My Book is Written, What Is My Next Step?
Explaining Book Distribution for Traditionally Published and Self-Published Authors
My Book is Written Now What Do I Do?
Book Distribution Options for the Self-Published and Traditionally Published
Last week I posted an article about book distribution and aggregators. I made the point that book distribution is important to understand for both traditionally published (published with a formal publisher like Harper Collins) and self-published authors. I had a few questions from subscribers that prompted me to write another article. Let’s take a step back from distribution and review publishing choices and then how distribution plays a role in getting your book seen and sold.
Many aspiring writers ask the question: My book is written, what do I do now?
Let’s begin to answer that question:
with a review of your publishing choices.
1. Traditional Publishing
2. Self-Publishing
Traditional publishing: the publishing company (i.e., Harper Collins, Sourcebooks) handles everything to create your book. They then distribute it and sell it. The publisher owns the book. The author provides the manuscript and supports the book marketing
Self-publishing: You create your book, distribute it and sell it. You own your book. You could create a formal publishing company yourself (as a business) and THEN publish your own book in a traditional manner. I created a publishing company, for example, and called it New Buck Press. New Buck Press purchased isbn #’s, hired an editor and a book designer, secured a distributing contract, printed and fulfilled orders for my first book, It Gets Easier and Other Lies We Tell New Mothers in 2008.
Today, (lol, just 14 years later) it is not necessary to create your own publishing company. You can create your book almost from a Word doc, upload it to a retailer (like KDP), and be “published.” However, if you want to get your book seen and sold you really need a balance between creating your own publishing company and simply uploading a word document to a retailer (or aggregator). A shrewd book distribution strategy is key for a successful self-published book.
Book Distribution Options and Strategies: Retailers and Aggregators
What is Book Distribution?
An easy way to understand book distribution is to compare it to the cable tv shows that you watch all the time. You may have noticed that a show that airs on one cable company can also end up on other paid platform channels. For example, the STARZ show Outlander can also be seen on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The show Outlander can be seen on several video platforms. The creator of show distributes the show on several video platforms. Each platform pays for the show.
Book distribution is the same idea. Your book can be uploaded to many different platforms (retailers and aggregators) who then sell the book on their platforms. When you see a movie, as another example, the beginning credits flash company names as “brought to you by.” Many of those names are movie distributors. It is the same idea.
As a self-publisher, you decide on the distribution of your book. In a previous article, I suggested some ideas of how you could mix and match distribution platforms to sell your book and a few other great resources for you to learn more about the specific platforms out there. The book distribution retailers and aggregators are changing all the time, btw. They add services, change offerings, deals, conditions, and sometimes they even merge together. Look at the choices as more options for you to get your books seen and sold! Two types of book distributors are Retailers and Aggregators.
Book Distribution Choices – Retailers vs Aggregators
Book Retailers: A book retailer takes your already created book file and offers it for sale on their site. You basically upload your eBook and/or POD file and they sell it for you on their site. They take a cut of the sale. Amazon (KDP) is a great example and it just happens to have the biggest slice of market as a book retailer. While your book will have the largest audience, it is also very crowded and hard for new books to be seen. If you select Amazon’s KDP Select Program, Amazon is the only place you can sell it for a period of time (exclusivity). Note: You CAN select Amazon to distribute your eBook and opt out of the KDP Select program whereby they do NOT have exclusivity and you can place your book with other distributors as well.
Book Aggregators:
An aggregator is a company takes your book and gets it placed on different online platforms (kobo, apple books), retailers (amazon and B&N) as well as bookstores and libraries, in some cases. You have to research which aggregators work with which platforms and retailers and which distribute eBooks and/or print books?
Each book aggregator is a little different so they each must be researched to see if it is a good fit for you. You can also work with several aggregators. The aggregator is the middleman between you and the retailer. Once you submit your book (eBook & POD) to them, they submit your book to the other platforms for sale for you.
Why do I need to care about distribution if I am traditionally published?
You already know that regardless of whether you are self-published or traditionally published you need to market your book. The same responsibility applies to the distribution of your book. Yes, your publisher will handle distribution but wouldn’t it be useful to know their distribution strategy as well? If you are on it, you can ask questions and make suggestions. At the very least, you can use the information to monitor your book’s success.
Feel free to ask any questions about book distribution in the comments or any stories of your book distribution choices if you have already been down the road.
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