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#1 | |
Member
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Karma: 143468
Join Date: Jul 2011
Device: Kindle Touch
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Kobo Writing Life now open (New direct self-pub program)
I just got the email from Kobo:
Quote:
What do you guys think? I'm not sure about being tied to my reader account and how that will work with having a pen-name, but I'll figure it out. |
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#2 |
cacoethes scribendi
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Karma: 137770742
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Australia
Device: Kobo Aura One & H2Ov2, Sony PRS-650
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I am impressed that they are accepting a range of inputs - especially that they will accept pre-formatted ePub files. Like you, I would rather have control over this than leave it something like the Smashwords meatgrinder. It sounds like a great idea and I hope it proves successful for them - it might pressure others into offering this sort of flexibility.
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#3 |
Wizard
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Karma: 35207650
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: iPad
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Eh, Kobo sales have not proven to be worth the time yet. I likely will always publish direct mobi to Amazon, and format specifically for Kindle because they have the sales to warrant the effort. I may start doing that for B&N. But Kobo? They are less then 5% of my sales, I do not see it a good use of my time to get them perfect. For all of those small shops, I'll let Smash do it. Rather use that time in editing then dealing with them.
If Kobo grows successful, then I will likely change my tune. ![]() |
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#4 |
Connoisseur
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Karma: 2409168
Join Date: Mar 2011
Device: kindle
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I published one of my books to Kobo last night as a test run. The process of signing up and publishing content is incredibly simple and straight-forward. It's slightly more streamlined than Amazon and BN publishing. And then there's Apple...
![]() I don't know how sales will be but it's only going to take about five minutes a book to get my content listed there. I abandoned Apple after my test run. Their process was totally unsupported and annoying. It took four months to go through the sign-up and get the title approved. I even had to buy an old Mac for the sole purpose of publishing to Apple. All that and I haven't seen a single iTunes sale. |
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#5 |
Member
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Karma: 143468
Join Date: Jul 2011
Device: Kindle Touch
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I see what you mean, VydorScope; I guess I am just excited about getting my work seen in other countries. Since you publish on Kindle, do you know if Amazon makes it possible to do this?
Kobo has a better reputation than BN for customer service, and I'm hoping that they carry that over to their writer's program. I know BN is a lot larger, but since I don't plan on going exclusive, every little bit helps! |
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#6 | ||
Wizard
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Karma: 35207650
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: iPad
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Quote:
Yes, but my sales out side of US and UK have been dismal at best. ![]() Quote:
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#7 | |
Resident Curmudgeon
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Karma: 134319572
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
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#8 |
Resident Curmudgeon
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Karma: 134319572
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts
Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3
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That could be the problem. A lot of people don't buy Smashwords meatground eBooks just on the principle of the meatgrinder and the mess they can end up being. For me, if someone came to MR and said they put up a hand crafted ePub on Kobo, I would take a look to see if it's something i might be interested in. As long as it's not Word > Calibre > Kobo (unless it's been cleaned up after the Calibre conversion), then I'll go look.
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#9 |
Junior Member
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Karma: 10
Join Date: Jul 2012
Device: many
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I have uploaded 5 books to the Kobo Writing Life directly as epubs. They all sideloaded great as epubs to my Kobo Touch (with little changes that I could live with), but going through the portal has changed the epub, though the site said it wouldn't be converted. I could only view the free one, because for some reason I cannot buy the ones for sale. I get error code 39 which I was told meant I could not purchase the books and it had nothing to do with my credit card. Is this because I am the seller?
So the one I could download, the free one, had issues with centering and indenting text and adding spaces between paragraphs which makes lines of poetry look strange. I am still waiting on responses from the help people and waiting for an update to take effect that I am hoping will address some of the issues, but it is 2 days and no word and no update. If anyone else has the same issues and gets some fixes please let me know. I am wondering if it works better starting with a Word document and letting it convert? I don't know why it can look fine when sideloaded and not look fine going through the portal. |
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#10 |
Wizard
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Karma: 35207650
Join Date: Jun 2011
Device: iPad
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Well, its very early in its life yet. I would expect it to have a bunch of problems till a few rounds of patches hit it.
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#11 |
Clone Trooper
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Karma: 4566103
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Washington
Device: kindle
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How do they pay people? I really like receiving money through Paypal ala Smashwords, but I don't mind how Amazon does it. B&N's policy of needing a credit card kind of threw me off.
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#12 |
Ottawa 5-0-1 at home
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Karma: 31487351
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Raleigh, NC
Device: Paperwhite, Kindles 10 & 4 and jetBook Lite
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Thanks MMH!
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#13 |
Junior Member
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Karma: 10
Join Date: Jul 2011
Device: Kindle 3
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mobi files written by Kindle Writer is converted very well into epub by Kobo Writing Life. And at the same time you can download the epub and use it for other platforms. A win win situation.
You can find out more about Kindle Writer at the website. Just do a Google Search .. |
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