Deciding Where to Publish Your eBook

Once you have formatted your eBook for publishing, the next step that you need to take care of is deciding where to publish your eBook.

Factors to Consider

There are several factors to consider in choosing your publishing platform. Some of these factors are the following:

1. Cost – Is the platform free or are there fees that you have to pay to self-publish your ebook?
2. User interface – Is the platform user-friendly or do you have to be techy to navigate through the entire publishing process?
3. Target audience – Is this the hang out place for the audience that you want to target for your book? How wide is the audience scope of this platform?
4. Benefits for you as the author – Are there perks offered for authors? Are there features that will benefit you short term or long term? Are there marketing perks offered for authors?

These are just some of the questions that you have to ask, and things that you have to consider. And they are very important. The platform you will use will also highly affect the success of your self-publishing career.

So, what are the different platforms available for eBook self-publishing?

Different Self-Publishing Platforms:

Here are the most popular eBook publishing platforms available in the market today. We have added the features of each platform as indicated in their website so you can compare and contrast.

1. Amazon KDP

As indicated in the name of the platform, this is a self-publishing platform for Amazon. So you will be using this platform if you want your book to be displayed for sale in Amazon.

So, what are the benefits as promised from their website?

• Fast publishing – takes less than 5 minutes to publish your book and 24-48 hours to make it available on Kindle stores.
• High Royalty rate – 70 percent royalty rate on sales from selected countries. They also have KDP select, an upgrade from the free publishing, which will gain you higher royalty rate.
• Control – you have control over your rights and can do changes anytime. But when you choose to enroll on Kindle Select, you will be giving exclusive rights to Amazon. So you cannot publish your book anywhere else as long as you are enrolled in that program.
• Available both for eBook and print book self-publishing.

2. iBooks

This is mostly for Apple users. As we all know, Apple has features exclusive only in the iTunes platform and that includes books.

Let’s describe how publishing in iBooks is:

• Starting up is a tedious process. Unlike Amazon, iBooks have some requirements exclusive only to Apple users before you can start uploading your eBook.
• Global scope – Apple is international and so are iTunes and iBooks. That means that once you get into iBooks self-publishing, you will have a wider scope of audience.
• Marketing guidelines – Apple will help you market your eBook. There are marketing tips available on the platform as well as free marketing tools.
• Affiliate Program – they have affiliate programs that will market your book not only to the reading market but also to those who download other apps or music.

3. Nookpress (Barnes & Noble Press)

Some may not agree, but this is by far the direct competition of Amazon’s KDP. They have almost the same features as well as interface.

So what is the difference between the two? Let’s find out:

• Fast and easy – takes 20 minutes to upload book and 72 hours to be available.
• Wide Audience Scope – In terms of audience scope, B&N has the widest scope. Aside from their online stores, they are also affiliated with other online and brick and mortar book stores.
• Non-exclusive – you have full control over your rights. This means wider distribution for you because they don’t have exclusive rights to your eBook.
• Free marketing tools – authors can take advantage of free marketing tools available in the platform.
• Print hardcover books – just in case you decide to go from eBook to print, B&N offers both hardcover and softcover publishing. Kindle only offer softcover.

4. Kobo

Kobo started out as a digital eBook reading app. Then as the company grew, it then gave authors the option to publish their eBooks in this platform.

Let’s see the advantages of publishing with Kobo:

• Publish in four easy steps – the steps are not indicated on the front page of the website, but it says that there are only FOUR steps. This should mean that the platform is easy to navigate.
• Global scope – the market of Kobo is wide because the app is available both in Android and iTunes in over 190 countries.
• You still own the rights to your books and you can set your own price.
• Intuitive platform and sales analytics. Aside from the easy user interface, it also has tools that will help you track your progress.

What’s your verdict?

Based on the information that we shared above, what do you think is the best option for you? As we always remind you here, always choose the option which would best help you achieve your goals and purpose. That way, you will become successful in your self-publishing career. Cheers to your success!