[LBrent]

3. For authors wanting to sell their books on their own sites, it is incredibly simple:

- Prior to purchase of the book, inform the reader to create a 'Send to Kindle' email address for the Kindle reading device of choice (only applies to phones and e-readers, not PC)

- Upon purchase of the book, provide a box where the reader can supply their Send to Kindle email address

- Email the book to the reader. It will be available on the reader's device like a regular book.

Actually, this does apply to PCs/laptops, too. I've sent non-Kindle documents (my personal documents such as PDFs, etc) from my laptop to my Kindle4PC on my laptop using this exact method. It's very simple.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Actually, this does apply to PCs/laptops, too. I've sent non-Kindle documents (my personal documents such as PDFs, etc) from my laptop to my Kindle4PC on my laptop using this exact method. It's very simple.

Well, to clarify again, there's a "Send to Kindle" app that you can install on a PC; this will let you send documents on the PC to your Kindle archive or any of your own devices registered to your account. [edited to correct]

This is different than what Ms. Tee was talking about; which was sending documents to a specific Kindle device, though those docs, I believe, are also available in the archive. (Ann will be by in a while, I'm sure, to further clarify anything I've muddled; she uses this far more than I do.) EDIT: These documents can be sent from someone outside of the account, as long as the "from" address is whitelisted, as I described below.

Each registered device has a unique email address (which by default is something like username_32@kindle.com; this can be changed by the account owner). As far as I can tell by checking my own account, apps do not have an email address associated with them.

Betsy

 

[LBrent]

Something to note about this feature is that since AZon allows ANY document that resides on your computer to be uploaded to your Kindle/Kindle4PC using Send2Kindle, it can't be readily blocked.

AZon never sees the document. No way for them to censure. it's a private transaction between you and your Kindle/Kindle4PC.

The only hitch would be driving traffic directly to your own website so potential readers know where to find your stuff.

Makes it more important than ever to have a mailing list now to send periodic notices about new releases, huh?

 

[LBrent]

Betsy,
I don't have a Kindle but when I had to register my Kindle4PC app they asked for an email to connect to the account. That's the email I sent stuff to with Send to Kindle. I only had to make the documents into PDFs.

This could be a good thing for erotica writers. Higher profit margins, no?

 

[cinisajoy]

Well, to clarify again, there's a "Send to Kindle" app that you can install on a PC; this will let you send documents on the PC to your Kindle app and your personal archive where they would be available to your other devices.

This is different than what Ms. Tee was talking about; which was sending documents to a specific Kindle device, though those docs, I believe, are also available in the archive. (Ann will be by in a while, I'm sure, to further clarify anything I've muddled; she uses this far more than I do.)

Each registered device has a unique email address (which by default is something like username_32@kindle.com; this can be changed by the account owner). As far as I can tell by checking my own account, apps do not have an email address associated with them.

Betsy

What Betsy is saying is that if I want to send a document to her kindle, she has to approve my email address or it will get returned.

If I want something on my K4PC, I just give the person my regular email address and when I open the file, it automatically goes to K4PC.
If I want something sent to my kindle, I first have to go to Amazon Manage my kindle and add the other person's email address then give them my kindle email address. (Well now whichever kindle I want to send it too.)

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Betsy,
I don't have a Kindle but when I had to register my Kindle4PC app they asked for an email to connect to the account. That's the email I sent stuff to with Send to Kindle. I only had to make the documents into PDFs.

This could be a good thing for erotica writers. Higher profit margins, no?

Yes, because even your own email address has to be whitelisted on your account; but you cannot use Send to Kindle to send documents to other people's devices. If you look at the options when you send a document, the only options are the devices on your own account and your archive.

Betsy

 

[cinisajoy]

Betsy,
I don't have a Kindle but when I had to register my Kindle4PC they asked for an email to connect to the account. That's the email I sent stuff to with Send to Kindle. I only had to make the documents into PDFs.

This could be a good thing for erotica writers. Higher profit margins, no?

My K4PC they never asked for an email address. Amazon creates the addresses for kindles. You do have to have an email address for your amazon account.
My K4PC does mobi and azw files not pdfs.

 

[MsTee]

To clarify--people don't have to create a "send to Kindle" address for their Kindles. An email address is automatically generated for each device registered to the account. What people would have to do before hand, though, is "whitelist" the email address the book is going to be mailed from. The reader would have to go to Manage Your Kindle > Personal Documents Settings > Approved Personal Document E-Mail List and add the email as an approved email-address. This is done as a spam-preventing measure.

Betsy

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk 2

Yes, that's true. They assign you an email, but you are free to change it to one that you prefer.

Actually, this does apply to PCs/laptops, too. I've sent non-Kindle documents (my personal documents such as PDFs, etc) from my laptop to my Kindle4PC on my laptop using this exact method. It's very simple.

No, I don't think the Send to Kindle feature I was talking about can send documents to the PC app. What I'm talking about is the author would have their .mobi or .azw book file on their web server, and once the reader has paid for it, the author will email the file to the reader's Send to Kindle email address. From there, it's up to the reader to have it synced to their PC.

Something to note about this feature is that since AZon allows ANY document that resides on your computer to be uploaded to your Kindle/Kindle4PC using Send2Kindle, it can't be readily blocked.

AZon never sees the document. No way for them to censure. it's a private transaction between you and your Kindle/Kindle4PC.

The only hitch would be driving traffic directly to your own website so potential readers know where to find your stuff.

Makes it more important than ever to have a mailing list now to send periodic notices about new releases, huh?

That is the beauty of the Send to Kindle feature. What's more, I specifically asked Amazon about using the Send to Kindle feature for non-Amazon paid content and the rep I spoke to said that it is allowed. HOWEVER, the Send to Kindle BUTTON is not allowed to be used for non-Amazon paid content - please be careful with that.

Yes, Erotica authors will have to become more creative if they want to see some progress. I think, too, that if authors pooled their resources, it won't seem like such an uphill battle. Better to fight in numbers.

 

[LBrent]

Ohhh.

I thought during the document download the buyer would be able to download the book & send it to their ereader. You mean more of a "one step" approach. I misunderstood. My bad.

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

Yes, that's true. They assign you an email, but you are free to change it to one that you prefer.

My main point was that the "From" address has to be whitelisted on the member's account, or the document will not be accepted as a direct send to the account.

Betsy

 

[LBrent]

Unfortunately, my dyslexic brain always goes for the more complicated route. Lol

 

[daringnovelist]

If you're going to email a doc anyway, why not send email with an attached mobi file (or format of choice for nook users), so the person can do what they like with it.  That would bypass  Amazon altogether. (Amazon DOES keep those emailed personal documents in your Kindle cloud online, you know.  Check your "Manage my Kindle" and you'll find them all there.)

I can imagine it would be a nice service to offer to help people get files onto their Apple devices (which are a PITA to get personal files onto), but far from necessary.

Another thing to check out: there are services like eJunkie, which for a low fee (I think it was like a flat $5 a month last i looked) will give you hard disk space, and a shopping cart so that your customer can buy stuff off your site, but they manage the shopping cart and downloads and access issues.  I don't know, however, if they have restrictions on what can be sold.

I think that most places (and this is a part of why Amazon is hitting the pseudo-taboo topics) have rules against selling things that are illegal in some of the territories they serve.  They don't want to have to vet this stuff that seems to be pushing the boundary -- but some are more concerned than others.

And that will apply to your ISP as well as to any vendor.  So even selling off your own site still gets you into a judgement call by someone else as to what they want on their site.

Camille

 

[MsTee]

Ohhh.

I thought during the document download the buyer would be able to download the book & send it to their ereader. You mean more of a "one step" approach. I misunderstood. My bad.

Nah, that's OK. Yeah, one-step is nice and easy. It'll resemble the experience of purchasing ebooks on Amazon...somewhat.

My main point was that the "From" address has to be whitelisted on the member's account, or the document will not be accepted as a direct send to the account.

Betsy

Yes, I went to fiddle in my Manage Your Kindle area and noticed you need to whitelist the emails. Thank you for reminding me.

If you're going to email a doc anyway, why not send email with an attached mobi file (or format of choice for nook users), so the person can do what they like with it. That would bypass Amazon altogether. (Amazon DOES keep those emailed personal documents in your Kindle cloud online, you know. Check your "Manage my Kindle" and you'll find them all there.)

I can imagine it would be a nice service to offer to help people get files onto their Apple devices (which are a PITA to get personal files onto), but far from necessary.

Another thing to check out: there are services like eJunkie, which for a low fee (I think it was like a flat $5 a month last i looked) will give you hard disk space, and a shopping cart so that your customer can buy stuff off your site, but they manage the shopping cart and downloads and access issues. I don't know, however, if they have restrictions on what can be sold.

I think that most places (and this is a part of why Amazon is hitting the pseudo-taboo topics) have rules against selling things that are illegal in some of the territories they serve. They don't want to have to vet this stuff that seems to be pushing the boundary -- but some are more concerned than others.

And that will apply to your ISP as well as to any vendor. So even selling off your own site still gets you into a judgement call by someone else as to what they want on their site.

Camille

Camille, using the Send to Kindle feature will be far superior than just emailing the document. What the StK feature does is remove the hassle of side-loading documents. Once you've emailed the .mobi or .azw file, it shows up on the users device BOTH as a document they can remove and as a book they can read...which will sync across devices, too!

Yes, eJunkie is another alternative for authors. Here is a list of sites where you can just upload stuff and not have to worry about the more technical aspects of handling purchases: http://www.siteslike.com/similar/e-junkie.com. I recommend 'ecwid' (http://www.ecwid.com/). I've never used them, but I've heard good things.

 

[LBrent]

True, but by using vendors traditionally geared towards Adult Webmasters, since concerns of those types have already been addressed (dealing with hosts for adult content, legal concerns, etc) the road can be smoother, no?

 

[Betsy the Quilter]

If you're going to email a doc anyway, why not send email with an attached mobi file (or format of choice for nook users), so the person can do what they like with it. That would bypass Amazon altogether. (Amazon DOES keep those emailed personal documents in your Kindle cloud online, you know. Check your "Manage my Kindle" and you'll find them all there.

And that would be desirable to many people; it gives them the ability to read the document on the device they're using at the time. People send a lot of personal stuff to their archives; at leaast I do, things like airline ticket and hotel reservation information, and I trust my archives to be private. Maybe I'm a dreamer...

Betsy

 

[Guest]

I can understand people being uncomfortable with their kids being able to find erotica on Amazon, but what about all the sex toys and machines? The pictures for those are pretty explicit and they can come up in random unrelated searches. Are they cracking down on those things too? Anyone know?

As I already said, in over ten years as an Amazon customer, I have never accidentally stumbled across a sex toy while looking for something else. Never. And I spends thousands of dollars a year on Amazon. I have, however, accidentally stumbled across erotica while looking for books in other genres. And in those cases, it has always been indie books, not trade books, that this has happened with.

Again, I'm not blaming indies. I think it is the way Amazon has KDP set up that adult titles can't be properly categorized to begin with. I think it is an issue with the way Amazon processes metadata on indie books.

This issue I believe most people have is not that you can find erotica on Amazon if you look for it. The problem is that you can find erotica on Amazon when you DON'T look for it. Believe me, there is nothing quite as embarrassing as having your manager sitting next to you while you make a mundane book search. i.e. "Oh, I bet Amazon has a book on breastfeeding for your cousin! Oh...um...what is..." (true story)

 

[MsTee]

Ugh. I did some digging. No, you're NOT allowed to use the Send to Kindle feature as a form of distribution.

Link to TOU: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201124320

No Commercial or Illegal Use

You may not charge directly or indirectly to distribute content via the Service. You may not use the Service to send infringing, unauthorized, or otherwise illegal content.

I more annoyed by that Amazon rep that said it was OK in the first place.

Sorry, guys, for the misinformation.

 

[cinisajoy]

As I already said, in over ten years as an Amazon customer, I have never accidentally stumbled across a sex toy while looking for something else. Never. And I spends thousands of dollars a year on Amazon. I have, however, accidentally stumbled across erotica while looking for books in other genres. And in those cases, it has always been indie books, not trade books, that this has happened with.

Again, I'm not blaming indies. I think it is the way Amazon has KDP set up that adult titles can't be properly categorized to begin with. I think it is an issue with the way Amazon processes metadata on indie books.

This issue I believe most people have is not that you can find erotica on Amazon if you look for it. The problem is that you can find erotica on Amazon when you DON'T look for it. Believe me, there is nothing quite as embarrassing as having your manager sitting next to you while you make a mundane book search. i.e. "Oh, I bet Amazon has a book on breastfeeding for your cousin! Oh...um...what is..." (true story)

You don't even have to be looking for books to find erotica. Searches for Halloween vampires and Game of Thrones both brought up erotica on the first page. This was in All.

 

[Nihilist]

You don't even have to be looking for books to find erotica. Searches for Halloween vampires and Game of Thrones both brought up erotica on the first page. This was in All.

And those books should be blocked. There are a lot of us who are responsible. I don't want people who wont like my stuff to come across it. I'll gladly get zero visibility under the adult filter before I miss-tag my work to 'surprise' people. But treating all (niche) erotica writers as villains and blocking entire sub-genres that obviously have demand seems like a bad business move. But I'm looking at it from the point of view of an author who stands to lose income, so I'm sure I'm biased.

 

[cinisajoy]

And those books should be blocked. There are a lot of us who are responsible. I don't want people who wont like my stuff to come across it. I'll gladly get zero visibility under the adult filter before I miss-tag my work to 'surprise' people. But treating all (niche) erotica writers as villains and blocking entire sub-genres that obviously have demand seems like a bad business move. But I'm looking at it from the point of view of an author who stands to lose income, so I'm sure I'm biased.

Quickie search today in Erotica pulled up over 1100 books of daddy daughter taboo. So why are they banning some and not others.