Using Smashwords and Draft2digital – beware distribution!

I have still sold no copies of Consarn Christmas and Other Stories (hey ho) but was disturbed to see it twice on Kobo. One version was from Draft2digital and one was from Smashwords. Not good. Not ethical, probably. I published it through both – which is allowed – but neglected to pick distribution channels for each.

I have now corrected it. On Smashwords dashboard, you can opt out of some distributors. Draft2digital cover the main ones – Kobo, Apple, Barnes and Noble etc. – so I opted out of them on Smashwords. This may seem unkind to Smash but I mainly want to be on Smashwords own page, because my Alban Lake book Brigstowe Dragons is on Smashwords, along with other good stuff from Alban Lake and Nomadic Delerium Press, namely magazines with my stories in. I couldn’t have formatted the book for Smashwords without Draft2digital’s brilliant converter so I think I owe Draft the ones they cover. Without them, I could only publish on the big beast-Amazon.

I’m glad I’ve sorted it. This note of warning is just to help other self-publishers who might have done the same thing in honest error.