Ebook Distribution

Amazon Kindle's Direct Publishing program and Barnes & Noble's PubIt system make it very easy to upload and manage your ebooks. The other retailers are getting there, but they have some work to do. You can tell Amazon started as an online retailer--they are a well-oiled e-commerce machine.

Currently, successful indie pubbers have made a majority of their sales through Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Apple and other companies are gunning for the big two, trying to take market share as they sell more of their competing devices.

Distribution also occurs through retailers' app stores. The apps are free--readers pay for the books. You don't need to do anything extra to be on a retailer's app. If your ebook is on their site, it will show up in the app, too. 

Apple makes it more challenging to get your work into their iWorld. The best way seems to be going though an aggregator. You can go directly through Apple, but they don't make payments until you reach a certain threshold. I chose the aggregator route because it allows me to distribute my ebooks to Apple and other retailers through one site. Check out the Aggregator page for details.

Smashwords, a popular aggregator, is one of the easiest ways to get your ebooks distributed to the various e-tailers. If you make sales directly from Smashwords, you get 85%. If you make sales through other retail channels, you get 60% instead of 70%. For more details go here: Smashwords FAQ. 

Here are links to additional ebook retailers:

Google Books -- web-based reading system. 

Kobo -- affiliated with Borders. As of now, you have to email Kobo to set up an account.

Reader Store (Sony) -- suggests that you go through Smashwords or Author Central to get content on their site.

Presently, this is how I'm distributing my ebooks:

• Directly through Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
• Indirectly to Apple and Sony through BookBaby (aggregator).

Check out the Pricing page and the Aggregator page for more details involving distribution.