Why Italy is charging higher VAT on ebooks without an ISBN

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In their most recent email reminder regarding changes in VAT in the EU, Amazon added a footnote regarding Italy: that also of January 1st, Italy has implemented new legislation that charges a higher rate of VAT on ebooks that do not have an ISBN. eBooks that do not contain an ISBN are charged 22% VAT, while ebooks with an ISBN are charged a rate of only 4%. Before the indie forums light up with declarations that this is a war on ebooks and/or Amazon or Kobo (where ebooks can be Read More …

Changes to EU VAT lead to changes in Kindle contract

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ATTENTION KDP authors: As was discussed in the third edition of The Global Indie Author, and in my recent public lectures, on January 1st the whole of the EU changes from a seller-based system to a consumer-based system with regards to VAT on ebooks, with what is known as the destination principle. The destination principle is intended to close the loophole whereby companies such as Amazon, Apple, Google, et cetera registered themselves in the EU in Luxembourg where VAT on ebooks is the lowest in the EU, at 3%. This Read More …

LSI ending their distribution relationship with Amazon

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The POD manufacturer Lightning Source International (LSI), owned by Ingram Content Group, announced on Friday (yes, a typical release-bad-news-on-Friday-and-hope-nobody-pays-attention move) that LSI will no longer be distributing directly to Amazon, B&N, Baker & Taylor, Espresso Book Machine, and NACSCORP, and to other wholesale distributors in the U.S. Instead, all titles will now be distributed only via Ingram Book Group, who in turn will resell to all retailers and other wholesale distributors. What this means is that Ingram, who previously did not earn a fee on LSI sales to the aforementioned Read More …

Third edition of The Global Indie Author now available in Canada

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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

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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 …

Unpacking Amazon’s propaganda

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As the dispute between Amazon and Hachette ramped up earlier this year, Amazon tried to exercise some leverage by delaying the sale of Hachette titles as well as increasing print book prices and changing Amazon’s algorithms to Hachette’s disadvantage. Hachette authors took to social media, and Amazon customers, accustomed to finding what they want at prices they like, were similarly annoyed. In an attempt to counter the barrage of bad publicity, on 29 July Amazon posted their version of events on the Kindle Forum. The delivery of the message on Read More …

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

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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 …

Kindle expand into Canada – is CreateSpace next?

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Previously, Kindle customers in Canada were serviced by the U.S. site but now Amazon have opened a dedicated Kindle store on the Amazon.ca site. Indie authors whose books are available worldwide will automatically see their ebooks listed on the Canadian site at a price converted from your U.S. dollar price; if you want to set a separate Canadian dollar price, you need to visit your dashboard and update your book’s info. Those authors with a Canadian bank account can now elect to be paid for Canadian sales in Canadian dollars, Read More …

Will there be professional writers in future?

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In a recent Globe and Mail article, British writer Ewan Morrison makes the bold proclamation that “There will be no more professional writers in the future.” Putting aside the hyperbole of that statement, or what defines “professional,” article writer John Barber does make a few salient points about the trajectory we writers have been on for some time now: From the heights of the literary pantheon to the lowest trenches of hackery, where contributors to digital “content farms” are paid as little as 10 cents for every 1,000 times readers Read More …

Should indie authors embrace Kindle Format 8? Not yet.

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UPDATE DECEMEBER 2013: Kindle Format 8, when properly coded into your CSS, is now more stable across the Kindle platform for those devices able to read it. However, authors using Word and exporting to HTML, then uploading to Amazon for automatic conversion, cannot take advantage of this stability. Why? Because Word unfortunately does not create the kind of CSS required for proper KF8. For example, the drop cap in Word is created using a form of table code that does not translate well across Kindle devices. To create a proper Read More …