Beyond Amazon: A 30-Day Plan to Publish Wide

Before Day One

Publishing wide means selling your ebooks in many stores rather than exclusively on Amazon. It gives you more readers, more resilience if one store changes its rules, and access to libraries and international markets. It also means giving up Kindle Unlimited page reads and KDP Select promotions for any title you take wide.

This plan assumes you have at least one ebook already on Amazon. It spreads the work over four weeks so you can do it alongside writing. If you are publishing a brand-new book wide from the start, skip the KDP Select steps and begin at Week 2.

Week 1: Decide and Prepare

Days 1 to 2: Choose which books go wide. You do not have to move your whole catalog at once. Many authors start with a complete series or a standalone that earns little from Kindle Unlimited. Look at your KDP reports: titles where page reads are a small share of income lose the least by leaving.

Day 3: Turn off KDP Select auto-renewal. KDP Select runs in 90-day terms that renew automatically. Untick auto-renewal for each title going wide, then note the date each term ends. You cannot list those ebooks elsewhere until the term is over. Our guide to what KDP Select is and how its terms work covers the rules in detail.

Days 4 to 5: Audit your metadata. Collect each book's title, subtitle, series name and number, description, categories, keywords and author bio in one document. Wide stores reward clean, consistent metadata, and you will paste it many times over the coming weeks.

Days 6 to 7: Decide on ISBNs. Amazon does not require an ISBN for ebooks, but some wide stores and distributors do or offer a free one. Owning your own ISBNs keeps your imprint name consistent everywhere. US authors buy them from Bowker, which sells one for $125 or ten for $295.

Week 2: Files and Accounts

Days 8 to 10: Prepare a clean EPUB. Wide stores work from EPUB files. If you published on Amazon from a Word document or a KDP-only format, export a proper EPUB now and test it on a phone, a tablet and an e-reader. Update the back matter: replace Amazon-only links with links that work for every reader, such as your website or a universal book link.

Days 11 to 14: Open your accounts. Decide which stores to go direct with and which to reach through a distributor.

• Apple Books for Authors: web-based, pays 70% at any price.
• Kobo Writing Life: free, 70% from $2.99 if your ebook is priced at least 20% below every print edition.
• Google Play Books Partner Center: pays 70% of list price in most supported countries, available to sellers in supported countries.
• A distributor such as Draft2Digital for Barnes & Noble, smaller stores and library platforms, in exchange for a share of each sale.

Going direct to the big stores keeps more of each sale and gives you faster control. A distributor saves time for the long tail. Many wide authors combine both.

Week 3: Upload and Price

Days 15 to 18: Upload. As each KDP Select term ends, upload the ebook to your chosen stores. Paste your prepared metadata, choose the most specific categories each store offers, and enter series information identically everywhere so stores group your books correctly.

Days 19 to 20: Set prices carefully. Keep prices consistent across stores, because Amazon may match a lower price it finds elsewhere, which cuts your Kindle royalty. Set local prices by hand for your main markets so books land on familiar price points. Remember Kobo's rule: price the ebook at least 20% below your paperback to keep its 70% rate.

Day 21: Create universal links. A universal book link sends each reader to their preferred store. Use it on your website, in your newsletter and in your back matter so you never have to favor one retailer.

Week 4: Libraries, Direct Sales and Your First Promotion

Days 22 to 23: Enable libraries. Turn on library channels in your distributor and set library prices. Add a line to your back matter inviting readers to request your books from their library.

Days 24 to 25: Add a direct storefront. Selling directly lets you keep more of each sale from readers you bring yourself. You can build your own shop, or list on an independent bookstore such as BooksOasis, which charges a flat plan and pays the full ebook price, and then point your newsletter readers there.

Days 26 to 28: Plan your first wide promotion. Choose one book, often the first in a series, and plan a short discount. Apply for store promotions where available, such as Kobo's Promotions tab, and consider wide-friendly promotional newsletters. Discounting a series starter is one of the most effective ways to build readers on new stores.

Days 29 to 30: Tell your readers. Email your newsletter that your books are now available everywhere, with your universal link. Many readers have been waiting for your books on their preferred store.

After Day 30

Wide sales grow slowly. Readers on Apple, Kobo and Google discover authors over months, not days, and store algorithms respond to steady sales history. Give a wide title at least six months before judging it, and keep adding books: wide readers, like Kindle Unlimited readers, love series.

Each month, check reports from every store and distributor, compare against your old Kindle Unlimited income, and note which stores respond to which promotions.

What to Expect From Wide Sales

Most authors see a dip at first. Kindle Unlimited page reads stop the day a title leaves Select, while sales on other stores build gradually. A common pattern is several quiet months followed by steadier income spread across stores, libraries and direct sales. Authors with a newsletter and several books in a series usually recover fastest, because they can send readers straight to the new stores.

Going wide is a long-term decision. If you need predictable income next month, consider moving one series wide as a test rather than the whole catalog.

What About Print and Audio?

This plan focuses on ebooks, because that is where KDP Select's exclusivity applies. Print and audio follow their own rules. Paperbacks and hardcovers were never exclusive, so you can add a wholesale print distributor at any time, which makes your print edition orderable by bookstores and libraries. Audiobooks depend on how you published them: an ACX title distributed exclusively stays on Audible, Amazon and Apple Books, while a non-exclusive one can go to Spotify, library platforms and other stores.

If you are already going wide with ebooks, review your print and audio settings at the same time. Readers who find you on Kobo or in a library app will look for every format.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Listing elsewhere before the Select term ends, which breaks the KDP agreement.
• Leaving Amazon-only links in your back matter, which frustrates readers on other stores.
• Inconsistent prices, which can trigger price matching on Amazon.
• Missing the Kobo 20% rule and dropping to its lower rate.
• Judging results after a month. Wide is a long game.

A One-Page Tracker

Frequently Asked Questions