Opting Out In Smashwords

MacWillard said:

I have a strange conundrum here: I signed up for both Smashwords and B&N directly, and posted my erotica series to both sites. All of my Smashwords sales have been through B&N, but I've also gotten some direct sales through B&N.

Is there a drawback to having both a direct upload on B&N and the distribution to B&N through Smashwords? Are my books posted twice (I tried looking and didn't see anything wrong there)?

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I have my book direct and uploaded through Smashwords. On the exact same book, one is listed as free, (the Smashwords one) and one is listed at $4.99 (The B&N, because they won't price match, I guess).

It splits your ranking. You'll only get credit for the sales of that channel.

Drawback? Check the proceeds from each. Which one puts more money in your pocket?

I'm a little slow on this.  Lemme see if I understand how this goes:

Someone buys the book off of B&N
B&N, using some sorcery, decides whether or not it's a sale for Smashwords or for the direct upload
B&N then pays out to the group it has awarded the monies to, increasing the sales rank in one spot while the other doesn't get a thing, even though it's the same book 

Is that how it works?

MacWillard said:

I have a strange conundrum here: I signed up for both Smashwords and B&N directly, and posted my erotica series to both sites. All of my Smashwords sales have been through B&N, but I've also gotten some direct sales through B&N.

Is there a drawback to having both a direct upload on B&N and the distribution to B&N through Smashwords? Are my books posted twice (I tried looking and didn't see anything wrong there)?

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I've done this as well: uploaded through PubIt (B&N) and also Smashwords, which sells via B&N. One of my books appears twice on B&N if I do a search, but that doesn't seem like a big deal so I'm not making waves about it. Interestingly, I sell a lot more to B&N via Smashwords than I do through the B&N website. Not sure why that is, haven't been able to figure it out, but as far as I'm concerned, all's well that ends well and there doesn't seem to be a downside. (I don't follow rankings so I don't know if this duplication "splits rankings" or not. As long as people can find and buy the books, I don't much care. )

I have a stupid question: why would you do this both ways? What does listing them at Smashwords AND B&N get you?

Diane Patterson said:

I have a stupid question: why would you do this both ways? What does listing them at Smashwords AND B&N get you?

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Funny thing is, I'm approaching this conundrum from the opposite perspective. Namely, does it hurt me to do this? I've seen the two drawbacks on the posts above, but like Jena I'm wondering if the buyer would have found the directly uploaded version if I hadn't uploaded on Smashwords. How does it split the sales if I only see one copy of my book available on B&N?

Correction: I do see two versions of the book, but apparently Smashwords puts them into different categories than those I assigned on the direct upload. That still makes me wonder if I would've got those sales if I hadn't uploaded to Smashwords.

Diane Patterson said:

I have a stupid question: why would you do this both ways? What does listing them at Smashwords AND B&N get you?

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I'll plead ignorance. When I first uploaded to Smashwords I didn't know they distributed to B&N, so it was totally accidental on my part. Now that I do know, I've still uploaded to both sites, if for no other reason than "the more the merrier." Is it duplication of work for me to upload twice? Yeah, but not that much. Does it help me in the long run? Hard to say. All I know is, I'd rather do that bit of work and have a few sales at B&N than risk those few buyers not being able to find (or buy) my books any other way.

I was hoping this post would answer my question.  We tried for months to get 23 books up on B&N and it would not go and B&N couldn’t fix it either! So we closed the Barnes account.

So we went the Smashwords route.  Time passed.  Then I get a check from B&N for sales on an account that I had closed.  So I have questions too:

* When it sells on B&N and it went thru Smashwords who pays you?
* How do you know how much you should get paid? I would guess I have the same questions regarding Kobo and Sony and others.

Generally speaking, you're better off going the Barnes/Noble route. They pay you sooner (Smashwords pays quarterly) and you can track your sales directly. The only time to go through Smashwords instead is if you're trying to put up a book at Barnes/Noble for free. B/N won't let you price a book at free.

Edit- it also goes live much quicker via B/N. It will take at least a week or two for Smashwords to get your book live on B/N.

@Bob Kat- I believe if Smashwords put it up at B/N, then SW pays you. I believe you get 70% of the price with SW and 65% with B/N, but it's been a while since I checked...I'm not 100% sure of those numbers.