In my last blog post, we looked at whether you should stay exclusive to one selling platform with your book and what the benefits of this are. In this blog post, we will be considering the flipside of this – what are the advantages of going wide and selling your book on lots of different platforms at the same time?
We will start by quickly reviewing what the difference is between the two options and what they mean. We will then move on to consider what the benefits are of having multiple platforms on which you are selling your self-published book.
What are the Options?
The two options we are considering are exclusivity and selling on multiple platforms. If you stay exclusive to one selling platform, you can only sell your book on there and not on any other selling platforms. This will most likely be for a set amount of time; for example, Amazon’s KDP Select scheme requires exclusivity for 30 days, which can then be renewed for another 30 days at the end if you wish. The platform offering the scheme will offer some benefits for your book, such as featuring it and allowing you to set promotions on it.
Alternatively, you may decide to sell across as many platforms as are available to you. In this case, you would not be tied to any particular seller and could sell your book on all platforms. However, there aren’t any incentives from companies to keep you exclusive to them in this scenario, so you can’t take advantage of the promotions you can sometimes get through these. We will now look at some of the benefits of this method of selling your book.
What are the Advantages of Multiple Platforms?
Increase your Audience
One of the main advantages of selling across multiple platforms is the fact that you can reach more readers. If your book is only available on Amazon, only people who browse Amazon will find it. However, if your book is available across a number of platforms, you are reaching a much wider and more diverse group of readers, increasing your pool of potential buyers.
No Monopoly
Going wide also reduces the chance of one selling platform getting a monopoly on the book market. As a self-publishing author, this may affect you more than you might first think. For example, if there is only one place where you can sell your books, this is where you will have to sell then – on their terms, which might not be favourable to you.
For readers, a monopoly can mean an increase in prices as there is no competition to drive them down. This can lead to fewer sales of your book, reducing both your profits and the chance to grow your audience. It also makes books more expensive for you!
Global Markets
In addition, while Amazon is the main retailer in the UK, US, Australia and Canada, bear in mind that this is not the case everywhere. If you limit your book to only being sold on Amazon, you will be missing entire markets in other countries. This may not be an issue, especially as you are first starting out, but if you do want to go global, you will probably need to go wide to get a foothold in other countries.
Also, the more countries you can make your book available in and spend a bit of time marketing to each specific country, the more you increase your potential audience. This does not necessarily result in more sales, but it is certainly a good place to start. An increase in readers from other countries can also help to diversify your earnings and give you a more stable income as an author. You can read more about this in my blogs here and here.
Diversity of Earnings
However, simply having your book available on multiple platforms just in one country also increases your diversity of earnings. As we said above, having different platforms means that you attract different audiences, with different influences over whether they will buy something at any given time. This means that even if you see a drop in your sales on one platform, another may well make up for this.
Independence
One of the main benefits of self-publishing is the independence it gives you to choose how to sell and market your books. Being exclusive takes away some of this freedom, meaning that you are not fully in charge of your writing career. For example, KDP Select may suddenly change their terms or how they work. Maybe this will actually help you and your book, but it might not, and you have no say in when and how changes happen.
Wrapping Up
I hope that this helps you to decide whether to sell on multiple platforms or stick to just one. In my next blog post, we will be considering some of the pros and cons of getting your book into physical bookshops, so come back in two weeks for that!
Want help proofreading your work? Contact Carmine Proofreading for a friendly, professional service from a qualified proofreader.
Email: CarmineProofreading@gmail.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CarmineProofed
Carmine Proofreading 