revtrevQ: Having published and helped dozens of people publish, I am really getting excited about this deal.
I have a few questions I need clarity on before I pull the trigger. I can't seem to find the answers on your website. I'm basically wondering what control I keep over my books.
1. Can I provide my own ISBN?
2. Does my Imprint get used or your own?
3. Can I set the categories and keywords for Amazon? Can I submit 10 extra categories to Amazon?
4. Can I run Amazon Ads from your console?
4. Do I get any distribution included that I want - or am I paying more for Ingram?
Just having all the reporting in 1 place saves me 5 accounts I have to manage now. You definitely have my attention.
Alexandra_PublishDrive
May 14, 2024A: Hello Revtrev,
We're also excited to hear about your interest in PublishDrive 😊
1. You can carry your ISBN(s) and use on our platform. You can read all the important information about having your own ISBN (also in the case you don't have): https://publishdrive.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004001714-Do-I-need-an-ISBN-Which-stores-require-it-
2. The books will be published on your own imprint name, and our name PublishDrive will appear in the listing on the store sites next to your imprint name.
I recommend our article about creating and managing your imprint(s): https://publishdrive.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003165014-Imprints-Edit-enabled-and-disabled-stores-manage-stores-per-books
3. Yes, you can set categories (maximum 3) and keywords (maximum 7).
4. Amazon Advertising is built-in to our platform. We have an article about how you can exactly run campaigns through your PD account:
https://publishdrive.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016162914-Amazon-Advertising-PublishDrive-s-built-in-marketing-feature
5. Ingram costs $10/print book/year to publish. This is the only extra fee, and it is optional to choose Ingram for distribution. Only print titles can be distributed with Ingram currently.
I hope I was able to answer all your questions. If there is anything else in mind, we are looking forward to your other questions.
Verified purchaser
I just did some math... Here's what I think PublishDrive would replace for me
KDP - nothing it's free for Amazon ebooks and print books (now including hard cover)
Ingram Spark (books — and limited ebooks) $49 for print and ebook PER TITLE
Draft2digital (broader ebooks) - 10% of retail price PER sale
AuthorsRepublic (audiobooks) - nothing - it's free
booktrakr - $219 Annual for PRO
Having the reporting all in one place lets me worry less about maybe not getting the same distribution I'd get with these others.
But I do want to make use of the research I do on Amazon for category and keywords with https://publisherrocket.com/ for my books...so IF I can't set the categories and keywords or change them later with you... I'll still get this amazing deal...but publish on KDP first and use your platform as a replacement for all the broader distribution networks.
Hi there,
We perfectly understand your concerns and we'd be happy to clarify these points :)
1. Yes, your books will be recognized by Amazon and added to your Author page but if for some reason they aren't, we can always request they do so!
2. We can forward such requests regarding categories to Amazon! If your book is published through us and you let our Support Team know what categories you'd like your book to get added to, we will email them for you and request it. We cannot guarantee 100% success, but we have handled such requests with success in the past.
3. That depends on a lot of factors, for example: the book's content, the book's technical properties, whether it has been on Amazon before and how Amazon handled the book back then, who has the rights to the book, etc.
Amazon has a lot of requirements and they change often, so it is always a possibility that a book will be rejected, but we'll inform our users in every case about this.
If you can let us know the reason Amazon previously removed your books, we might be able to offer some more accurate insight!
I hope this is helpful!
Verified purchaser
Thanks for your response and the links.
As the author, I need to know a few more things about how you set things up on Amazon.
1. Will my books show up on my Amazon Author page or can I request that from Amazon? They have missed a book or two in the past, but I could contact them, and they put it on.
2. Re:Categories - Will I be able to follow these steps with Amazon to get my book in more categories? Here are the steps discussed in the video https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-choose-the-best-kindle-ebook-kdp-category/
Find a category you want to rank for (copy the full string)
Click to go to this Help/Contact Page for Author Central and sign into your KDP account
Under “How We Can Help” select “Amazon Book Page”
Then select “Update Amazon Categories”
Then in the box, you'll see the following:
You can submit a single request for all category updates. Add a line per marketplace, using the example below. You can add up to 10.
Example: ASIN or ISBN, .COM, UK, DE, JP, etc., eBook or book, preferred category
Categories to be added (list each category as a separate line item for all titles that apply):
1.
Categories to be removed (list each category as a separate line item for all applicable titles):
1.
To fill this out, put your book's ASIN or ISBN in there that you want to change the categories, and the market. Then enter in the appropriate category string that you want to be included for or removed from.
A category string looks like this:
Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Colonization
3. Have you had any issues getting books on Amazon? I was using Lightning Source for distribution and Amazon removed all my books from its stores and instantly 95% of my sales were gone.
I'm trying to decide if I go all-in with you or not have all my sales in one place and use your distribution for everywhere but Amazon.