I have published ebooks using (1) Smashwords (which takes source input, formats
it, and distributes it to a variety of channels, such as Apple, Barnes & Noble,
Kobo, etc), (2) using Amazon's "Kindle Direct" program and (3) using Unglue.it.
Smashwords makes output available in various formats, including .mobi (kindle),
epub, PDF, etc.
Both routes (Amazon and Smashwords (Apple, B&N, etc)) allow you to use or not
use DRM, and both allow you to set the price, which may be zero. (Amazon has an
obnoxious clause in their contract which allows them to pretty much set the
price of your book to whatever they want, but to a first approximation you can
set the price).
Although I have four titles available as ebooks, only one of them ("Acts of the
Apostles") is available through the Smashwords route. This is because in early
versions of Smashwords, the source book had to be in MS Word format, and two of
my books were not in that format and I didn't feel like taking the time to
convert them & clean them up & put them through the machinery.
My books, which are under Creative Commons license, are also available from
Unglue.it, where you can get them for free, or, if you like, make a cash
contribution. Unglue.it also has a program whereby books are released under
traditional copyright until either (a) a stipulated amount of time has passed
or (b) a stipulated amount of $$ has been raised through sales or (c) a
combination of A & B.
To summarize the above: my books are available for free, for purchase, and for
a suggested donation in any of a variety of formats through a variety of
channels. I like it better when people pay for books than when they get them
for free, but they are in fact pretty easy to find for free all over the net,
at places like those I've mentioned already, plus free ebook sites like Obooko
& torrent sites.
As a practical matter, sales through Amazon greatly outnumber sales through all
other sources combined. Amazon has a program whereby if if you give them
exclusive rights to sell your book, you allegedly get better financial terms
and more visibility. I have not done this and would urge extreme caution before
giving anybody, especially Amazon, exclusive rights.
During 2012-2013 was also Director of Quality at ebook startup Zola Books in
NYC, so I became pretty intimately familiar with the various transformations
that ebook content and metadata go through en route from publisher to consumer,
and with the software architecture of both the server side and client (that is,
ebook reader) side. ( My books are not available from Zola because Zola, during
my time there, was not set up to accept self-published books. I'm not sure
where things stand now, but the logical path would be for Smashwords & Zola to
do a deal whereby Zola would become another retail option for Smashwords
authors).
I'd be happy to talk about any of these things on or off the list. There are
also lots of self-help sites out there, and very good guides. I particularly
recommend The Book Designer: http://www.thebookdesigner.com
I've put links below for any who might like to check out my books. My books,
like most of Cory's, (very) loosely fall into the SF/cyberpunk genre of
fiction. If any listmembers have read them & have anything nice to say about
them, feel free to give a shout-out.
Regards,
jrs
Unglue.it:
http://blog.unglue.it/2014/04/30/thanks-for-ungluing-launches/
Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/John-Sundman/e/B000APLYB4
Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/10798
> On Jan 13, 2015, at 12:56 AM, Udhay Shankar N <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> On this list, I can immediately think of Cory Doctorow & John Sundman. I'm
> sure there are others too.
>
> --
> ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((via phone))
