This article is part of my Beginner’s Guide to Self-publishing direct with ebook Retailers series.

Do you want to self-publish your ebook directly on Barnes & Noble Press and make your book available to read on their Nook or any other ereader or ebook reader? Here’s the information you need to create a direct relationship with them to publish your ebook.

About Barnes and Noble Nook

In 2009, Barnes & Noble became a leader in ebooks, offering over 1 million titles in its ebooks store and launching their Nook e-reader, but in its 2017 annual report they noted that sales of Nook devices and accessories fell by nearly 35% and digital content fell by 18% (during the April 2016 to April 2017 period).

It’s anyone’s guess where this retailer is heading, but as of press time, Barnes & Noble are still committed to supporting the ebook market.

• Barnes & Noble Retail Site: bit.ly/H2-Barnes
• Travel Guides on Barnes & Noble: bit.ly/H2-BarnesTG

Barnes & Noble Press Author Interface

The interface and steps to upload and list your book on Barnes & Noble Press (formerly known as Nook Press) are easy and intuitive. Even if you’re a non-U.S. citizen you can still publish directly with Barnes & Noble.

• Barnes & Noble Press: bit.ly/H2-BarnesPress
• Tax Information: bit.ly/H2-BarnesTax

Barnes & Noble Press Author Pages

The Barnes & Noble website doesn’t feature author pages.

Barnes & Noble Press Publication Timeline

When you hit the publish button, it takes 72 hours to list your ebook in the Barnes & Noble Store.

Barnes & Noble Press File Requirements

You can use any word processing program to format your file, but they recommend using Microsoft Word or Mac Pages.

• File types accepted: DOC, DOCX TXT, HTML, and EPUB
• File type read: EPUB
• File size limit: 100MB
• File Formatting Guidelines: bit.ly/H2-BarnesFmt

Barnes & Noble Press ISBN Requirements

Barnes & Noble will assign your book a European Article Number (EAN)—a unique 12 or 13-digit identification number that helps with inventory tracking.

Barnes & Noble Press Upfront Costs

Barnes & Noble doesn’t charge a fee for distributing your ebooks.

Barnes & Noble Press Author Royalties

If you set a list price of $2.99 USD or more you will earn maximum royalties of 65%. If your list price is less you’ll receive a 40% royalty rate.

Here’s how this would be calculated for a $2.99 book, based on Barnes & Noble taking 35%:

• Going direct you would receive a 65% royalty rate ($1.94)

Barnes & Noble Press Going Direct Alternative

Using $2.99 as an example list price, if you don’t want to go direct with Barnes & Noble, you could (for example) distribute to them via:

• PublishDrive and Smashwords (Royalty Rate: 90% of list price): They would keep 10% of your list price (-$0.29), and that would be deducted from the 65% royalty rate received from Kobo ($1.94), leaving you with a royalty payment of around ($1.64)
• Draft2Digital (Royalty Rate: 85% of Net): Based on the 65% royalty rate paid by Kobo ($1.94), Draft2Digital would take 15% of this ($0.29), leaving you with a royalty balance of around ($1.77)

Read more articles in my How to Write a Travel Guide Series

I’m putting the finishing touches on my How to Write and Self-Publish a Travel Guide Series, which details a step by step approach for writing and producing your own travel guide. It’s part of a four-part series aimed at helping travel bloggers achieve passive income based on their passions and existing content.

Each month I host a monthly free prize draw and give away a travel writing e-book to the lucky winner. Sign up to join my mailing list to participate.