How to Publish an Ebook for Multiple Platforms

Publishing ebooks is a great way to expand your market and earn additional revenue. Your ebook publishing strategy depends on how you are publishing your books:

• If you have a traditional publisher, they are probably already creating and selling ebook versions of your books, assuming that they own the digital rights to the book. If your books aren't in ebook format yet, find out why.

• If you are working with a subsidy publisher (often called a "self-publishing company"), they may be able to publish an ebook for Kindle, Nook and other devices. Some publishers include this service in a book publishing package, while others charge a separate fee. Read the fine print to determine where your ebook will be distributed, how it will be priced, and how much you will be paid. Ideally, you want the ebookstore accounts set up directly in your name so that you are receiving the full royalties. If your publisher's fees seem too high or you want the freedom to do it yourself and earn the full royalty, read on to learn how to publish an ebook.

• If you are an independent publisher, then it's up to you to learn how to publish and sell an ebook. Here are four steps to publishing an ebook:

1. Maximize the sales potential of your book. 

Remember that an ebook is not simply a copy of a printed book. For example, it's best to minimize the amount front matter in an ebook (front matter is the material that comes before the first chapter of your book). Potential customers on sites such as Amazon will be able to download the first 10 percent of your book as a free sample, and you don't want your sample to consist largely of front matter such as acknowledgements, preface, etc.

Reduce or eliminate as much of the front matter as you are comfortable with, but be sure to include your website address on the title or copyright page. A table of contents is important for nonfiction books, but you may want to reduce the length of it.

I recommend reading Kindle In-Book Promotions by Steven Lewis to learn how to take full advantage of the free preview and "Before You Go" features of the Kindle, cross promote other products, and get more reviews for your ebooks.

2. Format your book for ebook publishing.

Formatting your book to display properly on ebook reading devices is the most challenging part of the process and there are several ways to go about it. You can upload a properly formatted Word document; create a .mobi file (for Amazon) or .epub file; publish through a third party such as Smashwords.com; or hire an expert to handle the formatting for you.

Here are some helpful sources for formatting information:

• The Smashwords Style Guide is an excellent guide to producing a clean Word document, free of hidden codes that will cause problems. Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes & Noble will accept a clean Word document, but you may still find some formatting issues in the finished ebooks. (For example, I found extra line breaks in several places in my first Kindle book, even though the Word document looked fine.)
  

• Amazon has written simplified instructions for creating mobi files.  Also see the left column of that page for helpful links about creating and selling Kindle ebooks.

• Click the Formatting Guides link on this page to learn more about creating epub files for the Barnes & Noble Nook.

• Subscribers to my Savvy Book Marketing Newsletter can read more details in my article Publishing an Ebook - 4 Ways to Prepare Your Ebook Files, available in the newsletter archive.

3. Choose your ebook sales platforms.

Amazon's Kindle Store still dominates the market for ebook sales, but several other ebookstores are gaining ground. My preferred method of publishing ebooks is to upload them to three sales platforms, in this order:

• The top priority is to make your ebook available on Amazon using the Kindle Direct Publishing platform.

• To make your book available in the Barnes & Noble ebookstore for Nook users, use their PubIt platform. Barnes & Noble requires a U.S. bank account, U.S. credit card, and U.S. tax ID. Also, they do not permit any promotional material for other products, requests for reviews, or author/publisher contact information.

• Publishing through Smashwords is the easiest way to get your ebook listed in the other major ebookstores, including those for Apple, Sony and Kobo. There’s no upfront cost and you earn a hefty royalty for each ebook sold. You can also publish to the Barnes & Noble store through Smashwords, which may be a good option for authors located outside of the United States.

You should know that the formatting options are limited when using Smashwords. You upload a very basic MS Word file and their "meat grinder" software automatically formats the file so that it can be used in a number of different ebook reading platforms, including a PDF version.

You can also publish directly to the Apple store, if you have a Mac computer with QuickTime 7.0.3 or later, are able to upload the book in epub format, have a U.S. tax ID number, and provide a unique ISBN for the ebook. See this article for more information.

4. Set the ebook price and upload your information.

Once your file is prepared, the process of publishing an ebook is just a matter of registering on your chosen platforms and completing an online form.

It's best to set the same price for all ebook platforms, and be sure to review the royalty options. For example, Amazon pays a 70 percent royalty on ebooks priced between $2.99 and $9.99.  Subscribers to my newsletter will find an article about pricing strategies in the newsletter archive.

Before you begin the publishing process, make sure that you have strong sales copy for the ebook, and review these tutorials from Joel Friedlander, The Book Designer, for publishing to Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble. 

Learn More About Ebook Publishing

• Sales of Ebooks and Reading Devices Soar 
• 6 Reasons Why You Need to Publish Ebooks
• Quick Start Guide to Marketing Your Kindle eBooks Like a Pro!

Comments

[Timothy Dean]

As an indie (with an incorporated LLC publisher, in which I'm a principal), I have a few suggestions regarding ebook preparation and sale. You can use a "publisher for hire" if you want, from Lulu to Amazon's CreateSpace (and if you also intend to put your book out in paperback as a Publish On Demand - POD - you'll probably need one of these). BUT it's tough to make money as an author. You need to watch how many middlemen you put between you and your royalties! So I recommend you buy services "a la carte." Don't give away percentages of sale unless you have to!

In order to keep most of the pie, here's one distribution model:

1) Upload directly to Amazon [for the Kindle platform https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/signin]. It's picky work, but not hard - follow the clear instructions. You're going to want your own account with the biggest seller out there, bar none. This way, you get the entire 70% commission (when you sell at a price point between $2.99 and 9.99). You don't need someone to upload your MS for you, control sales reporting, and keep a piece of your action.

2) Upload directly to Barnes and Noble as well, for the Nook, through their own Pubit, their digital Amazon-like arm [http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home]. This way, again, you get the whole author tamale. Why not?

3) Upload to Smashwords. In my experience, their sales are much smaller than Amazon, but it's worth doing. AND you can create a coupon to give downloads of your book away at a discount, or free - you decide. This is great for promotions, and as a way to distribute to reviewers etc.

After you qualify for the premium catalog (which just means they vet your book to make sure it's professional, from cover to formatting - and if you're already on Amazon, it will be) this puts you in front of the i-world (Apple). In addition, you choose where Smashwords distributes (3rd party). Allow your MS to be downloadable in Kindle and Nook formats, but don't use Smashwords to distribute to Amazon or B&N since you're already there. Smashwords goes a lot of other places! They take 15% of any sales, and more when there are other distributors involved - but the good news is, this is "off the back end." That is, you pay nothing unless and until a sale is made.

There! I've just given you what I've learned in two years of online distribution and marketing!

I love Dana's newsletters and info-stuffed books, by the way. As an author of fiction, I post tips I learn from selling in the real world. "Like" my page and get 'em free. (Thanks Dana!)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/TEETH-The-Epic-Novel-With-Bite-by-Timothy-James-Dean/172077328993

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Thanks for the real-word perspective, Timothy (and your kind words about my work). I agree with the publishing to Amazon/B&N/Smashwords approach - that's what I'm doing with my own ebooks. Great tip about the coupons on Smashwords. You can also publish free promotional books on Smashwords.

Also, I want to clarify that all three of these platforms allow you to upload a Word document, but you do need to clean it up first to get rid of formatting problems. I'm making a note in the article.

Dana

[Buy Essays]

Your post really helped me to understand the this. It has great details and yet it is easy to understand.That's what i was looking for. I will definitely share it with others.Thanks for sharing.

[Missy]

Hi, Dana:

First how do we receive notice of a reply to a comment? I don't see an alert button anywhere. Let me know.

I have an ebook in the works and I've already uploaded a copy via Amazon, but I also want to upload to the other ebook readers such as Kobo and Nook. Plus the iPhone too.

Would you say the best method for this is to submit my MS to Smashwords? And if so, would an Open Office word doc suffice to get it approved there?

Let me know.

Cheers,
Missy

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Hi Missy,

Sorry, but the "subscribe to comments" button seems to have disappeared - I will send a help ticket to Typepad about that.

You can upload directly to Nook, but Smashwords is the best way to publish to the other bookstores. I think they require a .doc file, but you would need to check their specs to be sure. There's a link to their style guide in the article above.

Dana

[Missy]

Great! Thanks for your speedy reply.

[First years wave stroller]

Fantastic post Dana, i have been searching for a post like this and i'm absolutely thrilled that i have stumbled across this website. i am currently close to finishing my book...this gives me great encouragement to go ourt and monitize my efforts.

Thank you very much for sharing.

[Rosalie Marsh]

Dana,
Thanks for all the insider information which comes with your newsletters. The facts about Apple, B&N etc are welcome. I have published Chasing Rainbows:with Just Us Two on Amazon kdp and love their promotional activities in linking books etc. My two new Lifelong Learning:Personal Effectiveness Guides are due in Print on Sept. 1st, also with worldwide distribution. They will also go on Amazon kdp ( I love their sales rankings which are a good marketing tool)but the jury is still out on the best way forward for other formats.
Have been deliberating for some time. The problem is that living outside US with no US bank account usually means no electronic transfer of royalties and a minimum amount for cheque payment (USD which has to be converted) so you can end up with little pots of money in various stores until there is enough of each to be issued. Then there is the US tax situation.
One question. Do Smashwords target retailers outside the US or are sales US only?

[Rob Aaron]

Question for you experienced guys and gals: I am almost finished with my e-book and want to market it exclusively on my web-site. I am not concerned about the volume. I may later choose to publish with the other retailers.

My question is, can I do this? Can I format the book for the Kindle, the Nook, and the iPad and sell it exclusively on my website? Is this allowed by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple?

For now, I want 100% control.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Rob Aaron
Neebie to all of this!

[Dana Lynn Smith]

Hello Rob,

I can't think of a reason why you can't sell the Kindle (prc), Nook and iPad (epub) files directly from your website. But customers may find it inconvenient to have to load the files onto their device. When they buy from the Kindle etc. store, the book is automatically zapped onto their ebook reader (kind of like magic). You will also get more exposure on those stores and people are more comfortable shopping there.

If it's a nonfiction book, you can also sell PDF ebooks from your site.

Good luck with your ebook!
Dana