SELF-PUBLISHED AUTHOR FRIENDSThis *INSANE* email from Barnes & Noble WTF—no more than 100 books and they start deleting??—removing titles that don't meet minimum sales?
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I use them for *everything* except Google and Amazon.
I *can* set up directly with Kobo and Tolino, but that's about it.
B&N demands a US checking account.
Apple demands a freaking Apple computer.I *just* started using them for print through IngramSpark.
I am so freaking disappointed in Draft2Digital. I used to recommend them everywhere. I will no longer do that. (Yes, I told them that, too.)
@Firlefanz You should be able to go direct to IngramSpark (although I honestly don't know if it works for authors outside the US). B&N I understand -- they're a pain. Apple has long been that way, although I think there's a workaround now that doesn't require a Mac (I still use a Mac but I think the need for that went away a while ago): https://www.indiepublishinggroup.com/complete-guide-to-self-publishing-on-apple-books-for-authors/
(Kobo direct also allows you to apply for their promo and distribute to libraries)
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@Firlefanz You should be able to go direct to IngramSpark (although I honestly don't know if it works for authors outside the US). B&N I understand -- they're a pain. Apple has long been that way, although I think there's a workaround now that doesn't require a Mac (I still use a Mac but I think the need for that went away a while ago): https://www.indiepublishinggroup.com/complete-guide-to-self-publishing-on-apple-books-for-authors/
(Kobo direct also allows you to apply for their promo and distribute to libraries)
Yeah. I actually do sell the odd book on B&N. *sigh*
Biggest sales channel on D2D for me is Apple.
It's very good to know that Kobo distributes to libraries, though, that might actually convince me to go direct with them.
Funny enough, Google Play Store is now doing best for me.
So for now, I'll probably grit my teeth and stay on D2D, but it's high time we Indies team up and build our own sales platform.
And then D2D can forget their business.
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@Firlefanz I *only* use them for Bookshop but if I was in your position, I would stop distributing your books through them (except for Bookshop) and go direct everywhere. And tell them. You're not going to support them with your sales if they're going to turn their backs on indies like this.
I started with them to list with Apple. I'd been direct with them until they changed their policy and insisted I had to post a webpage with my address and phone number. Wasn't going to post my real address so I had to pay for a UPS address twice a year to remain direct. Going through D2D bypasses that requirement. I do make sales on Apple. $12 a year is cheaper than what I was paying UPS. And you can't go direct with bookshop--I tried.
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the injury of indie authors being shoved off platforms because AI is sucking up all the storage space after the insult of those very works being stolen by AI corps to feed their slop machine
(D2D and B&N both)
@susankayequinn heard from three different folks: the B&N 100-book limit doesn't apply to long-time prolific authors. Contact support.
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@susankayequinn heard from three different folks: the B&N 100-book limit doesn't apply to long-time prolific authors. Contact support.
@mwl I have already done so! But that's good to hear... but also not? What about the upcoming prolific authors? Maybe it won't have the impact on new authors (hello that could be their future revenue!) that the D2D stuff does, but what about minimum sales? How is an author supposed to get STARTED? Is it like some kind of Book Hunger Games now that if you don't make X sales (which of course they don't specify!) out of the gate, they'll pull your books!
It's just nuts.
(but thanks for the info!)
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@mwl I have already done so! But that's good to hear... but also not? What about the upcoming prolific authors? Maybe it won't have the impact on new authors (hello that could be their future revenue!) that the D2D stuff does, but what about minimum sales? How is an author supposed to get STARTED? Is it like some kind of Book Hunger Games now that if you don't make X sales (which of course they don't specify!) out of the gate, they'll pull your books!
It's just nuts.
(but thanks for the info!)
@susankayequinn I suspect retailers and aggregators will need to judge between AI and humans.
Which will end... poorly.
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@susankayequinn I suspect retailers and aggregators will need to judge between AI and humans.
Which will end... poorly.
As a short-run strategy, the only thing I can think of as mitigation is what @mwl and some others are already doing: Diversify, build fans, sell directly whenever possible, encourage doing something other than exclusives with giant corps that don't have your interests in mind.
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As a short-run strategy, the only thing I can think of as mitigation is what @mwl and some others are already doing: Diversify, build fans, sell directly whenever possible, encourage doing something other than exclusives with giant corps that don't have your interests in mind.
A creator's only safety lies in business disintermediation. Highly recommended.
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A creator's only safety lies in business disintermediation. Highly recommended.
And federation when it comes to online stuff. Yup.
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@MisWiredKE I am outraged so much about this -- both B&N and D2D but D2D literally built their entire business on indies but they're really no better than the average scammer out there now
@susankayequinn yeah. I honestly joined D2D because it was an option to KDP that wouldn't require me to have upfront investment, especially for physical copies. But now I think just keeping it digital and hoping people join my Patreon is a more viable option.
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@susankayequinn yeah. I honestly joined D2D because it was an option to KDP that wouldn't require me to have upfront investment, especially for physical copies. But now I think just keeping it digital and hoping people join my Patreon is a more viable option.
@MisWiredKE whereas for me, every other week, I'm considering going entirely to print-only because I'm tired of my ebooks being pirated, fed into AI, and all the bullshit of the distributors and retailers shoving AI into my books
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the injury of indie authors being shoved off platforms because AI is sucking up all the storage space after the insult of those very works being stolen by AI corps to feed their slop machine
(D2D and B&N both)
ME TO B&N:
I've been publishing on Nook since 2011... I have 145 titles, a combination of novels, short stories, etc. So I'm pretty alarmed that you're suddenly limiting books to 100 titles. This is across two pennames. I am a prolific author. Is this new rule intended to drive prolific authors off your platform? I'm wondering if I should be publishing with B&N if you're going to start removing titles arbitrarily.Please let me know how you will resolve this situation.
1/3 -
ME TO B&N:
I've been publishing on Nook since 2011... I have 145 titles, a combination of novels, short stories, etc. So I'm pretty alarmed that you're suddenly limiting books to 100 titles. This is across two pennames. I am a prolific author. Is this new rule intended to drive prolific authors off your platform? I'm wondering if I should be publishing with B&N if you're going to start removing titles arbitrarily.Please let me know how you will resolve this situation.
1/3B&N REPLIES:
Hi Susan,
Wanted to reach out personally to assure you that this policy is not meant to drive authors like yourself–with career catalogs and pen names–from the site. We are really going after larger publishers and aggregators who bulk upload.We intend to have exemptions and I have whitelisted your account so you can continue to publish uninterrupted.
I apologize for any confusion or worry.
Julie Braunschweiger
eCommerce Sr. Manager, B&N Press
2/3 -
B&N REPLIES:
Hi Susan,
Wanted to reach out personally to assure you that this policy is not meant to drive authors like yourself–with career catalogs and pen names–from the site. We are really going after larger publishers and aggregators who bulk upload.We intend to have exemptions and I have whitelisted your account so you can continue to publish uninterrupted.
I apologize for any confusion or worry.
Julie Braunschweiger
eCommerce Sr. Manager, B&N Press
2/3I encourage everyone to email B&N and D2D right now... the more they sense the absolute panic this is causing in the indie world, the more likely they are to back off from draconian idiotic policies.
3/3
#writing #selfpublishing -
B&N REPLIES:
Hi Susan,
Wanted to reach out personally to assure you that this policy is not meant to drive authors like yourself–with career catalogs and pen names–from the site. We are really going after larger publishers and aggregators who bulk upload.We intend to have exemptions and I have whitelisted your account so you can continue to publish uninterrupted.
I apologize for any confusion or worry.
Julie Braunschweiger
eCommerce Sr. Manager, B&N Press
2/3@susankayequinn This almost makes sense... but it should be a "per period of time" measurement, and it should be manually reviewed instead of blanket banned.
Even a default approach of flagging unusually high volumes with an opportunity to explain/appeal/whatever is worlds better than a blanket ban. Make the outliers attest that they aren't using machine generation and blacklist them if they are shown to be lying
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I encourage everyone to email B&N and D2D right now... the more they sense the absolute panic this is causing in the indie world, the more likely they are to back off from draconian idiotic policies.
3/3
#writing #selfpublishing@susankayequinn seems like the solution is that they should limit how many new titles they allow every year. People can be prolific, but they can't write 5 novels a year and maintain quality. They should have a derogation process for authors that are uploading to BN a large number of books that were published elsewhere.
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@susankayequinn This almost makes sense... but it should be a "per period of time" measurement, and it should be manually reviewed instead of blanket banned.
Even a default approach of flagging unusually high volumes with an opportunity to explain/appeal/whatever is worlds better than a blanket ban. Make the outliers attest that they aren't using machine generation and blacklist them if they are shown to be lying
@luxliquida that would make too much sense!
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@susankayequinn seems like the solution is that they should limit how many new titles they allow every year. People can be prolific, but they can't write 5 novels a year and maintain quality. They should have a derogation process for authors that are uploading to BN a large number of books that were published elsewhere.
@chantaryu2 I've written 5 novels in a year and they were high quality, thank you very much. Also it's "titles" so short stories, box sets, collections... I'm literally going to upload a 6-volume series of collected short stories that I've written over my entire career (plus new ones!) in the next few months.
Artificial limits like this just inhibit indie publishing creativity. And imagination.
AI slop uploading 200 titles on a single day is characteristically different.
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I encourage everyone to email B&N and D2D right now... the more they sense the absolute panic this is causing in the indie world, the more likely they are to back off from draconian idiotic policies.
3/3
#writing #selfpublishing@susankayequinn I emailed D2D and pointed out all the ways it hurts real authors and actually helps the genAI slop keep going (the fee itself punishes real authors who can't get seen through the slop while doesn't affect the sloppers who are already making money). It's ludicrous
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@susankayequinn I emailed D2D and pointed out all the ways it hurts real authors and actually helps the genAI slop keep going (the fee itself punishes real authors who can't get seen through the slop while doesn't affect the sloppers who are already making money). It's ludicrous
@SiobhanMuir excellent!
