Big W opens Ebook store

Big w story

Retail giant Big W has entered the ebook market. The retailer who claims to already be the biggest seller of hard copy books in Australia has opened an online store in which customers can download ePub or PDF files of Australian autho. 


 Big W said that the store was to complement the already large amount of e-readers and iPads it sells. 

According to Big W the store is to foster the growth of the Australian book market. If it becomes popular it could certainly open up new avenues for Australian authors into the hard to crack US market. 


 As an author I would love to have my books available to such a wide audience within Australia. But we shouldn't veil ourselves from the truth. 

Australian authors already have the option to sell on Kindle and iBooks and on multi-platform sellers like Smashwords. The internet is already worldwide, so why sell on an Australian site?

The upside is the Australian dollars earned on sales. 


When selling on Amazon Australian authors are paid in USD of which some is taken by the IRS. Lessening the already small amounts independent authors typically earn. 

Sure we would have to claim income from the AUD earned on Big W's venture but the paperwork isn't as frustrating and the rate won't be as high because of the lack of international transaction fees. This means, should sales be similar, Australian authors would likely benefit from their books being available on Big W's ebook store. 

Big W has stated they will be supporting emerging Australian authors. There is no author portal on the site as yet.