What? Publish somewhere other than Amazon? Are you nuts?
So, many authors today tend to publish their ebooks exclusively through Amazon. There is an advantage to doing it that way, of course, as Amazon allows you some perks like countdown deals, free book days and to make your ebook available through Kindle Unlimited, but there are some serious downsides to it as well.
The upside is primarily Kindle Unlimited (KU). KU is a subscription system which allows people to read all the books available on KU for no extra charge (beyond the subscription cost). For many, this is quite lucrative (my understanding is that Romance novels REALLY benefit from KU–as well as a few others).
The downside is this: you’re closing off access to selling your books on Kobo, Google Books, Apple iBooks, and a whole whack of other places.
Because of that, it’s often wise to consider “going wide.” To go wide with your books is to make your ebook available everywhere you can. If you use a distributor like Ingram (or a system like Smashwords), they will make your book available all over the place, but if you sign up directly with the individual sites, you will generally get the best royalty for your books.
I’ve blogged about using Ingram as a Distributor, setting up with Google and setting up with KDP (Amazon), and setting up with Apple, but today I want to take a quick look at going direct with Kobo. It’s generally best to go direct with an online seller if you can as you tend to get more of your profits. If you sell directly through Kobo (as opposed to indirectly going through a distributor like Ingram), you can get a 70% royalty on ebook sales.
NOTE: for creating ebooks, check out my blogs on using:
Just FYI, Kobo is the second largest ebook retailer in the world. As an author, they are worth paying attention to!
The process with Kobobooks is VERY easy.
Here’s a quick overview:
– Setting up an account is relatively simple and similar to what you would expect from Amazon (although I found Kobo a little quicker and easier than Amazon).
– You’ll need your information such as your name and address as well as banking information and publishing company (assuming you have a publishing company listed under your name).
– I found the process to be VERY easy to work through. I am impressed with Kobo.
– To set up a book, Kobo takes you through five screens: 1) Describe your book; 2) Add eBook content; 3) Rights and Distribution; 4) Set the Price; 5) Publish your eBook.
– You’ll need your information such as your name and address as well as banking information and publishing company (assuming you have a publishing company listed under your name).
– I found the process to be VERY easy to work through. I am impressed with Kobo.
– To set up a book, Kobo takes you through five screens: 1) Describe your book; 2) Add eBook content; 3) Rights and Distribution; 4) Set the Price; 5) Publish your eBook.
So, head over to Kobo Writing Life, and away you go!
First, set up an account. After you set up your account, here are a few things you’ll need for your first book with them:
1. ebook formatted and ready to go (they’ll take epub, .doc, .docx, .mobi, .odt)
NOTE: epub and Mobi are ebook files, while the others are documents. Kobo will covert your doc or docx to an ebook format, but it’s possible with the conversion, the ebook might not look the way you want it to look. You are better off using something like Vellum, Pressbooks, Scrivener, Draft2Digital (my simple recommendation, or Jutoh 3.0 (my recommendation for the best versatile ebook creation) to produce your ebook and then upload an already formatted file… so it looks the way you want it to look…
I’ll be honest… I’m also a little hesitant about using a Mobi file with Kobo. Mobi is Amazon’s file, and I would be concerned that any conversion Kobo has to do might not produce the results you desire. I would recommend you set up your book the way you want as an epub and upload that file.
2. ebook cover art in jpg or png format (1×1.6 ratio–1600×2560 pixels or 2500×4000 pixels) NOTE: maximum 5mb in size
3. ISBNs for your ebook and for a print copy (these are optional–nice to have so you can tie your books and sales together across platforms). NOTE: KOBO doesn’t produce print copies, but including your print ISBN will tie your print together with your ebook.
It is not necessary to have an ISBN for an ebook, although there are benefits to having your own ISBN.
It is not necessary to have an ISBN for an ebook, although there are benefits to having your own ISBN.
This is what Kobo has to say about ISBNs:
You will still be able to publish your book on Kobo without an ISBN and sell in over 190 countries worldwide as we will issue our own identifier number when it goes on our site. However, this may not be accepted for distribution through our all partner sites (Indigo, WHSmith, etc.) Having a valid ISBN is the industry standard and lends your works with a sense of credibility. We would therefore recommend it for all of our publishers, but it is not necessary.
4. Your book description/blurb.
Just a thought… I would include some reviews in there from readers who liked your book. You can even bold the review which makes it stand out a bit and encourages people to buy!
All right. If you have the above information and you’ve set up your account, the process moving through Kobo is very simple. Here are a few things you’ll need to address:
1. Rights
Apply DRM (Digital Rights Media)–this is like an extra security measure on your book to keep it from being pirated. To be honest, it’s not a bad way to go, but people can remove the DRM easily. I add it in, but if people want to steal your book (this might sound pessimistic), they’ll steal it.
You’ll need to tell them if you own worldwide rights… if it’s your book, your property, you should have the rights, right?
Apply DRM (Digital Rights Media)–this is like an extra security measure on your book to keep it from being pirated. To be honest, it’s not a bad way to go, but people can remove the DRM easily. I add it in, but if people want to steal your book (this might sound pessimistic), they’ll steal it.
You’ll need to tell them if you own worldwide rights… if it’s your book, your property, you should have the rights, right?
2. Kobo Plus
This is a 3 month commitment which allows people the Netherlands and Belgium to access your book on a subscription service. You will still get royalties for this, but it will not be a regular purchase royalty. The great thing is there is no exclusivity clause for Kobo Plus as there is for Kindle Unlimited.
This is a 3 month commitment which allows people the Netherlands and Belgium to access your book on a subscription service. You will still get royalties for this, but it will not be a regular purchase royalty. The great thing is there is no exclusivity clause for Kobo Plus as there is for Kindle Unlimited.
3. Onedrive Catalogue
If you sign up for this option, your book will be made available to the Onedrive catalogue with means people should be able to order your book through the library Onedrive system.
If you sign up for this option, your book will be made available to the Onedrive catalogue with means people should be able to order your book through the library Onedrive system.
NOTE: I distribute my books through Draft2Digital, and they have an option for Overdrive. I recommend you use D2D for Overdrive instead of Kobo as occasionally D2D will offer other perks for Overdrive (such as free options to help distribute your books to hungry readers during the pandemic of 2020).
4. Pricing
You’ll need to put a price on it… right?
Assuming you have it available for sale on Amazon or through Ingram, I would load up that site and copy the prices over (rather than trying to do it from memory). There are also a number of countries listed that do not show up on Amazon’s price list (like Taiwan). Kobo gives you suggestions, so it’s pretty simple.
You’ll need to put a price on it… right?
Assuming you have it available for sale on Amazon or through Ingram, I would load up that site and copy the prices over (rather than trying to do it from memory). There are also a number of countries listed that do not show up on Amazon’s price list (like Taiwan). Kobo gives you suggestions, so it’s pretty simple.
Once you’re done and everything is all set up, you can publish your ebook. They say it takes 24-72 hours before it’s published. I’ve had it take less than a day and more than 72 hours (78 hours). Either way, having it up and ready to go in three days is not too bad!
NOTE: On July 13/2020, I submitted a box set of a books and had it appear on their site for sale within minutes (even able to use it to apply for Kobo promotions through their promo tab), and I received an email from Kobo within less than four hours to tell me that it was up online. Hopefully, this is their new standard in terms of publishing speed. 🙂
There you go! Enjoy publishing with Kobo!
Shawn
9 responses to “Publishing ebooks with Kobo”
My experience is that I didn’t get a single sale of any of my books in over a year when I published them to other sites through using Kobo. Two months ago I moved back to amazon only, my average kindle pages read earns me an average of £70pm, umm think I’ll stay this way. However, it would be good to hear from people who make sales through other sites to see how their faring.
Yes, it’s like that for many! Although many others find the opposite. I think it’s best to try each route and go from there and then you know what works for you. Thanks for the comment!
Best plan, we’re all different and so are our books, it’s about finding what works best for you. I enjoy your posts Shawn 🙂
I’m so glad, Tracy!
Excellent post – straightforward and to the point with all the necessary info. Thanks! 👍
You’re welcome!
A lot to think about, thanks.
🙂
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