: Self-publishing on Amazon How does publishing on Amazon work? Do I retain my rights and can I later send it to a print publisher if any becomes interested, and rescind from my obligations

Vote Up Vote Down

There are two ways to sell your ebooks through amazon. And your rights as the publisher depend on the one you choose. And Amazon "hosts" your content it doesn't buy away your publishing rights.

Just using amazon as a publisher and not signing up for "kdp select". If you choose to go this way, you can sell your book elsewhere too. Even with other venues that compete with Amazon such as Barnes and Noble's. Or host it at your website too(for a price ofcourse). At no point can you give out your work for free and still put a price at Amazon's listing of your book. Its just unethical.You can post a sample chapter for free, for promotion/marketing (not sure maybe 10% of your content).
Selling/publishing at Amazon and also signing up for " KDP select". Now if you do this you are locked in for a period of 3 months, during which you can't sell your work elsewhere. You can post a sample chapter for free (not sure maybe 10% of your content)

After 3 months of you can opt out of "KDP select", by doing so you get to sell elsewhere too along with Amazon (like I said in the first way).
if you choose to stay in " KDP select " after 3 months pass, the exclusivity again applies for another 3 months and so on.

What is KDP select is a whole topic it's own. Just visit Amazon's site for the whole Terms and conditions and fine print.

That's it comes to publishing with Amazon. Below are general stuff about copyright.

On a side note : Unless your content has been given out for free(excluding short promotion periods) you own the publishing rights to your work. Or if you sign it away for a sum of money(however small it may be), you give away your first publishing rights. Amazon isn't buying your rights, it's just hosting your content for a fee, which it collects after every sale.

Once you give it out for "free", or post it on some site. You give away your rights(electronic publishing rights) to publishing it. There are legal work arounds. But that a huge discussion.

Look into "First publication rights" or "FNASR", for a detailed study.

(0)