Chapter 22. Using PubIt to Sell Your ebooks

PubIt is a B&N feature that enables you to submit your ebook for sale through the B&N website. PubIt books are NOOKbooks. When people visit BN.com and browse or search for ebooks, yours will be available. If they buy it, it downloads, can be lent, and can use the social features like any other NOOKbook.

Setting Up PubIt

Setting up and using PubIt is easy:

1. Go to http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home.
2. Enter in your BN.com username and password and click Sign In or create one from here. The Account Setup screen appears.
3. For PubIt, B&N needs to set up a PubIt account though it uses your BN.com information. Update any information here.
4. Because you are publishing your work, provide a name and website if you want. Note: If you leave this blank, your first and last name will be used as the publisher. Click Continue. The Terms and Conditions page appears.

   Important Information about PubIt Terms and Conditions

   Normally you might just blindly click I Agree or Accept when you see the kind of legalese included in the PubIt Terms and Conditions, but it is important that you understand something about PubIt before you agree to this.

   B&N can update the pricing and payment terms whenever it wants. At the time of this writing, you, the publisher, can set a price for your content anywhere from $.99 to $199.99. For books priced $2.99 to $9.99, the publisher receives a 65% royalty. For books priced from $.99 to $2.98 or from $10.00 to $199.99, the publisher receives 40%.

   B&N also requires that the publisher comply with the Content Policy. So if B&N deems your content offensive, harmful, legally obscene, and so on, it can choose not to sell your content. It then provides some specific examples but certainly does not cover all areas.

   You cannot include the following in the Product Data:

   • Hyperlinks of any kind, including email addresses.

   • Request for action (for example, “If you like this book, please write me a review.”).

   • Advertisements or promotional material (including author events, seminars, and so forth).

   • Contact information for the author or publisher.

   B&N will make your product available in the Read In and LendMe programs. Additionally, 5% of the book’s content will be provided as a sample for people to download to their NOOKColor, and such, to try before they buy.

   A whole lot of other information is in this agreement (covering such things as withdrawing a book from the PubIt program, book rejection and reformatting, and so on), so I highly recommend reading through all the legalese before agreeing. This is your content, so treat this document as what it is: a contract.

5. If you agree with these terms, click I agree and Continue. The Payment Information screen appears.
6. Enter Bank Account, Tax Information, and Credit Card Information and click Submit. A page appears indicating that your account is being set up.

Putting Content into PubIt

Now that your account is set up, load up your first title:

1. Click Add a Title (see Figure 22.1) and enter the required fields (see Figure 22.2).

   Figure 22.1. The My Titles screen on PubIt.

   

   Figure 22.2. Setting up a new title to sell.

   

2. To upload your ebook click Browse, navigate to it, click it. Click Upload & Preview. If the file you chose is not an EPUB file, B&N converts it to an EPUB file. Either way, you then see a virtual Nook with your text in it. Flip through pages to make sure you are satisfied with the appearance. If you need to tweak it, do so on the source file and then re-upload it.
3. Upload a cover in JPEG format between 750 and 2,000 pixels in length.
4. Enter the metadata info. Accurate and thorough metadata about the content, genre, and so on is important when visitors to BN.com search for a title. If your book is a spy eco-thriller taking place on the remote island of Tonga, you want to give potential buyers the best chance to find it.
5. Click the I Confirm box, and then click Put on Sale. A window appears indicating a 24–72 hour timeframe for it be done (see Figure 22.3).

   Figure 22.3. Soon your ebook will be for sale!

   

If you later want to adjust any of the information, from My Titles, click Actions, Edit. You can then modify the price, title, metadata, cover, and upload newer versions of the content.

With the other tabs in the PubIt interface, you can watch your sales (including any royalties coming your way), adjust your account information, and get support.