Sell My eBooks

When will my eBook show up in online stores?

We have seen eBooks appear on online retailer's sites in as little as one day, but it will likely take approximately two to four weeks after your book is formatted for your eBook to appear on retail websites. Each retailer operates on a different schedule,which we do not control. Your book could show up a little sooner, or it could take a little longer.
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What exactly is on my Book Country personalized bookstore page?

Your book will have its own Web page in the Book Country bookstore. Anyone can visit the bookstore and purchase copies of your book. Book Country will display the front cover of your book, marketing copy and an excerpt from your book to entice potential buyers. You determine all of the text that you want displayed on this page.
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Can I make changes to my eBook's bookstore marketing copy, such as the Overview and About the Author?

Yes. You can update your eBook Overview, Free Preview, About the Author, and Genre info. Simply click the button to unlock your eBook in your Publishing Dashboard, make the change, and resubmit your eBook. The change will show up in online bookstores in one day to four weeks, depending on the retailer. (Each retailer operates on a separate schedule that we do not control.) Please note: to update your title, subtitle or author name, you'll need to create a new eBook.
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What is the difference between a channel or retail sale and a Book Country sale?

Sales on bookcountry.com are more profitable for the author than sales on third-party retail partner sites. When a book is sold through the Book Country website, it is considered a 'Book Country sale.' A retail, or 'channel sale,' is when the book is sold through any retailer other than Book Country (like Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com). The per-copy amount you earn will vary depending on the where each of your sales take place. See the How much in author earnings will I receive for each eBook I sell? FAQ above for more information on why this is true.
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Pricing Info

Who sets the price of my eBook?

You do! When you sell your eBook to our retailers, you will decide on a digital list price between $0.99 and $9.99. This range ensures that your book will be eligible for sale at the widest possible array of eBook retailers. Simply set your price in the online publisher before you submit your book for publication. The actual customer price a reader pays for your book may vary if retailers opt to discount your digital list price. Most will follow the suggested retail price that you set. However, some retailers may choose to list the book at a discount. Book Country does not control this, as it is a choice that is at the retailer's discretion.

Note: Apple requires all book prices end in $.99. If you price your book differently, we will submit the closest price to Apple to ensure your book is not rejected. For example if you set your book price at $2.00, we will need to submit it to Apple at $1.99.
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How do I know the best price for my eBook?

There are a few rules and things to consider before you decide to set the price for your eBook. It cannot be priced at $0.00. This is because each retail website charges a small service fee for the download of any eBook file. An eBook must be at least $0.99 in order to be sold on any retail website. Anywhere between $0.99 and $9.99 is considered an acceptable price. Research has shown that customers are more willing to purchase an eBook if the book is priced significantly lower than a paperback or hardcover book. Do some research. What is the price for other eBooks in the same category as your book? Readers are typically willing to pay more for a well-known author's book than a new author. Do some research on similar books, ask around, and be competitive.
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What's the minimum and maximum I can charge for my eBook?

Each retailer has a different policy. When you enter the page, our online publisher tool will show a default price of $4.99 that you can change if you prefer to between $0.99 and $9.99.
The minimum and maximum prices for Book Country are based on what retailers require, as well as industry standards. Our retail partners' policies are as follows, as of November 2012 (all prices in USD):

Please note: Some retailers will offer lower percentage of net for lower priced books. For example Amazon and Barnes & Noble pay a smaller percentage for books priced under $2.99.
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There are eBooks available for free, so why can't I offer mine for less than $0.99?

You may notice there are some eBooks that are "sold" for free. Amazon for Kindle has a Top 100 Free eBooks list, for example. But, how can they do that if retailers forbid a book to be priced at $0.00? To be eligible for giving away their book for free, these authors are not permitted to distribute outside of Amazon. They must exclusively make their book available through Kindle Direct Publishing to be able to offer their book for free. The authors who sign up for this are only allowed to give away their books for free for a limited amount of days and must limit their distribution to this single retailer.
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Why is a retailer selling my eBook at a lower price?

The actual customer price a reader pays for your book may vary if retailers opt to discount your digital list price. Most will follow the suggested digital list price that you set. However, some retailers may choose to list the book at a discount. Book Country does not control this, as it is at the retailer's discretion.
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Can I change the price of my eBook later?

Once your eBook is published, you can change the price. Simply click the Resubmit button to unlock your book in the Dashboard, make the change, and resubmit your eBook. The price change will show up in online bookstores in one day to four weeks, depending on the retailer. But, we recommend you do not change the price of your book more than once every 60 days.
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I changed my price, but my old price is still listed on the web. Why?

Book Country does not control the speed with which third parties in our distribution network update their prices. We send the information out within 24 hours of the change, but it may take some time for them to update their records. Additionally, updates to prices on websites may take longer to appear.
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Author Earnings Payment

I need to change my address. How can I do that?

If at any point you need to update your account information, you can do so on your My Profile page. Your mailing address and phone number will always be kept private. For most other information, you can control whether or not it appears on your community profile for other members to see.
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When am I paid Author Earnings? When do quarters start and end?

You are paid for books sold each quarter after that quarter closes.*

How do you pay me?

By default, your Author Earnings are paid by mailed check.

You can, however, also opt in to receiving your earnings via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) by adding your bank account information to your Book Country account. Simply log-in to your account and click on My Profile to update your information. You can also fill out the online Update my EFT Banking Info form found in your Dashboard.

Or, you can sign up for direct deposit by filling out and returning the Direct Deposit form (download direct deposit form PDF). With EFT or direct deposit, instead of receiving mailed checks, your Author Earnings will be deposited into your bank account. Please note: If you are paid by check, a $5.00 check fee will be deducted from your Author Earnings; however, there is no fee for direct deposit or EFT payments.

If you choose to be paid by check, you will start receiving Author Earnings after the close of the first quarter that your Author Earnings for a book reach $50.00 or more. We will continue to hold your Author Earnings until the balance due to you is $50.00 or more, as stated in our Publishing Terms of Use. If you choose to be paid by EFT or direct deposit, you will start receiving Author Earnings the first quarter your earnings reach $1.00.

For each payment option, Author Earnings will be sent to you quarterly (four payments per year).
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When is my EFT information updated?

It is up to you to update this information. To ensure your author earnings funds are transferred to your preferred account, please make sure your account information is accurate prior to the dates corresponding to the end of the next quarter. Changes made after quarter closing dates will be reflected on the following pay cycle.
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How long does it take to receive payment?

It takes about two months after the quarter closes until the Author Earnings are sent to you. First Quarter checks are mailed in late May, Second Quarter checks are mailed in late August, Third Quarter checks are mailed in late November, and Fourth Quarter checks are mailed in late February. (See specifics in the Author Earnings Payment FAQs above.) The two month timeframe is because we do not receive the reporting sales information until 30 days after the close of the quarter. Then, we need additional time to verify, compile, and send the information to you.
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Can my check be split between a co-author and myself?

By default, only you, the author/account holder, are paid author earnings. However, you can split your Author Earnings between two or more co-authors if you prefer. If you would like to arrange this, please contact a Book Country representative at customersupport@publish.bookcountry.com.
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Can I arrange for someone else to receive my Author Earnings?

Only if you transfer the entire rights of your agreement with Book Country to that person. That person would then also hold the copyright for the book. If you would like to arrange this, please contact us.
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Do I get Author Earnings when I purchase copies of my own book?

Any purchases you make of your own eBook--whether through a retailer or our website --will be treated as any other sale of your eBook. Thus, you will most certainly receive Author Earnings for each copy that you buy. In the end, it's basically like you're receiving an author discount.
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I've heard the terms "royalty" and "author earnings." What's the difference?

Royalties are the monies paid to authors from traditional publishers after a book earns back its advance. (A royalty advance is a sum paid to an author when a traditional publishing house acquires a book. The publishing house works to earn that advance back, and if they do, they begin to pay the author royalties. For example, an author who receives a $5,000 advance will not start receiving author earnings until $5,001 worth of copies have been sold. If a traditionally published book never 'earns out', authors are not required to return the advance.)

Book Country Author Earnings are the monies paid to authors after distribution fees of retailers and publishing partners are taken out.

The percentage of traditional author earnings is often lower (often 25% of net) than the percentage of author earnings (85%-100% net on Book Country) because of risk. The traditional publisher takes on financial risk for the books it publishes. A self-publisher is the one who takes on the risk (in terms of time spent working on the project, and any money put into the project--for a cover, copyediting, etc.) and, therefore, receives a greater share of the book sales. Book Country tries to mitigate the financial risk for authors interested in self-publishing by offering a free package with 85% of author earnings and a Prospect package of $399 for 100% author earnings.
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Why does Book Country need my Social Security number?

We require your Social Security number to comply with the government's tax regulations. Since you have the opportunity to earn additional income from book sales, the government requires that you pay taxes on the total earnings. The W-9 form allows you to provide a Taxpayer Identification Number, or TIN. If you are publishing your book under your own name or a pen name, your TIN is your Social Security number. If you are publishing under a business name, or you want your author earning check to be addressed to a business, you can enter your employer identification number instead of your personal Social Security number.

If you do not supply your taxpayer ID number, we are required to withhold taxes at the rate of 28 percent of total earnings.

If you supply us with your taxpayer ID at a later date, we cannot return the withheld tax money because we do not retain it ― it is passed on to the government by law. You can speak to a tax professional about how to report this at the end of the tax year in order to receive a tax credit or return for any additional amount that you are due. (For more information on taxes, see our Tax Info FAQs.)
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Taxes

I need to update my tax information. How can I do that?

You can fill out your W-9 or W-8BEN online through your Book Country account.
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I have more questions about taxes. What do I do?

Check out the comprehensive FAQs on our Tax Info page.
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Change Published eBook

Can I update my eBook after it's published?

Once your eBook is published, you can make changes to it by clicking the Resubmit button to unlock the book on your Dashboard. You can make text corrections, tweak or overhaul your cover, or update your eBook Details (You cannot, however, update the title, subtitle or author name ― if you want to do that, you'll need to start a new eBook. We also suggest publishing a new eBook if you are making significant changes to the text. See the next FAQ below for details.)

Once you are finished making your changes, we'll resubmit your updated eBook to our Book Country Bookstore as well as to the other retailers you selected. The new version will replace the old in one day to four weeks time. (Be aware that the old version of your eBook will be cancelled, but the updated version will use the same ISBN.)

Also, if you unlock your book to edit and resubmit it and previously used an eBook formatting service, cover design or editing service, you'll need to purchase these services again if you want us to perform the service(s) for the new version. The version of your book in the Online Editor will be the one you originally uploaded, not the final version created by a designer that you may have approved.
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When should I publish a new eBook vs. resubmit the current eBook?

Resubmitting your eBook will overwrite the current edition with the new version but keep the same ISBN. Resubmit your book if you'd like to:

Publish a new book if you'd like to:

What happens to the published version of my eBook while I'm making changes in resubmission?

While you are working on changes and updates to your eBook, your current, published version will remain for sale. If you wish to remove the current version from retailers while you are making revisions, you'll need to contact us and request that we cancel your current eBook.
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After making changes to my published eBook, when will the new version show up in bookstores?

Once you have finished making changes to your published eBook and you resubmit it, it takes the same amount of time to show up on

various retail stores as the first time you published it--anywhere between one day and four weeks. Your new version will seamlessly replace the old version, keeping the same ISBN.
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Can I cancel my eBook after it's published? Will it be removed from retail sites?

Yes and yes. Should you decide to cancel your eBook, contact the Book Country team, and we'll cancel it for you. Once we cancel your title, the eBook will be removed from the Book Country bookstore within 72 hours and will be taken off other retailer sites within three weeks' time. (Retailers update their bookstores on their own schedule, which we do not control.)
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Technical Info

Why isn't my eBook in Apple's iBookstore?

It can take up to three months for your book to appear in the iBookstore. If your book is still not available after that period of time, it is possible that Apple did not accept your content. Apple may choose to deny content due to typos, poor editing, poor formatting or because of subject matter.
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How do I sideload my Mobi eBook file onto my Kindle Fire?