Wide for the Win

Resource Page – Wide for the Win

A list of resources, links, updates, and more related to the Wide for the Win Book released in March 2021. [Most recent update to this page: April 2024]

Universal Book Link to most online retailers

http://books2read.com/wideforthewin

Buy the eBook DIRECT FROM AUTHOR (Payhip)

Ask for the book at your favorite local bookstore or library.

Paperback (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookmanager (Canadian indie bookstores), BAM! (Books-A-Million), Eden Books, IndieBound.org (US indie bookstores), Indigo (Canadian chain bookstore), Powell’s (US Indie bookstores), Words Worth Books (Local Indie Bookstore near Mark)

Helpful Links / Related Information

Glossary of Terms (As Defined by Mark in WIDE FOR THE WIN)

Online Glossary

ACCESSIBILITY RESOURCE – Publishing truly wide means publishing with a mind towards accessibility. The March 2023 book Content for Everyone by Jeff Adams and Michele Lucchini covers that.

WIDE FOR THE WIN Facebook Group (Where the entire Wide for the Win movement started)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/wideforthewin

Wide for the Win Group on Circle – Launched Spring of 2023. It’s an alternative place for people to hang out and talk about wide publishing options without worrying about missing it because of the frustrating Facebook feed algorithms, or getting sucked down larger social media rabbit holes and distractions. This platform is ONLY about Wide Publishing talk. No cat videos, that embarrassing Uncle who riffs on his political beliefs and shares terrible memes with bad grammar and spelling issues. None of that. Just publishing talk.

MISC Retailer Info/Updates since the Book’s Release

  • Chapters/Indigo (Canadian Book Chain)
    • Books made available for wide distribution through Ingram Spark/Draft2Digital Print/etc no longer automatically populate this Canadian retailer website (the same way they do Amazon, Barnes & Noble, WHSmith, etc). You need to contact them and share information about your title to the Master Data team (masterdata@indigo.ca) or to this email: NewAuthor.indigo.ca. Please note that Indigo requires a MINIMUM discount available for listing the title. (If you’re using Amazon’s “extended distribution” for POD, you’re going to be flat out of luck). Further information can be found here.
  • Barnes & Noble / B&N Press
    • At the time of writing the first edition of the book (no, there’s isn’t yet a second edition), setting a price to free via the B&N Press platform was not possible. At least not easily. There was a complicated work-around required in order to do that. Since the release of the book that has changed.
  • Findaway Voices (Spotify)
    • Findaway, the company that runs Findaway Voices was acquired by Spotify in November 2021.
    • In late 2023 Findaway Voices announced it was shutting down their Findaway Voices Marketplace where narrators and authors could connect for collaboration opportunities in audiobooks. They stated that they would be focusing more on distribution than creation of audiobooks.
    • Feb 2024 Spotify announced a change to their terms of service which caused a major uproar in the indie author community. Within 24 hours they released a statement indicating they were listening to authors and revised those terms. A detailed breakdown about this from Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware appears here.
  • Kobo (Rakuten Kobo, Inc)
    • Kobo Plus – In April 2023 the Kobo+ subscription service for readers expanded to include the US and the UK. Kobo plus is currently available in the following territories:
      • Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, United Kingdon, United States
    • Kobo/OverDrive – OverDrive had, for a short time period, been owned by Rakuten, Inc. (the same parent company that owns Kobo). But they are no longer a child company of Rakuten.
    • Kobo Writing Life – In May 2020, Kobo Writing Life introduced Cost Per Checkout for OverDrive’s catalogue. Prior to this, the only option was the One Copy One user model. Authors don’t have control over these two options. If you accept distribution to OverDrive, you accept for both OCOU and CPC.
  • Draft2Digital/Smashwords – In Feb of 2022 it was announced that Draft2Digital and Smashwords would be merging together, with focus on Draft2Digital focusing on publishing (and merging the best of both platforms), and a focus on Smashwords.com being a storefront. There would be multiple phases to this process, likely taking until the end of 2023 before it was completed. [UPDATE
    • In December 2022, Draft2Digital announced the ability to push a button to publish to the Smashwords store].
    • In Feb 2023, Draft2Digital announced the ability to publish to Palace Marketplace through DPLA (Digital Public Library of America)
    • In March 2023, Draft2Digital announced their D2D Print program has come out of beta. All authors now have access to it for trade paperback POD distribution
    • Since the summer of 2023, Draft2Digital authors can now leverage generating custom coupon codes for the Smashwords store. (Blog and YouTube Video walk-thru)
    • On April 9, 2024, Draft2Digital announced that indie authors can get their eBooks into Fable as a new distribution/retail platform.
  • Google Play
    • In December 2022 Google Play Books Partner Center announced significant improvements to their AI narration process, which continues to be free for authors. Authors have the ability to adjust/tweak/correct improperly spoken words from the AI, and can download the converted files, provided they make the AI audiobook available for sale at Google. (Kobo Writing Life accepts AI generated content). Among the improvements Google Play announced are the ability to use multiple narrators for a single book project and create “duet” style AI narrated books.
    • Along with their promotional price scheduling and self-generated coupon code options, Google Play has also introduced automated series bundling, allowing authors to set their own “buy more/save more” options to encourage customers to buy more books within a series and save more on their purchase.
    • In Feb 2024 Google Play Books Partner Center announced the ability for authors to be able to upload their audiobooks directly to their platform. They also provided a form where authors are able to request a transfer of titles from a distributor to direct distribution via their platform.
  • Ream Stories
    • Ream Stories, launched in 2023, is a platform that combines the best of Wattpad community reading with Patreon, allowing authors a unique way to connect with their readers. (Here is a link to an interview with Michael and Emilia, two of the three founders of this platform)

Helpful Resources

  • Universal Book Links – Universal Book Links (or UBLs) are web links created by a service such as Books2Read that act as a single link to multiple platforms for a book. This type of link is considered far more acceptable and inclusive when used in the back of an ePub file, rather than all the links to all the retailers. Many retailers will not accept links to other retailers/competitors in a book listed in their online catalog. Examples below:
  • Susie O’Connell’s GO WIDE/NEW AUTHOR Blueprint (Facebook Link – You have to be a member of the Wide for the Win Facebook group in order for this link to work for you)
  • Writer Beware Blog – The official blog of Writer Beware® shines a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls.
  • The USA Today Featured Independent Bookstore Map – Updated weekly, this interactive map of the U.S. can be used to find each of the featured independent bookstores from USA Today articles.

Helpful Videos (YouTube Links)

Views on Wide vs Exclusivity

General Book Industry Trend Info & General Tips

Writing Craft Resources

Audio Market

Podcasts