How to sell your eBook via Amazon and the iBookstore

Your eBook is bound for the big time, you can feel it. Now you just need to get it into as many eReading devices as possible. What do you do?

Distributing via eReaders is a different game than just reading on them.

If you want Kindle and iPad friendly versions, you don’t have to jump through as many hoops as those who want to sell via Amazon or Apple’s iBookstore. If you have a PDF eBook, the new OS 4 for iPhone and iPad will have a PDF-viewing capability built in. There are also “apps for that.”

Kindle reads two file formats that are proprietary, but once you’ve converted your document all a Kindle owner will have to do is email it to their device or transfer using the USB connection.

Format is King

• iBookstore (virtual book store for iPhone, iPad) formats accepted: ePub, PDF
• Amazon.com (sells eBooks for Kindle) formats accepted: AZW, Mobipocket

ePub files are also compatible with a wide range of other devices like Nook and Sony Reader. The bad news is that PDF files, though it’s the only format that supports formatting-heavy documents with tables, graphics and forms, unless you have an iPad they will not be “zoom-able” and legibility may be lost. For now, neither ePub nor AZW/Mobipocket files can support much more than text, bullets and images.

For a great resource on converting your PDF or MS Word document to various eBook formats starting at $1 per page, check out eBook Architects.

Apple’s iBookstore

Selling your eBooks via Apple’s iBookstore, unless using an Apple-approved vendor, will require:

• Purchase of an ISBN-13 from the U.S. ISBN Agency ($125)
• Submitting your ePub file to ePub Check.
• A U.S. Tax ID and iTunes Store account with credit card on file
• Mac that meets the technical requirements stated in the application

The good news is that once your vendor application is approved, there is no limit to the number of books you can distribute. However, Apple states that it doesn’t pay vendors “until they meet payment requirements and earning thresholds in each territory.” If you want to get paid faster (and possibly get a ‘free’ ISBN), consider going through an Apple-approved aggregator such as BiblioCore, Book Baby, Lulu or Smashwords.

Amazon.com

Amazon makes things a lot more straightforward. You can distribute your eBook on Amazon using their Digital Text Platform which requires you set up a seller account, but not to purchase an ISBN number.

Giving up a cut

• iBookstore: Apple takes 30%, you keep 70% of the revenue. This may vary if you work with a third-party payment aggregator, some charge one-time flat fees and some take a percentage.
• Amazon.com pays you 35% of the purchase price, they call them royalties in the distribution agreement.

There’s nothing stopping you from using both.

The larger payout and glam-factor of distributing content through the iBookstore is appealing, but you’ll have to shell out $125 for an ISBN and possibly wait for approval. The Kindle is not as rich an end-user experience, but Amazon.com is massive and they offer free file conversion (I’ll report back on how that turns out for the Sticky eBook Formula).

Happy eReading!