Everyone knows you can make more money (or save money) by “cutting out” the middleman. That idea is even more tempting when you consider eBooks cost nothing to manufacture beyond the cost to create the first copy. So why don’t more authors and publishers sell direct to the public rather than stores like Amazon Kindle, Apple iTunes, B&N Nook, et al? I can think of 2 primary reasons:
- Those stores have an audience. Readers visit daily to look for books to read.
- Readers of eBooks like the ease of paying for a book, and having it show up on their device or app without doing anything further.
What is interesting is that while both of these are real issues, lots of people overcome them and go on to make tens of thousands of dollars. Nathan Barry refuses to sell on Amazon and has made a small fortune with his book called Authority.
Barry’s considerable success aside, you need to think things through carefully. Here is some helpful guidance to guide your planning.
Pros and benefits of selling eBooks direct
- You keep a higher percentage of the sale.
- You can charge any price you like.
- You can offer bundles, i.e. print + eBook, for a discounted price.
- You control how your book is marketed. (no competing offers or products)
- Readers can buy immediately without having to visit or register on another site.
- You get your reader’s email address (subject to your privacy policy, of course).
- You can track where your customers are coming from.
Cons and why it might not make sense
- Readers may not know how to transfer the book to their reading app. You need a plan for customer service.
- There is no DRM (copy protection) for Kindle mobi files sold from your website. You can implement DRM for your EPUB files but it is an extra cost and you need special store software.
- You may need to collect sales tax depending on your local laws. This is something you need to research.
- It’s can be more work to setup than uploading your file(s) to the online stores.
- You cannibalize sales through your other stores. Fewer sales can mean lower rankings, which is a problem when selling in a store like Amazon’s.
- You need an audience of buyers. Sales depend on how many people visit your website, or the number of people on your mailing list.
What to look for when considering tools
Let’s say you have decided to sell direct. There several ecommerce solutions to choose from, each with features and costs that depend on a number of factors…such as these:
- Do you have one book, or many?
- Do you have items other than eBooks such as a print edition, merchandise or audio/music files?
- What is your expected sales volume?
- How important are merchandising tools such as vouchers, gifting or the ability to use payment methods other than PayPal?
- How do your needs match up with the pros and cons above? For example, if you insist on using DRM you cannot sell Kindle-compatible eBooks and you’ll be limited in your choice of EPUB selling tools.
- How technical are you? Some options may require programming skills.
- Do you want your customers to have access to their purchases after the initial download?
- What kind of analytics are you looking for?
- Does the vendor have their own store where they will feature your eBook?
- Is there any integration with social media networks such as Facebook?
- Where is the company based? Since you are dealing with financial transactions you want to make sure you are protected.
Options for selling eBooks from your website
The list below is divided into what we consider relevant for indie or self-publishers vs. publishers looking for a robust solution to support dozens or hundreds of books. New companies and services are being launched all the time but these have been with us for a few years now.
3 solutions for indie/self-publishers
Gumroad. A simple, straight-forward tool that is free and relatively easy to use.
Ganxy. Lots of great features specific to eBook publishing. Also free.
E-Junkie. A well-established vendor of e-commerce tools and capabilities.
These services are more expensive, or require more technical skills to set up
WordPress plugins such as WooCommerce. Not just for digital products, but physical products as well.
Aerio. Aerio enables you to sell your books, as well as books from other publishers. (Now owned by Ingram.)
EditionGuard. One of the few “simple” solutions for selling DRM-protected EPUB files. They also have a plugin for WordPress websites.
MyCommerce. Offers three different levels of online store functionality. More relevant for large libraries or publishers with more sophisticated needs.
Cyberwolf. Cyberwolf has expertise with Adobe Digital Editions and works with publishers interested in building their own stores.
Note: this article originally appeared in April 2013 but has been updated significantly.
photo credit: Mike Petrucci
Great article! Also, thanks for mentioning our service EditionGuard. You may be interested to know that we’ve also released free plugins for the Magento and Shopify eCommerce systems in addition to WordPress. There are plugins in the works for Drupal and Joomla as well.
Thanks Turgay. Keep us posted on your service.
Very useful article. Does anyone understand why I cannot get my mobi files to upload to Kindles from my website – they work fine direct from Amazon. If you have any insight please email me directly Susan@HealthyEmotions.co.uk Thanks
Susan, for the benefit of others…there is no reason why you cannot open a mobi file using Kindle eReading software. Obviously you have to get it on the device using a process called sideloading. It is more cumbersome for buyers of your ebook but library patrons are used to doing this with epub books they check out from the library. Btw, you can also email the mobi file to someone if they have added your email to their pre-approved list of people who can do so. It isn’t as elegant as buying from Amazon but useful in certain situations.
Hi,I have a question: Is it really allowed to sell mobi files (due to the propriety of this format) on your own website (self written books, of course)? At least, it’s forbidden top sell mobi files converted with Kindlegen/Kindle Previewer. But if you convert them with the mobiopocket creator of another freeware program …?
Does anyone knows the answer?
strategon@email.com
Yes, you can sell mobi files from your website. One reason why some people don’t is because they cannot apply DRM to the file. Only Amazon can do that.
Nice post! We are using Sellfy.com which is not listed in the article.
I see it is based in Lithuania. Please share a link to your page where you have implemented it to sell your eBook(s) and I’ll have a look.
Nice post, you can add http://www.Selz.com onto this list for authors wanting to sell direct. It easy to use on any site or blog and there is only a small fee per transaction. It has a WordPress plugin, Free Facebook Store App, and one click sharing on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Great article with a lot of food for thought. I’m in the process of setting up my self-publishing business and am currently undecided about selling books via my website. E-books are one thing, but print books are a bigger beast because you’ve got to deal with shipping fees and supplies, returns, etc. And I’m concerned about getting involved with that because I feel my time is better spent writing. So my question is, if you’re offering both a print and electronic version of your book via the major outlets (Amazon, B&N, etc.), do you think it looks unprofessional to only offer the ebook for sale via your website?
I agree that it can get distracting. I spent several hours setting up my books only to abandon the effort after joining KDP Select (for a limited time). I think you need some good website traffic volume to make it worthwhile. You can always join the Associates program and get a small commission. But if you do decide to sell the ebook only I don’t think it looks bad in the least. Btw, I still have a box of empty book shipping envelopes in the garage waiting for orders.
Build a protected EPUB file with built in reader that can be licensed to a specific computer using DocProtect 4. See details at http://www.excelsoftware.com/epub-protection
Thank you for this article!! I have been thinking about selling non-DRM epubs on my website (or at least not on BN, Kobo, and iBooks) for some time now and I’m glad to see all of these options. I’ve been gaining a small amount of readership overseas that don’t use these epub retailers and wanted a new option. So far, after reading your article and the comments, I like Ganxy and Sellz. I’ll be checking them both out!
Best of luck. You might also check out paystr.com.
Great post! In order to sell ebooks direct from your website you need to have a notorious website, I found a great online free tool for estimating website value here:
http://www.webuka.com
just try it.
Very good information. I ran across your site by chance (stumbleupon).
I’ve book-marked it for later!
The only tool you need is PayPal, which gives you buy buttons and even shopping carts.
How much browsing traffic you get is irrelevant. You can’t expect people to wanter by and buy, you need to bring them in. Which you do through links to your page. (And backlinks, BTW, are the best (if not only, anymore) way to improve your SEO)
Needing a readership and mailing list is not a drawback… it’s a Prime Directive.
(BTW, I’ve been selling off my own site since before there was FaceBook of Amazon. Have sold thousands of a single title. For some types of books (small pocketsized books, for instance) it’s the only way to go.)
Great job David! Emmy and I say a big HELLO…
Great feedback, Linton.