I’m realizing lately that while I am selling my nonfiction book, How to Write a Children’s Fiction Book, I’m making peanuts. I may sell more books, but I'm not making the money I should. The reason for this is IngramSpark. Now, I’m not slamming IngramSpark (an aggregator), I’m just letting authors know that they should be careful when inputting the metadata, return information, discount information, and so on. Why Use Aggregators? The purpose of going with an aggregator like IngramSpark is to reach a much larger audience. Keep in mind that an aggregator is a service that distributes your books to a lot of retailers. IngramSpark has a distribution network of over 40,000 retailers and wholesalers. This includes libraries, schools, chain stores like Walmart and Target, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Adlibris. So there’s a definite benefit to using an aggregator. They help you reach the world on a large scale. You’ll definitely sell more books. There are also other book aggregators, like BookBaby and Smashwords. A Middleman But… Think of the aggregator as the middleman. He gets his cut of the pie and the retailer selling the book gets his share. Then if you want to sell in bulk to larger retailers, you need to offer a discount. I think I set mine at 55 percent. And there’s also the fact that IngramSpark’s printing fees are higher than Amazon, and they charge a distribution fee for all sales. And, no matter who you use, there will be shipping fees for paper books that will be deducted from your sales. What does this all mean? Well, my ebook sells for $6.99; the paperback sells for $14.99 For some sales I make less than $1 per sale. If I’m lucky, I’ll make between $1 and $2 per sale. I’m not quite sure why this happens with digital sales also. I would think I’d make at least 50 percent, but I don’t. What can you do to make more money? Sell from your own website using PayPal. My Books Page on my website has Buy Buttons linked to PayPal. When the customer clicks on the link and buys the book, they are brought to a download page on my website where they get their book. If you don’t know how to create a download page, there is a service, Book Funnel, that’s recommended by Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). Using PayPal, they get their merchant fee of 4+ percent on all my sales, but I still end up with around $6.60 as I only sell ebooks from my site. Quite the difference. Possible Drawbacks of Selling Directly 1. Customers may be just a bit leery of buying directly from the author’s website, especially if you’re not well-known. 2. Unless you know how to handle paper book sales through your own website, you can only sell digital books. 3. If there’s a glitch in the download, an annoyed buyer will be contacting you. Another alternative. Amazon KDP is another alternative. If offers 60% royalty, but keep in mind that for print books you’ll be charged for printing and shipping. If you don’t want the hassle of selling from your own website, selling digital books on Amazon KDP is a great solution. My only concern is with print books. Amazon is notorious for allowing third-party sellers to sell through their site and they can sell your books. Although, I just checked my paperback on Amazon and it’s selling directly through Amazon - at least for today. I’d love to know how you’re selling your books. Please leave a comment!
I’m a working children’s ghostwriter, rewriter, and coach. I can help turn your story into a book you’ll be proud to be author of, one that’s publishable and marketable. Or, maybe you’d rather do-it-yourself. Check out my book, How to Write a Children’s Fiction Book. If your children’s manuscript is already done, check out Writers on the Move Publishing. You can contact me at: kcioffiventrice@gmail.com. Or, you can give me a call at 834---347---6700. (Please leave a message - I'll get back to you as soon as I can.)
