Publishing WIDE

Going wide means selling your books everywhere readers buy them—not just Amazon. This hub guide explains the strategy, the trade-offs, and exactly how to get started.

Going wide is a philosophy as much as a logistics decision. This deep-dive explores the strategy, timing, mindset, and long-game thinking that separates authors who succeed going wide from those who give up too soon.

Leaving KDP Select to publish wide is one of the most significant decisions an indie author makes. This guide walks you through every step—from auditing your enrollment windows to setting up your wide accounts to making the switch without disrupting your income.

Kobo Writing Life is the self-publishing portal for Kobo, one of the most respected wide platforms in the indie author community. This guide walks you through everything from account setup to promotional strategy.

Google Play Books is the most underutilized major platform in the wide author's toolkit. This guide covers the Partner Center setup, pricing tools, global reach, and how to unlock Google's unique distribution advantages.

Barnes and Noble Press connects indie authors with Nook readers and B&N's brick-and-mortar retail audience. This guide covers everything from account setup to print distribution and how to maximize your B&N presence as part of a wide strategy.

Draft2Digital lets wide authors distribute to dozens of retailers, library platforms, and subscription services through a single account. This guide covers how D2D works, what it costs, where it distributes, and how to use it as part of a professional wide strategy.

Smashwords built the foundation that wide publishing stands on. This article covers the platform's history, its founder's philosophy, what the Draft2Digital merger changed, and what wide authors need to understand about the current state of the Smashwords ecosystem.

Lulu is the print-on-demand platform that goes beyond what KDP Print and IngramSpark offer—providing direct ecommerce, Shopify integration, specialty formats including photo books and large-format printing, and global distribution from a single author account. This guide covers when and how to use Lulu in a wide publishing strategy.