I am excited this weekend!!
For some time I’ve been hinting about a project that Kris and I have been backing that will help indie publishers get their books into indie bookstores and gift shops and so on. It’s finally in beta test and you can take a look (and buy books and preorder copies of the Fiction River Anthology Series if you want).
Ella Distribution Incorporated. Take a look at EllaDistribution.com It is amazingly cool!
Stephanie Writt and her crew have done an amazing job getting this to this point. Simply amazing.
Ella is (and will be) a combination of a lot of things. It’s a bookstores. It’s a distributor to bookstores and gift shops. It has a collector’s section as well. And it has a portal over to Fiction River Anthology Series and will possibly add in portals to other things like that down the road.
The focus of Ella Distribution is indie publishing. Right now, WMG Publishing is the main thrust of the beta test, but over the next month or so Ella will be adding in other authors/publishers as beta testers. And then on July 15th they will open up the portal to indie publishers to allow them to get books into the Ella Distribution system.
You can read the details on the publishers page, but basically this will be a nonexclusive sales channel for publishers. If Ella distributes your books, you will get the money up front and then just have to order the books and ship them to Ella after you have the money. No risk, nothing exclusive, just another slice of the pie or cash stream, however you look at it.
Ella Distribution is a way for bookstores to order your books with no work on your part. Cool, huh?
Why will bookstores go to Ella Distribution vs Baker and Taylor and Ingrams. Ella is going to give better discounts, that’s why. And free shipping on certain-sized orders. Anyone who has ever been around a bookstore knows how critical that is to indie bookstores. And Ella has had two top indie bookstores advising them as they built this.
So bookstores can get your books through Ingrams or Baker and Taylor or Ella. But they will pay less for your books from Ella Distribution.
Let me be clear here, though. Ella Distribution is not for discount or ebook only publishers. It will work with publishers who have professional-looking trade paper covers and who have their books priced right for discounting to bookstores. The profit for both Ella and the publishers will be pretty thin in some instances. But there is no risk on the publisher side and the books will get into another channel and presented to bookstores around the country.
And remember, this is nonexclusive. A publisher is always free to sell to stores themselves, as we have done in WMG Publishing.
Why July 15th until this opens to all publishers? A couple of reasons. Right now Ella Distribution is in the process of bringing on Indie bookstores and that process will be ongoing for years to come. And Ella has no plans on limiting itself to just indie bookstores. It will also be working with gift shops and major chains. (This has me excited since all casinos have gift shops and I have a Poker Boy series.(grin)) Between now and July 15th, Ella Distribution will finish the beta testing, have a number of indie bookstores ready to order, and then be able to build from there with more publishers and more bookstores.
Ella is going to help all us indie publishers as well with buttons we can put on our web sites that will link directly to where your readers and bookstores can get your book. (They have other things planned to help indie publishers, but that’s all I can remember off the top of my head. (grin))
If you are friends with a local bookstore or work in one, show the buyer Elladistribution.com and tell them what Ella is planning on doing. And show them the discounts.
So, as of this weekend, Ella Distribution is up so you all can see it. If you have been looking for that new book from Kristine Kathryn Rusch, it’s there. You can buy it from the bookstore or signed from the signed books section. You can even find signed copies of my short stories there as well. And check back every week as they add in more major authors, more specials, and so on.
Ella Distribution is in beta testing. Almost there. Take a look around, help Ella test its site. Buy a book to test that as well. Ask them questions.
Wow does this make me excited for all of us indie publishers. It’s going to take some time yet, but we will soon have a way to get our books available to indie bookstores.
Ella Distribution: A direct link from indie publisher to indie bookstores and beyond. (I just made that up… Maybe I should suggest that to the folks at Ella. (grin))
Good news for everybody. The beta website looks excellent.
But I do wonder: how will ELLA be able to ship the order in just one business day if the indie publisher/writer has FIRST to order a print run AFTER the order from the retailer/bookstore, and then has to have it delivered (from the printer) to ELLA ? Won’t this delay prevent you from delivering on time to your customers?
And second remark: the retailers know what they get (50% discount, free shipping). But the publisher does not know what the conditions are for him: at what discount do you buy from him? Well, I guess it’s a business secret. But I fear that if the indie publisher has to do POD, pay the shipping to you and sell at a-higher-than-50%-discount, then there won’t be much money left for him…
So what do you say Mr Smith ?
Alexis, they will be buying books ahead from each publisher, paying the publisher and stocking their shelves so they can ship in one day. So they will be able to deliver because they won’t list your books on their site until they have the first order in from you and the books are on site.
Isn’t that on the site? Ella pays a flat 33% from all publishers. They have a price restriction per page count and the publisher will be paid ahead before any books need to be ordered. Hmmm, they had better check that to see that it is clear.
Ella pays a set 33% of cover price ahead. Publisher ships direct from CreateSpace to Ella, never having to touch the books. So if the publisher sets their prices inside the Ella guidelines, each author/publisher will make a far higher rate per sale through Ella than they would get through traditional contracts. (grin) It will be comparable to the money a publisher would get through extended distribution.
That make sense? They won’t offer to take your book if your price is too low. Part of their guidelines.
Congratulations. I know you’ve been working towards this for a while.
Will Ella accept erotica novels/novellas for distribution, provided they meet the standards in the “Selection Process” section of the website?
Marimba, from what I understand, Ella will take erotica in paper, and if you (your indie publishing name) has five paper books list with Ella, they will also take erotic ebooks-only titles. But I think you must have five paper of various sorts. I’d write them to ask directly and not trust something I heard in passing. (grin)
Will do. Thanks for the reply.
These are exciting times.
WOW. This is exciting indeed!! Changing the face of publishing yet again. Now… how do we jockey to be part of the beta?
They have already picked them I think, Chris.
Alexis, I did a little math and most publishers would get about a buck or so, no risk, for each book sale in paper to a bookstore. It will all depend on the price the publisher sets for their own paperbacks. That’s if the publisher pays the shipping. I seem to remember in one meeting that Ella had a level of orders from a publisher, like ten copies, that Ella would pay the shipping from CreateSpace (or it might be on all orders, I don’t know for sure) and thus the publisher would make a ton more. Almost the same as the extended distribution from CreateSpace. But don’t quote me. I don’t work there. I just am a backer and supporter.
If a publisher also wants Ella to list their ebook, they would get 70% no fees. Paid every month (I made sure of that (grin)).
And there is plans to distribute book gift cards down the road as well. Again, remember this is just beta test, first look. Changes and tweaks will happen almost every week or sometimes daily as it moves closer to full launch this summer.
Looks promising, but have to see how pricing and fees affect each other. Just picking a $18 createspace book with a $5 cost, the $6 you get for it dkes ijndeed net you $1. But anything more expensive (to the publisher) and you are pricing yourself out of business eventually.
Oh, they have all the charts and such. Pricing and page counts and such. It all works for both the publisher and Ella. Might want to make your decision on this after they open it up. It’s just a no-risk way into bookstores for indie publishers. Any indie publisher can do it themselves. I’ve said that all along.
Also, if you have a direct question, you can contact them. They are clear how to do that on the web site.
I’ve just had so many writers over the last three years ask me how they get their books into bookstores. You can ride them along with Baker and Taylor and Ingrams and have indie stores order for a 32-41% discount, you can contract every store directly and give them a better discount and do the shipping yourself. Ella is just one of the new breed of indie distributors that will help authors get their books into bookstores and make it worthwhile for the store at the same time.
Very cool, Dean. This is exactly the type of business indies need at the moment. Paper distribution is really the final frontier of indie publishing–once that wall comes crumbling down, well, what do we need with trad publishing anymore?
One quick question–will Ella require multiple books to submit? I should have two full novels out by then, but would there be any advantage to having more work available over less work as far as chance of them accepting you as a writer? Or better discounts on shipping they could offer retailers if they could choose from an author’s catalogue? Or is scale (for shipping purposes) already accounted for in that they’ll be buying a lot of indie books from Ella anyway?
Thanks for the heads up, Dean–all the more reason to sit in the damn chair and write ’til my butt cramps up through July!
D.J., not a clue on most of that question. I know they will be accepting all genres, but I think their main criteria will be cover price vs. page count. (trim size makes no difference) And their second main criteria will be a quality cover. Last thing they want is some beginning-looking covers mixed in. So that will be part of it. And I have a hunch more work vs less work wouldn’t hurt. (grin)
On the retailers page, they are offering 50% discount plus free shipping for orders over ten copies (can mix titles). I don’t know, but I would wager that an order from publisher will need to be quantity to help on shipping as well.
Realize this, folks, Ella Distribution is going to spend a TON of money buying your books (At no risk to you) and stocking their warehouse so that when a bookstore orders your book, the bookstore will get it quickly. This is no small cash outlay to start this business, not counting all the programming and back work behind that web site. (grin)
Damn these are exciting times. I am honored to be a backer of this start-up.
By the way, did you all see that even a regular customer who orders ten books can get free shipping from Ella. You don’t have to be a retailer/bookstore.
sorry, just posted the rest of that before I saw your follow up Dean.
Trust your judgement, to be sure. I’ll wait and see what they have to offer!
Thanks for the heads up!
Folks, just write and ask them. I’m just excited here is all because Kris and I have backed this and want something like this to work for the future of indie publishing.
But again, this is nonexclusive and any indie publisher can get into bookstores themselves. This is just another way in, a risk-free way.
Joe, I killed your other post with all the math because, to be honest, I couldn’t follow it and I think it won’t apply. Remember, I’m not running Ella. I was just announcing it. They listen to me and others, but I’m not running it.
sorry if i got too ‘mathy’ lol…
i was just trying to guess @ what the margins would look like selling the book to ella @ 33% cover. Just looked tight with publisher paying shipping.
Like you said – better to wait and watch or ask – sorry if i got a little carried away – VERY excited too!
Beautiful! And with the non exclusivity I can keep placing my books in local stores while still taking advantage of this. Win win from what I can see. Thanks for sharing!
Exactly, Pam. Ella is also talking about having a package to give to bookstores to help writers get their books into stores. More than likely that will be done by July as well. The reason for that is because so many bookstores don’t want to deal with individual writers or a small press, but will deal with a distributor with choices that not only can they order your book, but get other books and get higher discounts and save on shipping.
What an awesome start! I remember you talking about this when I was at the workshop last year, and am so glad to see it taking off now.
Congratulations, Dean. I know you were really looking forward to this launch, and it looks really exciting. It’s a great time to be a writer, even if you’re just getting the snowball rolling.
Cool! I’ve been waiting for this announcement for a while. Great that Ella is coming online. Do you know how they will be selecting the books they carry? Aside from professional cover and workable pricing structure? I didn’t see anything about that when I checked their web site.
J.M., that’s about it. Pricing structure and professional cover. They sure aren’t going to read every book and be critics. (grin)
“They sure aren’t going to read every book and be critics.”
LOL!
I wondered if they might require a book to have already sold a certain number of units, or something like that. But I’ll keep my eye on the Ella website as they run through their beta interval. (And cross my fingers that you might give us the occasional update. Grin!) This is very exciting!
Dean, this is way cool! Thanks to you an Kathryn for working on it with the folks at Ella. As someone else (maybe several someones), print is pretty much the final frontier for writers selling reasonably well in digital. Thank you for helping tear down the wall.
One observation. I didn’t see a ‘Thriller’ genre category. I suspect there are several of us with work that fits in ‘Thriller’ much more closely than ‘Crime/Mystery.’ Do you know if they plan to add that category?
I’ll close by adding my thanks for the head’s up.
Oh, I’m sure all the categories will be added in time. And since I have a thriller coming out later this year through WMG Publishing, I’m fairly positive that will get added sooner than later. (grin)
Thank you for Ella. Im so glad there are still honest people out there! It is a stark contrast to the dishonest businesses. For example Autharium is a “service” that offers you no advance but keeps your erights for the life of the author +70 years! In their Terms they state that you allow them these rights even if you cancel their service. Passive guy posted on this AND the Autharium people had enough gaul to respond IN DEFENSE of their indefensible actions on the thread just now.
http://www.thepassivevoice.com/03/2013/autharium/
I know everybody who reads Dean’s words on here, has been helped by his postings so that you can see through rip offs and scams. And many indie writers are getting saavy about all this but I wanted to point out that this type of thing is still out there and possibly growing. Thanks to Dean and Kristine Kathryn Rusch I always read the Terms of any agreement now.
Meanwhile I’ve been writing like a madman and have formed my own publishing company. I hope to be one of those who eventually uses Ella. It sounds like a fantastic concept and company.
Not to be a Negative Nelly, but my town’s indie bookstore owner refuses to buy anything from Amazon or anything connected to Amazon, including CreateSpace. I don’t think she’s going to buy them from Ella for the same reason–Ella must get my book via CreateSpace.
Any ideas on how I can get past her Amazon block?
Also… sigh… I have to raise my price at least a dollar to make any profit from Ella. I’m at 264 pages and $13.99. That means changing my cover’s barcode.
Meryl, wow, is Ella a long ways from Amazon. (grin)
And don’t worry about the price now. And you should not have to change your bar code. CreateSpace does that. And you can raise your price without changing your isbn as well.
But don’t worry about that now. Ella has a ways to go to get through all the beta testing.
She’s seriously anti-Amazon. She won’t carry my book because I get it via CreateSpace.
And, well, I made the barcode for my back cover, so if I change the price, I have to change the barcode. I’m not your typical indie. I have a 20-year background in the back end of publishing and some mad Photoshop skilz, at least to getting the barcode onto the back cover myself. Some guy named Dean Wesley Smith wrote that you should release your book without a price on the cover.
Still, I’m looking forward to having an indie distributor. I think it will make a huge difference.
Meryl, NEVER. You should always have a price on your back cover. Always!!!!!!!!!!! How else is a customer supposed to know what to pay when they pick it up. Got me confused with someone else. And I always tell people to never use their own bar code, let CreateSpace do it. Waste of time and energy.
Er, I left out the word “never”. Sorry, Dean. Your advice is the reason I put the price on the book and found a free barcode maker online to convert into an image for my cover.
Apologies.
None needed. Just wanted to make sure my advice was clear. (grin)
I wouldn’t worry too much about the local bookstore’s attitude anyway. 1 speck of sand on a big beach.
Whenever things shift in any business, there are always hold outs.
People come around. Until they do, just sell your books to the thousands and thousands of other outlets around the world.