Thinking about self-publishing and want to know about the biggest retailers for your digital and print books? Well, independent writers, we break it down for you in our easy-to-navigate guide below.
A few years ago writers had to use a distributor to get their books into all the major retailers. Now, most retailers allow authors to directly upload their books. This is great because you can also maximize on royalties this way.
When uploading an ebook or a book for print on demand, it’s a good idea to upload your book to the four retailers outlined below.
But first, you need to get your manuscript into the correct format. As you might already know, different retailers require different file formats for readable conversion on their devices.
The file conversions for each device are as follows:
- MOBI/PRC: Amazon
- EPUB: Barnes and Noble (NookPress), Apple iBooks, Kobo (also now Sony)
- PRINT READY PDF: CreateSpace, Ingram
Amazon
- Known as KDP, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (http://kdp.amazon.com)
- Over 60% of market (guesstimate)
- 25% of revenues on Amazon come from self-published titles in US
- Royalties: 70% if your book is between $2.99 and $9.99
- You need a PRC or MOBI file: 50MB
- Cover: At least 1000px on longest size, JPEG or TIFF, 1.6 height-width ratio
- Don’t hardcode page numbers
- To sell your book you will need to submit tax and bank Information
Barnes and Noble
- Known as Nook Press (http://nookpress.com)
- Formerly PubIt!
- Roughly 25% of ebook market (guesstimate)
- Royalties are about 65%
- You will need to upload an EPUB File: 20MB
- Cover: Optimal: between 750px and 2000px in length, JPEG, 5KB to 2MB
- To sell your book you will need to submit tax and bank Information
iBooks
- Apple iBookStore
- Less than 25% of ebook market (guesstimate)
- You will need to upload an EPUB File: 2 GB
- Great for enhanced ebooks
- Royalties are 70%
- Cover: Minimum 1400px along smaller side, JPEG or PNG file
- To sell your book you need to input your bank and tax information
- You need a Mac and an iTunes Connect account
- You will need to download iTunes Producer
Kobo
- Kobo Writing Life – kobowritinglife.com
- Single digits market share (guesstimate)
- Royalties are 70%
- You will need to upload an EPUB File: 200 MB
- Cover: Optimal: 600px x 860px, JPEG, PNG
- To sell your book you need to input your bank and tax information
Covers
Even though cover sizes range based on the retailer, you can create one cover. Just make sure it is in JPEG format and is 1600 by 2400 pixels.