copy can buy the digital version for a discounted price.

Please note Kobo offers promo support such as pricing strategies along with its self-publishing platform Kobo Writing Life. Unfortunately I couldn't attend the Kobo workshop due to a conflict, but will listen to the audiotape. With promo strategies offered by innovative distributors like Amazon and Kobo, indie authors are sitting pretty, darlin'!

Any factual errors in the above descriptions are my own, not Amazon's. Blame it on these frosty delights I enjoyed while relaxing beside the beautiful Riverwalk canal.

And Finally, the RITA Goes To...

The annual Romance Writers of America RITA Awards recognize outstanding published romance novels and novellas. At this year's gala ceremony it became crystal chandelier clear to me that indie publishing has reached a tipping point. A self-published novel won the RITA in the Romantic Suspense category! Several other indie novels were nominated.

I walked onto the plane at the San Antonio airport after a great conference convinced that it's a no-brainer for an author to try self-publishing.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Madelle

www.MadelleMorgan.com