(this is an overdue companion to How to Publish on Create Space and How to Use Create Space Cover creator and How to Publish on Smashwords)
Go to http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/, log in and then choose Go to My Titles in the upper right corner
Choose “Add a Title”
This opens a new page where you need to enter your title, list price, publication date, publisher, and contributors. These are you – as the author – and then any illustrators, co-authors, etc. You are allowed up to five.
Scroll down to upload your book. B&N accept word documents, HTML, RTF and TXT files. Us the browse button to locate your file, then click Upload & Preview. (You may get warning that you have not filled in all the information, but don;t worry, we’re coming to that)
This will upload an instant preview. you can use the tabs to switch between Nook and Nook Color views. use the Prev and Next at the bottom to navigate the pages. When you’re finished use the close preview in the upper right:
If the conversion looks good, then it’s time to upload your cover. (if not, make changes to the interior file and reupload.) Your cover image MUST be a .jpg and has to be at least 750 pixels tall, but no bigger than 2000. To upload the cover use the browse button.
The cover preview will look a little fuzzy, but it will look fine on your final page:
Now to fill out the pesky questions that caused all those crabby “errors”. They’re pretty easy: Do you have an ISBN? Is the book part of a series? Is it available in print and, if so, how many pages is it? Is it public domain? What group is it suited for? What language is it in? Where do you have publishing rights (aka, US, IS?Canada, or World Wide) and do you want DRM protection?
Now you want to add the categories your book fits in. Click the add/edit categories button
This drops down a box, and each selection you make may open another box to the right. When you have it chosen, click the Add Category button
You can choose up to five categories for your book, though you don;t have to pick that many (I have only three). When you’re done, click Save.
Now it’s time to enter your keywords (separated by commas), your book description and your author bio. You can also enter editorial reviews if you have them.
Double check that everything is the way you want it, and then it’s time to put your title on sale! Check mark the box to confirm that you own the work and hit “Put on Sale”
And that’s it! Now you just need to wait 24 – 72 hours for your book to become available through B&N.
On a side note, there was a rumor that Barnes & Noble promotes books published through pubit over those through Smashwords, so i have done some experimenting.
I published Ties of Blood directly through PubIt because, at the time, Smashwords was having trouble getting books out to them and I had some Nook readers who wanted to read it. Though the advice was to remove the Nook version as soon as the Smashwords version showed up, I’ve left both to see what happened. As you can see on the listing page, the smashwords version has the priority listing and you have to use the + NOOK book button to even get the PubIt published version:
This might have to do with the fact that Smashwords has an older Publication date. When it comes to slaes it stands thus:
PubIt edition all time: 4 (all were sold before the smashwords version cleared)
Smashwords edition (through B&N for December only): 31
So, it’s safe to say that in this case that B&N isn’t pushing the pubit version over the smashwords. Whether it happens to other people I can’t say.
Self-Published Authors Helping Other Authors 
I haven’t sold much on B&N going through them directly, but I continue to keep my titles up because I want to give Amazon the competition. That said, I think Barnes and Noble could do more to help book sales and provide customer service to authors. I’ve heard they favor the traditional model and that’s why they don’t do more, but they’re not doing themselves any favors by failing to embrace the indie crowd. It’s like they want Amazon to put them under.
I’ve heard other authors say they do better going through Smashwords to get on B&N, but that might just be coincidence.
Informative and intersting article Jo…many tanks for the info!
I found that publishing through PubIt was fairly easy. What isn’t easy is taking down the Smashwords versions. I contacted both Smashwords and B & N, but I continue to have two versions of about 4 of my books on B & N. I’m still selling both versions. LOL.
One of the reasons PubIt is a little better than Smashwords for publishing BN ebooks is that it is specially geared to BN’s Nook format. Smashwords requires that you render a very simple doc file which does not conform to BN’s format, and as I started with PubIt before I returned to Smashords I did not see the need to duplicate the effort or confuse one supplier with another. BN’s file prep specifically calls for section breaks between key features, which is completely different from (for example) KDP. I have had to reformat files for each one, while what goes through Smashwords is basically an RTF saved as DOC. Section breaks and KDP’s new requirement (KDP8) of converting the document file into an HTML do not interpolate well to Smashwords. As for BN being a worthy adversary to Amazon, BN remains a strong competitor because it focuses on print and digital media, while Amazon has chosen to diversify itself into a million pieces. BN can and should keep its integrity as a prime bookseller which does not try to destroy independent bookstores.
I am a HUGE fan of your tutorials! Thank you, Jo!!!!
I used to go through Smashwords to get to B&N but now I use Pubit and it’s easy to use. I’ve found that it’s easier to get on the B&N Also-Boughts list when you go through SW but over time I’ve found that my Pubit books have gotten on BETTER Also-Bought lists than the ones on SW (books that look professionally crafted) and they are now getting small but steady sales.