- It can seem like Amazon is the only company
that matters for e-book authors,
but Kindle is definitely not
the only e-book distributor out there.
Stick around, I've got some cool ideas
for you to expand the reach of your book.
(rock music)
Hey, I'm Julie the Book Broad, awarding winning author
and founder of this fantastic company
that cares about authors and their success so much.
This company is called Book Launchers
and you can check us out at booklaunchers.com.
Now, before we dive in,
make sure you subscribe to the channel
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Okay, let's get to it.
Kindle is not the only place to sell e-books and in 2019,
I think we're in for an exciting ride
as self-published authors.
And I'm here to encourage you
to upload your books far and wide! (laughs)
And not go exclusive with Kindle,
which I previously talked about right here.
Kobo has been a giant in Canada and Australia for a while.
I get it, if you're American author marketing to Americans,
Kobo wasn't really relevant until 2018.
But please pay attention my friend.
Walmart and Kobo partnered up
and they're positioning themselves
to battle Amazon over e-books.
They have some glitches to figure out
in their distribution model,
but I think it's really exciting
they're stepping up together.
More options means less dominance
by Amazon over the author community.
Even more exciting is that Apple
has stepped up their book game.
In late 2018, Apple invested in their app.
Goodbye iBooks and hello Apple Books!
(laughs)
They've invested in making reading an enjoyable experience
on their app and they've integrated suggestions
into the Reading Now and the bookstore,
just like Amazon's Also Bought feature,
which as I'm recording this right now,
there's evidence that they also bought Make Go Away.
So Apple may be dominating in this space.
The even more exciting part is that
the Audio Books tab is not a sub-tab anymore,
it has its own highly visible spot on the Books app.
So you're going to have Trending, Recommendations and Charts.
And this matters because you can't buy books
through the Kindle app on the iPhone.
Amazon doesn't want to pay Apple for those purchases.
So you have to go to a browser or a desktop,
that means you have to leave the app to make a purchase.
You can buy books through the Apple Books app, a key point.
So buyers are more likely to finish reading a book
and then buy the recommended ones to read next.
They can't do that on the Kindle app on your iPhone.
And Apple has a bunch of podcast listener data.
Imagine if they start cross promoting,
the power and possibility for podcasters
and podcast interviewees is monumental
if Apple can start promoting books to people
who have just listened to a podcast with an author.
Now maybe Google Play is less user-friendly,
well, there's no maybe about it,
Google Play is less user-friendly
and so far, seems less useful
from an attracting readers perspective.
But I would still upload to Google Play because,
well, it's Google.
Can you believe as authors we can be found
really easily on Amazon and Google?
Two of the giant search engines.
So it's been reported by multiple authors in forums
and articles and some of our own personal experience,
once your e-books are available on Google Play,
Google search indexes your book title
and author name even more prominently.
This can be especially important if you're not ranking
for your book title or your name
when somebody searches for it on Google right now.
So maybe you're not going to sell books with Google Play,
but it's a shortcut to get Google search indexing
and that's worth a lot in your business
and for your author brand.
It's such an exciting world right now
as everything in the book publishing world evolves,
with these giant companies investing in books,
Barnes and Nobbles, Barnes and Nobbles, Barnes and Nobbles.
(bleep)
(laughs) Barnes and Noble's future uncertain,
we could see the end of traditional
book publisher's stronghold over bookstore distribution
and the door opening to so many
new possibilities for authors.
I personally see fewer and fewer benefits
in the traditional book publishing deals and more
and more reasons to go independent and self-publish.
What do you think?
What do you think of Kindle, Kobo,
Apple Books and Google Play for your e-book?
Tell me in the comments below and please let me know
you like this content by smashing that thumbs up button.
(rock music)
(bleep) By the way,
have you seen the video I filmed on
the seven things you need to do to create
a great bookselling page on Amazon?
Even though Kindle's not the only game in town,
your Amazon page is a top place to sell books,
so here's what you need to do.