BookTango, which is still in beta, offers DIY ebook conversion via its online ebook editor (your file needs to be formatted to BookTango's specifications), and distribution to a variety of platforms, including Apple, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BooksOnBoard, Google, and Kobo. There's also a cover design function, ISBN assignment, and of course, payment processing.
This basic service package is free. For the $49 package, you get the basics plus conversion services (if you don't want to DIY), the ability to include images, fancier cover design options, and a free download of your ebook. There's also a $189 package; the only difference between it and the $49 package seems to be that BookTango will "handle the paperwork and get your e-book properly protected under U.S. copyright regulations." Since copyright registration is not only very easy to accomplish yourself, but costs just $35 if you do it online, there doesn't appear to be a single reason to spring for this.
BookTango says it pays "100% of net" on books sold through its own bookstore, and "90% of net" on books sold via other retailers, and claims its royalties are "the biggest in the industry" (hmmm...not so much; see below). Before you get stars in your eyes, what those numbers actually add up to is that for BookTango bookstore sales, "net" is what's left after BookTango takes a 30% transaction fee (so "100% of net" really means 70% of list); while for retailer sales, "net" is wholesale less a 10% BookTango commission. Retailer discounts can be as much as 60%, so in some cases authors may be making as little as 30% of list.
How does BookTango stack up against other aggregators, such as BookBaby, EbookIt, and of course the grandaddy of them all, Smashwords? You can certainly get better financial terms. Smashwords, for instance, charges no fees, and pays 85% of list for sales from its website and 60% of list for sales through outside retailers (so much for "the biggest royalties in the industry")--but it's truly a no-frills service, and not everyone loves its Meatgrinder conversion engine. BookBaby has no free option, and both its packages cost more than BookTango's--but it doesn't take a commission on what it receives from retailers, so authors get the full wholesale price. EbookIt, on the other hand, is more expensive than BookTango on two fronts--its upfront fee is higher, and while it pays a bit more for sales through its website (75% of list), it keeps a bigger commission (15%) on sales through outside retailers.
There are many issues to consider besides fees and payment, including the Terms of Use (BookTango's TOU doesn't seem to contain any nasty surprises), the ease and reliability of the conversion/formatting utility (BookTango's looks pretty user-friendly; anyone who is familiar with Blogger or WordPress shouldn't have any trouble), the value of package add-ons (Author Solutions marketing services--ugh), royalty payment schedules (BookTango pays quarterly, but you have to earn $75 before they'll cut a check), and the author's degree of control over the process. Right now, for instance, BookTango's default price for an ebook is $4.99, and you have to make a special request if you want a different price, or if you want to change the price periodically (BookTango says it's working on a solution for this, which should roll out in a few weeks). So price pulsing won't be easy.
Comparison shopping is essential to find the service that best fits your needs and finances. Overall, though, BookTango looks like a reasonably competitive service--as long as you read the fine print, ignore the ridiculously overpriced $189 package, and are prepared to resist the expensive marketing services BookTango's parent company wants to sell you (these are prominently featured on BookTango's website). Authors who choose BookTango should be aware that Author Solutions is a relentless marketer, and should expect to be solicited for other Author Solutions services--including, very likely, a premium membership in AS's Author Learning Center (cost: $149 per year; trial subscriptions are included in all BookTango packages).
16 comments:
I've sold about 500x more by myself through Amazon than through Smashwords. I mean the only time I "sold" anything with Smashwords was by offering a coupon to get the book for free. I doubt this new thing would be any better and by forcing you to charge $4.99 it would probably be much much worse.
Wow, lots of information. Thanks for sharing all of that with us! Definitely something to consider.
Call me old fashioned. This kind of stuff--don't like.
Am I the only one that feels like this is just a late grab at taking over an already saturated market?
Had HC been innovative and had this done five years ago, they might own the market now. Instead, it looks well lined up to be another speed bump in publishing history.
Great post, Victoria, and I appreciate your mention of BookBaby. It’s great that authors have so many new resources to get their eBooks out into the marketplace. Picking up on your theme that comparison shopping is essential and I’d to add these items to the shopping list:
• Will your eBook service convert your documents into ePub and .mobi for free?
• Will they convert only from Word docs, or also from PDFs, InDesign or other file formats?
• Do they offer Cover Design services?
• Can they supply an ISBN?
• How many eBook stores or distributors do they distribute to?
• And last – and maybe most importantly – does your eBook service offer a phone number where an author can talk to a real live person for help and advice?
These are among the main reasons why a lot of authors have chosen BookBaby.
Hi Victoria, thanks for the shout out. Slight correction for you. You mentioned, "[Smashwords] pays 85% of list for sales from its website." It's actually 85% net, so it's slightly lower than you imply.
For sales at our Smashwords.com retail store, we pay 85% net, where net = (price-paypal fee) * .85. When an author prices a book at Smashwords, we display a dynamic pie chart that automatically estimates how much an author will earn at each price point so everything's transparent. Registered Smashwords users (free to register) can view the Smashwords calculator on the Smashwords upload page here. The higher the price, the greater the percentage of list retained by the author. Here are some sample price points, and approximately what the author earns at each price:
$.99 earns $.56 (57% list)
$2.99 earns $2.21 (74% list)
$4.99 earns $3.86 (77% list)
$7.99 earns $6.34 (79% list)
$9.99 earns $7.99 (80% list)
At the risk of getting too complicated, if the customer's shopping cart includes more than one book (either your books or books from other authors), then the paypal fee actually declines on a per-book percentage basis which means that it's not uncommon for authors to earn 70-80% of list on $.99 books.
@Grumpy, looks like you're not utilizing Smashwords to it's full effect. Smashwords authors earn most of their income through our global distribution network to Apple, B&N, Kobo, Sony and Diesel. I checked, your book is not distributed anywhere through us. Check your Dashboard for next steps (it's waiting for you to click the resubmit button), give the book several months to plant roots at these other retailers and you'll probably find the non-Amazons will eventually account for a reasonable chunk of your earnings.
I was interested, until I saw the words Author Solutions. And, if you can create your own ebooks, don't hire someone to do it.
Thanks for the comments and clarifications, Steven and Mark!
Thank you for spreading the word about Booktango. I think your advice to “comparison shop to find a service that best fits your needs and finances” is wise. In fact, it was comparison shopping that led us to develop and launch Booktango. During the development process, we conducted extensive market research with industry authorities and authors. Those conversations helped us identify exactly what authors were looking for in a Do-It-Yourself e-book publishing solution and what was causing them pain.
We found there was a huge gap in the market, and therefore an opportunity, to develop a DIY solution that was not only easy-to-use, but also allowed authors the ability to publish for free (I think you said it best by describing one option as a “meatgrinder”). We identified the features authors wanted and then built those into Booktango. The result is an simple-to-use solution that makes it free and easy to publish great looking e-books and have them distributed to all leading e-reading devices and retailers.
Regarding royalties, we understand they can be confusing as your blog post and responses indicate; especially considering how each vendor has an entirely different structure. In an effort to make things as simple as possible, we have clarified some of the language on the site to ensure authors know exactly what they are getting with Booktango. Best of all, we’ve made it easy to track and receive those royalties through direct deposit.
For authors who are looking for a little extra help with publishing their manuscript, Booktango also offers professional book formatting services for a modest $49. No other DIY e-book imprint offers that convenience.
We’ve put a lot into Booktango, but we’re not done yet. Over the next few weeks, we plan to launch an online cover designer and the ability for authors to set their own price within the application. We believe these added features will help to ensure Booktango stays the best DIY e-book publishing option on the market.
We truly believe this is the best time in history to be an author, and the launch of Booktango is just one more example of why we hold to that conviction.
wow, nice blog.. where i can get this template?
I just wish to point out, (yes fairly late), that in doing research between BookTango and SW, I found a Gotcha! at BookTango that everyone should be aware of. On the BookTango site under their "Publisher" you will find the following:
"What if I already have a cover design or image? Can I use it?
YES
However, you will be allowed to upload a cover image only if you’ve selected one of our two paid packages — Time Saver or Defender — or have added the Choice Cover Design service to your free package."
This means in plain English that you do have to spend money if you designed your own book cover. Since these days most authors going this route already have a cover design they will be forced to purchase a service they do not need. Which in the end is a big X in my book. When you say something is free, it is free. A book also includes the cover, especially when the site itself has a long spiel on how important book covers are. My 2 cents.
Hi,
If I publish with BookTango or Smashword, do they take the rights to my ebook?
Beth
beth--
Smashwords' and Book Tango's Terms and Conditions are different, but basically they (and services like them) take only the nonexclusive right to publish and distribute your work. You keep all your rights, and especially your copyright.
There may be other restrictions in the Terms and Conditions--for instance, there may be pricing restrictions (i.e., you can't price your ebook lower than a certain amount) or the like. It's very important to read the Terms and Conditions, or Author Agreement, or whatever it's called, very carefully and be sure you understand it.
Since your original post, we have made two major enhancements to ensure Booktango is the leading e-publishing and distribution platform for authors.
Earlier this month, we announced that for authors who publish with Booktango by July 4, 2012, we will allocate the entire sales price of their e-books sold on bookstore.booktango.com. That means that if an e-book sells for $4.99 through the Booktango bookstore, the author gets $4.99. If the e-book sells through another outlet (such as Amazon®, Barnes and Noble®, Kobo®, Apple® iBooks, or Google®), the selling retailer takes its standard fee, and the author gets the rest. In both of these examples, Booktango takes nothing—for the life of the book. Authors who published prior to our May 2 announcement are grandfathered into the program and will also earn maximum royalties for the life of their books.
In April, we launched a DIY cover designer that offers maximum flexibility for authors who want to create custom cover art with drag-and-drop ease. We offer four different options: upload your own image, use one of our royalty-free images, upload a completed design, or purchase our cover design service. Best of all, we perform all final quality assurance to ensure the cover specifications meet or exceed distributors’ standards for presentation and readability.
We have said it before: there has never been a better time to be an author.
Chris, Thanks for clarifying. BookTango does indeed sound like a great option. A couple of questions:
does BT allow for authors to make updates, and contextual changes?, and do these changes effect the fee structure/life of the book?
Thanks, Everett
Hi Everett,
Yes, Booktango allows authors to make updates and contextual changes. These changes do not impact the royalty structure provided the book was originally published prior to July 4, 2012.
Chris
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