That’s the question asked by Plug Your Book. For some people, especially those outside the US, it might be a good idea.
In theory, there’s no reason not to list a book with Mobipocket. I get a few sales a month through them — for every 25 Kindle sales, I get one or two Mobipocket sales.
Mobipocket is a Paris-based eBook company that Amazon bought a few years ago. Its eBook format is the underlying language for the eBooks in Amazon’s Kindle store. Books listed with Mobipocket automatically show up as Kindle editions, as long as the publisher selects Amazon as one of the authorized retailers.
More, including a couple of downsides, at the website.
Unfortunately, this information is out of date as MobiPocket is no longer accepting new publishers and hasn’t been for months. While it still works fine for publishers already distributed through MobiPocket, it is no longer an option for anyone else.
The Plug Your Book article was written prior to November 2009 – that’s when Mobipocket stopped accepting new publishers.
Did they just re-open to new publisher accounts? And if so, do they still offer a channel to Amazon/Kindle?
We do have a Mobipocket account, opened years ago, and we get into Kindle via that route (but we had to sign a separate contract and they pay separately from the Mobi sales.)
I believe in a few months Amazon is set to change the Kindle terms (for those using their site directly) and raise the publisher/author percentage. I’m wondering if they’ll contact the publishers using the Mobi route or if we’ll have to start all over again, via their site, to get the larger share for ebook sales.