Using charm pricing to increase your book sales

Many self-published authors, focused as they are on the U.S. market, tend to take the lazy road and simply input a USD price and allow the likes of CreateSpace, Amazon, and Kobo to auto-convert to other currencies. The problem with this approach is that, between currency fluctuations and differences in sales tax in various countries, one’s book price can be all over the map. More importantly, however, by taking this approach you are likely cheating yourself out of a potentially lucrative sales strategy: charm pricing. Charm pricing, also known by Read More …

Changes to EU VAT affect all sellers, not just Amazon

In my previous post on the January 2105 changes to the VAT system in the EU, the focus is on Amazon since the VAT changes mean a change to Kindle Direct Publishing’s pricing system and royalty structure. However, authors need to be aware that these changes do not affect only Amazon, they affect all ebook sellers across the EU. Kobo’s system is currently VAT-inclusive for the EU, so authors will not see a change to Kobo’s system; however, authors will see a change to their royalty payments since VAT is Read More …

Third edition of The Global Indie Author now available in Canada

Well, after much trial and tribulation, the third edition of The Global Indie Author is out now in Canada. Readers can find it on Chapters/Indigo and Amazon.ca. By the way, that “Usually delivers in 3-5 weeks” declaration on the Amazon.ca website is nonsense; the book delivers in less than a week. The extended delivery time is just part of Amazon/CreateSpace’s strategy against competitor Lightning Source, which, incidentally, is covered in detail in the book. If you want to avoid supporting Amazon, buy from the Chapters/Indigo website, where the book is Read More …

Third Edition of The Global Indie Author is now available in U.S. and Europe

The third edition of The Global Indie Author is out now in print on Amazon U.S., UK, Germany, France, Spain, and Italy. All other territories coming soon! eBooks are also on the way. As mentioned in my previous post, the third edition features a new cover, new subtitle — to reflect the truly global phenomenon that self-publishing has become — and a great deal of new content (over 80 pages). The technical chapters have been completely overhauled to deal with the complexities of image handling, the increasing frustrations of font Read More …

Nook expanding into mainland Europe – will it be enough to save the company?

As of March 18, 2014, publishers in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium can now publish directly with NOOK Press and no longer need to rely on an aggregator as B&N rolls out sites in these countries. The revamped nookpress.com can now be interacted with in seven languages — US English, UK English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch — and ebooks will be priced in euros as well as the current U.S. dollar and UK pound sterling. However, this does not mean your titles will Read More …

The offensive against the offensive: self-published erotica comes under fire

Amazon have removed from their catalogue several self-published ebooks that depict violent acts of rape and incest, and today Kobo Writing Life authors will have received an email from KWL director Mark Lefebvre indicating that Kobo are following suit. The current offensive is the result of an article on the British technology website The Kernel that found for sale on Amazon pornographic titles such as Naughty Daughter Abducted And Pounded By Daddy’s Cock: Anal Sex And BDSM With My Step Father (taboo daddy daughter erotica) by Shannon Leigh. It cited Read More …

B&N’s new Nook Press: a disappointing new platform

Barnes and Noble’s Nook platform has been struggling since its inception, and the company has revamped PubIt! into a new publishing platform, Nook Press, in the hope of bringing more indie authors on board. The new platform allows authors to write online, share their developing content with a select group of peers, and then publish their book as an allegedly viable ePub. The platform is akin to that of FastPencil’s, which, if I understand correctly, partnered with B&N to develop Nook Press. The new platform even allows authors to download Read More …

B&N’s new Nook Press: who owns your ebook?

Barnes and Noble’s new Nook Press platform is making headlines among bloggers, but what I haven’t seen addressed yet is what happens to your original content if you decide to leave Nook Press. The Terms and Conditions state that: You hereby grant to Barnes & Noble, its distributors, licensees and partners a non-exclusive, worldwide, irrevocable right and license to make your eBooks available for sale, marketing, display, distribution and promotion in any commercially available electronic or digitized format or on any electronic device platform whether now existing or hereafter created Read More …

UK publisher Pearson invest in Nook

Barnes & Noble’s Nook have slowly been making inroads into the UK market, selling their ereaders at grocery chain Sainsbury’s and through the bookstore chain Blackwells. Now it seems things are looking up for B&N with today’s announcement that UK publisher Pearson has bought a 5% stake in Nook Media for $89.5M. Previously, Microsoft had invested in Nook Media, which have been aggressively pursuing the academic market in the U.S., with Microsoft now owning a 16.8% share in the company. In the UK I expect to see B&N adopt the Read More …

Microsoft buy portion of B&N’s Nook

Just a few months ago it was rumored that B&N would no longer develop the Nook, and Nook owners were worried about the fate of their devices. Today, it was announced that Microsoft have bought a 17.6% stake in the company, and plans are to integrate the Nook into the Windows operating system. On the surface this seems like exciting news, but with the advance criticism of Microsoft’s Windows 8 already making the rounds, it will be interesting to see how lucrative, if at all, this deal is for B&N. Read More …