You’ve decided to self-publish yoiur book; now, how do you reach the largest possible audience? How and where you sell book files is almost as important as the quality of your work in terms of sales success. You need to appeal to a wide section of the eBook purchasing base in order to optimize sales, and some of the most popular options for self-publishing make this a difficult goal to accomplish. If your original plan was to publish directly to one of the proprietary device marketplaces, there are a number of reasons why you may want to consider starting your own web store instead. One of these reasons is purely technical: compatibility with a broader range of devices.

How Proprietary Markets Make it Harder to Sell Books

At first blush, a major eBook marketplace connected to a particular eReader device brand seems like the perfect option. Your work is hosted securely, instantly delivered to your buyers and payment processing is automatic. The downside is that you’ll only be able to reach potential buyers who own a single device. With multiple eReader options on the market, you’re effectively limiting your audience before you ever make your first sale. This makes building a wide and varied readership more difficult. In addition, the most lucrative options through major marketplaces require an exclusivity agreement. You won’t be allowed to sell book files through other avenues.

Making your work available in a variety of file formats is the best way to diversify your reach, but it can seem complicated. The truth is, you don’t need an expensive website or complicated online sales tools to sell your eBook files. All you need is a high-end eCommerce platform, a social media presence and perhaps a free blog site. Services like PayLoadz.com are designed specifically for independent digital content merchants, and are created to help you maximize sales while minimizing hassle.

Sell Book and Audio Book Files Yourself

Whether you’re only looking to self-publish your eBook or are interested in also offering audio book copies of your work, managing your own web store is almost certainly your best option.

Dedicated eCommerce platforms take all the work out of online sales, offering all the convenience of managed proprietary market sales with none of the restrictions. Payments are processed through trusted systems like PayPal and Google Wallet. Content is securely hosted and instantly delivered to your customers through fulfillment automation. The best eCommerce platforms even offer additional tools, like affiliate network access, to help you reach a vastly expanded pool of potential readers.

Before you agree to an exclusive sales contract, consider the many benefits of a low-cost, highly effective eCommerce service provider. You can be a truly independent author with unlimited potential for success.