Ebooks -- Self-Publishing Your Way to Internet Success Part 7 Accepting Payment

Choosing a Marketplace or Direct Storefront

When you finish polishing your manuscript and are ready to let readers purchase it, the first big decision is whether to sell through an established marketplace or set up your own storefront. The right choice shapes every downstream step - from pricing control to revenue share, to customer data ownership.

Marketplaces such as Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Apple Books, and Google Play Books offer instant access to millions of potential buyers. They handle checkout, delivery, refunds, and most of the legal compliance. On KDP, you can set a list price and earn up to 70 % of the sale price in most territories; the platform keeps 30 %. That split can feel generous, but you also cede control over pricing cadence, promotional banners, and even the timing of sales events. If you want to push a price drop on a specific day or bundle a new edition with a bonus, you’ll have to wait for the marketplace’s approval process.

Apple Books takes a slightly different approach. In the US it offers a 70 % royalty, but for foreign markets it sometimes drops to 50 %. Unlike Amazon, Apple mandates that each book’s metadata - title, author, description, and cover - be submitted to its own ecosystem. If you later decide to transfer the book to another retailer, you must re‑upload the file and rebuild the metadata, risking SEO loss.

Google Play Books is similar, but its royalty terms vary by country. In the US it generally offers 70 %, while in Europe it drops to 60 %. The biggest downside is that Google requires a separate account for each store, and you must maintain separate sales reports. For authors who want to maintain a single dashboard, this fragmentation can become a burden.