4 Alternatives to Kindle Direct Publishing

About this video

Dale recommends new publishers start on Kindle Direct Publishing, but argues Amazon does not own the whole global ebook market. Citing an Author Earnings report from February of the prior year, he says Amazon accounts for about 80% of ebook sales in the US and UK, about 50% in Canada and Australia, and effectively none in New Zealand. He then profiles four alternatives that take the remaining share: Apple iBooks (via iTunes Connect), said to hold about 8-17% in the US, UK and Canada, over a third in Australia, and over half in New Zealand; Barnes & Noble Nook (via press.barnesandnoble.com), with no real foothold outside the US but about 4% of US ebook sales; Google Play Books, around 2% in major regions, which had closed to self-publishers until late 2017 and was then accepting only a limited number of publishing accounts, with Dale saying he accesses it through aggregator PublishDrive; and Kobo (via Kobo Writing Life), a fraction of a percent to 7% in the US, UK and Australia but about a third of sales in Canada and New Zealand. Smaller miscellaneous platforms together add roughly another 2-3%.

Key takeaways

• Start on KDP, but go wide to capture ebook sales Amazon does not control, especially outside the US and UK
• Apple iBooks is presented as the largest non-Amazon share in most regions and dominant in New Zealand
• Barnes & Noble Nook is US-only in reach but still worth setting up for its share of US ebook sales
• Google Play was reopening to only a limited number of publisher accounts at the time; Dale says he reaches it via the PublishDrive aggregator
• Kobo is small in the US/UK/Australia but holds about a third of ebook sales in Canada and New Zealand, per the figures cited

Episode details: published April 4, 2018 · 3:48 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Dale L. Roberts’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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