What the heck is an Aggregator??

What the heck is an Aggregator??

In my last post, I explained what the different platforms are and their markets. But we cannot overlook the benefit of aggregators. These types of platforms have a large marketplace and can put your e-books into markets that you didn’t even know existed.

Just what is an aggregator?

Book aggregators bridge the gap between authors and online retailers. Think of it as a distributor for e-books. An aggregator does not have a single market like Amazon or Kobo. They upload your e-books to a variety of platforms and e-book retailers. Some of them can put your e-books on platforms that you can’t access directly (like Libby). While platforms like Amazon and Kobo can give you a large market, an aggregator can give you a broader market. Let’s look at the most common aggregators.

Draft2Digital

If you want your e-books to be available from the library then you need to have them on the Draft2Digital (D2D) platform. They will convert your Word document (.doc only) into an e-book. While they will put your e-book on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Baker & Tayler and Kobo, one of the most important things they do is make books available to OverDrive(Libby). This online distributor is the world’s largest library e-book platform serving 20,000+ libraries and regional library systems all over the country. D2D also do print books that you can sell to local bookstores.

www.draft2digital.com

IngramSpark

IngramSpark no longer charges a set-up fee, so that puts them in line with the other platforms. They do not convert Word documents, so you have to have your book converted into an EPUB file before uploading it. But IngramSpark has 21 global online distribution partners including Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo Plus and Scribd. They also place books in OverDrive (Libby) for libraries.

It is important to know that if you already have your book on Amazon, IngramSpark will not publish it for 12 months and if you have your book on Apple Books you will have to remove it. So, if you plan to use IngramSpark, upload your book there first. IngramSpark also does Print-On-Demand (POD) and can make print books for you to both sell locally and on their website.

www.ingramspark.com

Lulu

Lulu will convert a .docx file into an EPUB for an e-book. They distribute to Amazon, Apple iBookstore, Kobo and Scribd, among others. Lulu also does print books that you can sell to local bookstores.

www.lulu.com

BookBaby

This is an expensive platform. It costs a lot to have file converted to an e-book. You also pay fees for conversion, ISBN and formatting to an e-book.

www.bookbaby.com

Like Amazon, all of these aggregators will issue an ISBN if you want one. In Canada, since ISBN are free, there is no need to accept one from any platform. In the U.S. ISBN cost $125, so many author/publishers prefer to get free ISBN. Canadians can use their ISBN on their e-books in any platform. 

Aggregators have a broader market while platforms have a specific market. Planning this into your marketing plan will help you make the best decision to get your book into the hands (or devices) of readers.

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