How to sell your e-books on Google Play? (Part 1)

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This is the first in a two part series about Google Play Books. In this part we take a brief look at what Google Play Books is. In the second post we will examine the process on publishing on it.

When you say the word “Google” even the computer-illiterate know what you are talking about. A friend’s 90 year old grandpa, who could not even switch on a PC, often ordered him to Google this or that.

However, Google has many more services besides their search. One of these is Google Play. Google Play is the search giant’s online shop geared for Android devices. Music, games, apps and books are some of the things you can buy online via this service.

Google Play Book  has more than 5 million titles on their catalog which makes them the biggest online book retailer. They are available in around 50 countries and the number will only increase with time. This means that you have a real worldwide audience.

It is very important to know that GPB only sells and distributes EPUB and PDF versions. This means that they do not cater at all to Kindle users.

EPUB allows for the re-flowing of text. The PDF version is for those who like to see the actual pages. These can only be read online.

What others say about Google Play Books

Uploading a book on Google Plays Books can be a bit frustrating and is more complicated than other services like Amazon KDP Amazon and Smashwords. You must upload only a prepared EPUB file. This system does not allow you to upload Word for instance. But do not let this discourage you! InstaScribe is there to let you create your perfect EPUB with ease.

You can also upload a PDF file. This is not much of an issue as Word, LibreOffice and other packages offer one-click PDF conversion. But EPUB converted from PDF may not be ideal. So, uploading an EPUB is highly recommended, even if you are uploading a PDF.

Some authors who complain about the (lack of) response from Google’s Help Center. But many Indie authors are very excited about the great audience Google Play offers them. Some authors claim that they have sold more books on Google Play than on Barnes & Noble and Kobo combined, even though there are others who complain that their books are not selling there at all, even when they have consistent sales on Amazon.

The general sentiment, however, is that sales on Google Play will continue to rise. This is perhaps the biggest reason why it would be a good idea to sell your books via them.

In the next part, we will see how exactly to do that.

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