Kevin Kelly explains how to, in 8 easy steps, get your book, CD, or DVD listed on Amazon.com:
- Get an ISBN (for a book), or a UPC (for a CD or DVD). For one book it costs $125, for one CD, $55, for one DVD, $89.
- Get a bar code based on the ISBN or UPC. Costs $10, or may be included in UPC.
- Sign up with Amazon, $30 per year.
- Duplicate your stuff; include the bar code on the outside.
- Ship two copies to Amazon
- Send cover scan
- Track sales
- Resgister it (optional)
The cost of using Amazon is high. They take 55% of the “official” price (not the sale price but the price you originally determine). That means that even if they discount the book (good for sales), the discount is coming out of their half. But it means you are only getting 45% of your listed price. In addition you pay for shipping books there, and of course for printing them, so the math does not encourage fortune making. Most self-published books are in the “long tail” zone, selling only a few copies per month. I’ve done better, selling several thousand copies over a couple of years, but still: This is not a way to make money; this is a way to distribute your message.
He does a great job of explaining each of the steps in more detail.
Chuck on February 23rd, 2005 at 1:06 pm
This is great information.
Having a publication in Amazon.com offers great credibility.
If one is selling a print book or non-digital product, one might be able to sell the digital version for less and keep more of the proceeds by using the “read this book” tool (if the product is a book) and making sure your website that sells the digital version is on every page!