paulsharville
New Member
Posts: 5
Joined: Aug 13, 2012 1:25:49 GMT -8
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Post by paulsharville on Sept 3, 2012 3:14:52 GMT -8
Hi there. I placed my book on Smashwords a few weeks back. I got premium approval and epub validation on 8/13, and when I checked my channel manager today, all of the status messages either say 'will be shipped' or shipped sometime between 8/19 and 8/30. I still have a 'will be shipped' for Sony and Amazon, and although it says that my book was shipped to Apple on 8/16, it doesn't appear in the Apple bookstore. Does it always take this long or am I missing something here?
I'm a first-timer so would appreciate some help from the community.
Thanks
Paul
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Post by Nathaniel Phillips on Sept 3, 2012 3:27:41 GMT -8
I have had similar experiences with distribution. My first 2 books received Premium approval on July 27. It took almost 2 weeks before then were marked as "Already Shipped" to Apple. Another week to ship to 1 or 2 more channels, then another week to go to a couple more.
They took almost a month to ship to Baker-Tayler BLIO, and still have not shipped to B-T Axis360.
Once they shipped, the time to actually appear in the stores depends on the channel. Both of my books appeared in the iTunes book store the day BEFORE they shipped from SW. The other channels took anywhere from several days to several weeks, except for Kobo - they still are not in the Kobo store.
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anita
Full Member
Posts: 134
Joined: Jun 6, 2012 8:57:42 GMT -8
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Post by anita on Sept 3, 2012 5:03:01 GMT -8
My experience has been about the same as Nathaniel's. However, I did want to add that I had an issue with some of my ebooks not appearing on Kobo, though SW showed them as being shipped. I emailed support at Smashwords and was told that they needed to be re-sent to Kobo. You might want to doublecheck with Smashwords on yours. It was kind of a fluke that I noticed that they were missing from Kobo and I got the impression that SW wouldn't have known without my alerting them.
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teratkins
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Posts: 10
Joined: Sept 6, 2012 6:47:17 GMT -8
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Post by teratkins on Sept 6, 2012 6:58:35 GMT -8
I've been having similar problems. I had two books approved for the premium catalogue on 26 August. Both shipped to Apple quickly (I can't remember how long this took, but I think it was within 24 hours), but they haven't shipped elsewhere. They're opted in for everything.
I emailed SW to query this a couple of days ago but have heard nothing back.
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Post by Ted on Sept 6, 2012 7:49:51 GMT -8
Welcome to our forums, Ter.
When an ebook appears for sale at a retailer is the responsibility of the retailer. Kobo has had problems, as Mark mentioned several times in his Site Update page, and may still be experiencing problems as Kobo displays 28 of my 31 books.
It is always best to check online retailers like Kobo, B&N, Diesel, 2-4 weeks after shipping from Smashwords, and before marketing your work as available at such and such a site.
I've been told by Blio that it is updating their technology and some functions aren't working, so you might not find your work - or any work for that matter - on Blio.
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teratkins
New Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Sept 6, 2012 6:47:17 GMT -8
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Post by teratkins on Sept 6, 2012 8:01:23 GMT -8
Hello Ted, and thanks for the welcome.  My problem is not so much that my books aren't appearing on the websites of third-party retailers, more that they're not being shipped from Smashwords. From Nathaniel's comments, it seems that they'll get there eventually. Patience is a virtue and all that. |
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aristotle
Junior Member
Posts: 38
Joined: Mar 28, 2012 17:11:38 GMT -8
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Post by aristotle on Sept 6, 2012 12:23:22 GMT -8
Hello Ted, and thanks for the welcome. My problem is not so much that my books aren't appearing on the websites of third-party retailers, more that they're not being shipped from Smashwords. Same here. My book is yet to ship to Sony, B&N or Blio. It was first approved for premium around 8 August. |
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Post by Ted on Sept 6, 2012 15:07:21 GMT -8
I just looked at my Channel Manager page on Smashwords to see when an ebook was shipped to a retailer. Then I checked some retailers to see if that retailer had placed my ebook on their shelf.
B&N lists all 31 of my ebooks, Kobo shows 28, Sony 30, Apple 23.
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Post by Nathaniel Phillips on Sept 9, 2012 20:11:17 GMT -8
I am starting to think that the data on the "Channel Manager" page where it lists which channels they have shipped to and the dates that they shipped are not .... how should I put this ..... well let me just say that I don't think it is a high priority for SW. Maybe they are really bogged down right now and some things are falling through the cracks.
There are two things that make me wonder about this data:
1) Both of my books turned up on the Apple iTunes book store one day BEFORE smashwords said that they shipped them. Keep in mind that SW says that Apple reviews every book and it can take up to 2 weeks or more from the time that they ship it to when it appears on iTunes. Also, the ship date was almost 2 weeks after I received Premium Approval. I think that my books both shipped to Apple almost immediately, but the shipping info on the Channel Manager page was updated "when someone had time to update it".
2) Barnes and Noble updated their sales figures a few days ago. My free book "sold" 86 copies prior to August 1. That is a good trick, since SW says that they shipped the book to B&N on August 3.
My feeling is that, for the most part, our books are shipping to resellers promptly, but the data on shipments is not necessarily accurate.
I am not too worried if the good folks at SW are spending most of their time processing books for publication, answering questions, etc. instead of spending their time making sure that all of the ship dates that they report are exactly correct.
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teratkins
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Posts: 10
Joined: Sept 6, 2012 6:47:17 GMT -8
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Post by teratkins on Sept 10, 2012 3:57:34 GMT -8
Congratulations on the 86 sales Two out of my three current titles are now showing on SW as shipped to Barnes & Noble, although they're not yet showing on B&N's site. |
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teratkins
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Posts: 10
Joined: Sept 6, 2012 6:47:17 GMT -8
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Post by teratkins on Sept 26, 2012 8:36:03 GMT -8
Just updating to say that my titles are gradually trickling through to all retailers.
I hope everyone else who had a problem is finding the same.
Ter x
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Post by Nathaniel Phillips on Sept 26, 2012 11:32:56 GMT -8
I am seriously considering opting out of Kobo distribution. My books were approved for the Premium catalog 2 months ago. After repeated "shipments" to Kobo neither has appeared on their website.
I would just let it go and see if they eventually turn up, but with some of the things people on here have said about Kobo, I really think that I will just opt out.
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anita
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Posts: 134
Joined: Jun 6, 2012 8:57:42 GMT -8
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Post by anita on Sept 27, 2012 9:33:19 GMT -8
Nathaniel, I don't understand the purpose of opting out of Kobo. If your books get there eventually, then you'll have another venue for sales which may translate into more money for you.
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Post by Ted on Sept 27, 2012 9:46:18 GMT -8
I agree with Anita. Kobo may be going through some growing pains at the moment, but it is now owned by one of the top 10 Internet companies in the world. I don't think there are many companies who spend 315 million buying a company and then let the newly purchased company slide downward.
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Post by Nathaniel Phillips on Sept 27, 2012 10:06:14 GMT -8
I am concerned about more than just the fact that my books still are not on their site. I am also concerned about comments on here from people who have rankings on their books on Kobo, indicating that they are selling, yet they get sales reports from Kobo of zero sales.
I'm not suggesting that Kobo is cheating anyone, I just get the impression that they are in complete disarray right now and things are falling through the cracks left and right.
I have opted out of Kobo for now. I will opt in later if it looks like they are getting their act together.
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