@paul_e_cooley@tannat@bookstodon@pluralistic is definitely an outlier where he uses publishing houses for his books but reserves the right to publish them digitally himself. That means you'll never see any of his work on Amazon because of their required DRM. Nor will you ever hear it on Audible.
Instead, he crowd-sources production of his audio books on Kickstarter and sells them on his web site. Other authors (Hugh Howie and Andy Weir) wrote and posted their initial works on their blogs before Amazon and other publishers came calling. All this required some ability to administer your web site that sells your work like @dianeduane.
That approach is not for everyone. @cstross and @hntdove just want to write and leave the publishing and marketing to their publishers.
Cory goes on and on about how he'll never publish audio books on Audible because they require DRM. So he crowd-sources his own audiobooks through Kickstarter.
He also makes versions of his books in other formats besides Kindle without DRM which he sells on his site. Amazon will sell the Kindle version only. There are tools that will convert an Amazon-purchased eBook on a Kindle to other formats, but I usually just look for a epub version and go the other way.
Cory has mentioned that those same audiobooks he sells on his site will show up on Amazon's self-publishing arm ACX(?) same with his books. But he has his agent go after Amazon to take down the pirated work.
Where are you publishing audiobooks without DRM on Amazon?
@mvilain@tannat@bookstodon@pluralistic@dianeduane@cstross@hntdove I publish my audiobooks wide after a stint in Audible's exclusive stable. After that, I'm as wide as I can get without the DRM. What Audible does, I can't control, but considering that's where the vast majority of my audiobook sales come from, I have to be there.
If you want my work in truly DRM/commercial free audio, then listen to the podcast or purchase it from my site.
@cstross@mvilain@tannat@bookstodon@pluralistic@dianeduane@hntdove I don't self-publish. I pay for professional editing, professional covers, and put out a professional product.
I've five books with a small press, so I'm a hybrid although I always keep my audio rights so I can do what I like with them.
And yes, not everyone can do what I do or follow my path.
To each their own.
Paul, where are they publishing DRM-free versions of your stuff on Amazon? Yes, you can download it from your web site, but you said Amazon would publish it if I'm not mistaken.
When Andy Weir published his WIP novel THE MARTIAN on his web site, it was a PDF file. Then he created a downloadable KINDLE version for 99¢ because people are lazy and didn't want to figure out how to download the PDF and upload it to their devices. It ended up generating $3K/mo by the time a publisher came calling. They insisted he take down the free PDF version but Amazon proudly offers the official DRM'ed version.
You're lucky your contract allows your books to be on other platforms. If Recorded Books did the audiobook, it would only be on Amazon.
That's very interesting. You can upload Word, epub, and mobi format files. But Amazon only sells Kindle files for their reader. Publishers want your manuscript in Word format. They'll publish the ebook in whatever format their store supports.
Do you have your books available on epub or PDF format on Amazon? That's my point. You can provide the files BUT I think Amazon only sells DRM-ed versions of the for the Kindle.
@mvilain@paul_e_cooley@tannat@bookstodon@pluralistic@dianeduane@hntdove No, Amazon gives the publisher a choice as to whether or not to enable DRM. AIUI it defaults to "yes" because most publishers want DRM, but if you're a publisher you can set it to "no".
to describe how Audible audiobooks can only be sold on Amazon with DRM turned on. The kindle version of his books is sold with DRM turned on but the DRM free version of the files are on his web site. He hasn't said one way or the other if his publisher is the one controlling the DRM for his books on Amazon.
Diane offers her ebooks through an on-line story in whatever format you want (mobi, pdf, epub) DRM free.
Granted Cory is talking about audiobooks specifically and not his eBooks.
Original post from @dianeduane
We've got some hefty-ish household bills to deal with at the moment, but this #ebook#sale's scheduled to end soon. Feel like grabbing 36 DRM-free SF, fantasy & YA ebooks for $44? Now's your chance! (And plz share the post if you feel inclined? Thanking you!) https://bit.ly/SummerSaleWholeStore44