When you upload your book to Amazon, you have the option of distributing to foreign markets and third parties. I have been surprised and delighted to see my books, which I don't market much, sell internationally. I have sold books in Germany, the UK, Canada, even India. Amazon continues to increase the number of countries to their roster. They currently have eighteen sites:
Australia https://www.amazon.com.au/ (45 million customers)
Canada https://www.amazon.ca (231 million customers)
Brazil https://www.amazon.com.br/ (115 million customers)
France https://www.amazon.fr/ (251 million customers)
Germany https://www.amazon.de/ (605 millions customers)
India https://www.amazon.in/ (295 million customers)
Italy https://www.amazon.it/(270 million customers)
Japan https://www.amazon.co.jp/ (646 million customers)
Mexico https://www.amazon.com.mx/ (89 million customers)
Poland https://www.amazon.pl/ (70,000 customers)
Saudi Arabia https://www.amazon.sa/ (4.62 million customers)
Singapore https://www.amazon.sg/ (7 million customers)
Spain https://www.amazon.es/ (198 million customers)
Sweden https://www.amazon.se/ (10 million customers)
Turkey https://www.amazon.com.tr/ (data not available)
United Arab Emirates https://www.amazon.ae/ (21 million customers)
United Kingdom https://www.amazon.co.uk/ (569 million customers)
United States https://www.amazon.com (31 billion customers)
Amazon also had a marketplace in China that was discontinued in 2019.
It is fun to search for your novels and find them located in a foreign store. Try it!
Do they all sell your book? Yes and no.
Your book is available for purchase, but their algorithm may never suggest your book. In the United States, newly published books fall off Amazon's recommendation algorithm after 90 days unless your book goes viral, you are a prolific writer, or you continually aggressively market your book with direct buy links. There may come a time when your name or title alone does not generate a result.
One of the best things about self-publishing is your books are never taken off the virtual shelf. The more you write and promote, the more traffic you are likely to have. The more people search for your books, the more likely they are to remain relevant. I have searched for title alone for well-known traditionally published authors and were not able to find their books or all of the books in their series. Luckily, KDP has added a "claim your series" tool so that when one book in the series comes up, the search algorithm suggests the rest.
You can create an author central presence on some of the foreign stores too. Create a sign-on and password on the US Amazon Author Central platform. Fill in your bio on the US site as well as a few others. You can get really creative and have someone translate your biography for you or use the English to (Language) tools available online.
United States (Amazon.com) https://authorcentral.amazon.com
United Kingdom (Amazon.co.uk) https://author.amazon.co.uk/
Germany (Amazon.de) http://authorcentral.amazon.de
France (Amazon.fr) https://authorcentral.amazon.fr
Japan (Amazon.co.jp) https://authorcentral.amazon.co.jp
Make sure you have claimed all of your books and removed any that aren't by you. Sometimes authors have the same name as you. There were a few children's books by another author with my name that populated. I removed them from my roster.
You can add photos and videos. Did you have a book trailer made? You can add that. Do you have a blog and/or website? You can add those, though the blog option is not available on all sites.
For more on Author Central Pages, check out:
https://www.williamcookwriter.com/2014/11/how-to-set-up-your-international-amazon.html
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/G200644310
https://www.janefriedman.com/amazon-author-central-page/
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Posted by Diana Hurwitz, author of Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Conflict, Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict, Story Building Blocks III: The Revision Layers, and the YA adventure series Mythikas Island. Her weekly blog, Game On: Crafting Believable Conflict explores how characters behave and misbehave. Visit DianaHurwitz.com for more information and free writing tools. You can follow her on Facebook and Twitter. |
What a great post, Diana, and thanks for including all those links. That will make it much easier for all writers to take advantage of opportunities to increase a presence in a global marketplace.
ReplyDeleteDitto to what Maryann said. Fabulous lists, Diana. This is like a map to work a writer through the maze of international publishing. Definitely a keeper. :-)
ReplyDeleteI had fun translating my bio into German and French.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the info and links. So much to consider. :)
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