# Relocating from Pronoun and going wider with StreetLib



## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Hello,
I'm Giacomo, CEO of StreetLib USA.

We offer an open and global publishing platform and I've recently moved to NYC to better help our American authors and publishers. We are a customers-oriented company and I'm here to help and evaluate any feedback from all of you.

PS: If you like you can read more here: http://bit.ly/WiderIsWiser

Thank you,
Giac


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## J.B. (Aug 15, 2014)

Got a link that isn't bit.ly? I don't do bit.ly links.... Thanks!


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

J.B. said:


> Got a link that isn't bit.ly? I don't do bit.ly links.... Thanks!


J.B. here's the original link:
https://medium.com/streetlib/wider-is-wiser-c59b27a674a0#.jv2lc1r2q


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## J.B. (Aug 15, 2014)

Giac said:


> J.B. here's the original link:
> https://medium.com/streetlib/wider-is-wiser-c59b27a674a0#.jv2lc1r2q


Thank you for catering to the paranoid!


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## MichaelRyan (Nov 23, 2015)

Giac said:


> We offer an open and global publishing platform and I've recently moved to NYC to better help our American authors and publishers. We are a customers-oriented company and I'm here to help and evaluate any feedback from all of you.


So I read the description twice and I still can't quite figure out what it is you're offering.
It sounds a bit like D2D or Smashwords, but it's not a good sign that I can't understand what your offer really is, because, well I think I'm pretty intelligent. Grant, I might be a fool, but that's most of the world...

Your commission is 10%, that seems pretty high. I have long objected to the idea of both Smashwords and D2D because the percentages only make sense if you're planning on having dismal results.

In other words: If a book takes off and generates $50,000 your company would take $5,000 for basically having it run through an automated system that does formatting and such, and that sounds expensive to me.

I think it would help if your sales pitch and explanation were simpler.

Like this:

Features, functions, benefits.

Cheese burger:

Features: Three varieties: Blue, American, Swiss.
Function: Cheesy goodness applied to hot beef patty.
Benefit: You'll receive a plethora of oral satisfaction.

So, using very simple language:

What are the features of your thing? I'm not even sure what it does.
What are the functions? You format for every platform on the world and on Mars too, or what?
What are the benefits? Why the heck am I giving you 10% again?

Then, if you can elicit a favorable reaction from those short answers, it's possible to go forward.

I once asked in a Smashwords executive on some platform, I can't recall, if he could succinctly explain to why he felt his service was worth the percentage they were asking.

I was ignored, of course, but that's really the bottom line: Am I going to make more money or less money.
Why?
And can you prove it?

All that exciting stuff about saving the world, well, I'm not heartless but I've got kids to feed, I don't care about publishing so much as I care about eating.


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

I use these guys all the time. They're exactly like D2D except they have more smaller sites to publish to and can get you onto Google Play if you don't have an account. The customer service is awesome. The interface is a bit confusing at first, but once you get the hang of it it's actually pretty easy. I use them for Google Play mainly, so they always have my vote since they've opened up a whole new avenue of income I wouldn't  have otherwise and they let you do permafree on GP.


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## KelliWolfe (Oct 14, 2014)

I've been using Streetlib since they were Narcissus.me. If you want to get your books into Google Play, these are the people to go with. Their support team is excellent, and Giacomo spent I don't know how many hours reading my emails a couple of weeks ago talking about where all of this is going and what we indies really *need* to support our efforts to be more successful, like translation services and the ability to get paperbacks into brick and mortar stores.

I won't say he *agreed* with everything I said, but he did a great job of listening.  

IMHO, these guys are going to be *THE* aggregator in the next year or two. They are playing this game to win. They're adding new services and expanding their reach very, very quickly. Smashwords is quickly becoming irrelevant because they're stuck in 2012, and D2D (who I dearly love for their support) just isn't moving fast enough to keep up.


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## Gentleman Zombie (May 30, 2011)

They've been around for some time, and have an excellent rep. 

I'm also pretty sure Streetlib is the only distributor that can list a series starter as PERMAFREE on Amazon. (I hope that's still true)  

I signed up with Streetlib ages ago, but never did anything with it.  Maybe I'll stick this series I'm working on now with them. Can't hurt.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Welcome to the KB Writers Cafe! [br][br]You're welcome to promote your business and website here in the Writers' Cafe![br][br]Now that you have an official thread, you'll want to add your listing to our Yellow Pages Listing, found here:[br]http://www.kboards.com/yp/[br][br]The listing is free to KB members and is completely self-service; you can add and edit your listing from the page. More information on our Yellow Pages listing can be found here.[br][br]In your thread here, we ask that the same basic rules be followed as we have for authors in the Book Bazaar: you may have this one thread about your service and must post to it rather than start a new thread each time. New threads about the service wil be removed. Please bookmark this thread so that you can find it again to post to. And, you may not make back-to-back posts to the thread within seven days. If someone responds (such as this post), you may reply but otherwise must wait seven days, thanks![br][br]Note that members may provide civil and honest feedback about your service to this thread, and you may respond in a civil manner. Disputes between you and clients should be handled off site.[br][br]Betsy[br]KBoards Moderator [br][br]Note that this welcome does not constitute an endorsement or vetting of a service by KBoards. Members should do due diligence when considering using a service, for example, by asking KB members for feedback and doing an Internet search such as "service provider name" complaints.


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

Hi and welcome Giac,

Glad to see you on kboards. I'm considering using your service to get into Google Play and I have a few questions.

1) Can I list via Streetlib a book on Google Play at $5.99 and then list the same Book on Kobo at $4.99?

2)  Most of your partner book stores are in countries where English is NOT the first/native language.  Do English books sell? Or are translations the best way to go?

3) What's "Streetlib Stores"?

4) Is there a dollar amount I must reach before getting paid by Streetlib via direct deposit? If yes, what?

Thanks!


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## Committed Scribe (Nov 26, 2016)

Hello Giac, 

Am new here. I read in Google that StreetLib only updates GPlay sales once a month. On which day is it updated? Are we paid directly by StreetLib (like D2D or Smash) or will Google directly pay us (after deducting your 10% cut)? Thanks


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

JaydenHunter said:


> So I read the description twice and I still can't quite figure out what it is you're offering.
> It sounds a bit like D2D or Smashwords, but it's not a good sign that I can't understand what your offer really is, because, well I think I'm pretty intelligent. Grant, I might be a fool, but that's most of the world...
> 
> Your commission is 10%, that seems pretty high. I have long objected to the idea of both Smashwords and D2D because the percentages only make sense if you're planning on having dismal results.
> ...


Hello JaydenHunter, many thanks for your feedback!

I completely agree with you on the first point: we're 100% committed to building the best possible publishing platform and enjoying our time with our authors and publishers, and sometimes we forget to communicate all the things we're doing properly. But let me say that we're working on that and I'm confident we'll improve soon.

About your second point, the 10% commission: I think that the work we're doing is much more than doing automated formatting and such, and I'm happy to have many authors and publishers proving this for us.

We have a long-term vision in wich we genuinely believe, and we have built a system to pursue it in a sustainable way. Sustainability means that both our customers and we can feed our kids thanks to what we are doing.

We are developing the best technology to manage the entire books lifecycle, from creation to distribution, from retail and read and share them, and we do offer everything for free, to everybody. From the smallest author to the greatest publisher and vice-versa, everybody can use all the StreetLib technology for free.

We only earn money if our customers make money, by getting a 10% slice of their sales. I'm confident to say that the outcome of the clients who embrace our long-term strategy is far higher than the commission they "have to pay" to us.

Let me also try my best to answer your other questions:

What are the features of your thing?
StreetLib provides an open platform where you can: 
1) import your manuscript and get a beautiful book that you can edit online and download at any time
2) use the graphic book templates built by our designers and even customize them and make the book looks like you want
2) sell your book on your website directly to your readers
3) distribute your books to all the main online retailers to reach a global audience
PS: For book, I mean both digital and paper books

What are the functions?
StreetLib does the hard work and lets you manage only the important aspects of the publishing business:
1) We format and validate your content so you don't have to deal with any technicalities
2) We let you edit the content, metadata, and price of your book at any time, and get them automatically updated across all the retailers (quickly and seamlessly)
3) We automatically collect all the book sales across the retailers and provide them to you in a comprehensive and integrated dashboard showing real-time sales data
4) We enable you to directly sell to your readers through your website, by providing an e-commerce platform where you can build a bookstore in a couple of clicks. We manage all the technical infrastructure and the customer service. You sell. For each sale, we share 50/50 with you the usual 30% sale commission of the traditional retailers (like Amazon), so 15% is for us and 15% for you. That means that if you publish your books with StreetLib and you sell them through your website, you'll end up getting a royalty of 75% of the book price for each sale. 
5) We automatically pay your royalties each month, sending the money to your bank account and providing detailed online reportings

Hope it helps. Please let me know for any additional questions, thank you!


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

@


Gentleman Zombie said:


> They've been around for some time, and have an excellent rep.
> 
> I'm also pretty sure Streetlib is the only distributor that can list a series starter as PERMAFREE on Amazon. (I hope that's still true)
> 
> I signed up with Streetlib ages ago, but never did anything with it. Maybe I'll stick this series I'm working on now with them. Can't hurt.


Gentleman Zombie thank you! Please feel free to get in touch directly to support AT streetlib DOT com for any questions or doubts. I and my team will be more than happy to support you on any specific needs.

Many thanks also to Twisted Tales, KelliWolfe, Katrina46 for your feedback, I'm happy to help you out.


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## Renard (Jun 21, 2016)

beep boop


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Chrissy said:


> Hi and welcome Giac,
> 
> Glad to see you on kboards. I'm considering using your service to get into Google Play and I have a few questions.
> 
> ...


Hello, Chrissy!

My answers:

1) Yes, you can set a different price for different retailers. BTW at the moment this is not possible if you register on StreetLib as an author, but we can do that via backend for you if you ask. We're already working to fix this limitation.

2) Yes, they also sell English contents. Anyway, we do partner with Babelcube which is a marketplace that let you hire a translator in revenue share. They're great, I suggest to give a look: http://www.babelcube.com/streetlib

3) StreetLib Stores is the latest tool we developed, it's a powerful e-commerce platform that enables any author to create an online bookstore to sell digital and paper book directly to his readers on his website. Let me suggest to give a look at our press release here http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=f735ad980e229186fee196bd8&id=03ecd0761c.

4) Yes, at the moment we pay on a monthly basis, via bank transfer, only if the royalties are above the $60 threshold. In any case, we pay all the royalties at the end of the year. Let me add that we're exploring others American payment gateways (like Payoneer or Paypal) because we would like to find a way to lower the transaction fees, and this would make possible for us to lower the threshold. If you want to suggest me any of them, please do 

Please let me know for additional questions, thank you!


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

MarkFeenstra said:


> I'm going to be lazy and ask this here instead of trying to figure it out on the website: can I distribute my books to everyone *but* Amazon through StreetLib?


MarkFeenstra yes! Let me suggest the following article about selling on Amazon: https://medium.com/streetlib/amazon-kindle-store-5f12a9e08160#.rn4w0m2p9 (disclaimer: we published it)


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## Renard (Jun 21, 2016)

beep boop


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Committed Scribe said:


> Hello Giac,
> 
> Am new here. I read in Google that StreetLib only updates GPlay sales once a month. On which day is it updated? Are we paid directly by StreetLib (like D2D or Smash) or will Google directly pay us (after deducting your 10% cut)? Thanks


Hello Committed Scribe, thank you for asking.

Are you an author or a publisher?

If you're an author:
- We update GPlay sales once a month, at the beginning of the month (approximately within the first 2-3 days)
- We get the royalties from GPlay and we pay you

If you're a publisher:
- We update GPlay sales approximately every day
- You get paid by Google, and we'll invoice you our revenue share (10% of the sales)

NB: Within a few weeks we'll release a new Analytics feature that'll provide an integrated and comprehensive dashboard with daily sales for both authors and publishers.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

MarkFeenstra said:


> Thanks for your quick response, although I have to admit that after reading the link (and the link that link sent me to), I'm less convinced than ever that there'd be value in using StreetLib to distribute to Amazon. My book is currently listed at $4.99, and after a $0.07 delivery fee, I take home $3.44 in royalties from every sale. Ignoring any one time costs that no one in their right mind should give up a royalty percentage for (formatting, validation, etc). What long term value am I getting that's worth giving up 40% or more of my royalty dollars on every sale? (Based on the $2 return for a $4.99 book as listed on your Pricing page)
> 
> If this is an issue of gains from international sales evening out the lower .com royalties, then what percent of my sales would have to come from non-US Amazon domains in order to come out ahead of what I can make with what's quite possibly the easiest vendor setup in the existing retail landscape?


MarkFeenstra thanks for having pointed that out, it's a crucial point: if you think it's enough to publish on Amazon, stay on Amazon. I can understand. You are seeing us as a mere intermediary and so we cannot add any value to you.

But let me tell you my opinion: you're limiting yourself and the reach of your books, you're making your publishing world smaller, less diverse and less inclusive. Way more than 40%.

Amazon has built a system full of constraints: exclusivity, protections (DRM), proprietary technologies, price limitations, delivery costs, country limitations, proprietary ranking systems, proprietary reviews, etc...

We don't think this is the way the publishing world has to work and that's why we're building a better system.

Of course, *today* there are cases where the math works better on Amazon: e.g. your specific book with a specific size priced at a specific amount and delivered to some specific countries at a specific point in time will get higher royalties on Amazon through KDP than through StreetLib, that's absolutely possible.

You, as any other independent authors or publishers, are free to choose your publishing path but you should be aware of the details and make your choice based on the goals you want to aim.

Hope this helps, thank you!


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## 91831 (Jul 18, 2016)

I signed up to give the google play option a try.  I'll stick to direct publishing to Amazon, Kobo and B&N for now, and D2D seem to be working well for me with Apple, so I'll stay there too.  But if Google Play works well here, then perhaps I'll switch!


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## katrina46 (May 23, 2014)

MarkFeenstra said:


> I'm going to be lazy and ask this here instead of trying to figure it out on the website: can I distribute my books to everyone *but* Amazon through StreetLib?


When you publish they have a list of retailers checked. You just uncheck wherever you don't want your book to go. I go direct almost everywhere, but use them for Google Play. Hope that helps.


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## John Ellsworth (Jun 1, 2014)

So I signed up to try google play through you and now all I see when I sign in are stories about this or that. Where do I upload my book? This is very frustrating.


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## Melanie Tomlin (Nov 9, 2015)

Giacomo, I receive a lot of emails from StreetLib that in Italian, which unfortunately I can't read ...


Also, I cant find where to add my tax information. (Or don't you collect it?)


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## Committed Scribe (Nov 26, 2016)

Giacomo, I live in India so I would like to sign up as a Publisher. Google Play Books is one of the best channel for selling indie English books in India. It's huge here. I want a publisher account because otherwise I will have to wait Quarter plus 60 Days to get paid by StreetLib. Also I will run in to problems with Italian Tax Withholding. (I read in your website that monthly payment is available only for American authors. It seems like getting paid in India by StreetLib will be a nightmare.). 

However, I don't have a Publishing Company. I am an individual. I have a valid Tax ID, identity docs like Passport etc which I can submit to you for verification. Can you please help me setting up a Publisher account with StreetLib, so that I can get paid directly by Google? Google Play Books support direct monthly Wire payment by USD in India:
https://support.google.com/books/partner/table/6052428?visit_id=0-636158527150957255-1804216902&rd=1

I have read elsewhere that some individuals (Americans) managed to sign up and verify themselves as Publisher on StreetLib. Considering the difficulties I will face as an author on StreetLib Self-Publish, please kindly consider accepting my account as a Publisher.

I will await your reply.

Thanks


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

John Ellsworth said:


> So I signed up to try google play through you and now all I see when I sign in are stories about this or that. Where do I upload my book? This is very frustrating.


John Ellsworth thanks for your feedback but I didn't get the problem that you are facing. Please give me some more details so I can help. Or you can even write us to support AT streetlib DOT com to talk with our customer care.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Melanie Tomlin said:


> Giacomo, I receive a lot of emails from StreetLib that in Italian, which unfortunately I can't read ...
> 
> Also, I cant find where to add my tax information. (Or don't you collect it?)


Melanie Tomlin I'm sorry for that, probably your account was set in Italian. You can change this from your profile. If you are an Australian citizen you should provide only your Certificate of Residence in order to avoid the Withholding Tax, please see here for more details: https://help.streetlib.com/hc/en-us/articles/202273062. Hope this helps, thank you!


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Nancy G said:


> The link is here: https://www.streetlib.com/int but when I uploaded my ePub, it shows there are errors that I can't figure out for the life of me. I e-mailed them for help, but I'm about to give up. I'd be using it for Google Play and Overdrive (for libraries).


Nancy G thanks for writing, please check your inbox 

PS for anyone else who's reading, Nancy G has uploaded an EPUB that is not valid and we cannot distribute it (according to our TOS), so we usually propose 3 options in this case:

1- The author fixes the EPUB autonomously or through a 3rd party publishing professional.

2- The author can buy the conversion service on StreetLib: it'll cost $90 (Word to EPub2, waiting time: approx 2 weeks), more here: https://www.streetlib.com/edit/#conversion

3- The author can use StreetLib Write, where he can upload his manuscript and convert it into a valid EPUB file, more here: https://www.streetlib.com/write/

BTW I strongly suggest using SL Write, because it's free and easy to use, and after having learned to use it (approx. 30 mins) he will be able to manage autonomously any books!


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Committed Scribe said:


> Giacomo, I live in India so I would like to sign up as a Publisher. Google Play Books is one of the best channel for selling indie English books in India. It's huge here. I want a publisher account because otherwise I will have to wait Quarter plus 60 Days to get paid by StreetLib. Also I will run in to problems with Italian Tax Withholding. (I read in your website that monthly payment is available only for American authors. It seems like getting paid in India by StreetLib will be a nightmare.).
> 
> However, I don't have a Publishing Company. I am an individual. I have a valid Tax ID, identity docs like Passport etc which I can submit to you for verification. Can you please help me setting up a Publisher account with StreetLib, so that I can get paid directly by Google? Google Play Books support direct monthly Wire payment by USD in India:
> https://support.google.com/books/partner/table/6052428?visit_id=0-636158527150957255-1804216902&rd=1
> ...


Hello, Committed Scribe, many thanks for the interesting question!

First of all: please don't infringe our TOS by acting as a publisher if you are not. You can't do that, anyone can't do that. If you're an author you should sign-up as a Self-Publisher.

Second: we are working on improving our global payment system and we'll do our best to get your royalties as easy as we already did in the US. We are looking into Payoneer and it looks very promising. Then, we're also evaluating to move to monthly payments in other countries quite soon.

I cannot promise any specific release date on that yet, but I'll try do that quickly. In the meantime, please don't play with our TOS and trust me on what I've said.

Thank you!


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## jaglionpress (Oct 5, 2016)

if you're having trouble with your epub, make sure it doesn't include the cover art, and that you upload the cover separately with the Streetlib logo on it. I recall that giving me trouble when i published on Streetlib a couple of weeks back.


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## MissN (Aug 15, 2015)

I've got one book through Streetlib, but what's stopped me from adding the others is the need to put the Streetlib logo on the covers. I've worked with my cover artist to balance the look of them without adding somebody else's logo at the end. It's free advertising, and I'd already be paying 10% in royalties. How strict is this requirement?


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

jaglionpress said:


> if you're having trouble with your epub, make sure it doesn't include the cover art, and that you upload the cover separately with the Streetlib logo on it. I recall that giving me trouble when i published on Streetlib a couple of weeks back.


Hello Jaglionpress and Nancy G, 
the point is that at StreetLib we don't accept not-valid EPUB files, we think it's not a good idea to distribute them. Calibre is a great tool that you can use in many ways, but to be honest I can't suggest to use it to create EPUB files.

We built StreetLib Write because we didn't find a good tool to do that. So we built it ourselves after having created ebooks "by hand" for many years. StreetLib Write generates (only) valid EPUB files. Then, the EPUB coming out from Write are already ready to be distributed to all the online retailers, because it automatically implement all the retailers' guidelines in order to make improve all the book lifecycle. It's a super important topic and I talked about that in a Medium post some weeks ago: https://medium.com/streetlib/we-deserve-better-books-54b4a1756cca#.kjw6wwpli

Let me know for additional questions, I'd glad to answer and clarify everything possible about the books production process. Thank you!


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

EliseNoble said:


> I've got one book through Streetlib, but what's stopped me from adding the others is the need to put the Streetlib logo on the covers. I've worked with my cover artist to balance the look of them without adding somebody else's logo at the end. It's free advertising, and I'd already be paying 10% in royalties. How strict is this requirement?


EliseNoble 
Hello, I can confirm that it's not mandatory. If you don't like adding the StreetLib logo please feel free to go ahead with your own cover design.

PS: We added that possibility because more and more authors liked the idea to put it. For them, it's a way to expose the quality of their publishing job (either in terms of production quality and distribution reach). But it's not a strict requirement.


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## Melanie Tomlin (Nov 9, 2015)

Almost eight weeks later and my boxed set is still not showing on Google Play ... and now my emails are no longer being answered. I've jumped through hoops to get a 'restricted' partner account on Google Play so that StreetLib can distribute my books. My patience has just about run out. I might have to plead with Google Play to give me full access, though I doubt they will.


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

Melanie Tomlin said:


> Almost eight weeks later and my boxed set is still not showing on Google Play ... and now my emails are no longer being answered. I've jumped through hoops to get a 'restricted' partner account on Google Play so that StreetLib can distribute my books. My patience has just about run out. I might have to plead with Google Play to give me full access, though I doubt they will.


What did Streetlib say when you told them about the delay/problem?


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## over and out (Sep 9, 2011)

1


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## Melanie Tomlin (Nov 9, 2015)

Chrissy said:


> What did Streetlib say when you told them about the delay/problem?


The last email from them was on January 06:


> I'm very sorry for this delay. We re-submitted both of your books to Google and I've just sent an email to my account also. I hope they'll be quick to reply. Usually everything runs smoothly, I hope we'll able to fix your situation as soon as possible.


I emailed them again on January 23 and January 31 ... no response.

I actually uploaded the boxed set to StreetLib on November 26 and waited until December 08 before contacting them to find out what the delay was. I thought 12 days would be plenty of time to distribute the book.


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## Chrissy (Mar 31, 2014)

I'm sorry this has happened to you. You've been quite patient.

I hope someone from Streetlib sees your post and resolves your problem immediately.

Good Luck!


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## SC (Jan 6, 2017)

J.B. said:


> Thank you for catering to the paranoid!


Why don't you like those kind of links? (Am wondering if I should be paranoid about them as well.)


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Melanie Tomlin said:


> The last email from them was on January 06:I emailed them again on January 23 and January 31 ... no response.
> 
> I actually uploaded the boxed set to StreetLib on November 26 and waited until December 08 before contacting them to find out what the delay was. I thought 12 days would be plenty of time to distribute the book.


Hello Melania, apologies for the inconvenience, it's been an internal communication issue and I'm very sorry for the delay. We're working to make your books available on GPlay quickly. I've sent an email to you with all the details. Thank you.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

M M said:


> Payoneer would be awesome, Giacomo.
> 
> I currently use Streetlib and am very happy with them. They have great customer service and provide access to many stores I can't get into elsewhere. They are very responsive to questions and suggestions, at least that has been my experience.
> 
> ...


Many thanks for your feedback!
I can now confirm we're going to release the new version of our publishing application that, among other things, will let you set a different price for each store, set different territorial rights and add advanced books metadata. I'll post the invitation link for start using the new platform here as soon as I can. Thank you.


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## 39416 (Mar 18, 2011)

I was planning on putting a book on Pronoun.com. Can you tell me how this is superior to Pronoun.com, which is free?


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## over and out (Sep 9, 2011)

1


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## JTriptych (Aug 23, 2015)

I am a member of streetlib and its great. The one problem I have with it is setting the price on google play. I try to set it as $.99 but GPLAY advertises it as $1.50. I wish SL would negotiate with google for a lower price or adjust their dashboard to make it that way.


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## Ron Sauder (Feb 2, 2017)

Hello Giacomo -

I find your service interesting and welcome the entree to so many international channels as well as Google Play and OverDrive. However - am a bit concerned about your lack of DRM. Are digital watermarks as safe as DRM? What is your track record with piracy? Thanks for any information you can provide.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

JTriptych said:


> I am a member of streetlib and its great. The one problem I have with it is setting the price on google play. I try to set it as $.99 but GPLAY advertises it as $1.50. I wish SL would negotiate with google for a lower price or adjust their dashboard to make it that way.


JTriptych Yes you're right, but as I mentioned before you will soon be able to customize the price on Google Play via StreetLib for the main currencies. In that way you can provide to Google Play your desired List Price on which they'll pay your royalties, even if they can always change the cover price (meaning the price the final customers will see on the website). They can do that because they sell in wholesale, they do that all over the world and I'm not aware of someone getting a better agreement on that.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Ron Sauder said:


> Hello Giacomo -
> 
> I find your service interesting and welcome the entree to so many international channels as well as Google Play and OverDrive. However - am a bit concerned about your lack of DRM. Are digital watermarks as safe as DRM? What is your track record with piracy? Thanks for any information you can provide.


Ron Sauder, many thanks for your feedback!

My opinion after working 10 years with this technologies is: DRM is the death of any digital economy. 
Did you see what happened to Shelfie? DRM is a digital locker that limits the freedom of your loyalty readers without limiting the possibility to hack or copy your ebooks. It doesn't make sense at all to use the DRM nowadays. It's pointless to use a standard file format (EPUB) if you then apply the DRM on it because DRM is a proprietary technology which is not standard at all. DRM is compatible with a limited fraction of reading applications and devices, it doesn't allow to copy and share the text, it doesn't allow to move or copy your ebooks across different devices, etc...

We're proudly advocating against DRM since 2006: please trust me and start using the digital watermark, which is not a locker but a simple image that you add at the end of your books with your credits. Publishing a standard EPUB with watermark you will let your ebooks flow as much as they deserve, which is the best long-term strategy ever.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

loraininflorida said:


> I was planning on putting a book on Pronoun.com. Can you tell me how this is superior to Pronoun.com, which is free?


loraininflorida Thanks for the question!

Pronoun is doing great and as far as I can see many people here in the forum are excited about it. They do offer some great deals for authors interested in the US market (where they're basically free, as you said), but I've yet to understand how (and for how long) this can work for them. Plus, as far as I can read on their TOS, they can unilaterally change the distribution conditions at any time. So, honestly, I like their technology (many authors told me great things about their analytics capabilities) and I don't like the way they're managing their business (I think it's not transparent at all).

How does StreetLib (SL) compare to Pronoun (PR)? Here's a list of the main differences:
1. SL distributes to all the big online retailers in the US (Amazon, Google, Apple, Kobo and B&N) and to many others relevant retailers all around the world (BajaLibros, Bookmate, CasaDelLibro, Tolino, the StreetLib store, here the complete list: https://www.streetlib.com/book-stores/)
2. SL has a 10% distribution fee, regardless the book price, the book size and the country where the book is sold.
3. SL offers for FREE a full-featured authoring environment (called StreetLib Write) where you can upload your manuscript, edit/format/update it online, apply a beautiful graphic template, get your EPub/Mobi or publish it through our distribution technology.
4. SL offers a POS platform (called StreetLib Print) that lets you print a number of copies of your books or distribute your printed copies on Amazon and other online retailers. There's no upfront cost and you only need to upload your print-ready PDF file. Making a good print-ready PDF is not that easy and SL offers some cool additional services to make it easier. 
5. SL offers an e-commerce platform (called StreetLib Stores) that lets you create your own book store and publish it on your website, in that way you can start direct selling your books to your readers without any technical knowledge and up-front cost. SL takes 15% for each sale, that means you'll end up getting a 75% royalties for your books direct-sold through your website.

I would like to add a final comment: We at StreetLib have a clear vision of how this new digital publishing world is going to evolve and we like to play for the long term. We embrace inclusivity instead of exclusivity, we invest in developing added value services to improve our customers' business instead of leveraging our strategy on our competitors' commercial operations, we make our best to build a loyalty community of authors and publishers that believe in our team instead of attracting them with specific marketing campaigns. This is an article I wrote to describe what we're doing: https://medium.com/streetlib/wider-is-wiser-c59b27a674a0#.4wb36lpd7. Hope it helps, thank you!


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## JTriptych (Aug 23, 2015)

Giac said:


> JTriptych Yes you're right, but as I mentioned before you will soon be able to customize the price on Google Play via StreetLib for the main currencies. In that way you can provide to Google Play your desired List Price on which they'll pay your royalties, even if they can always change the cover price (meaning the price the final customers will see on the website). They can do that because they sell in wholesale, they do that all over the world and I'm not aware of someone getting a better agreement on that.


Well if you could make a pricing option in your menu thats below .99 but above FREE so it gets an adjusted price of .99 at GPLAY, then that would be a big help. I lost out on advertising for Bookbub because I couldn't price at .99 on GP.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

JTriptych said:


> Well if you could make a pricing option in your menu thats below .99 but above FREE so it gets an adjusted price of .99 at GPLAY, then that would be a big help. I lost out on advertising for Bookbub because I couldn't price at .99 on GP.


JTriptych Yes exactly. BTW since you're already publishing with us, please drop us a line (support AT streetlib DOT com) to ask to adjust your price on GPlay and keep the Bookbub promotion going (we're already managing these situations even if it's not available for anyone to use yet).


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## notjohn (Sep 9, 2016)

@Giacomo: _Buona fortuna!_

@everyone else:

1) I use Draft2Digital, and I figure that the 10 percent I give up is a fair exchange for the labor I save in not maintaining individual accounts at Barnes & Noble, Apple, and Kobo. Besides, you know perfectly well that we don't get 70 percent at Amazon: there is a delivery charge, we get 35 percent on Amazon.com sales to other countries, and if we're not enrolled in Select we get 35 percent at IN and JP I think and maybe some lesser stores.

2) The ability to sell through Google Play is huge IMHO. I was lucky enough to enroll in Google Books some years ago, so when I decided to throw in my lot with them again last year, I was able to renew that relationship. However, you really must price higher or Amazon will match the discounted price, perhaps throwing you -- again! -- into the 35 percent royalty. These are the prices I use, with Amazon and D2D on the left, Google Play on the right: $2.99=$3.95, $3.99=$5, $4.99=$6.50. However! Google may be big in IN but evidently nowhere else: my earnings there are about on a level with Kobo. Like Kobo, it's good to have, but it's not like B&N or Apple.

3) Finally, neither would I ever click on a disguised link (too many nasties out there!). When I read Giacomo's original post, I simply *Googled StreetLib USA* and it was the first return (also the second, and the third....).


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## Melanie Tomlin (Nov 9, 2015)

Chrissy said:


> I'm sorry this has happened to you. You've been quite patient.
> 
> I hope someone from Streetlib sees your post and resolves your problem immediately.
> 
> Good Luck!


My post did get things moving again and all the issues were resolved to my satisfaction. As a result I added my back catalogue to StreetLib


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Hello,
I'm Giacomo of StreetLib, we'd like to make sure Pronoun users aren't left with no alternative for distributing their books, and we've already put in place a tool specifically for books coming from Pronoun, to make the transfer process to StreetLib as easy as possible!

Here you can find all the details: http://bit.ly/2jbEoUy

Thank you,
Giac


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Puddleduck said:


> Shouldn't this go on your vendor thread?


Yes, it should. . . . . Giac, I've merged this with your original thread. Suggest you bookmark it for future reference.


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## Susanne O (Feb 8, 2010)

Only American authors? There are just as many in the UK and Europe.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

Susanne. said:


> Only American authors? There are just as many in the UK and Europe.


Not only American, our customers are from all around the world!


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## dianapersaud (Sep 26, 2013)

I have two issues and those are:
1. No secure place to update my tax info. I'm not sending it via email. (I received an email a few months ago and have been too lazy to respond.)
2. Does the book cover need to be a special size or contain any logos? Under Narcissus it was a pain to upload.


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## Shelley K (Sep 19, 2011)

People considering Streetlib owe it to themselves to Google 'Streetlib Ripoff Report' and read the account there.


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## Giac (Nov 21, 2016)

dianapersaud said:


> I have two issues and those are:
> 1. No secure place to update my tax info. I'm not sending it via email. (I received an email a few months ago and have been too lazy to respond.)
> 2. Does the book cover need to be a special size or contain any logos? Under Narcissus it was a pain to upload.


Hello dianapersaud,

1) You don't have to send it via email, you can upload the PDF form here https://simplicissimus.wufoo.eu/forms/m1k5db0t0gcosfv/ (that's a secure link)

2) Our logo is NOT mandatory on the cover, please you find our guidelines here: https://help.streetlib.com/hc/en-us/articles/115001802945

Thank you
Giacomo


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## AC de Fombelle (Oct 31, 2016)

Shelley K said:


> People considering Streetlib owe it to themselves to Google 'Streetlib Ripoff Report' and read the account there.


Hi Shelley K. AC, from StreetLib here. Yes, I do hope people considering any platform are doing a thorough vetting of the said platform. When Googling StreetLib, they'll find a long list of reviews and comments, most of them positive. This particular "ripoff report" has been posted by a user who did not understand stores economic models (namely list prices for Google Play), jumped to conclusions about us and refuses to modify his statement after our repeated explanations.

I do hope everyone is able to form their own judgement and, of course, we are happy to answer any question.


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## CaptnAndy (Dec 11, 2014)

Shelley K said:


> People considering Streetlib owe it to themselves to Google 'Streetlib Ripoff Report' and read the account there.


I looked at this report, and then for others. It appears to me this is an isolated case, since I did not find others like it. If this was a common issue, I'm sure there would be many other reports. Reminds me of an old saying "It takes 1000 at a boys, to offset 1 aw shit."


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## Shelley K (Sep 19, 2011)

AC de Fombelle said:


> Hi Shelley K. AC, from StreetLib here. Yes, I do hope people considering any platform are doing a thorough vetting of the said platform. When Googling StreetLib, they'll find a long list of reviews and comments, most of them positive. This particular "ripoff report" has been posted by a user who did not understand stores economic models (namely list prices for Google Play), jumped to conclusions about us and refuses to modify his statement after our repeated explanations.
> 
> I do hope everyone is able to form their own judgement and, of course, we are happy to answer any question.


I highly disagree with your assessment of the situation. Once again I marvel at Streetlib's unwillingness to take any responsibility for what went wrong.

Due diligence, folks.


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## Guest (Nov 10, 2017)

Shelley K said:


> Due diligence, folks.


Seconded.


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## AC de Fombelle (Oct 31, 2016)

Hi again Shelley and Hello Tobias,

I have to apologize again here as we were indeed at fault in the issue that caused the Ripoff Report to be published: our fault was in our communication with our user. Payment details were unclear on our website and have been clarified since, and in the exchange the user had with us, we failed to acknowledge his feelings and distress while believing that we were stealing from him.
This is our fault and please be sure that we are putting all our efforts in clarifying things as much as we can, improving our notification system so that users aren't faced with bad surprises, and also working to make sure language differences don't cause incomprehensions or frustrations.

I think other than that, we showed very clearly how we were absolutely not stealing from users and just sticking to our normal business model. Which I'm sure authors and publishers will be able to find out when looking for information about us. I do hope this Ripoff Report will be taken down as it paints a misleading portrait of our company. We're always available to clarify things again if they still aren't clear.


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## 25Eagles (Oct 21, 2016)

I wrote an article about my experiences, here, it's just a short one, but currently most of the books I signed up with are unavailable so I'm frustrated at this point. Not worth it when there are so many other distribution services to go with. To this day they have not tried to help me fix this clusterfuck and the last message from support I got was yet another snarky reply without any information I need to solve the problem. No reply to my latest email.

https://medium.com/@maxfmpollard/is-streetlib-just-a-scam-to-prey-on-indie-authors-168f1679fb81


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2017)

There is absolutely NO REASON to use Streetlib any more. Their only [real] contribution was Googleplay and Google will generally accept your application within weeks while going direct means you gain the extra percentage and direct control over your book sales. Whilst Google's control panel isn't brilliant it's way better than Streetlib. I've also had cause to contact support of both companies and Google doesn't patronise me the way Streetlib did. I think Pronoun had more to offer and they went to the wall. Go figure!


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## Taking my troll a$$ outta here (Apr 8, 2013)

25Eagles said:


> I wrote an article about my experiences, here, it's just a short one, but currently most of the books I signed up with are unavailable so I'm frustrated at this point. Not worth it when there are so many other distribution services to go with. To this day they have not tried to help me fix this cluster[expletive] and the last message from support I got was yet another snarky reply without any information I need to solve the problem. No reply to my latest email.
> 
> https://medium.com/@maxfmpollard/is-streetlib-just-a-scam-to-prey-on-indie-authors-168f1679fb81


You may want to contact Writer Beware.


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## Learning by lurking (Jan 17, 2016)

25Eagles said:


> I wrote an article about my experiences, here, it's just a short one, but currently most of the books I signed up with are unavailable so I'm frustrated at this point. Not worth it when there are so many other distribution services to go with. To this day they have not tried to help me fix this cluster[expletive] and the last message from support I got was yet another snarky reply without any information I need to solve the problem. No reply to my latest email.
> 
> https://medium.com/@maxfmpollard/is-streetlib-just-a-scam-to-prey-on-indie-authors-168f1679fb81


Hey Max,

Sorry you are going through all of this. Based on the way anyone who had a problem at the other forum was denigrated, as if they were liars even when they had screenshots, I am not surprised to read how this went down. It was evident they take no responsibility for any problems, and sorry it appears to involve a not inconsiderable amount of money.If I understand your blog post correctly, it sounds as if they are holding your titles hostage. Maybe you could contact the venues themselves (Google/Apple etc) and file take down notices. I can imagine it would be a lengthy process given the amount of titles, but would take away their ability at any possible future theft. It is not unreasonable to assume there may be future issues with getting paid based on your experiences already.


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## AC de Fombelle (Oct 31, 2016)

Hi again,

25Eagles, I know you've exchanged with my colleagues before and I see you haven't been satisfied at all with the help we tried to provide at first. This is really an issue for all of us at StreetLib and please don't think we don't care. We absolutely do! If you agree, I'd like to call you directly on the phone, review with you what you need (or needed) from us and help the best I can.
I'm sorry if we caused offense and again, I apologize because I can see you felt betrayed and treated poorly.

@Quills, I also will apologize here and I understand why you'd consider inacceptable waiting this long to get your revenues. The fact is, we have started monthly payments with our StreetLib USA company while working on implementing automated monthly payments with StreetLib Italy. For now, users outside of the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia are with StreetLib Italy and their payments are managed manually, which cause for the revenues under the minimum threshold to be managed at the end of the year. We offer any user to send us a message if they want to move to StreetLib USA and enjoy the conditions we have there. 
However, as your account is closed and, thus, the invoice already opened with StreetLb Italy, we weren't able to offer the same move when you inquired about your payments. Still, you shouldn't have to wait this long so, if you let me know your StreetLib username (directly here or via email at [email protected]), I'll talk with the tech team managing the StreetLib Italy invoicing system and with the bookkeepers to see if we can change the process and make sure you are paid sooner.

25Eagles, if you agree to have a phone call, we can exchange phone numbers via email (I'm at [email protected]) or, if you prefer discussing some other way, please tell me.

AC de Fombelle, for StreetLib


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## jable (May 17, 2017)

Can StreetLib provide 1099s online or only via mail? One thing keeping me at Amazon is that I can download my 1099 online. I do a lot of hiking and traveling so having it online makes it extremely convenient for me.


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## AC de Fombelle (Oct 31, 2016)

Hi Jable!

Yes we can absolutely  
StreetLibers will need to accept the 1099 electronic delivery through an email notification. If the they don't accept the notification within 3 business days, then it will be mailed to them instead. We are also working on making them available directly on the StreetLib platform for future downloads.

Hope this helps!

have a nice day and don't hesitate to ask any other question


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