Sticky Notes Blog

A blog of writing news, tips, and inspiration from Fat Plum

Get yourself on Amazon

If you've self-published a book (or self-produced a CD or film), one of your biggest challenges is distributing your work. And one of today's biggest distribution channels is Amazon. How to make your work available on the powerhouse online retailer? Kevin Kelly of the Cool Tools blog tells how:

In 8 easy steps, here is how to get your book, CD, or DVD listed on the long tail of Amazon:

1 Get an ISBN (for a book), or a UPC (for a CD or DVD). For one book it costs $125, for one CD, $55, for one DVD, $89.
2 Get a bar code based on the ISBN or UPC. Costs $10, or may be included in UPC.
3 Sign up with Amazon, $30 per year.
4 Duplicate your stuff; include the bar code on the outside.
5 Ship two copies to Amazon
6 Send cover scan
7 Track sales
8 Resgister it (optional)

The full details are given in the entry, along with sensible tips and caveats:

The cost of using Amazon is high. They take 55% of the "official" price (not the sale price but the price you originally determine). That means that even if they discount the book (good for sales), the discount is coming out of their half. But it means you are only getting 45% of your listed price. In addition you pay for shipping books there, and of course for printing them, so the math does not encourage fortune making. Most self-published books are in the "long tail" zone, selling only a few copies per month. I've done better, selling several thousand copies over a couple of years, but still: This is not a way to make money; this is a way to distribute your message.

(Link via the resourceful Lifehacker)

Posted by Cindy on February 24, 2005
This entry was posted in the following categories: Marketing and promotion