bookshop.org - great deals and gives profits to bookstores kobo.com - great for e-reading, not ecosystem locked itch.io - by far the biggest payouts to artists and writers - ThreadSky

faithfalkner.com • 30 days ago

https://bookshop.org - great deals and gives profits to bookstores
https://kobo.com - great for e-reading, not ecosystem locked
https://itch.io - by far the biggest payouts to artists and writers

Reposted from Dax, Drafting (they). 🌈✨♿

"I want to keep boycotting Amazon, but I also want to support indie authors. How do I do that?"

Many indie authors have their books on Barnes & Noble & Kobo! There are also places like Smashwords & Campfire that are almost all indie books! Itchio now has a THRIVING LGBTQ Indie Book Scene.

Comments

cartoonico.bsky.social•29 days ago

📌

savingsuitt.bsky.social•28 days ago

I ordered from https://bookshop.org recently and was very happy with their service!

gwenckatz.bsky.social•29 days ago

I would strongly warn people against buying ebooks on https://bookshop.org. You can't download their books at all--you can only view them from the web or their proprietary mobile app, which is not compatible with ereaders.

I second everything else, though!

halocentury.bsky.social•27 days ago

📌

unicrongalactus.bsky.social•30 days ago

I never thought of books on https://itch.io, but that's a great idea.

isobelstarling.bsky.social•30 days ago

I'd love to know more about https://itch.io as a place to sell books. I've signed up but it doesn't look like a bookseller at all- being all games. So I'd love to get some info and proof that the site works to sell books and isn't just 'next big thing' hype.
Is it even a safe site to upload book files?

ddsyrdal.bsky.social•30 days ago

One of my friends here, @dorkland.itch.io , assures me it's also for books. He may be able to explain more about it. I haven't signed up yet, but am looking to.

dorkland.itch.io•30 days ago

Yep, it is definitely for more than just games. I have a couple of friends here like @danifinnwrites.bsky.social who use it for the ebooks of their novels. I use it for "physical" games, which is weird since I sell PDFs, but that's just what they call tabletop stuff.

ddsyrdal.bsky.social•30 days ago

Thanks!

danifinnwrites.bsky.social•30 days ago

Itch has beaten Amazon for me for the past 3 months in sales. It depends on your audience of course, but it’s been fabulous for me. Of special note are the bundle feature and the pay what you want feature (plus people can and do often tip on sales).

ddsyrdal.bsky.social•30 days ago

That's great to hear, thanks!

danifinnwrites.bsky.social•30 days ago

It tends to trend more trans in terms of audience, but anyone can sell there and if you can convince readers to move, it’s great for everyone

stevewestenra.bsky.social•30 days ago

I feel like all the trans writers I know do so well on there, but I swear I only get downloads if I make my books free (outside two outliers and then the time I was in a bundle 😭). Still going to keep trying though

danifinnwrites.bsky.social•30 days ago

It’s all about who specifically is your audience. I feel like the “indie book community” as a larger whole isn’t really switching, but certain groups absolutely are. And to be frank, most of my sales do come from sales and bundles (including when I bundle my own books)

magicariot.com•30 days ago

I have sold several hundred copies of my novel solely through Itch. It's extremely safe and there are thousands of books listed on the site - you can view the top sellers, etc. by going to "Browse" and changing the drop-down from "Games" to "Books."

dovelynnwriter.bsky.social•30 days ago

Itch is predominantly games (& game assets) and isn’t really set up for books, but we DO sell our works there and it’s… pretty much the same as all sites ime: what & how much you sell depends a lot of discoverability. You WILL have to put in extra work because you’re using a lesser-known site too.

dovelynnwriter.bsky.social•30 days ago

Itch is more work upfront because it won’t automatically provide some of the info readers rely on, like a reading sample, and the fact that readers will need to sideload the books will cost readers who don’t WANT to deal with that extra step. It’s absolutely viable, but it IS more work too.

dovelynnwriter.bsky.social•30 days ago

My experience as a very small indie author has been that Itch as a platform doesn’t seem an insurmountable barrier for readers, but people knowing it’s an option, trusting the site and especially the aforementioned discoverability issues are much much bigger obstacles.

libreture.com•30 days ago

So many authors are stocking their books with Itch now.

Here's my list of hundreds of ebookshops. Mostly indie. Many on Itch.

Hope it helps!

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