The book has been available for just under a month now, and in that time I’ve sold a grand total of 7 copies on Smashwords, which includes sales on Apple, Sony, Nook, Kobo, Barnes&Noble etc. And of those 7, I actually bought 4 of them as gifts or competition prizes for people! So, on all those outlets, I sold 3 to buyers.
And now, I’ve just noticed I must be selling some books via Amazon in countries like Ireland or Mexico where Amazon only give the author 35% royalties UNLESS THEY SELL THEIR BOOK EXCLUSIVELY ON AMAZON.
After doing the sums, and realizing I’ve sold more than 3 books in those countries through Amazon’s Kindle, I calculated it’s not worth it to carry on with Smashwords. So I’m going to sign up for Amazon’s Kindle Select program. This means Wolf’s Head will only be available on Kindle or paperback.
I would apologize to readers that don’t use Amazon, but from what I’m seeing, that’s almost NO-ONE!
I’d be interested to know what people think of this move, but, on this evidence, I really can’t see any reason NOT to go exclusively with Amazon.
STEVEN A. McKAY - Historical Fiction Author 
I am experiencing a similar rate of sale. I have sold one on Smashwords, one on Kobo and nearly fifty on Amazon. However, I’m going to hang on for now and see if I can’t improve my marketing on Smashwords et al. As the package from SW states, ‘it’s foolish to imagine that once you have listed your book, then you need do nothing else.’ My bookmarks all promote the Kindle version of ‘A Construct of Angels’ but I have the SW version for anyone who doesn’t have / refuses to buy a Kindle. Plus there is the question of reach. SW offers eBooks to other markets too. I will stick it out for now and see what the future holds. It will be interesting to comapre notes in a month or so.
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Yeah, I agree with all your points, and that was why I decided to originally list with SW etc in the first place. But I’ve sold ten times more PAPERBACKS than I did ebooks with SW so it seemed worth trying KDP Select. I certainly don’t think it’ll do me any harm (I hope!)
Good luck with your books, and let us know how you get on in the next month. 🙂
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