Episode 10
In this episode I cover two related topics – side-loading an eBook and selling eBooks direct from your own website.
I first explain what side-loading is, that is the process of transferring an eBook file onto a device apart from a computer so you can read it elsewhere.
As promised in the episode I provide a guide here.
Secondly, I talk about direct selling off your own website, the advantages being:
1) Higher profit margins, especially for cheap (below $2.99) and expensive (above $9.99) books, where you can double your revenue per book.
2) Greater customer (e.g reader) knowledge – you have far more information on your own site than on Amazon and the other online stores about who the buyers of your book actually are – this information can be intensely useful.
3) The possibility of remarketing/retargetting, that is setting up ad campaigns to allow you to “remind” customers who don’t quite get around to buying your book for some reason.
The disadvantages are:
1) Need for greater marketing efforts – if you don’t put the effort in you won’t sell. No chance of being picked up at random as their is in Amazon and to a much lesser extent on the other eBook retailers.
2) In the European Union, VAT (Value-Added Tax) dumps a whole load of excessive regulations on you if you sell even one eBook online. This is the reason why I don’t currently sell online. You can use services such as Payhip to provide a similar third party service, but they are more expensive and won’t give you all the bells and whistles you’d get on your own site.
I also finally mention EU VAT Action, a group campaigning against the stupidity of the current EU VAT rules, and bemoan the fact that this might be a start of an international trend.