More Wastes of Time ~ Publishing Widely

"Hey, can you find this book for me online?"

"Sure, I'll just pull up Apple."

"Sure, I'll just pull up Kobo." 

"Sure, I'll just pull up Amazon."

Lots and lots of self-published authors distribute their books widely. Not me. I bought into that myth with my first two novels. I added my books to various sites, including Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, Kobo, and others whose names I no longer remember. Know how many copies I sold from those sites? None. I suppose if you use Draft2Digital, which is a book aggregator, there's nothing to lose by having your books on multiple platforms, but there is also nothing to gain. You'll also be prohibited from participating in KDP Select, which might matter to you or it might not. 

Yes, I'm curmudgeonly, but more than that, I'm practical. I don't feel like messing around with anything that doesn't provide a return on investment. None of these other marketplaces will ever compete with Amazon. Believe it or don't believe it, but it's true. Amazon is the Big Boy. I have never once purchased a book from anywhere but Amazon. Trade publishers might feature their books in places like B&N, but I'm guessing that's because B&N also has brick and mortar stores. Having a book on B&N's site is a lure to get a customer into the physical store, where they'll maybe pick up two or three books. If you're like me and only publish ebooks, though, why would you give a damn about that? If you do publish physical books and are an indie author, your books won't find a home inside an actual store anyway.

I get frustrated reading "tips" on how to market books. They all include little tidbits like this, which only serve to mislead authors. Know why these articles only mention publishing widely, newsletters, and social media? It's because the people writing them have no clue how to sell books, the same as us. (Apparently they know how to sell articles, though.)

I prefer to tell you how not to sell books. At least I'm honest.