Ep35: Exclusive Vs. Wide: How To Decide

[00:00:00] All right. I'm back for another episode after an awesome weekend away. I went to the Southwest in Western Australia with my family and my fiance. We had an awesome time, just looking at our wedding venue and meeting some vendors and caterers and really getting a feel for what our day's going to be like.

[00:00:17] We're getting married next year. I can't wait. So I did take an episode off. I did take an episode of last Thursday, but back into it this week now. This episode is about the publishing process and. What this episode is going to give you an insight into is Amazon itself.

[00:00:36] So when you up your load, your book to Amazon, you will need to decide whether you want to be exclusive to them. Or you want to go wide. And what does wide mean? Well, I'll explain that in this episode, but for now, just know that there's two ways that you can go when it comes to marketing your book when it's uploaded on Amazon.

[00:00:56] And there are benefits for both there's pros and cons. It all depends on your book goals. So let's get into this because when publishing more specifically your ebook, you need to decide whether it's going to be exclusive to Amazon, or if you want to distribute it to a broader audience.

[00:01:13] Now your paperback book can be uploaded and distributed anywhere. As long as you've got your book identification, your barcode, your ISP.

[00:01:20] And so you don't need to worry about that just yet, but the exclusive versus wide decision, it comes back to your book goals and why you're writing your book in the first place. So what is exclusive. When you're able is exclusive to Amazon. This means you've published to not play, to jump via Kindle, direct publishing, and have opted to join the KDP select program. What then happens then becomes the part of the Kindle unlimited program. So, if you choose to opt into this program, your book is exclusive for a set period, and it's typically 90 days. So you won't be able to opt back out until after the 90 days. During this time, though, your ebook is only available via Amazon's Kindle store.

[00:02:03] Now, what are the benefits of being exclusive? Well, when you're exclusive to Amazon, you earn royalties based on pages read. So page reads. If your reader is part of a Kindle unlimited program, They can then download your ebook for free and each page read earns you royalties.

[00:02:21] Another pro is you can also reach a wider audience.

[00:02:24] So Raiders who are part of the Kindle unlimited program those people would pay a subscription to Amazon Kindles. They might pay, I think it's about $10 a month. They had access to certain books that are part of that program. Your book can be one of them and the rate is what part of the Kindle unlimited program they're from all over the world.

[00:02:42] And they subscribed because they love to read eBooks. If your book aligns with their reading habits, though, they're going to likely download and read your book and potentially turning them into a fan of yours. What are the cons? Let's now look at the cons of being exclusive, the cons of being exclusive. You have limited distribution. So if you go exclusive with Amazon, you restrict your ebook to one platform and that can reduce the visibility, meaning you're missing out on potential readers, viewing your ebook off of other platforms. There's also an exclusivity period. When you opt in for Amazon's KDP select program, you're tied into their 90 day period. So, if you aren't seeing significant returns from the program, If you aren't seeing page reads and people getting your book, you can't remove it until the period ends.

[00:03:29] And the other con is certain genres work better than others.

[00:03:33] So in the unlimited program, you have people from all around the world. So all those people who are avid readers and it means they'll have a favorite genre. So borrow several books at a time. Nonfiction have seem to have mixed results in this program over the years. So it could work via, it could not. I always say, test in the first place because

[00:03:51] it's really hard to gauge your readers' habits, which is why it's worthwhile testing and. Be patient with your results.

[00:03:58] And other Connie is exclusivity means you're reliant on Amazon. You're relying solely on Amazon for ebook sales, which can be risky. And if you come across any Amazon account issues, your revenue stream may be disrupted.

[00:04:12] You may affect your royalties. So that's just something to bear in mind. Also there's market saturation. Some John has performed better in KDB select then others. It means your book could struggle with gaining visibility if there's a sea of books that are similar to yours.

[00:04:28] And finally the last con is this is more targeted towards coaches and business owners. It means you're unable to digitally market a book for free. You're unable to digitally market a free ebook. So if you're exclusive to Amazon, it's against their terms and conditions to deliver a free ebook to your audience outside of KDP select program and that's the case.

[00:04:50] If you were planning to promote your free copy or your free book as a lead generation tool exclusive may not be your best option. It's why I don't have exclusivity with Amazon on my published impact book. But when it becomes to my other books, like evolve your skills and the six pillars of rewarding life. I have put my book inside the KDP select program and have seen not bad returns on it.

[00:05:14] So that's something to think about when it comes to being exclusive to Amazon because Amazon has a monopoly when it comes to books and the publishing industry, it's all about testing and looking at your book goals and seeing what works for you. .

[00:05:26] Let's now look at wide publishing. So what is wide publishing?

[00:05:30] I did mention you have exclusive and you have wide publishing. Exclusive, as I said means you're exclusive to Amazon when it comes to wide publishing in general, going wide refers to you publishing or choosing to distribute your book across multiple sales channels or platforms.

[00:05:48] So rather than exclusively through amazon, when you go wide with your e-book, it can be made available on all different retailers. So you can be made available on Amazon, apple books, Google books, Cobos, et cetera. What are the pros of going wide? So you always want to relate this back to your book goals and see what pros, what cons align with, where you want your books to be published. The pros for going wide. You get to diversify income streams.

[00:06:16] So with platforms like Google books, apple books, Amazon, your ebook can still be delivered to an audience. All we need to do is create your account on those platforms and have your ebook files ready for uploading. And you would have had your, all your files ready for uploading, because you're doing that on Amazon there'll be the same files that you'll use on those other platforms. The second pro of going wide is reduced dependency on Amazon. So like most platforms, there are always going to be changes that can affect how you operate them. If you're wide, you won't be relying on Amazon's platform.

[00:06:50] You can still deliver your books through other channels and you can still receive Hyatt royalties.

[00:06:56] And the final pro for me as a coach, as a business owner. One of the most powerful ways you can generate leads is to deliver a free ebook to your audience. So if you're exclusive, Amazon's terms and conditions don't allow you to deliver it for free. If you do, they'll send you an email . If you're wide, though, you can use a book funnel, which is what I use to grow your email list and deliver a free ebook. All you need to do is set up a landing page where your audience can download the book with a tap of the button in exchange for an email address.

[00:07:26] And there you go. You can have that new lead.

[00:07:28] What are the cons to going wide though?

[00:07:31] The first is it's con it can be complex management, so it could be complex bookkeeping. If you're going wide and you upload your email to several platforms, it's a

[00:07:41] lot more work on the bookkeeping end and keeping up with the sounds and the royalties.

[00:07:45] Other platforms though also have different payment schedules.

[00:07:48] So it's likely royalties might come in at different times. The second con. It's difficult in gaining traction when you're exclusive, your ebook can be presented to an already waiting audience. So people who are searching for books and reading for books, and they're part of the Kindle select program. If you don't have an audience already waiting for your book, it can be a challenge to gain traction until you start to build one.

[00:08:13] So those are the difference between the two.

[00:08:15] So you have exclusive, which means you're exclusive to Amazon. You're part of their Kindle select programming. Normally bad to tell if you go and search a book in Amazon. Normally you'd be able to tell if you guys search enable can Amazon there'll be a section on that book on the cover of that book, on the cover of the ebook that will say Kindle select.

[00:08:33] So you will know that that book is part of the Kindle select program. Now let's look at your strategy and how are you going to decide if you're going to go exclusive to Amazon, or if you're going to go wide. While exclusivity might offer the short-term benefits. It may not align with your longterm building and brand building and strategy.

[00:08:52] So if you're planning on using your ebook as a tool to improve your business, I'll always recommend going wide, but if you're looking to write books, and build a radar ship and just.

[00:09:02] take something off the bucket list and be proud of what you've achieved.

[00:09:06] I'd always, recommend testing out, being exclusive to Amazon

[00:09:10] to see the results you're going to get. In saying that if you're still not sure which strategy to use, start off with going wide, because what you can then do is just upload your book to Amazon books and apple books. And. See how you go with the results that you're getting. Because you can always switch back over to Amazon KDP, select and go exclusive. Because it just means that you then be in a 90 day period with Amazon and it might be beneficial to start off. Going wide before you opt into that 90 day period.

[00:09:40] So it's all about testing and really getting to know your book goals and what you want to achieve.

[00:09:45] Now, one thing I want to close this episode on as well is your paperback book and it's about purchasing an ISBM. So your ISP N is your identification book number? It's like your fingerprint and it enables you to be identified by different publishers, bookstores, libraries, retailers, and

[00:10:04] your decision to purchase an ISP, and again, will depend on your book goals. Now there are three options when it comes to ISBNs, you can buy your own. You can use Amazon's KDP assigned ISB N again, that just means your paperback book will be exclusive to Amazon.

[00:10:23] All of the third one, don't have one at all. So you can buy your own. ISBNs on a website called thought Barker and they're really repeatable ISB and Ray Taylor. And it'll set you back about 50 bucks. Alternatively, you can use the KDP assigned ISBM. So it means your paperback book will remain exclusive and limited to Amazon.

[00:10:42] So why aren't your options, but if you're after flexibility in distributing your books, purchase an ISB, N because that's what I'd recommend. It means that you have all the rights to your book. So that's all I got for today's episode. Figure out what strategy you're going to go with and it's always best to test. Thanks again for joining me and I'll catch you again on the next episode.