kate_sherwood (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kate_sherwood) wrote2012-09-03 06:11 am
kate_sherwood) wrote2012-09-03 06:11 am
Grrrrr...
So my first self-published title (Poor Little Rich Boy) is scheduled for release on September 20, which SEEMS pretty straightforward...
Except it's not. All the different distribution channels take a different amount of time to take the book from "submitted" to "available". Amazon, of course, is one of the fastest ones.
So if I wait until September 19 and submit to all the channels at the same time, the book ends up being available at Amazon on September 20, and nowhere else until weeks later. Which, of course, contributes to the Amazon monopoly that, in my opinion, is bad for everybody.
But the timelines for the other distributors are imprecise, so if I pre-submit to them, hoping to have books available everywhere by the release date, it actually ends up with the book available from some distributors quite a bit BEFORE the release date. For example, in order to hopefully have the book available for Kobo and Nook by September 20, I had to upload to Smashwords yesterday... so the book is now available from Smashwords directly, but I still don't know if it'll be out on Kobo or Nook by the release date... Aaaaargh. I'm too OCD for this crap!
Don't even get me started on the problems with trying to time the print version.
Just one more way that self-publishing has its own set of challenges. I've enjoyed the experiment, and I may do it again at some point, but I don't see myself walking away from the traditional publishing structure anytime soon! It's just too nice to be taken care of.
Except it's not. All the different distribution channels take a different amount of time to take the book from "submitted" to "available". Amazon, of course, is one of the fastest ones.
So if I wait until September 19 and submit to all the channels at the same time, the book ends up being available at Amazon on September 20, and nowhere else until weeks later. Which, of course, contributes to the Amazon monopoly that, in my opinion, is bad for everybody.
But the timelines for the other distributors are imprecise, so if I pre-submit to them, hoping to have books available everywhere by the release date, it actually ends up with the book available from some distributors quite a bit BEFORE the release date. For example, in order to hopefully have the book available for Kobo and Nook by September 20, I had to upload to Smashwords yesterday... so the book is now available from Smashwords directly, but I still don't know if it'll be out on Kobo or Nook by the release date... Aaaaargh. I'm too OCD for this crap!
Don't even get me started on the problems with trying to time the print version.
Just one more way that self-publishing has its own set of challenges. I've enjoyed the experiment, and I may do it again at some point, but I don't see myself walking away from the traditional publishing structure anytime soon! It's just too nice to be taken care of.