How to Publish Wide: Selling Your Book Beyond Amazon

Most indie authors start on Amazon, and for good reason. But Amazon isn't the only place readers buy books, and a growing number of authors choose to publish "wide," which simply means selling on every major store rather than exclusively on Amazon.

Here's what going wide involves, how to decide if it's right for you, and how to prepare your files so it's straightforward.

What "Wide" Actually Means

Publishing wide means your ebook is available on Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, and other stores, alongside Amazon, rather than being locked to Amazon alone.

The alternative is exclusivity. Amazon's KDP Select programme asks you to sell your ebook only on Amazon in exchange for access to Kindle Unlimited, where you earn from pages read. You can't be in KDP Select and be wide at the same time, so this is the first decision to make.

Wide vs Exclusive: How to Choose

Exclusivity with KDP Select can work well if a large share of your readers use Kindle Unlimited, which is common in some genres like romance and thriller. Going wide tends to suit authors who want to build a readership across platforms, reach international markets, and avoid depending on a single retailer.

There's no universal right answer. Many authors start exclusive to build momentum, then go wide later, while others go wide from day one on principle. It's worth trying one approach for a few months and watching your own numbers.

The Main Stores Beyond Amazon

• Apple Books reaches every iPhone and iPad reader and is a large market, especially in the United States.
• Kobo is strong internationally, particularly in Canada, and powers library and retailer ebook programmes in many countries.
• Barnes & Noble Press serves the Nook audience in the United States.
• Google Play Books reaches Android readers worldwide.

Direct or Through an Aggregator?

You can publish to each store directly by creating an account with each one, which gives you the highest royalties and the most control. The trade-off is more dashboards to manage.

Alternatively, an aggregator like Draft2Digital or PublishDrive lets you upload once and distributes to many stores for a small cut. This is simpler to manage and a popular starting point, especially if the idea of several separate accounts feels like too much.

A common middle path is to go direct on the biggest stores, such as Apple and Kobo, and use an aggregator for the smaller ones.

What You Need to Go Wide

The good news is that every one of these stores accepts the same file: a clean, standard EPUB. You don't need a different ebook for each retailer.

That means the practical work of going wide is mostly about setting up accounts and entering the listing details for your book (the metadata: title, description, categories, and price), not formatting. Prepare one well-made EPUB, then upload it everywhere. Koberger exports a validated EPUB (one that passes the file checks the stores themselves run) from your book project, so the file you send to Amazon is the same file you send to Apple Books, Kobo, and the rest. If you're new to EPUB, our guide on how to create an EPUB file explains the format.

Don't Forget Print

Going wide applies to print too. Your Amazon paperback comes from KDP, but to reach bookstores and libraries beyond Amazon you'll want IngramSpark. We cover how the two fit together in KDP vs IngramSpark. As with ebooks, you format your interior once and upload the same print PDF to both.

A Simple Wide Setup

1. Decide between KDP Select exclusivity and going wide.
2. Format your book once and export an EPUB and a print PDF.
3. Publish your ebook on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo, and Google Play, directly or through an aggregator.
4. Publish print on KDP for Amazon and IngramSpark for everywhere else.
5. Keep your cover, blurb, and listing details consistent across all of them.

Bottom Line

Going wide is less complicated than it sounds. Once you have a clean EPUB and a print-ready PDF, the file work is done, and the rest is setting up accounts and keeping your details consistent. Decide whether exclusivity or reach matters more for your book, prepare your files once, and publish them wherever your readers are.