For publishers
Sell your books direct and keep nine dollars of every ten
A storefront, a sealed edition format, a reader that opens on any screen, a live ledger and the tools the big stores never gave you. Live within minutes of signing up, with no setup fee and no yearly charge.
Start an imprint Open the pricing engine
On a $14.99 ebook you keep $12.76 per copy here against $5.25 on the Kindle store, at today's published rates.
Ninety seconds
Watch the console at work
Open an imprint, upload a book, price each edition, sell from your own storefront and get paid. Start to finish in a minute and a half.
Three steps to your first sale
- Open your imprint
A name, an email and a password. Vetting runs automatically and tells you the reason if anything holds you.
- Add a title and its editions
Upload the sealed file, a PDF or an EPUB, set the price and the unlock phrase, add the cover, description, subjects and contents. Listing health shows what is still missing.
- Share the link
Your storefront and every book page are live at once. Each sale appears in the ledger the moment it clears, with the license, the seats and the payout state.
What you get that the stores do not
Every one of these came from a documented complaint of publishers or readers, and every one is live today.
Side by side
| ZI² Books | Kindle store / distributor | |
|---|---|---|
| Platform share | 10% | 30% to 65% / about 40% |
| Per copy on a $14.99 ebook | $12.76 | $5.25 / $8.99 |
| Who owns the reader | You see every buyer | The store does |
| Reading | Browser and apps, no account lock-in | Their app, their device rules |
| Sales data | Live, per sale, exportable | Daily estimates, monthly statements |
| The file | Sealed, downloadable, documented format | Locked to the store |
| Bulk and gifts | Seats, gift delivery, group codes | One copy per account |
Store rates are the published ones at the date on the pricing engine and may change; the engine lets you check any scenario.
Questions publishers ask
Do I need to leave Amazon or Ingram?
No. Keep every channel you have. Many presses list print on Amazon and sell the sealed edition here, where the margin is.
What is a sealed edition?
A .zi2 file: your book encrypted with AES-256-GCM under an unlock phrase, readable in the browser and the apps. The format is published at /format so a buyer never depends on us.
How do readers get paid access?
Checkout issues a license page with the file, the reader and the phrase. Signed-in buyers open the book with nothing to type; each copy is resealed for its buyer.
When am I paid?
The ledger shows what is owed in real time and the operator settles payouts on the schedule in the publisher agreement, each marked in your console.
Can I sell PDF or EPUB?
Yes. PDF downloads carry the license stamped in; EPUB downloads work in any reading app. Sealed editions add the reader, sync and personal seal.
What about piracy?
Every copy carries its license inside and an invisible watermark in the text; copies are capped and cited; licensed editions do not print. A leak is traceable, and the audit chain shows every open.
Your first edition can be on sale this evening
Sign up, upload, share the link. No contract to sign, nothing to pay until a reader buys.