Buying Direct FAQ

Q: Your Buy Direct links take me to a site called PayHip. Who are they, and can I trust them?

A: PayHip is an e-commerce website based in the UK, and yes, they’re a highly reputable company you can trust! As you might imagine, handling direct sales personally would be a bit of a headache for me, so I’m using PayHip to help me facilitate that process. Their service allows me to sell my digitial goods directly to my customers. They charge me a small processing fee for each transaction, which allows me to keep up to 90% of the profits I make from my direct sales! By comparison, Amazon, Apple, Google, and the other major retailers where I sell my books take 30% or more of my profits on every sale.

Q: If I buy an ebook directly from you, how will I receive it?

A: After you complete the checkout process on my PayHip web store, PayHip will send you an email with links to download both the .MOBI (Kindle) and .EPUB (Other Devices) versions of the files. Each are DRM-free files, meaning you own them forever and you can use them on any compatible ereader app or device. If you’re familiar with getting those kinds of files to your device, you can then go about doing so.

If you aren’t, wait for another email from Bookfunnel, which is a service I use to help my readers receive their books and get them onto their devices. If you run into any problems with the files or getting them on your ereader, Bookfunnel’s excellent customer support will walk you through the process step by step, no matter which device you’re using.

I also have general directions for most devices available here.

Q: If I buy an audiobook directly from you, how will I receive it?

A: After you complete the checkout process on my PayHip web store, PayHip will send you an email with links to download both the .M4B and .MP3 versions of the files. Each are DRM-free files, meaning you own them forever and you can use them on any compatible audiobook player, app, or device. Once downloaded, if you know how, you can load them to your favorite audiobook player.

If not, don’t worry. You’ll also receive an email from me after you complete your purchase with some general directions. Should you run into any problems with the files or getting them to your device, I have some helpful resources available here.

Q: Which payment methods do you accept?

My PayHip web store is set up to accept purchases via PayPal, where you can securely use any credit or debit card in addition to your bank account and PayPal balance, OR with a Visa, MasterCard, or American Express credit or debit card, processed securely by PayHip. PayHip handles all necessary local and government taxes (including VAT) during checkout.

Q: Why should I buy direct?

A: When you buy directly from me, two things happen:

1. You could save money

2. I make more money

Sounds like a win-win, right? So how does this work? It’s simple: when you buy directly from me, I get to keep more of the profit from the sale — often 90% of it! Because of that higher royalty payment, I’m able to offer you lower prices on certain things. This allows me to keep paying my bills and writing more books that you’ll love.

Because I’m an independent, self-published author, I don’t have the backing of a huge corporation to help me produce my books and get them in the hands of awesome readers like you. I do everything myself. Yes, you read that right, everything! In addition to writing my own books, I also edit them, make their covers, run all my own marketing (ads, email newsletter, social media, etc.), produce high-quality paperbacks, maintain this website, and lots more that most people never see because it’s all behind the scenes. All that costs me a lot of time and money!

To put things in perspective, let’s look at some numbers. I sell my ebooks for $4.99 each on all the major retailers. After subtracting the retailer’s ~30% share of the sale, I take home approximately $3.50. Because this is my full-time job, that means I need to sell around 550-600 copies of my books every month just to bring home enough to keep the lights on and a roof over my head. 600 sales a month might not sound like a lot to you, but it is!

By comparison, when you buy that same $4.99 book directly from me, I get to keep approximately $4.50 on average, which is almost a whole dollar more! At that price, I’d only need to sell ~450 copies of my books every month, which is much easier to do than 600!

So when you buy directly from me, it truly means the world to me because it shows you care about me, want to support me, and want to see more of my work come to life — and it doesn’t cost you anything extra.

Q: Why are some of your books and box sets only available direct?

As I mentioned above, selling directly to you allows me to offer special discounts that aren’t possible on the major retailers due to their royalty rates. Amazon is the most egregious example. On Amazon, any ebook priced higher than $9.99 earns a 35% royalty. So, if I sold a box set of six books for $11.99 ($2 per book), I’d only make ~$4.20 on that sale — yikes!

But if I offered that same box set on my direct sales web store for $11.99, I’d make ~$10.80 on the sale. That’s a huge difference in profitability! Because of that, I’m able to offer some box sets and collections exclusively on my web store at even lower prices. If I sold them on some of the major retailers for the same price, I’d lose lots of money!

However, not all the major retailers have royalty rates that are so severe. Apple and Kobo, for example, often provide the same 70% royalty rate for products priced higher than $9.99, so you might see some of my box sets available for sale there at a slightly higher price than on my web store to make up for the difference in royalty rates (70% on Apple/Kobo vs. 90% direct).

I hope this has all helped and given you a peek behind the curtain! If you have any other questions or concerns about direct sales, don’t hesitate to contact me.