Are there amazon alternatives? > Likes and Comments

Does anyone have experience with Barnes & Noble Press,Kobo, Scribd and Apple Books? Are they better than Amazon? I’m wondering if authors have more success with these platforms.

I published on Amazon and B&N simultaneously. I found little to no traction on B&N and it wasn’t until I switched my ebooks exclusively to Kindle Unlimited that I saw significant movement / sales. The ONE bonus I found using B&N is that you can contact your local store and request to have your books carried in store for their local author section. They may also be willing to host you for events (ie: book signings). As for the other outlets you mentioned, I’ve not utilized them.

I have been on Google Books for nearly six months and have yet to have a sale. Everything is coming through Amazon. The pro of Google is that it is easy to upload, the con is that it is not obvious how, or even if, the book is being presented to anyone. 6 months 0 sales would suggest maybe not. Another benefit of Google is that they can offer a select AI service to create an audiobook. Alas the format is not compatible with the Amazon Audible service so perhaps this is not the most useful post, but thought I would add anyway just in case it helps someone.

This is excellent information. I wasn’t aware that google offered an audiobook option.

Jessica wrote: "I published on Amazon and B&N simultaneously. I found little to no traction on B&N and it wasn’t until I switched my ebooks exclusively to Kindle Unlimited that I saw significant movement / sales. ..."

Hi Jessica :)

Have you had a good experience with your book being at B&N?

I've considered this option for my book, but once I've learnt about their books returns policy, it literally terrified me :( they seem to charge the author for any book that is not sold, EVEN if you allow them to destroy it- it still costs you. But may be you have an agent/publisher? in which case the latter will pick up the bill, the way I understand it.

Jasmine