# Book or iBook ePub?



## moke64916 (Dec 19, 2012)

Which is the best market for selling your book now and days?  Is it on the iTunes Store?  Is it a digital book or is it a regular book that's paper?  Is it wise to comine and sell on both markets?  I'm scatter headed on where to create a book to be published at.  Please help me with this.  

Thank you,
Moke


----------



## cassie30 (Dec 20, 2012)

I don't know which is better. However, my brother thinks digital might be the way to go.


----------



## garza (Dec 20, 2012)

Are you getting ahead of yourself? Your post sounds as though you have not written, or perhaps not finished writing, a book. That must come first. Once the book is complete, that's the time to think about where and how to get it published.


----------



## TWErvin2 (Dec 22, 2012)

There is no reason to limit the formats. It is not an either print or ebook. It's not either Amazon or iTunes or B&N.

I have novels out in print, ebook and audiobook, available through just about every vendor (ie., ebooks via iTunes, Kobo, B&N, Smashwords, Amazon (USA, UK, Canada, Germany etc, and more.) My works find more readers through some formats and vendors than others. And yes, there are some limitations--such as if you self publish and decide on Kindle Select (I think that's the name of the program), which I believe limits where the ebook can be available.

But as Garza above said, getting a work finished/ready is of primary importance. Nothing wrong with thinking a bit ahead, however.


----------



## danicastone (Dec 26, 2012)

Amazon seems pretty killer, although as others have said, it's not which it's both/all. I really like the sound of Amazon's KDP program; it lets you make your book available for free for 5 days in a row out of every 90 days. Every author I've heard talking about it has said that their downloads increased a ton when they did that _and_ that it translated into higher sales afterward. (which is the more important part!) 

I second what others have said about writing being the primary focus here, but if you're looking for more info about self-publishing options, Joe Konrath has a huge amount of it on his blog, "A Newbie's Guide to Publishing". (jakonrath.blogspot.com) That's how I learned everything I know about it!


----------



## Charlie (Dec 28, 2012)

Amazon represents about 60% of the eBook market. B&N is next and then it's Kobo. iTunes only represents about 5% of the market last I heard. I don't generally even encourage my clients to submit to them. It's also a real pain to submit anything to Apple. As far as I'm concerned, if you upload to Amazon, B&N, and Kobo you've got the eBook market covered. I think Amazon also leads in print books, but I could be wrong. CreateSpace is certianly a big seller though for print indies. LuLu would be the next biggest one for do-it-yourselfers. I would cover my bases and go both print and eBook.


----------



## Jagunco (Dec 29, 2012)

If I may hijack.... so you can self publish on more than just amazon? I've a short story I want to publish and I was toying with the idea of using amazon but reluctant....


----------



## shadowwalker (Dec 29, 2012)

danicastone said:


> I second what others have said about writing being the primary focus here, but if you're looking for more info about self-publishing options, Joe Konrath has a huge amount of it on his blog, "A Newbie's Guide to Publishing". (jakonrath.blogspot.com) That's how I learned everything I know about it!



Quick derail - bear in mind Konrath was already a trade published author (and a disgruntled one at that), and much of what he says is questionable when it comes to trade publishing (and for that matter, self-publishing). Coming into SP as an established author is a different ballgame than coming into it cold.

Now back to our regularly scheduled discussion... :icon_cyclops_ani:


----------



## Charlie (Dec 29, 2012)

> "I've a short story I want to publish and I was toying with the idea of using amazon"



That's probably the best thing about eBooks. You can upload very short subjects such as short stories, news articles, or even single poems and charge something like 99-cents for them. In the print world you would need a whole book of short stories etc.

The most lucrative aspect to eBooks (in my opinion anyway) is that you can beat print publishers to the punch with current events articles. A big news event could happen this morning; I could write it up this evening, and have an article for sale at Amazon and B&N tomorrow.


----------



## shadowwalker (Dec 29, 2012)

Charlie said:


> That's probably the best thing about eBooks. You can upload very short subjects such as short stories, news articles, or even single poems and charge something like 99-cents for them. In the print world you would need a whole book of short stories etc.
> 
> The most lucrative aspect to eBooks (in my opinion anyway) is that you can beat print publishers to the punch with current events articles. A big news event could happen this morning; I could write it up this evening, and have an article for sale at Amazon and B&N tomorrow.



But one should also remember - getting it out there does not mean automatic sales ("lucrative"). It just means it's out there. You still have to let people know it's there, it's worth paying for, etc.


----------



## Charlie (Dec 30, 2012)

shadowwalker said:


> But one should also remember - getting it out there does not mean automatic sales ("lucrative"). It just means it's out there. You still have to let people know it's there, it's worth paying for, etc.



Now ya tell me.


----------

