Some Very Specific Questions About Publishing on Smashwords

by Anthony
(Australia)

Long time reader, first time participant! Absolutely love the site and all the valuable info you provide.

I have spent hours on the Smashwords platform and still have a few questions that no one seems to be able to answer. I am hoping you can help Shelley!

1) When I read the site, it seems that Smashwords is able to offer royalties higher than Amazon or Barnes would if I were to publish on their site independently. Is that true? How is that possible?

2) Is the exposure on Smashwords better or worse? Currently, I have an ebook that is on Amazon which is indexed and shows up when people type in search queries in Google. Will a listing in Smashwords offer the same SEO benefit?

3) Are the sales better better or worst? A colleague mentioned his sales declined by moving to Smashwords, while another stated hers increased when moving from Amazon to Smashwords. What has your experience been like?

4) What if already on amazon? Do you recommend I move to Smashwords? What other benefit is there aside from the fact the book will be distributed to other sites as well besides Amazon?

5) It does not appear that Smashwords allows you to have multiple author names (i.e. if you have multiple pen names that have authored multiple books that are each supported by an independent blog or website as opposed to just one blog or website where one author may have multiple books). What's your advice for folks with multiple pen names who want to keep things independent and exclusive?

Thank you in advance for all the great information you provide.

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Some Very Specific Questions About Publishing on Smashwords

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Great questions!
by: Heather Hart

Hi Anthony!

Please allow me to answer those questions in order for you:

1) Smashwords has a higher royalty percentage, however they also charge a transaction fee which can vary depending on each transaction and the situations surrounding it; e.g., if they had to pay to list it on a separate site, if one of their affiliates referred the sale, etc. Therefore, while they look like they have Amazon beat, it really isn’t as simple as that.

2) Whenever I Google my books, the Amazon listing always pulls up on top, while the Smashwords listing is on the very bottom of the first page of results. So I would have to say that Amazon’s exposure is extremely better.

3) From personal experience, I have sold far more books through Amazon – as in the first year that I had my book on Smashwords I don’t recall selling a single copy, meanwhile the same book hit #1 in its category on Amazon.

4) Unless you are enrolled in KDP select, there is no reason that you cannot list your book on both Amazon and Smashwords. In fact, I highly recommend it. Smashwords does have some perks that Amazon doesn’t offer, but skipping out on the exposure that Amazon offers is not a wise thing to do by any means.

5) Smashwords recommends that indie authors who want to publish books by two different names simply create separate author accounts for each one (each with a separate e-mail address). Amazon does NOT allow you to have more than one account, so make sure that you don’t get the two confused.

You might benefit from Shelley’s eBook Publishing Success course as it covers how to re-format your Kindle eBook for Smashwords, Nook, and iBookstore. You can learn more about it at: http://ebook.self-publishing-coach.com/

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Benefits of Distributing Through Smashwords NEW
by: Lee Ann

I do sell a fair amount of books directly through Smashwords. I also sell through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Smashwords distributes your book(s) to Apple, Sony, Kobo, Diesel, and several other ebook stores. That is probably the #1 reason to use Smashwords -- for the sales they will generate for you at those other bookstores.

My Smashwords experience has been great.

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Follow Up NEW
by: Anthony

Thank you Heather and Lee Ann,

What I gather is that one should leave books listed on Amazon while pursuing Smashwords as well. Amazon has much better SEO exposure.

But do you feel the KDP select is worth taking the book off of Smashwords since it requires exclusivity?

Royalties paid by Smashwords may be more or less depending on the specific situation as stated, correct?

Is Smashwords the best aggregator/distributor of its kind out there?

Finally, I have my books listed on BN Nook as well. Do you recommend de listing them and re submitting them through Smashwords so that I have fewer accounts/logins to maintain? Or should I use Smashwords to submit to every other platform except for Amazon and Barnes since I already have those individual accounts set up and running?

Heather, thanks for recommending Shelley's course I will check it out.

I would love to know how you were able to crack rank #1 on Amazon? Can you share a couple tips?

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Amazon Ranking NEW
by: Heather

Hey Anthony,

Shelley and I co-authored a book together and she covers how she increased the Amazon ranking in her course "Amazon for Authors", for that specific book, all we did was optimize the categories we had it listed under, but there are lots of different things that can work together to improve your ranking.

Personally, I think the KDP Select program is great for when you first release a book. You can enroll it for 3 months to help your book gain exposure and then un-enroll it and publish your book on other platforms to make it more available to your readers.

I have never used Barnes and Noble's program and just stick with Smashwords and Kindle, however, since you already have it there, I would leave it (unless you decide to go with KDP Select).

Smashwords is the best eBook distributor of its kind, however like you mentioned, each specific sale will vary depending on the situation. If they listed the book on Barnes and Noble and Barnes and Noble discounts your book making it a dollar off. When the sale is made, Barnes and Noble gets part of the profits, if there was either a Barnes and Noble or Smashwords affiliate involved, they also get part of the profits, all of which will increase the transaction fee - and then you get 85% of what's left. Not 85% of the books original price. Does that make since?

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