Publishers Bolster Revenue through Subscription-Based Aggregation, Retaining 100% Net Earnings from Royalties
Let's chat about the benefits of subscription-based book aggregation for indie authors compared to the traditional royalty-share aggregation!
First thing's first: What's book aggregation in self-publishing? No worries, I've got ya covered. Aggregators are your one-stop shops for distributing your book to various retailers, saving you time and effort that'd otherwise be spent on managing multiple platforms yourself. Popular retailers include Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Scribd, OverDrive, and Bibliotheca.
Now, let's get down to the good stuff. So, you can sell directly to retailers and get the full royalty percentages (about 40-70% across stores). Alternatively, you could go for an aggregator. However, going this route requires paying an additional percentage of your royalties on top of store percentages, a model known as royalty-share. This pricing model is popular among platforms like Draft2Digital, which asks for 10% of your sales commission no matter where you sell.
Why, you might ask, would someone choose to go for an aggregator? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Firstly, they help you publish as widely as possible across stores and markets, a self-publishing best practice aimed at diversifying revenue streams and maximizing reach. Secondly, aggregators help save time and energy, as they manage all of your books and stores on a single platform -- and they often provide additional services like royalty reporting, book promotion, and support.
But why stop at just any aggregator? Our website goes a step further by offering a subscription-based aggregation model, veering away from the industry's traditional royalty-sharing approach. With our subscription-based model, you pay a fixed monthly fee instead of a percentage of your royalties. This means you keep 100% of the net royalties you earn with stores, just like selling directly to stores. It's a game-changer, letting indies like you keep more of the hard-earned profits from your book sales.
In case you're wondering why a subscription-based model is superior to a traditional royalty-share model: it offers advantages in terms of payment structure, revenue predictability, and control.
- Predictable Revenue Through Subscription Payments: Subscription-based aggregators like our website pay authors based on a share of the subscription fees collected from readers. This model can provide a more consistent and potentially steady income stream, as revenue is tied to subscriber counts and reading volume rather than individual book sales. It's a win-win since readers can sample multiple books without making separate purchases, increasing exposure and readership.
- Potential for Wider Distribution: Subscription-based aggregators offer distribution across multiple platforms, including subscription services like Scribd and Kindle Unlimited. This helps indie authors reach readers across various outlets using a single upload, avoiding exclusivity limitations found in some royalty-share models and expanding audience reach.
- More Control Over Pricing and Rights: Subscription-based aggregators generally let authors keep control over pricing and rights, unlike some royalty-share platforms that may require exclusivity or impose pricing controls. This allows authors to publish across different platforms simultaneously, optimize marketing strategies independently, and maintain creative freedom.
- Reduced Risk Compared to Royalty-Share Models: Royalty-share models can present unpredictability, as income is heavily reliant on individual book purchases. Subscription-based models reduce this reliance by aggregating reader payments across multiple titles, potentially smoothing income fluctuations.
- Exposure Through Reader Sampling: Subscription services encourage readers to sample and discover books without upfront cost per title, increasing visibility and growing a fanbase for indie authors.
Totally tempted to join the subscription-based revolution? Start right here with our website! Dive into hundreds of stores, take advantage of royalty reporting support, marketing tools, and more – all while securing 100% of the net royalties you earn. Plus, it's free to publish your first ebook! So, what are you waiting for? Give it a shot!
- Embracing a subscription-based model like ours not only offers the benefits of traditional aggregators, such as wide distribution and time management, but it also provides additional advantages in finance, like predictable revenue and reduced risk compared to royalty-share models.
- The application of technology, such as subscription-based platforms, has transformed self-publishing for indie authors. This innovation empowers authors to enjoy higher revenue predictability, wider distribution, and more control over their publishing rights, all while minimizing the potential financial risks associated with traditional royalty-share models.
