Will selling a Kindle book prevent future distribution?

[DennisD]

Does anybody know if releasing a book on the Kindle store will ruin the chances of a distributor picking it up?
-Would there be any copyright issues?
-If there are good sales and good reviews, would it help me in 'selling' it to a distributor?


My Book Writing Tactic:
I'm currently writing the book in parts. The book is targeted at a first-time freelancer (self taught or recent college grad) teaching them how to generate gig leads.

I'm writing a single chapter, releasing it as a 'booklet/article' on the kindle store, rinse and repeat until the book is complete. I then combine into a full-size book, add the proper transitions, and maybe a few 'bonus' chapters, and sell it at a discount (sum of all previous prices *~0.7).

Using this model I can get feedback along the way (never written a book before), I can get 'paid as I go' (jobless right now and strapped for cash), and even if a distributor isn't interested I didn't waste my time.

 

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[mayana]

If you publish a Kindle book, you verify that you are the copyright owner of the book. So, if it is a book that you wrote all on your own, then you own all of the rights (unless you had it published with a publishing company previously).

You can publish it to Kindle and then publish it somewhere else in the future (but the publishing company may require you to make it no longer available on the Kindle store or any other e-book format). You can have a book for sale on your website as an ebook, in the Kindle Store, and even have hard copies of your book printed and sell them on your own or through a distributor. You won't have any issues.

I think the only caveat is the Kindle Select program. If you enroll your book in the Kindle Select program, you have to promise that it is exclusively available only there (people can still buy it for their Kindles and you get royalty percentages from the fees they collect from the lending library).

 

[DennisD]

Thank you so much!

If I enroll in the Kindle Select program, I reserve the right to withdraw at anytime correct?

You really eased my mind about this!

 

[mayana]

I think that the Kindle Select program requires an agreement of 90 days (you might want to read here to double-check). After the 90 days, I think you can remove your book, but during that time you still have to follow the exclusivity rules.

There is one thing that I didn't say (which may not apply to you, but to someone else reading this thread) is that even if your book is enrolled in the Kindle Select program, you can still sell physical copies of the book. You are only excluded from selling digital forms of your book anywhere else.

There is another really cool thing that you can do if you want to sell your book in actual physical copies without spending a lot of money printing copies of your book. If you go to createspace.com (also run by Amazon), you can upload your document file, choose a quick cover, book size and type, etc. You pay a few bucks for a proof of your book (just to make sure that it looks okay in print) and then you can have your physical book for sale on Amazon. They print on demand when someone buys the book and you get royalties. I've done this with a few consulting clients and it is super easy.

Good luck!

 

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