We recently finished developing six eBooks for the San Diego Reader and wanted to share them with a group of people who volunteered to write reviews. There are a few ways we could have sent them out—including email or a download page—but we chose to gift eBooks to our reviewers.
Why not email the eBook?
I can think of 3 key reasons why you want to use the stores to send eBooks to reviewers:
- Simplified reader support. Trying to talk someone through the process of loading an eBook on their [fill in the blank: iPad, smartphone, PC, etc.] is time consuming. You rarely know the technical skills of the reader and there are scores of reading devices. Leave this to the stores.
- Amazon Verified Purchase. Ever read a review and wonder if the person actually read the book? Amazon helps remove some of this doubt by at least telling shoppers that the person writing the review is the owner of the book. Good news: if you gift the book to someone, and they write a review, it will say Amazon Verified Purchase. Most people agree that these reviews are more credible.
- Copy protection. Readers may hate this but most authors and publishers I know like the fact that their eBook cannot be passed around freely. If you want to copy protect your Kindle eBook then selling on Amazon is the only way to do that. (This is not true with EPUB but it’s also not inexpensive.)
The downside, if you can call it that, is the cost of the eBook. But if you buy the book from yourself for $.99, and then gift it to your reviewer, the net cost is $.99 less 65% because you receive a 35% royalty. I don't know about you but for all the reasons stated above I think this is a pretty good deal.
Post your book for 99 cents, buy a bunch of copies, and then immediate increase the price.
How to gift Amazon Kindle eBooks
Login to your account and simply buy your eBook by clicking the large Give as a Gift link. On the next screen you have two options: email the gift to a specific email address. Or email it to yourself for handling later. I usually choose the second option because I buy several gifts at a time. This gives you maximum flexibility.
How to gift Barnes & Noble Nook eBooks
BN's link is much smaller than Amazon's but it's there right below get a sample to the right of the buy button.
How to gift Kobo eBooks
Sadly, upstart (at least in the U.S.) Kobo talks about gifting but contrary to their gifting page I can’t find the gift ebooks button! Stay tuned?
Where’s Apple?
Sorry, Apple still doesn't have a way to gift eBooks at this time.
Article: How to create a link for people to review the eBook you just gave as a gift.
photo credit: ali edwards via photopin cc
I appreciate the tips on gifting ebooks. I agree that ebooks are so much easier to deal with and they are easier to return than other books just in case they have read the book already. My brother is looking into getting some ebooks for gifts this season, I will be sure to share this information with him.