Lindsay - February 24, 2022We were joined this week by thriller author and Draft2Digital marketing director Kevin Tumlinson. He updated us on the merger between the ebook distributors Draft2Digital and Smashwords and what it’ll mean for authors and readers going forward. In the second half of the show, we also pumped Kevin for some tips on succeeding in the book stores beyond Amazon (i.e. Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, etc.)
Here are some of the specific questions we asked:
- What was your author journey like, and how did you get involved with Draft2Digital?
- Can you talk a bit about what changes authors currently working with D2D or Smashwords can expect going forward?
- For those who have merchandisers with Smashwords, how will the acquisition affect them?
- Will Smashwords users and Draft2Digital users end up interacting with an identical backend, or will our experiences differ somewhat depending upon which service we started on?
- Some authors have books in both Smashwords and D2D, with judicious checking on and off of distribution partners to avoid overlap. How will that be handled in the merge?
- We often hear about how dominant Amazon is when it comes to ebooks (and everything). Could you tell us how the other book stores are doing?
- Are there any in particular that it might behoove self-published authors to focus on, or at least put more marketing dollars into promoting in?
- A lot of people talk about a thirty-day cliff on Amazon, plus lots of other cliffs. How much does frequency of release affect wide sales? Is there a sweet spot where you’re not releasing too quickly or slowly?
- Would you recommend doing dedicated promotional pushes to specific storefronts? Are more generalized promotional things better instead?
- What are some common mistakes that authors are making when they upload through D2D?
- How do you recommend authors approach book launches when releasing wide? What about authors moving their entire backlist wide after only being on Amazon?
- If going from Amazon exclusivity to wide and releasing an entire series, should you put the books out all at once or stagger the releases? Do pre-orders make sense in this context?
Thanks for listening, everyone! You can find out more about Kevin’s thrillers on his website and visit the Draft2Digital blog for more updates and information on succeeding with self-publishing.
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