Scribd vs. Amazon Digital Text Platform

[Debbi Mack]

Does anyone have an informed opinion about selling work online through the Scribd Store at http://blog.scribd.com/2009/05/18/new-scribd-store/ versus the Amazon Digital Text Platform at https://dtp.amazon.com/mn/signin?

I know Amazon and Kindle go hand-in-hand, plus I assume you get an Amazon listing if you go with their DTP. But I keep wondering if there's a catch somewhere.

I recently read on Sarah Weinman's blog that publishing blogs through Kindle wasn't such a hot deal for blog authors. Apparently, Amazon ends up with way too much control over the blog content.

Anyway, I figured I'd throw out the question and see what anyone knows about this.

[Bob]

Scribd ... there are thousands of copyright books on the Scribd website where you can download them for free. To me that is copyright infringement. Any website that facilitates theft of intellectual property is not big in my books.

Smiles
Bob

I would stick with Amazon and check Scribd regularly to make sure your stuff hasn't been upload.

[Debbi Mack]

Mmm. Something to think about. Thanks, Bob.

Anyone else care to weigh in on this?

[Johnny Batch]

If you are an unknown writer, like myself, Scribd puts your work in front of thousands of eyes that would otherwise never see you. I put all my short fiction that has not sold onto Scribd. I also have an early draft of my new mystery novel and that has done real well capturing eyes on Scribd. I recently put my first novel for sale on Scribd and so far have sold nothing. But it's only been a week.

I have been on the Amazon Kindle for a while now and I sell as many books there as I do in paper. Scribd needs to be online for a lot longer before I can compare the two. Also, Scribd users definitely prefer free, and Kindle users are of a higher income (I personally can't justify $400 for a book reader) and they prefer to buy things. But right now, the best bet is the Kindle store.

As for the blog authors on the Kindle, I have to ask why? When I can get your blog for free, why would I pay for it? Blogs are better for building customer good will than making a living from them. Unless you are a big time personality with millions of hits per month, you can't earn much from them.

[Debbi Mack]

The observation about blogs on Kindle came from Sarah Weinman on her blog Confessions of an Idiosyncratic Mind (explaining why she wasn't making it available for Kindle). I think she would probably count as one of those big time personalities. :)

[I. J. Parker]

Sarah's right up there! A remarkable woman.

[Andrew Kent]

Just this month, Scribd's e-content store launched. Authors keep 80% of the sale price less some fees (which, if you do a $5 sale price will knock another 5% off, so you're effectively at 75%). The upload process for your book is painless, they preview a random set of pages (a sprinkling), and they seem committed to doing this well. I posted my book there just over a week ago. It's gotten a few dozen views and no sales so far.

I've been on the Kindle since late-February with the same title, and I've sold a dozen copies. That amounts to about $40. However, there was no expense involved in doing that, and some people really like the convenience.

As for blog publishers on the Kindle, I've heard some grousing because Amazon likes to keep the content so that users can fetch it again from their Kindle archive, but otherwise, I've heard a lot of good money's being made.

[Debbi Mack]

Thanks, Andrew! It sounds like one could pick up a few bucks with either service. Figure I may as well go for both. $40 beats nothing at all, plus there's whatever exposure you can get from making your work available online.