Authors face a myriad of problems when they try to sell print books directly to readers. Most of them do not have any kind of payment processor and merely ask for cash when someone expresses interest. I know hundreds of writers who attend events, such as the Romance Writers of America conference and they just encourage people to just buy the print books on Amazon, instead of securing the sale.
Mobile payments company Square has just announced a new NFC credit card reader that will allow your readers to pay for your books via Apple Pay. The small square-shaped reader will act like all other Apple Pay-accepting terminals, letting users wave an iPhone or Apple Watch near the device to complete a purchase.
The mobile reader only costs $49 as a one time fee, and Square will just take a small percentage out of each sale to cover the costs of the service. With the recent surge in popularity of chip cards, touted as being a safer and more secure physical payment alternative, the reader also has the option to accept chip cards in a small slot located on the side of the device.
Any author that sells print books, whether you are traditionally published or utilize a print on demand service like CreateSpace, you owe it to yourself to make sales whenever you can and sell books. There is no excuse to miss a sale because you only take cash or PayPal.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.