Selling books directly to your readers
Do you hate losing royalties to Amazon? Most authors assume they have to use Amazon if they want print on demand. An author website usually redirects buyers to your platform of choice, but you can sell books directly from your website using Bookvault – a print on demand service provider.
How does it work
You load your book on Bookvault, just like you would on Amazon or IngramSpark. You’ll use the same ISBN, although there are caveats if you are on multiple platforms.
Bookvault has its own storefront (like Amazon) called The Great British Bookshop. It allows authors to sell their books directly to customers, retaining up to 90% of the royalties.Their print costs are reasonable, and considered to be superb quality, BUT shipping to North America is expensive. Bookvault is now printing in the USA and Canada, but it uses courier rather than post, making shipping expensive.
But Bookvault has one service no other supplier offers [reliably] at the moment.
Bookvault also integrates with various e-commerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Payhip, and Wix. So you can sell the book directly from your website. The integration technology is still new, but improving each year.
Bookvault becomes cost-effective when authors have “packages” of titles (book sets) and a high volume of titles. It is more cost effective if your readers are in the UK and Europe. Bookvault only handles printed books, not Audio or eBooks.
Comparing WooCommerce and Shopify
WordPress WooCommerce and Shopify both offer eCommerce. You’re planning your store, but you can’t know how it will evolve? This easy comparison might help you decide which will work best for YOU!
Every store, every client is different. So ultimately, the choice between WordPress WooCommerce and Shopify depends on your specific needs, technical expertise, and preferences.
- WordPress WooCommerce provides more flexibility and control
- Shopify offers ease of use and a streamlined setup process by taking away decisions and options.
You need to consider what will successfully sell YOUR product? Assess factors such as customization requirements, budget, scalability, and your comfort level with managing the technical aspects to make the right decision for your e-commerce business.
| Shopify | WordPress with WooCommerce | |
|---|---|---|
| Control | You don’t own or control your website, or your hosting – it’s a rental. It can never be moved to a different host. | You own and control your website and your hosting. WordPress is easy to migrate. For $220 I will migrate your WordPress website from an old and new hosting company. Important: Don’t use GoDaddy for hosting. |
| Pricing | There are packages and the price changes. But it’s around $30-$90 a month, plus a percentage of your sales. | WordPress and WooCommerce are free, but you might need paid plugins. See below for additional costs. |
| Hosting | Hosting is built in – If you purchase your domain through Shopify, they do the work. It’s slightly more difficult if you already has a domain. | You will need your own hosting (which is a monthly cost of around $15) and your own domain name (annual cost of around $25). |
| Setup | Very streamlined, as long as you purchase a design template, and add images and wording where they are offered. It is extremely easy to set up credit card payments, taxes and other financial information. It is also very easy to limit your sales to specific geographic regions. Security is built in. | You need to create a database and database user, FTP files to your host, and then do the actual setup. You will be responsible for security, backups and other admin. I offer a service for $220 to set up WordPress on your own hosting – over Zoom we go through it step-by-step. I show you how to add plugins, and make suggestions. This allows for 2 hours – we can do a LOT in 2 hours! Including set up automated backups to ensure security, and payment gateways like Stripe. |
| Blog | Shopify has a blog but it is just text and photos in presets. | WordPress has a blog, and has a lot of additional functionality around blogging. |
| Pages | Shopify has pages for general information. How they look will depend on your theme. | WordPress has pages. I find them more flexible than Shopify especially if you want your store to do more than sell. |
| Themes | There are thousands of Shopify themes, they cost around $200 to $500 once off. The themes I’ve seen are not updated. I recommend Pipeline. (see my client Althyrea.com) Shopify, while customizable, has a structured approach with pre-designed templates. You will need a paid developer to customize it. | There are tens of thousands of WordPress Themes. I like Colibri which is also a page builder, and I give this theme to my clients for free. It isn’t built for eCommerce, but it’s very flexible. You have full control over the design and functionality of your online store. Sometimes that isn’t a good thing – keep it simple! |
| Importing and Exporting of products | Simple products and price updating is easier than WordPress. There is a live editor and bulk editor built in. | Free plugins offer exports appropriate for simple products, but if you have attributes within one product (colours, sizes etc) you may need a paid Export plugin. |
| Scalability | Shopify is easy to scale – but only up to a point. I would use it for 10 to 200 products. The options for sub-collections and menus are very limited. | Woocommerce easily handles 1-10 000 products, as long as you categorise well. If your products have options to be selected or filled in by the customer when they buy, WooCommerce handles it better. |
| Ease of Use | Shopify is known for its user-friendly interface and intuitive setup process. It is designed to be beginner-friendly and requires minimal technical knowledge. There are lots of videos online. | WordPress WooCommerce, has a steeper learning curve for someone new to ecommerce even if they have experience on WordPress. There are almost too many videos online. A website that is badly set up can become more and more difficult over time. |
