There are 5 Amazon book distribution portals available to sell books on Amazon and which one to use depends on whether the books you are selling are used (including textbooks), new, self-published, Kindle eBooks, or audiobooks. There is also a wide range of third-party services that can help you sell books on Amazon.

The options to sell books on Amazon can be organized into 3 categories:

1. SellerCentral: anyone can sell any physical book in new or used condition.
2. Amazon-owned book distribution portals: Advantage, Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). Note: CreateSpace was merged into KDP in 2018.
3. Third-party distributors/aggregators.

This guide is organized into these 3 sections with sub sections for each of the Amazon book distribution portals and FAQs for each. Here’s a quick reference guide to book-selling options by book format:

For purposes of using this guide, keep these 2 points in mind:

1. It is written primarily for individuals, self-publishers and small publishers based in the U.S. International residents might also find it useful for selling their books in the U.S.
2. I often use “book” to refer to eBooks, Kindle eBooks, and audiobooks, not just paperback and hardcover printed books.

Index

1. Selling used and new books using SellerCentral, including information about Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
2. 3 Portals for selling (new) self-published books, including Kindle eBooks and audiobooks.
3. Using third-parties to sell books on Amazon (some are wholesalers).
4. How to combine options to meet your goals.

SellerCentral | FBA: Sell Books on Amazon That Are New or Used

It’s super simple for anyone to sell books on Amazon, new or used. All you need is a free SellerCentral account. If the book or textbook you own is not listed on Amazon, you can add it. You need to decide on a price, describe the condition, and arrange to ship it to the buyer when sold.

Although SellerCentral is more commonly used to sell used books, there is no reason why publishers—or individuals that own a new book—can’t use SellerCentral. (Nor can a publisher stop an individual from selling a book.)

Defining key terms:

• Marketplace: Amazon Marketplace is an e-commerce platform owned and operated by Amazon that enables third-party sellers to sell new or used products in a fixed-price online marketplace alongside Amazon’s regular offerings.
• SellerCentral: Amazon SellerCentral is the portal that sellers use to list a product on Amazon Marketplace. Sellers are referred to as third-party sellers.
• Vendor Central: Amazon’s Vendor Central is used by distributors or manufacturers to sell their products to Amazon for resale—similar to how most of your neighborhood stores acquire and resell products. You can tell which products are provided by Vendor Central partners because there’s often a notice in the description that reads: “Ships from and sold by Amazon.”
• Fulfillment by Amazon: “FBA” is an Amazon service that uses their warehouses to store, and then pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for a product sold using SellerCentral. A key advantage for third-party sellers to use FBA is that their products qualify for Prime shipping.

7 SellerCentral FAQs:

Read these resources to get started

Here are 3 top selling, highly rated books books with proven advice*.

Amazon Book Distribution Portals: Sell New Print Books, eBooks and Audiobooks

Amazon has 4 additional ways, or portals, to sell new self-published books (besides SellerCentral).

1. Use Amazon Advantage for new books printed by a service other than KDP Print.
2. Use KDP Print for paperback print-on-demand (POD).*
3. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for publishing eBooks to Amazon stores world-wide.
4. Audio Creation Exchange (ACX). For publishing audiobooks.

Many books are listed on Amazon by using a third-party, rather than through one of Amazon’s book distribution portals. Scroll down to learn about third-party options.

*KDP Print replaced CreateSpace in 2018. Also at that time the CreateSpace CD and DVD publishing tools were moved to a new Amazon service called Amazon Media on Demand.

Amazon Advantage

IMPORTANT: Amazon has paused new Advantage enrollment while they make improvements to the registration process. They have not announced a date when it will reopen. The Advantage information that follows is subject to change when the new Advantage reopens.

Advantage is a consignment program used by one-book publishers, and publishers with hundreds of books. There is a $99 annual fee and Amazon pays the publisher 45% of a book’s list price.

Amazon arrives at their 55% commission by adding the usual book store commission of 40% to the usual wholesaler commission of 15%. That may seem like a lot, but it was the standard for selling books long before Amazon came on the scene and is in the range of discounts many non-book retailers receive from their vendors.

A publisher/self-publisher uses Advantage to sell new books. You can also sell new books using SellerCentral (to sell in “Marketplace”), but if you do, you are essentially a third-party seller competing with other sellers of your book. Scroll down to the FAQ about Advantage vs. Marketplace.

11 Amazon Advantage FAQs:

KDP Print: Paperback printing

Publishers and self-publishers use KDP Print to print paperback books as customers order them from Amazon. Called print-on-demand, or POD, it has 3 important advantages over printing lots of books in advance of knowing how many might be bought:

1. There is no up-front investment required to print all those books!
2. That means you don’t need to store them (in your garage, basement, or at a fulfillment company).
3. The book is automatically available for sale on Amazon. No need to use Amazon Advantage, or SellerCentral for that matter.

The tradeoffs? Yes, a few:

1. Each book costs more to print.
2. You have limited shape and paper options.
3. Quality can vary from book to book because they are produced individually, only when there is an order.

7 KDP Print FAQs:

Read these resources to get started

Here are 3 top selling, highly rated books books with trustworthy advice.*

KDP for eBook Publishing

As noted above, KDP is no longer dedicated to publishing Kindle eBooks. In 2017 the portal was expanded to include the publishing of paperback books and it replaced CreateSpace in 2018.

It isn’t the only way to sell a Kindle eBook on Amazon, but self-publishers get the highest royalties when they use KDP. Alternatives to KDP involve submitting eBook files to the Kindle store using firms called aggregators. Read more about this under the third-party sellers heading below.

Another reason to use KDP—rather than use an aggregator—is to take advantage of Amazon’s book marketing programs. Examples include KDP Select, Amazon Advertising (pay-per-click ads) and Goodreads Giveaways.

8 KDP (eBook) FAQs:

Read these resources to get started

Here are 3 top selling, highly rated books books with trustworthy advice.*

Use ACX to sell audiobooks on Amazon and Audible

Once again, Amazon is not only the largest seller of audiobooks. By owning both Amazon and Audible, it also owns the dominant means of publishing audiobooks to those platforms.

Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) is a marketplace where authors, literary agents, publishers, and other rights holders can connect with narrators, engineers, recording studios, and other Producers capable of producing a finished audiobook.

Also see third-party alternatives below under Third-Party Distributors

Read these resources to get started

Here are 3 top selling, highly rated books books with proven advice*.

Using Third-Parties to Sell Books on Amazon

I couldn’t possibly list every single third-party or method for listing a new self-published book on Amazon—there are just too many. However, I can share several popular methods used by self-publishers and explain key considerations.

Why would a publisher/author use one of these services rather than setting up a direct relationship with Amazon using one of the above services (e.g. KDP and ACX)? The reasons to fall into 4 categories:

1. Convenience.
2. They offer a service Amazon doesn’t.
3. They offer alternative terms.
4. Fine print; the self-publisher did not understand consequences.

Let’s look at each of these 4 points and then the popular third-party services. But before we do, let’s be clear about two key terms:

Book wholesalers are the “middleman” between retailers and the publisher (or their distributor). They do not proactively market books to retailers, they make books easy to order. Most retailers will prefer to order from a wholesaler, not the publisher. Examples include Ingram and Baker & Taylor.

Book distributors sit between the publisher and the book wholesaler. They proactively call on stores and other buyers to order books (which are sent to them by the wholesaler). They are highly selective, and work with publishers that have multiple books supported by national media outreach (PR). Distributors are rarely an option for self-publishers.

Convenience

A publisher with one eBook to manage can easily keep track of where they are selling it. If they need to make a change, for example change the description, they visit KDP and perhaps their aggregator (read my article about eBook aggregators here). But if the same publisher has several books, or books from several authors, this becomes cumbersome. It’s much easier to visit one place where you can make a single change, even if you must pay for the service or give up a portion of your royalties.

Getting services Amazon doesn’t offer

As of 2018, Amazon no longer offers book design services. If you are looking for a company that offers both design and distribution, you might turn to Lulu, Blurb, or Bookbaby, each of which can also help you sell books on Amazon. If you want a more personalized service, consider a company like AuthorImprints who can produce a professionally designed book and uses Amazon, IngramSpark, and other distributors to make your book widely available. (Disclosure: I am the president of AuthorImprints.)

Alternative terms

Audiobook terms in particular are fluid. In early 2017 Apple and Amazon agreed to end their exclusive audiobook deal to comply with European antitrust findings. Distributors of eBooks also offer different terms, although the reason for choosing these usually fall under the heading of Convenience, as noted above.

Fine print and consequences

A recent consulting client was interested in getting more reviews for his Kindle eBook. When I suggested using the Goodreads Giveaway program he was dismayed that he couldn’t because his book was distributed to the Kindle store by IngramSpark.

Draft2Digital offers eBook distribution to the Amazon Kindle store, but you can exclude this and still take advantage of their extensive eBook distribution.

These are just two examples where an extra measure of research, or advice from someone knowledgeable about self-published book distribution can save money, time, hassle—and perhaps even improve sales opportunities.

Bottom line

Just because we’re talking about self-publishing doesn’t mean it isn’t complex. And it’s getting even trickier to navigate around the fringes of Amazon’s reach. Especially if your goal is to keep options open and protect your rights.

Putting all your eggs in the Amazon basket—as large as it is—may not be the wisest decision.

Popular third-party book wholesalers

Each of these can help you sell books on Amazon, as well as other online stores. As noted above, it pays to read the fine print and do your homework.

Also keep in mind that services and capabilities can change over time—for better or worse!

1. Blurb: hardcover, paperback, eBook
2. Bookmasters/Baker & Taylor: hardcover, paperback, eBook
3. Draft2Digital: eBook, audiobook (Findaway Voices)
4. eBookIt: hardcover, paperback, eBook, audiobook
5. eBookPartnership: eBook
6. Findaway Voices: audiobook
7. IngramSpark: hardcover, paperback, eBook (IngramSpark is a division of Lightning Source, itself a division of Ingram Content Group)

How to Combine Options to Meet Your Goals

With so many different options to sell books on Amazon, it’s become a challenge to choose a single approach, or use only Amazon. Every book is different, and authors have varying goals, budgets and capabilities.

That’s why I offer 2 simple options to help authors and businesses decide the right path for their unique needs. If your questions are limited, I offer per-minute sessions via Clarity. Or choose my Self-Publishing Consult to discuss strategy or more involved situations. Click here to learn more about both.

Do you have a question that isn’t answered here? Send me your question for possible inclusion in a future update.

Need help with specific questions? Click here to choose from per minute consulting, or a self-publishing consult.