Alright, this is post three in my “wide vs. KDP” series, and we’ve reached one of my favorite parts: the flexibility of going wide as an author.
If you’re new here, we started out two weeks ago by talking about the basic differences between “wide” and “KDP” publishing. Last week, we talked about risk and safety nets. And now that we’ve covered those baseline issues, we can get to the real meat of the debate! 😉
You may recall that I myself am a “wide” indie author, though I do also have my books on Amazon and contribute to KDP Direct anthologies. I started out uploading my books exclusively through IngramSpark (the source for print books in the industry, though their service leaves much to be desired); then I branched out to using Draft2Digital for ebooks; then I discovered Google Play and, of course, added KDP to the mix. And that, right there, is the main point of today’s post. As a wide author, I find publishing is truly a journey–a learning experience.
That said, I’ve absolutely tripped up. Just because you can upload your book everywhere doesn’t mean that every site is equal. IngramSpark, for example, was horrendously frustrating as an ebook vendor. And Google Play, while very accessible and streamlined, has yet to give me any meaningful return. However, just being able to say these things gives me a sense of confidence in my career. As an explorer, I can check those places off on my map: yep, been there, might go back later, or even nope, that was a mistake, let me draw a few dragons there to warn others. 🙂
With that map in hand, these days I am able to tailor my publishing efforts to my individual series. I’m also able to continue experimenting. For example, with my romance novella series, I’m now testing out Draft2Digital Print, rather than using IngramSpark. (Well, technically D2D contracts with IS to make their books, so technically what I’m testing is if the customer service is better–but let’s not get lost in the weeds!) Why? Because different publishing services offer different amenities: templates, formatting, markets, even advertising services (for a price). Because when I figure out which publishing process and distributor truly works best for me, I’m able to streamline my business and focus on writing. And also because I just like to know what’s over there on that other hill, or just around the river bend . . .
Now, you personally may find all this experimentation unnecessary. That’s totally fine! Stick to KDP, or stick to Ingram, or stick to D2D, or find another distributor–whichever suits your purpose. Each book or series is different: maybe with one series you’re releasing rapidly and only in ebook, but with another book, you really want to hold that paperback and see it in libraries. Maybe one is romance and will find its voracious audience on KDP, while another will be at home on Smashwords or Kobo. Those kind of details, things like the author’s goals and the book’s genre, require a personalized map. That’s where you get to do a little extra research–or dive in and test it out on your own. Either way, I’ll be here next week with some final thoughts on going wide as an indie author!
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