# Is anyone at all making money from Scribd; and if so, how much?



## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Now that I have the D2D offer, and am aware that, though I just offered a few of my books to Scribd on Smashwords, I haven't earned a single penny on any, should I possibly take them off Scribd on Smashwords and try D2D? Is anyone making any significant money there, and not losing sales?

Correction: I did make $1.79 on a Scribd sale, and considering I've made nothing at 
Diesel, 
Baker & Taylor, 
Library Direct 0
OverDrive 0
Oyster 0
Page Foundry 0 
Sony 0
txtr 0

it's not nothing ... but it isn't much, and I'd like to know if there would be any overlapping if D2D were also selling it through Scribd.
Added: What's up with Sony anyway? Is it still a functioning outlet?
Thanks.


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## Guest (Jun 18, 2014)

It's a question worth asking. We shouldn't just sign up for a sales channel just because it is available. There has to be an incentive, especially with their obscure distribution model. I would also like to hear from those who have actually made money from scribd.


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## Joyce DeBacco (Apr 24, 2010)

According to Smashwords I sold two from Scribd, but I don't know which ones.

Joyce


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## AriadneW (Feb 16, 2013)

I've made just over $7 on Scribd.

Joyce, on the Sales and Payment Report if you scroll down where it shows the sales, it displays which books have been paid out on.


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

> We shouldn't just sign up for a sales channel just because it is available.


I always find this the silliest argument against listing my books somewhere, ever.

It's probably true that most channels will make you no money, but if you're not in Select, or planning to list that particular title in Select, you lose absolutely nothing by listing it on a channel. Even if you never sell anything there, people will still see your books. If you have freebies, people will download them. People might not buy them on that channel, but they might buy the book on a bigger channel.

If you list your books on 10 channels, you have ten chances that you will develop into a regular seller on one or more of those channels. Why limit it to nine, or eight,or...? Yegads, why? I just don't get this line of thinking, especially when you can one-click submit.


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## Gone To Croatan (Jun 24, 2011)

I'd made $0.29, last I checked. Looks like Scribd pay a fraction of the price if the reader doesn't finish the book?


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## Joyce DeBacco (Apr 24, 2010)

Thanks for the info, Ariadne, I'll check that out.

Joyce


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## Lynn McNamee (Jan 8, 2009)

I'm a Kindle owner.  If I see a book anywhere online--B&N, Scribd, Google, wherever--and it looks interesting, I hop over to Amazon and buy it. 

I assume Nook and other e-reader owners do the same and buy at their favorite stores.

My point is that it doesn't matter if a particular store is selling your book on that site. 

Having your book on multiple venues gets your book seen by readers and could be driving sales elsewhere.


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## SB James (May 21, 2014)

Lynn McNamee said:


> I'm a Kindle owner. If I see a book anywhere online--B&N, Scribd, Google, wherever--and it looks interesting, I hop over to Amazon and buy it.
> 
> I assume Nook and other e-reader owners do the same and buy at their favorite stores.
> 
> ...


Sounds logical to me.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Well, I found out the other day that my new book had been pirated a whole bunch there!

Downloaded something like 200 times. I was actually pretty shocked. I never get my knickers in a twist over piracy, but the number was big (considering the book's only been out about 2 weeks).

On the plus side, I wrote to them and I saw today that the book isn't up anymore, so they're responsive. But I thought that was fairly tacky, and I hadn't realized that happened on Scribd. I thought it was a subscription service that paid authors. News to me.

Anyway, though, I still hold to my usual feeling about piracy: they probably aren't people who would have bought your book anyway, so you haven't really lost anything.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Rosalind James said:


> Well, I found out the other day that my new book had been pirated a whole bunch there!
> 
> Downloaded something like 200 times. I was actually pretty shocked. I never get my knickers in a twist over piracy, but the number was big (considering the book's only been out about 2 weeks).


That's interesting. You seem to make both arguments--1. encourages piracy, and 2. can't help it in any case, pirates will pirate--so I'm still undecided. How did you know that 200 copies had been downloaded without paying, and was it easier because it was on Scribd? (I'm unable to use Scribd myself, because my connection is too slow for it, I think.)

I see the other points too: that the more platforms you're on, the more likely you're to be seen. I have to balance that logical argument against the possible slow response to price changes of these platforms (when you've had a brief sale on Smashwords, then brought the price back up to regular price, but Sony and Diesel still have the sale or free price, so Amazon does not return the price to normal)?

Also, I've still to decide whether to let D2D publish a few of these books on Scribd instead of Smashwords.


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## Usedtoposthere (Nov 19, 2013)

Richardcrasta said:


> That's interesting. You seem to make both arguments--1. encourages piracy, and 2. can't help it in any case, pirates will pirate--so I'm still undecided. How did you know that 200 copies had been downloaded without paying, and was it easier because it was on Scribd? (I'm unable to use Scribd myself, because my connection is too slow for it, I think.)
> 
> I see the other points too: that the more platforms you're on, the more likely you're to be seen. I have to balance that logical argument against the possible slow response to price changes of these platforms (when you've had a brief sale on Smashwords, then brought the price back up to regular price, but Sony and Diesel still have the sale or free price, so Amazon does not return the price to normal)?
> 
> Also, I've still to decide whether to let D2D publish a few of these books on Scribd instead of Smashwords.


I'm on Select, and it said "Free Download," and "200 people downloaded," or whatever, so it was pretty obvious.

I don't really have an argument. It was just an observation as I saw the thread and this had just happened. Like I said, I normally don't worry about piracy, but I asked them to take it down and they did. (I usually don't bother with the notices, just ignore it, but this was a little blatant and the book was brand-new, so it annoyed me.)


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## Patty Jansen (Apr 5, 2011)

If anything, being on Scribd legally DIScourages piracy because their system will pick up duplicates.

Being in Select encourages piracy, because the title has no entry on any other place except Amazon.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Rosalind James said:


> I'm on Select, and it said "Free Download," and "200 people downloaded," or whatever, so it was pretty obvious.
> 
> I don't really have an argument. It was just an observation as I saw the thread and this had just happened. Like I said, I normally don't worry about piracy, but I asked them to take it down and they did. (I usually don't bother with the notices, just ignore it, but this was a little blatant and the book was brand-new, so it annoyed me.)


Thanks. Okay, I misunderstood. In any case, as you say, there's no point worrying about piracy, because any single unprotected copy can be duplicated multiple times.

Patty, thanks for the helpful answer. I'm not in Select ... I breathe easier, because I dislike being restricted.


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## Mark E. Cooper (May 29, 2011)

I don't know about money at scribd, but if you have box sets using 3D graphics DON'T submit that title. The automatic 3d book cover generation they uses makes book that looks like a bad joke. It has a warped 3D picture stuck on it LOL! I have to delist and submit the product I usually reserve for Apple that uses a special 2D cover.


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## Richardcrasta (Jul 29, 2010)

Now that I just claimed (around 10 minutes back) my free subscription to Scribd through Smashwords (thank you!), and have started to read Stephen King's "On Writing" ... for free, I'm just delighted to have this opportunity, and thankful both to Smashwords and Scribd for the privilege. If someone wants so desperately to read my books for free, well, let them.

I'm planning to put all my books up on Scribd ... soon.


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## Zelah Meyer (Jun 15, 2011)

This thread just prompted me to getting around to activating my free subscription too.  I spent the afternoon reading.  This could prove to be a bit of a time sink!


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