Udhay, many thanks for pointing me in the right direction. John, thanks for your response. I will peruse your resource guide before coming back with more questions. It is pretty hard to decide which way to go - feel like I am circled by sharks;-)
Radhika On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 4:59 AM, John Sundman <[email protected]> wrote: > 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)) > > > -- “Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream." ~ Lao Tzu (courtesy -Peacefrog) ““The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.” -- Mary Oliver
