Greetings from the cave! 

I have good news for you: I am starting to move forward in the publishing journey! FINALLY. 

I am still knee-deep in edits (and probably will be for quite a while...), but I am starting to put out feelers for a cover designer. Which, has led me to research trim sizes and all that good stuff. 

Since the size does depend on costs, I decided it was high time to actually look at several POD companies and see what would be best for my book, The White Rose of Duventoliel. 

I give you fair warning, this post is one giant rabbit hole. But isn't self-publishing always a bit of a rabbit hole? 

This post is not necessarily one that examines the pros and cons of each platform in general, but one that examines it from my own perspective. If you want general information on each of these platforms, I will redirect you to YouTube, where many authors have already done this. 

I will be examining three platforms: KDP, Barnes and Noble and Draft2Digitial. 

One major platform that is missing from this list is IngramSpark. The reason why I am not currently considering Ingram is because of their ridiculous fees and their overall reputation. I would not be adverse to considering them in the future, but the other platforms on this list are *enough* for me to consider for now. 

I will also not be considering smaller publishers such as Lulu.com, etc. because of the higher costs and the lower royalty rates. 

With all those disclaimers out of the way, let's dive in! 

Kindle Direct Publishing

Kindle Direct Publishing, better known as KDP, is a really popular platform for indie authors. It has really great royalties, good quality, lots of people using it, and decent distribution. 

According to these qualities - and MANY indie authors - using KDP is a no-brainer. In fact, a couple of authors have even said to me that not using Amazon at all would be a "career killer". 

But the truth is, I'm hesitating to publish directly on Amazon.  

The reason is...of an ethical nature. 

*incoming rant warning* 

It isn't just because Amazon is a huge global company with a kazillionaire as it's head, which goes against my personal views on just/living wages. (and yes, apparently that's how that big word is spelled, I just had it autocorrected from gazillionaire and the dictionary supports it. Anyway, moving on.) 

It isn't just because Amazon has a nasty reputation for not treating it's employees well. Which regrettably, is reinforced by a very dear friend of mine who worked at a Amazon warehouse for several years. 

It isn't just because they publicly endorse leftist political and cultural causes including DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, for those who don't know) and LGBTQ, both of which I don't support. 

Rather. 

It is Amazon's rather ambiguous public stance on abortion that makes me hesitate a little. 

Ever since the Dobbs decision, major companies and even initiatives such as NaNoWriMo have made absolutely clear where they fall on abortion. Many, in fact, will either raise or allocate THOUSANDS for employees or other women to procur abortions. 

Amazon is strongly rumored to be one of those companies.  

The trouble is that it is difficult to find the truth of these rumors. Forbes and CatholicVote have put Amazon in lists of companies that offer "abortion-related services" and this was sourced from a leaked internal memo by Reuters. It's apparently wrapped up in their compensations for "medical costs" (SOURCE).  

Unlike the one shared by Dick's Sporting Goods, this memo from Amazon did NOT have widespread public exposure, nor made available to the public by the company itself - at least to my knowledge. However, if my memory serves me correctly, this policy may have predated the Dobbs decision by a couple of years (my friend may have told me, which has led me to wean off my buying on Amazon). 

This has led me to believe strongly that Amazon does indeed support abortion, but they do so very quietly. Learning the lessons that Dicks and Chobani have learned, Amazon has decided to keep it's public mouth shut. Which is all the more dangerous, in my opinion. 

Because of this - and all of the above issues as well - I've been participating in a "soft" boycott of Amazon-related products. Basically, I refuse to buy anything from them anymore. I still have my Amazon account, I still use my parent's Prime streaming and I will occasionally still shop for free e-books. 

This does put me in a moral bind when it comes to my fellow indies because I really really really want to support them, but I don't feel comfortable breaking my ban just yet. However, wide distribution has become a really trendy thing recently so maybe I won't have to worry too much. 

SO

Now that you have that convoluted context in the back of your mind, I will now truly explain why I have been hesitating to use KDP. 

It has to do with the level of cooperation with what Catholics call an intrinsic evil (such as abortion or LGBTQ ideologies). In other words, because Amazon actively supports these evil things, my use of these services could be seen as an endorsement for their use of my money to fund someone's abortion etc. 

Now based on what I said above, I believe that my own level of cooperation would be relatively remote if I choose to sell on Amazon, especially through an aggregator like Draft2Digital. Amazon grosses so much income and the expenses paid to women seeking abortions would be miniscule in comparison. A priest has also told me that what Amazon uses their money for is out of my control, and the intent would be to purchase the product, not to support the abortion. 

However, there is a different level of involvement with actively publishing via KDP (especially if I do go exclusive with them in the future) and having it be sold on Amazon via Draft2Digital. Selling a direct line via Amazon also seems rather hypocritical - here, buy my book from this company that I despise! 

To be absolutely clear, though, I am not entirely ruling out selling on Amazon directly, even with these serious reservations. I know that Amazon holds a big chunk of the book market and not having that market would be a huge financial mistake. Which I literally can't afford to make because I spent way too much on my editing expenses and I need to make that money up somehow. As many authors that I have talked to have said, eliminating Amazon entirely from my selling platform would be not only heroic but also detrimental. 

Plus, the idea of having my book on Kindle has been a dream since the very beginning. 

This is going to take some very prayerful discernment and a very painful wrestling match with my conscience, so I will be leaving this knotty problem to deal with later. 

Barnes and Noble

One of my dreams as an author - as I'm sure many have - was to have their book on the shelves of Barnes and Noble. After all, BN still is my favorite book store chain. 

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that BN also offered Print on Demand, with a similar reach and structure to Amazon. It is often marketed as an Amazon alternative, which makes me very interested. 

Upon looking at it....the royalties are comparable, but they're definitely not as good as Amazon's. This will cause a problem as I will have to price it higher to make any sort of profit. Which would not play very well with the idea of having a pricing incentive to buy from BN over Amazon. 

The other rather upsetting thing about BN is that the paperbacks are only available in the US, which kills my international market chances if I choose to exclusively publish the paperback through BN. I wouldn't have been so concerned about this, if I didn't have several bloggy and author friends in Canada, Ireland, and Australia. I would be really really sad if my international friends - some of which have been following this story since it's infancy! - would be denied the opportunity to buy this book. 

Nonetheless, Barnes and Noble is still one of my top picks to publish this book to. 

Draft2Digital

Draft2Digital was a top contender throughout this entire process for a couple of reasons. In fact, as of this moment, I am already a registered user with them. 

The first reason was the really wide distribution options. Draft2Digital not only distributes to the big platforms  like Amazon and Barnes and Noble, but also has access to many smaller and international platforms such as Apple, Kobo and others. 

Having a wide distribution for my books is extremely important for me. While exclusivity through a company gives good perks, it really shortchanges a conscientious buyer who wishes to boycott said company such as my own soft boycott of Amazon. Plus, I do want to make sure that my international readers also get access to the book, which I wouldn't be able to do if I went exclusively with Barnes and Noble. 

Currently, Draft2Digital is experimenting with a paperback POD option. It's been in beta for over three years, and it's....still got a lot of kinks. Mandi Lynn, an author and YouTuber, has used their beta option recently and her proof copy was reportedly $30. Which is massively overpriced and will probably drive some people away. However, I may apply to the waitlist and try it out for myself because I really really REALLY want more paperback competition to Amazon and even Barnes and Noble. 

So, what's the current verdict?

When I first started researching, I was looking for that "one" platform to publish to. However, I have discovered that as an indie author, I can indeed publish to multiple platforms (even if it's a little complicated with ISBN numbers and all that). 

I will, of course, be publishing both a print and an ebook version. 

For EBOOK, I am strongly considering Draft2Digital for the formatting and distributing to the international/smaller markets. While I have some good connections with some people who would be willing to do my formatting, the fact of the matter is....I can't afford it. So using that tool would be a godsend to me. 

I will definitely be uploading my ebook to Barnes and Noble for NOOK readers, most likely directly. 

I am strongly considering uploading my ebook to KDP, either directly or through Draft2Digital. 

For PRINT, I will definitely be selling through Barnes and Noble and will probably push this platform a little more because of my reservations with Amazon. 

I am still considering using KDP for print for the sake of my international readers. I will also investigate other avenues to sell a print book, including the Draft2Digitial print beta. Ingram may also prove to be a good option for this, but as I mentioned, I need to discern if it's worth the hassle or not. 

And so, I will conclude this post here, to be updated as the journey continues. I am most definitely open to suggestions/advice/kicks in the seat from my fellow indies and readers about this process in the comment box because let's face it, I have no clue what the dickens I am doing.  

In the meantime, there is an ongoing plot surgery going on in the next room, and I should get back to that. 

Scribbingly yours, 

Catherine