Kind readers often ask: “From the author’s point of view, which is the best way for us to buy your books?” Frankly, I’m just delighted when you buy my books, whatever method you choose (as long as you buy it new, not secondhand…) And, for most of my books, you have several choices.
Before I show you the choices, you might be interested in these facts:
- If a book is discounted, the author gets less money. Sometimes much less. Generally, the more the discount, the less we get. Amazon takes very high discounts, but not as much as those bargain bookshops on the high street and the mail order book clubs.
- If you want to use Amazon, I will earn a bit more if you use this link.
- Authors get much less per books than you might think. Often, it’s 25-50p. It can be much less than that…
- We get a higher percentage on an ebook sale, so, contrary to many people’s opinions, this can be a better deal for us. (Though I actually prefer hard book sales.)
Here are some options:
- Go to any good book shop – that could be a local independent bookshop or a branch of Waterstone’s, Blackwells, Foyles or Heffers. NOTE: if you don’t find the book you want, please please don’t just walk out again. Good shops are happy to order a book for you. And if you like my books, do suggest that your bookshop might like to stock them. You have the power.
- If you’re looking for your nearest independent bookshop, there’s a great website called Indiebound which will help you. Lots of other useful info there, too.
- If you live outside the UK, try the excellent online store, Book Depository. They do free postage anywhere in the world. (At the moment. They have been bought by Amazon…)
- I have an Amazon store here. I am not particularly proud of that, but most of my books are there in one place and I earn a bit more dosh.
Ebooks? Note that you do not need a Kindle device to read a Kindle book. (Kindle is Amazon’s ebook-reader and store.) All you need to do is download the free Kindle software for your computer, and then you can buy Kindle books to read anywhere – on your phone, ipad, tablet etc.
ALSO, you do not have to use Amazon/Kindle at all! You could read on your computer using the free Adobe Digital Editions software download, and buy my ebooks from my Lulu page.
My ebooks – Mondays are Red, Tweet Right, Write a Great Synopsis and Dear Agent - are available for all reading devices, not just Kindle. You can choose Amazon for Kindle or Lulu/ibookstore for other reading devices. Mondays are Red is available from Waterstone’s, too. Libraries can buy from their usual supplier, Askews in the UK.
Thank you, however you choose to buy! If you can’t afford to buy the book new, please borrow from a public library. That benefits me and it benefits society if we keep libraries strong.
