--- source_url: "https://justpublishingadvice.com/is-it-worth-publishing-e-books-on-google-play-books/" title: "Is It Worth Self-Publishing Ebooks On Google Play Books?" mirrored_at: 2026-08-19T01:00:59.332Z host: justpublishingadvice.com cited_in_42a: true mirror_canonical: "https://index.42a.ai/justpublishingadvice.com/is-it-worth-publishing-e-books-on-google-play-books/index" --- > **Original source:** https://justpublishingadvice.com/is-it-worth-publishing-e-books-on-google-play-books/ ![Publishing Ebooks On Google Play](https://justpublishingadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Publishing-Ebooks-On-Google-Play-1.png "Publishing Ebooks On Google Play") Amazon KDP and Draft2Digital are undoubtedly the leading service providers for ebook self-publishing and distribution. But Google Play Books and the Android platform must surely be worth consideration. Google’s Android platform has a massive mobile device market share and user base in smartphones and tablets. You would think that there should be almost unlimited potential to sell ebooks on its ebook reader app. However, the truth is that it’s still a minor player. Amazon dominates the ebook market, with Apple in second place but far behind. ## Google Play as a publishing option With all that should be going for it, Google Play Books can disappoint when it comes to ebook sales. Perhaps fewer people read ebooks on Android smartphones compared to Apple. Over the years, I have published many ebooks on Google Play. In my experience, it failed to deliver a steady stream of ebook sales. That’s not to say that I didn’t sell any. Yes, I sold some, but not as many as I expected. Maybe Android users don’t buy or read ebooks in the same quantity as Kindle and Apple users. However, that shouldn’t deter you from investigating the platform. If you are open-publishing, which means that you haven’t given Amazon exclusivity, it’s an option. In this case, you probably use an aggregator to make your ebooks available on many online ebook retailers and libraries. The most popular is Draft2Digital, but it doesn’t have an option to publish to Google. The only way to publish is to do it directly with the [Google Book Partner Center](https://play.google.com/books/publish/). ### The new and improved interface If you published ebooks on Google Play before 2020 or so, you will remember how horrid the interface used to be. It was difficult to navigate, understand, and use. At the time, I wrote a review that said, _“Quite honestly, publishing with chisels on stone tablets would offer more joy than doing so on Google Play Books.”_ Luckily, however, Google upped its game a few years ago, and the new interface and process of self-publishing an ebook is much easier now. If you have self-published with [Amazon KDP or Draft2Digital](https://justpublishingadvice.com/draft2digital-or-amazon-kdp/), you will now find a similar experience and publishing process with Google Play. All the options you need are available from the sidebar to add a new ebook or check your sales reports. ![Partner Center Dashboard](https://justpublishingadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Partner-Center-Dashboard.png "Partner Center Dashboard") Another crucial improvement is that Google no longer automatically discounts ebooks. This was a big annoyance for self-publishers for many years. The problem was that when Google lowered the price of an ebook that was also available on Amazon, Amazon would attempt to price match. As you can imagine, this practice led a lot of self-publishers to remove their ebooks from Google Play. But now you can be assured that publishing on Google will not affect your ebook price on Amazon. However, one element that hasn’t changed is the accepted file formats for ebook manuscripts. You can only use PDF or EPUB files. There is no option to publish using a .docx word processor file. But you can use Calibre to [convert .docx to EPUB](https://justpublishingadvice.com/how-to-convert-word-to-epub/). ### Generous royalties One of the attractions is that [Google pays a 70% royalty](https://support.google.com/books/partner/answer/9331459#zippy=%2Cwhich-countries-do-i-get-the-revenue-split) on all ebook sales, regardless of your list price or where your ebook is sold. Currently, Google Play Books is available in 60+ countries, whereas the Amazon 70% royalty is only available for sales from 41 countries. All other countries are 35%. Amazon KDP only pays 70% for ebooks priced at $2.99 or higher. But below this price, it is only 35%. Another benefit is that Google does not [charge you a downloading fee,](https://justpublishingadvice.com/amazon-kdp-delivery-costs-can-eat-at-your-royalty/) which Amazon does. But like Amazon, Google will pay you monthly by bank transfer, with a minimum payment of $1.00. However, if you elect for a wire transfer, the minimum is $100.00. ### Is Google Play Books worth the effort? Oddly enough, yes, it is. Well, only for the Google part and not so much the Play and Books elements. You will need to invest some time in self-publishing ebooks on Google Play. But once you do that, there is one huge benefit. When your ebooks are available, Google Search indexes and displays your book titles and author name a little more prominently. It’s not only your book listings on Google Play Books, either. When I published with Google Play Books, my search results expanded. It included my YouTube book trailers that I had forgotten about, my Goodreads book listings, and several book retailers I had never heard of or realized carried my ebooks. Okay, I didn’t get as many ebook sales as I had hoped for. But getting a little extra Google Search indexing can be extremely valuable in helping boost [your author brand](https://justpublishingadvice.com/free-tools-for-author-branding-and-book-marketing/) and book sales on other retailers. ### Conclusion While many self-published authors work hard every day trying to improve the SEO on their blogs and websites to enhance search results on Google, perhaps this is an easier way to achieve the same aim. If you are only interested in direct ebook sales and perhaps [Kindle Unlimited subscription readers](https://justpublishingadvice.com/goodbye-kindle-unlimited-thanks-but-you-robbed-me/), then Amazon KDP is the best choice. However, if you want to offer your ebooks to a wider readership, then Draft2Digital is the ideal service to use. But you could improve your Google search indexing by investing a little time in publishing on Google Play. It can help potential readers and book buyers find your site and books and perhaps help you sell more ebooks. At the same time, having your titles on Google Play gives you an extra avenue to sell your ebooks. It is especially true if you have already aggregated your ebooks with other retailers and libraries. One more sales outlet can only be a benefit. Just one last note. If you think Google Play Books might be an option for you, make sure that your ebooks are not enrolled in Amazon KDP Select. If they are, you will need to wait until your period of exclusivity to Amazon expires. **Related Reading:** [What Are The Best Ways To Sell Books Online?](https://justpublishingadvice.com/whats-the-best-way-to-sell-my-books-online/) [image] English teacher, writer, and author. Passionate about grammar, creative writing, and self-publishing. Always exploring new tools and tech to help writers succeed.