Review: Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords

4 Maggio 2020 Art Bot

In this Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) vs. Smashwords review, you’ll see that both platforms let you sell e-books online, but each targets different audiences. Kindle Direct Publishing lets you sell e-books to readers using Amazon Kindle devices, which account for 70 percent of e-book sales worldwide. Smashwords distributes e-books across marketplaces that cover the remaining 30 percent.

When to Use Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

Use Kindle Direct Publishing to self-publish books on Amazon. Through KDP, independent authors and small publishers can list and sell e-books to readers using Amazon Kindle devices, plus sell print-on-demand books and audiobooks. In this Kindle Direct Publishing review, we’ll cover how KDP works and explore how it differs from another major e-book marketplace, Smashwords.

When to Use Smashwords

Use Smashwords to publish e-books on Smashwords.com and on Apple iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd and more. Our Smashwords review explores how this platform differs from Kindle Direct Publishing’s Amazon-focused sales. You’ll see how to sell e-books on Smashwords.com, distribute them on other sales platforms and track all sales and royalty payments within one centralized dashboard.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords Review at a Glance

	Kindle Direct Publishing	Smashwords
Cost to Join and Publish e-Books	Free	Free
Royalties Paid to Authors	35 to 70 percent	60 to 85 percent
Free and Paid Pricing Options	*
Distribution on Multiple e-Book Marketplaces
Percent of Overall e-Book Sales	0.8	0.2
e-Book File Format Options
e-Book Promotion Features	*
List and Sell e-Books on Your Own Website
Sell Print-on-Demand Versions of e-Books
Inclusion in Online Libraries	*
Ease of Use	Easy	Easy
More Information	Visit Kindle Direct Publishing	Visit Smashwords

* Requires enrollment of title in Amazon KDP Select program

How We Reviewed Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords

For most indie authors, the Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords debate isn’t an either/or question. Rather, it’s understanding how both of these major e-book publishing platforms help you list, promote and sell e-books and the differences between them. Our in-depth Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords review clearly shows that using both marketplaces helps authors reach e-book readers wherever they shop. However, there are particulars to each platform that you need to know as you plan your ongoing e-book sales and marketing strategy.

Since our Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords review focuses on the needs of independent authors, we’ll examine how each platform handles elements critical to self-publishers, including:

Cost to join and publish e-books: Both platforms let authors create an account and list e-books to sell for free; there are no account or e-book listing charges — ever
Distribution on e-book marketplaces: Kindle Direct Publishing only sells e-books on Amazon for Kindle device users; Smashwords is a central platform that publishes e-books across numerous marketplaces for you, such as iBooks, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, plus many library e-book directories
Royalties paid to authors: Authors receive a percent of the sale price — called a royalty — each time their e-book sells on these marketplaces; royalties range from 35 to 85 percent on Kindle Direct Publishing and Smashwords
Free and paid e-book pricing options: Both Kindle Direct Publishing and Smashwords let you set the price for your e-book plus list e-books for free, but free read options are handled differently on each platform
Percent of overall e-book sales: Kindle Direct Publishing reaches the largest e-book market through Amazon Kindle users — about 80 percent; Smashwords’ multiplatform distribution lets you tap the other 20 percent of e-book buyers
e-Book file upload and formatting options: Kindle Direct Publishing sells e-books in the Kindle .mobi file format, and Smashwords distributes e-books in nine different formats; both platforms have tools that convert your document to the correct format
e-Book promotion features: Both platforms provide discounts, coupons, free reads and an author page. However, Kindle Direct Publishing requires enrollment of e-books in its exclusive KDP Select program to unlock all e-book promo options; Smashwords has no promo limitations
List and sell e-books on your own website: You can list e-books for sale on your own blog or author website and link back to Amazon or Smashwords handle the payment and file download
Offer print versions of e-books: Both platforms let you offer buyers a print version of your e-book via print-on-demand services; Smashwords lets you link to an outside service for this, but this feature is built into Kindle Direct Publishing
Inclusion in online libraries: Both platforms list your titles in online libraries; Smashwords makes titles available to libraries via library-specific distribution platforms while Kindle Direct Publishing has its own libraries but requires KDP Select enrollment to be listed.

Since there are no upfront costs to using either platform, we recommend indie authors include both platforms in their overall e-book publishing plan. Kindle Direct Publishing reaches Amazon’s huge Kindle reader base. Smashwords’ vast distribution network reaches e-book shoppers using all other e-reader devices and online e-book reading platforms. The real question is when and how to tap each platforms’ specific benefits. Our Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords review below will help you decide that.

Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords Review: Pricing & Features

In our Kindle Direct Publishing vs. Smashwords review, you’ll find the basics are quite similar. Both platforms are completely free to use and will automatically convert your manuscript files into e-book format. Both also pay you royalties — a percentage of the sale price of each e-book you sell — on a monthly basis. Royalties range from 35 to 70 percent on Kindle Direct Publishing and 60 to 85 percent on Smashwords. These percentages are based on the pricing and distribution choices you make, which we detail below.

Both platforms also give you complete control over your e-book pricing and promotional activities. However, Kindle Direct Publishing provides few promotional tools for titles not enrolled in KDP Select. KDP Select promotions like free reads, discounts, and inclusion in Kindle Unlimited (KU) and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library (KOLL) help you reach the widest audience on Amazon. The caveat is KDP Select titles can’t be published anywhere else, including Smashwords.

Smashwords, on the other hand, has no exclusivity limitations. It gives you unfettered access to all of its distribution platforms and promotional tools, regardless of where else you publish your e-book. So, for many authors, the question is whether to publish on Amazon alone and tap KDP Select or forego KDP Select’s benefits and use Kindle Direct Publishing for Amazon listings and add Smashwords for broad platform distribution. Here’s a closer look at each to help you plan your strategy.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Review of Pricing & Features

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is completely free to join and listing e-books to sell on Amazon is completely free too.

In fact, the only real cost of selling e-books on Amazon is the distribution freedom you give up if you enroll a title in its optional KDP Select program. If you go this route, any title that’s enrolled in KDP Select cannot be sold elsewhere at all, including Smashword.com and its partner platforms. In exchange for exclusivity, KDP Select gives you many Amazon-focused promotional benefits that we cover throughout this Kindle Direct Publishing review.

Any published e-book can be enrolled in KDP Select at any time from your Kindle Direct Publishing dashboard.

You can enroll an e-book in KDP Select when you list it for sale or later on. When you do enroll a title, it’s a 90-day commitment. You can elect not to renew enrollment at the end of 90 days or renew it forever — it’s all up to you.

Many authors launch a new title using KDP Select to take advantage of the Amazon-focused promotional tools. Later on, they remove it from KDP Select and add it to Smashwords for distribution beyond Amazon’s borders.

Distribution on Multiple e-Book Marketplaces

Kindle Direct Publishing distributes your e-book on the United States and international Amazon Kindle marketplaces. That’s it. Smashwords is the hands-down winner here with a distribution platform that reaches every major e-book sales platform imaginable, plus lists your title with many smaller e-book retailers and library directories.

Royalties Paid to Authors

Our Kindle Direct Publishing review uncovered two royalty levels — 35 and 70 percent — and the level you qualify for depends on the price you set for your e-book:

Titles selling from $0.99 to $2.98 qualify for the 35 percent royalty
Titles selling for $2.99 and above qualify for the 70 percent royalty

Clearly, Amazon prefers — and encourages through this royalty system — that authors set a reasonable price for their e-books so both they and you can make money. Smashwords pays authors a slightly higher royalty — 85 percent — for sales on the Smashwords platform, but a lower royalty — about 60 percent — for sales made on its partner platforms like iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and others.

Other Ways Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing Pays Authors

Titles enrolled in KDP Select can be read via “borrows” through Kindle Unlimited and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Payment for these “reads” is based on two factors:

Pages read: Authors are paid based on the total number of pages read per month by borrowers. Amazon tracks page reads via Kindle pages read stats.
KDP global payout fund: This is a “pot” of money that Amazon reserves to pay authors based on “page reads” for borrowed books. The amount-per-page is based on the total in the “pot” and is split among all participating authors and titles. Currently, the payout averages around 1/2 cent per page.

The per-page payouts can pale in comparison to selling a title outright. However, KU and KOLL put titles in front of a huge audience of readers that specifically seek “free” KU and KOLL titles to read rather than purchase e-books. So it’s an effective way for Amazon authors to allow free reads and make money doing it.

Free and Paid e-Book Pricing Options

You cannot list an e-book for free on Kindle Direct Publishing, unlike Smashwords which lets you list a book for $0. Amazon’s lowest-allowed e-book price is 99 cents. To offer free reads, you must enroll the title in KDP Select, which allow free borrows for KU subscribers and KOLL readers:

Kindle Unlimited subscribers pay $10 per month to read KU-listed titles for free, and titles display KU availability prominently in Amazon’s e-book listings.

Any Kindle owner who is an Amazon Prime member can also borrow e-books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library:

Any Prime member who owns a Kindle can borrow a single title at a time through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.

Unlike Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords lets authors list e-books for $0 outright and without any stipulations whatsoever. This can be very handy for businesses that want to distribute free e-books as marketing tools.

However, there is a trick that Kindle authors that list e-books on both Amazon and Smashwords can employ to list e-books for free on Amazon. Amazon runs price-match comparisons against other e-book sales sites. If it finds your e-book title listed for $0 on Smashwords and its partner platforms, it might lower your price to free automatically. This is something to be aware of if free pricing is part of your e-book strategy. Amazon might take care of this for you on its own.

Percent of Overall e-Book Sales

Even though Smashwords covers virtually all non-Amazon e-book marketplaces, Amazon e-book sales still beat Smashwords soundly. It captures roughly an 80 percent market share of U.S. e-book sales and a good portion of global e-book sales as well.

According to Author Earnings’ annual state of the e-book industry, Amazon e-book sales top other platforms, especially in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.

e-Book File Upload and Formatting Options

Kindle Direct Publishing uses .mobi e-book file format, and there are several ways that you can create this Kindle format e-book file. You can access free file conversion tools in your KDP dashboard, which formats .doc files like a Microsoft Word document into .mobi e-books for you. KDP can also convert .ePub e-book files into .mobi when you create a listing and upload your e-book file.

Smashwords has file conversion features as well. However, unlike KDP’s one Kindle reader format, Smashwords offers nine e-book formats so readers can use the device of their choice — Apple and Android devices, Nook and Kobo, along with various online and mobile e-reader apps.

e-Book Promotion Features

Kindle Direct Publishing lets you list your e-book for sale on the Amazon Kindle reader marketplace. Plus, you get a free author page to list your biography and published titles in one central place. You can also list links to your e-book titles on your own website and in social media and email marketing, plus you can run paid ads on Amazon to promote your book.

Some of the most effective Amazon marketing features, such as free giveaways, limited-time discounts — called Countdown Deals — and inclusion in Kindle Unlimited, are available only through KDP Select enrollment. This requires Amazon sales exclusivity during the 90-day enrollment period. So, while effective for many authors, it limits you to listing the title on Amazon alone. Smashwords has no exclusivity caveat for its promotional features.

List and Sell e-Books on Your Own Website

Kindle Direct Publishing and Amazon make it easy to list and sell your e-books from your own website, and you can even make extra money doing it. If you have your own website, you can sign up for Amazon’s affiliate program, called Amazon Associates. This is free and, once you’re signed up, you can list your titles on your site using trackable links called affiliate links. These can be simple text links that you insert into your blog copy or ad-style listings that you can insert into website pages or sidebars.

When a fan buys your e-book link via this link, you’ll make an added 4 percent commission on the sale from Amazon. This is a nifty way for authors to make a little extra on their Amazon Kindle book sales. All you need is your own website, which you can launch today for just $2.95 per month on Bluehost.

Sell Print-on-Demand and Audio Versions of e-Books

Kindle Direct Publishing has a built-in print-on-demand paperback book option that you can enable on any e-book that you publish on the KDP platform. Print options are printed when a customer orders the title, so there are no upfront costs. However, Amazon does charge a per-print fee, which varies based on the length and layout of your book. So, you need to ensure that you understand these costs and cover them in your print book option price.

You can also distribute your titles in audiobook form for Audible users via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. This is also conveniently built into KDP, but you have to have a professional audiobook file produced to use this feature. The audiobook recording pros at Fiverr can help you with this.

Smashwords has a built-in audiobook tool, but not a print-on-demand tool. You can link to a print book or print-on-demand listing from your Smashwords e-book listing, but print-on-demand isn’t a built-in feature, like KDP.

Inclusion in Online Libraries

Kindle Direct Publishing titles enrolled in KDP Select are eligible for listing in Amazon’s subscription Kindle Unlimited library and the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. Outside of KDP Select, there aren’t any library listings available for Kindle Direct Publishing e-books. Smashwords, on the other hand, places your e-book on several library-focused e-book listings so libraries can purchase and include your e-book in their listings and expose your work to a wide reading audience.

Smashwords Review of Pricing & Features

Like Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, Smashwords is completely free to join and list e-books to sell across its many marketplaces.

Distribution on Multiple e-Book Marketplaces

Smashwords is the original — and still the largest — centralized e-book distribution platform. Upload your e-book to Smashwords, and it takes care of properly distributing it across all partner platforms for you. With Smashwords, you can track all of your e-book sales via its centralized sales dashboard, plus royalty payments from all platforms conveniently funnel through Smashwords.

In contrast, Amazon’s reach, while impressive in terms of readership, is limited to the Amazon marketplace. So, in terms of selling e-books beyond Amazon’s borders, Smashwords is the hands-down winner.

Upload your e-book to Smashwords one time, and it will wind up on all of these marketplaces, and more.

Smashwords also gives you control of where your e-books will sell. You can opt in or out of specific marketplaces on a per-title basis easily:

Smashwords’ Channel Manager feature lets you select the e-book marketplaces and library listings per title. Amazon is included, but only titles with more than $2,000 in total sales via Smashwords partners are eligible. Most authors just manage Amazon on their own.

Now, you may not have heard of these alternate e-book platforms yet, but many are quite popular and have dedicated followings. Who knows what fan base you might uncover on an unconventional e-book site served by Smashwords?