When I did a series on avaible e-distributors for self-publishing back in February (see Part 1. Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 for more information), I included quite a few companies.
As I said in my series, I narrowed my choices down to Amazon's KDP program, Barnes & Noble's PubIt! program and Smashwords. At the time, Amazon and Barnes & Noble had the most extensive reach. I choose Smashwords for the flexibility of creating coupons, which the other two programs still do not offer.
Since I wrote that series (remember, this is only three months ago), the following has happened:
-Amazon has extended its reach to Germany.
- Barnes & Noble has changed its royalty percentage for books below $2.99 and above $9.99 to 40%.
And a new player has entered the scene--XinXii.
XinXii is a German company founded in 2008, and of course, they are looking to capitalize on growing e-book sales. E-books don't have the market share in Europe that they currently have in the U.S. But the folks at XinXii foresee the increase of e-book sales just like here, so they got their English version up and running approximately eight months before Amazon opened their German website.
XinXii is attempting to out-Amazon Amazon by offering a 70% royalty rate on e-books priced over $2.49 and a 40% rate on e-books priced between $0.99 and $2.48.
The great thing is they are willing to pay authors in U.S. dollars, so you don't have to worry about the cost of exchange. And according to XinXii's CEO, Dr. Andrea Schober, they are actively seeking English-language books. For more information, check out their website, or see Joan Reeves' analysis from March.
Frankly, I plan to try out XinXii. Hey, sales are sales, right?
SALES ARE SALES!!!! I haven't tried XinXii yet. Have you heard of anyone getting sales? I only ask because I haven't sold 1 German book on Amazon yet...but I do get sales in the UK (how they find me, is another issue!).
ReplyDeleteI believe Joan Reeves has on XinXii, but I need to double-check.
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