Aggregator: A third party service that distributes your eBooks and audiobooks to various storefronts from one dashboard, usually for a commission fee taken from your royalties owed.
Audiobook: A recording of a reading of a book. KWL allows authors to upload their audiobooks directly and sell them to Kobo customers.
BISAC Codes: The standard book categorization framework for publishers in Canada and the US. BISAC codes allow readers to get an idea of what your book is about, starting generally (i.e. Fiction), then narrowing down to genre (i.e. Romance), and then subgenre (i.e. Contemporary). You can find the official list of BISAC codes here: https://bisg.org/page/bisacedition KWL's categories are based on a simplified version of BISAC codes.
Copyright: The exclusive, legal right to produce, reproduce, publish, or perform an original work. Copyright laws differ from country to country so make sure you're familiar with how to register copyright in your country. If you're publishing in the US, you can register and manage your copyright through our partnership with Digi-Rights.
Digital Rights Management: Digital Rights Management, or DRM, protects your work from being copied, shared, printed or otherwise pirated. KWL authors have the option to enable DRM when publishing their books.
Direct: Publishing direct refers to uploading content directly to a storefront rather than distributing through an aggregator. Publishing Direct with Kobo Writing Life gives authors benefits such as 70% royalties with no maximum, and a variety of promotional opportunities.
Distributor: A distributor is responsible for supplying goods to a storefront with the intent to be sold. KWL acts as a distributor when supplying our partner stores with eBooks. You can learn about our partner stores here.
eBook: an eBook is an electronic version of a printed book, usually created from an ePub file.
Electronic Funds Transfer: The electronic transfer of funds from one financial institution to another. KWL pays all authors via EFT.
End Matter: This is the content located at the end of a book, after the book has ended. This can include an afterword, acknowledgments, an index, bibliography, an appendix etc.
ePub: An ePub is the file type used to create eBooks. You can convert your Word document to an ePub using our free conversion tool during the publishing process.
Exclusive: When an author says they're "exclusive", it usually means they have uploaded their content to only Amazon's KDP Select, which requires exclusivity.
Exclusivity: When a publisher requires exclusivity, you cannot upload or sell your work at any other storefront other than theirs while you're working with them. Kobo Writing Life does not require any exclusivity.
Fixed ePub: The text in a fixed ePub is static, in that it cannot be adjusted by the reader to suit their needs or devices. Instead of being able to change font size, readers must zoom in and out and scroll left to right or up and down on the static page. Fixed ePubs are usually used by image heavy texts, such as children's books, art books, or graphic novels.
Front Matter: This is the content located at the front of the book, before the book actually begins. It includes the copyright page, the title page, the table of contents, the dedication, the preface etc.
Hyperlink: a word, phrase, or image that you can click on to be navigated to a new document or a different section within the document. Many ePubs use hyperlinks in the Table of Contents to allow readers to easily navigate to different chapters, and many authors will use hyperlinks in their eBooks' end matter to direct readers to their website.
IBAN: International Bank Account Number -- we require the IBAN for authors who are setting up accounts from the EU; you can find this on most bank statements or by contacting your financial institution.
Indie Author: An author that publishes their work independently through self-publishing platforms, rather than through a "traditional" publishing house.
ISBN: an International Standard Book Number is a unique identifier assigned to every book before publication. Every version of a book must have a unique ISBN (i.e. the ISBN for an eBook must be different from the ISBN for the audiobook). Every country has their own way to distribute ISBNs; if you're in Canada you can get a free ISBN from Library and Archives Canada. If you're in the United States, you can get a discounted ISBN through our partnership with Bowker.
Kobo Plus: Kobo's all you can read subscription program. Readers pay a base monthly price for unlimited access to a catalogue of books. KWL authors are encouraged to increase their profits by enrolling some, or all of their titles in Kobo Plus. You can learn more about enrolling your books in Kobo Plus here.
List Price: List price refers to the price of your book before taxes are added.
Metadata: In publishing, metadata refers to the information that describes the content of your book, including but not limited to your title, author name, subtitle, series information, and summary. Optimized metadata is essential to increasing your book's discoverability.
Pre-order: The ability to order/reserve a product before it is official release date. Pre-orders are a great way to generate excitement for an upcoming release. KWL authors can set up pre-orders for their eBooks during the eBook creation process.
Reflowable ePub: The text in a reflowable ePub is flexible, in that the font size and orientation of the text can adapt to different devices and the needs of readers (such as enlarging the font size to assist with readability). When the text size of a reflowable ePub is altered by the reader, the line breaks and page breaks are also altered to allow readers to enjoy a seamless reading experience without having to readjust the page. Reflowable ePubs are used for eBooks that are primarily text.
Retailer: A retailer is the storefront at which goods are sold. Kobo.com is the primary retailer for eBooks uploaded to KWL.
Royalties: Royalties refer to the percentage of a sale the author is paid. At KWL, our authors earn 70% royalties on original works priced over $2.99. For example, if your eBook's list price is $5.99, you would earn $4.19 (or 70% of $5.99) on each sale of your book. You can find a breakdown of how royalties work at KWL here.
SWIFT Code: A code used to identify banks and financial institutions. You can find your bank's SWIFT code here: www.theswiftcodes.com
Wide: Publishing wide refers to uploading content to a variety of storefronts outside of Amazon's exclusive KDP Select program.