As you can probably guess from my previous post, I’m not getting a lot of writing done (except to write these posts). I expected that to happen as I navigate the world of self-publishing. I am taking on what the publisher would do on my behalf. The good news: the first book will pave the way for the next ones.
The learning curve is high now but when all the decisions outlined in my previous post are made and I gain the benefit of my experience in how well (or not) Resurgence does, it will help me modify what I did or didn’t do.
But I sill have to make the decisions I outlined previously and I aim to do that with a valid basis for making these decisions.
Here’s a recap of the choices I have to make:
Whether to use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
Whether to enroll my book in Kindle Select (which means exclusive to Amazon)
Stick to Amazon or have wide distribution
Use a middle platform like Draft2Digital
Whether to offer a print version
What print channel(s) to use
Timing of publishing multiple formats (if multiple formats)
How to Decide?
After looking at dozens of sites, reading what other authors did, and feeling even more unsure of the direction I should take, I took a step back. I finally realized that I needed a way to sift through all the information I gathered to find an answer to the above questions. But how?
I have a Bachelor of Science with a minor in mathematics so I got to thinking that I needed quantitative data. I changed tactics and decided to look for statistics instead. It took a few tries but I found a gold mine by searching for “market share of ebook readers”.
Market Share Data
I found a February 2017 report published about the top 5 English speaking countries and eBook market shares. February 2017 Big, Bad, Wide & International Report: covering Amazon, Apple, B&N, and Kobo ebook sales in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
The report was posted on this site: AuthorEarnings, a site for authors by authors. I’m surprised in all the blogs and sites I visited since fall about self-publishing, not one pointed to this site.
The report, although it was published in February 2017, gives a very informative breakdown about the eBook market for the top 5 English speaking countries and the largest eBook retail channels. As the report summarized data, conclusions about what the data means were presented as well.
I’ve never read a statistics report like this to the end and been enthralled with how great the information was. An awesome find!
Given this report, I can now address the above questions.
Here goes.
(1) Whether to use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
The data I found most definitely answered the first question. Amazon has 82% of the market share for the top 5 English speaking countries combined.
This is a no-brainer. You don’t leave behind the biggest market where eBooks are sold. The data most definitely supports enrolling the eBook version of Resurgence through KDP. By going directly to KDP, only Amazon takes a cut off my book. Other platforms make my book available to Amazon but at a price.
If I’m willing to take the time to format my book for KDP (and there are tools available to help the author do this), it makes perfect sense to go directly to KDP to publish my eBook on Amazon.
(2) Whether to enroll my book in Kindle Select
This is harder to answer. The report addressed this question but leaves the question not fully answered.
On the one hand:
The breakdown of indie dollar author earnings looks nearly identical to the unit-sales splits shown above. KindleUnlimited indie page reads (at a current run rate of $180M+/yr) are now paying Amazon-exclusive indie authors far more total dollars than “wide” indie authors are earning from their sales at all non-Amazon ebook retailers combined (a total run rate of roughly $50M/yr in non-Amazon indie author earnings).
But it comes at the price of other potential marketing promotional and marketing opportunities and excludes a large proportion of Canadian readers won't have access to the book.
The report concludes this:
“Wide” authors who are able to effectively take advantage of promotional opportunities at other retailers often see far more than … a quarter of their sales coming through non-Amazon channels; some high profile indies are doing so well at other retailers that Amazon now represents less than half of their sales. ...
So for indies contemplating whether to go “wide” with a title or enroll it in Kindle Select as an Amazon exclusive, there’s still no easy answer. (Sorry.)
Putting all one’s eggs in the same basket, even if it is a big basket, carries unique risks. There is a strong case to be made for diversification of an author’s sales across different retail channels for that reason alone.
Based on the above, I will take advantage of Kindle Select. However, I will probably enroll Resurgence only for a limited time, for one 90 day period and see toward the end of the 90 days if I should keep it in.
(3) Amazon or wide distribution
The data certainly supports that going with Amazon would make my book available on the retail channel with the biggest market share. Apple, Kobo and Nook combined (for the 5 countries combined) is nowhere near Amazon’s 82% (as of February 2017).
That said, I’m Canadian and although Amazon still holds the largest share, Amazon accounts for only 57.2% of the share in Canada.
In this instance, I’ve decided that I will go wide and make my eBook available outside Amazon.
(4) Use a middle platform like Draft2Digital
Based on what I read and the tutorial I watched, even though I’m looking at a greater effort to go wide, I am opting to format Resurgence for each different retail channels. I already expected the first book would pave the way for the next ones in figuring out how to format. Once I do it once, it will get easier. I’m willing to format for each retail channel and manage my sales in multiple places.
(5) Whether to offer a print version
Given a lot of my friends, family, and acquaintances don’t own an eBook reader, don’t bother to read using an app on their tablets or phones, and given I want something tangible to hold in my hands, I prefer to make my book available in print. If I manage to get a reader to my book page on whichever channel it is, I don’t want to lose the sale because the format of the book isn’t available.
More than that, the report does offer some comparison of eBooks to print. In the 5 countries reviewed, none of them sold more eBooks than printed books, with the biggest proportion of eBooks going to the United States at 42%. A year later, I expect these percentages changed but I’m not concerned by how much or in which direction. A year ago, more than half the books sold were printed books.
What the report fails to answer, however, is the proportion of fiction to non-fiction books. So I went looking for more data.
I found a blog post on Booknet Canada that indicates adult fiction accounts for 26% of books sold in Canada but it sounds like it’s all formats combined. Although more than half the sales are for print books, probably only a quarter of those sales are for adult fiction. It may or may not be the same percentage when it comes to eBooks.
Assuming the market share of adult fiction is similar in both formats, then there is enough data to warrant having a print version of Resurgence given that more than half of readers still prefer a print book.
(6) What print channel(s) to use
Since I plan on having a print version, now comes deciding which print channel(s)s to use. The best article I found was on ALLi that compares CreateSpace and IngramSpark.
I have decided to follow the recommended approach and use CreateSpace to make the print version available through Amazon (because I’m Canadian, I will not use KDP paperback) and to use IngramSpark to make it available in other retail channels. This is the best financial choice to make based on the comparison done in the article.
Conclusion
This means I have to figure out the timing of publishing the eBook and print version.
I am not yet ready to make this decision since I first have to address what effort I’m willing to take on to make readers aware of my books and how to promote it. So my next post will focus on marketing and promotion.
The good news is that the decisions I made will help me focus my research.
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