I had a good question in Comments about last week's post on XinXii, the European digital publishing platform. Indie author Beth Orsoff, author of Romantically Challenged,
asked: "One question for you (if you know the answer), for those self-publishing through Amazon, doesn't Amazon already sell our books internationally in English?" I fielded the question in my Blog's Comments, but then I went straight to Dr. Andrea Schober, CEO of XinXii, and posed the question to her.
My Answer: XinXii vs. Amazon
XinXii is part of an established German publishing company. They know how to connect with European readers looking for English language publications, perhaps better than Amazon. If an author has a profile page on XinXii, it's disseminated worldwide whereas on Amazon, if an author wants a profile page elsewhere, i. e., Amazon UK, a new author page has to be set up on the UK system, and then you must customize it as you did for U. S. Amazon page.
Dr. Schober's Answer
"Of course, Amazon is a giant that entered the self-publishing market recently."
In Germany and in Europe, "Amazon's role for eBooks and/or indie authors is still small, particularly because (with the exception of Amazon UK), they haven't started selling the kindle e-reader in Europe until now.
"Also, Amazon offers an English-spoken platform with US$ and British Pounds only. XinXii is open to readers and selling authors with other currencies.
"Besides your arguments (which are correct), some of the other reasons to choose XinXii for your European book sales are:
• usability and ease-of-use – you don't have to install a program to publish on XinXii
• publishing in real-time – immediately after its upload, your eBook is available on XinXii.com (you don't have to wait 24 hours or longer)
• ability to modify, change or update any entry in real-time – again it's immediate, no long wait for the new version to be available
• every author has his or her own profile page, and it's disseminated worldwide
• fair and clear revenue model – our shares don't vary by country or territory
• authors get paid via PayPal in the currency of his or her choice
• XinXii is absolutely free – no hidden costs like Delivery Fees or List Price Requirements
• direct and personal support via Email – We care about our users."
XinXii Authors Speak
Starting next week, I'll be introducing you to some XinXii authors, such as:
• Philip Anthony, author of the #8 thriller on XinXii, Desert Heat
• Joel Blaine Kirkpatrick, author of The Search for the Origins of a Soul
• Linda Mooney, author of the romance The Battle Lord’s Lady (Book 1 of the Battle Lord Saga)
• Cynthia Wicklund, author of the regency historical romance In the Garden of Temptation.
Takeaway Truth
Since I finally got my first ebook Just One Look uploaded to Kindle, I'm now uploading it to XinXii and other digital publishing platforms.
Very interesting article. I have today published on XinXii and it was an easy experience. I hadn't heard of them until they sent me an email inviting me to join their site. As my book is on Kindle and other ePublishing sites, together with a paperback version, I was only too pleased to be a part of a Europe based organization.
ReplyDeleteKathryn Brown
author of Discovery at Rosehill
Hi, Crystal Jigsaw! Thanks for commenting. How has your experience been so far? You can email me privately at joan at joanreeves.com (put REAL LIVE PERSON in subject box) if you'd like.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes,
Joan Reeves
Thanks for the info, Joan. I know sometimes European publishers contact indie folks if there's been a lot of buzz about their book, but it's nice to know we can be more proactive about sekking out international audiences.
ReplyDeleteHey, Suzan,
ReplyDeleteI just uploaded Just One Look to XinXii. So easy! I used a pdf format, they take 15 different formats.
Let's see if I can locate the link (it's late and I'm tired *LOL*) Oh, that was easy. They've got the URLs for the book in a box to the left of the cover.
http://www.xinxii.com/en/just-one-look-p-326773.html
There are only 20 romance novels on XinXii right now. It will be interesting to see if anyone sells.
I really appreciate your calling attention to this publisher, Joan. I took the opportunity to republish some older books to which I have the rights. They're under my old pen name, but I was able to tell readers about the switch in my bio.
ReplyDeleteHey, Ashlyn, I just saw you on XinXii as having one of the new books published. Good for you. I'm glad writers are taking advantage of this.
ReplyDeleteI'm so interested to see if we make sales. I interviewed one of their top thriller writers and will present that next week on the blog. He's got some tips to help get sales.
Joan
Thanks for the helpful article. There is so much happening in the e-pubbing world it is hard to keep up with everything. I will have to check out this new market.
ReplyDeleteJoan,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for passing on my question. Much appreciated.
I'll add putting my books up on XinXii to the To Do List :)
Another question for you:
ReplyDeleteI just checked out the site and it looks like you can upload in any format you choose--Word doc, PDF, epub, etc. What format do they recommend for ebooks? I don't know what devices people in Europe are using and/or their preferred format. In theory I could upload the books in multiple formats (I've already converted them to multiple formats anyway), but that's seems excessive. What does the company recommend?
Thanks,
Beth
Maryann, you're so right. Publishing is changing so fast you almost need a score card to keep up with the players.
ReplyDeleteJoan
Beth, yes, there are 15 formats you can use. The platform is the easiest I've seen.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't use something that makes it easy to pirate. Of course, I'm paranoid.
I'll post more details next week. For now, let me recommend converting your file to the epub format.
Kindle just came over, but epub should be available to the biggest audience.
Save your ms. file as a doc or as a pdf then convert to epub format. If you don't know a converter, I'll post about it next week.
I'm at my weekend place so not doing much work until I get home.
Dr. Schober emailed me about some changes they're making that will be a benefit to writers. More later.
Happy weekend,
Joan Reeves