Bookshop.org is, you will recall, the platform that enables people to buy books wherever they are based and direct a slice of the sales to a local independent bookstore of their choice. It gained publicity and traction during the pandemic, and that has continued—but until now, the focus has been on printed books. Now, Bookshop.org is moving full-on into ebooks.
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ALLi News Editor, Dan Holloway
Thanks to Guy Gonzalez for alerting me to this within an hour of the announcement. Those of you who don’t know and follow Guy, he is now a leading figure in the library world and was, I think, the first person I met in the indie-adjacent world almost two decades ago.
A Big Opportunity for Indie Authors
This is big news for self-published writers, who, of course, often find it difficult to get their favorite bookstores to stock their print books. And even when platforms like Bookshop.org make it possible, the fact that so many of us are digitally focused has left it feeling as though a great opportunity for natural allies in the indie world to work together has been missed.
What will this move look like? Well, the Bookshop.org app will allow readers to read ebooks in-app (they can’t be bought within the app but rather through Bookshop.org itself, meaning more of the money goes to stores and writers).
How the New System Works
Bookshop’s description of the reading experience sounds very much like any other reading app, including note-taking and social reading features. As you might expect, titles purchased through the app—available for Apple or Android—can only be read in the app. The exception is DRM-free titles, which includes a lot of indie books.
I’ll end with an FAQ from the site:
Do you sell self-published books?
We will sell self-published titles for authors publishing through Draft2Digital or IngramSpark.
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
If you’re an ALLi member, head over to the SelfPubConnect forum for support from our experienced community of indie authors, advisors, and our own ALLi team. Simply create an account (if you haven’t already) to request to join the forum and get going.
Non-members looking for more information can search our extensive archive of blog posts and podcast episodes packed with tips and advice at ALLi's Self-Publishing Advice Center.