ffolio.cymru (ex-Gwales) and the Books Council of Wales: getting a Welsh-interest e-book listed

Harvested 2026-10-26 (skills harvest 14:37). Status: primary pages read 26 Oct; e-book intake terms for self-published titles NOT published (ask first).

What changed in 2026

• Gwales.com closed on 2 March 2026. All online sales moved to ffolio.cymru (ffolio.wales), owned and run by the Books Council of Wales. Old Gwales accounts and the Gwales newsletter did not carry over; ffolio has its own newsletter.
• ffolio sells print, e-books (EPUB and PDF, delivered through Adobe Digital Editions, i.e. an .acsm download) and audiobooks (MP3 via the Glassboxx app). No Kindle format. Buyers can route purchases to support an independent bookshop.
• Scale marker (Books Council evidence to the Senedd, 2016/17): 1,631 e-books available, 353 in Welsh. Small shelf, so a new Welsh-interest title is visible; but it is a niche channel, not a volume one.

The documented route (print)

The Distribution Centre (Aberystwyth) takes self-published books only when: 1. The book has an ISBN, a barcode and the price printed on it (no exceptions). 2. Terms: bookshops get at least 35% off RRP, the Centre takes 20% off RRP for listing, storage, picking, packing and post: the author gives up 55% of RRP per copy. 3. Full sale-or-return. First step: post one copy plus your email to Distribution Centre, Unit 16 Glanyrafon Enterprise Park, Llanbadarn Fawr, Aberystwyth SY23 3AQ. If they agree, they send two contracts and an initial stock figure. 4. Contact: [address kept in the project workspace], [number kept in the project workspace]. Focus: "Welsh-interest titles, in both Welsh and English".

The e-book route (not documented: ask)

ffolio lists e-books from publishers the Centre distributes; no self-publisher e-book upload page exists (checked 26 Oct). So the step is one short enquiry to [address kept in the project workspace] asking: - Do you list EPUB/PDF e-books from a micro-publisher with no print edition? If not, does a print edition unlock e-book listing? - Do you require an ISBN per format, and Adobe DRM, or can a title be sold DRM-free? - What is the e-book revenue split? Keep it to 5 lines, bilingual opening (Cymraeg first), one link to the title page.

What the Books Council does NOT do

• No direct funding to authors (self-publishing grants go via Literature Wales / Society of Authors routes).
• The "Directory of Authors and Illustrators" ([address kept in the project workspace]) is for children's events: not our fit.

Decision rules

• ISBNs and print copies cost money: under the zero-spend rule that is the owner's call, never ours. Price the trade-off first: at 55% off, a £9.99 print copy returns about £4.50 before print cost.
• Never list anywhere that requires an activation fee (Draft2Digital: never).
• Measure: one UTM-tagged link from the ffolio title page back to /ebooks/ (if they allow a description link) and a monthly check of the listing.

How we apply it to Cedwyn

1. Best candidate: the names e-book (Enwau), because it is trilingual, Welsh-interest and reference-shaped, which is the Books Council's core.
2. Write the enquiry above as a HubSpot draft task (never send; outward only on the owner's GO). Subject: "Ymholiad / Enquiry: listing a Welsh-interest e-book on ffolio".
3. Blurb line that follows current rules: "Tŷ Mawr, Llandough-juxta-Penarth: the family's acquisition in 1667 is reported in the 1974 newspapers and by ITV News in 1988; the first record mention we have found is the 1824 David Stewart survey." No Bute-dated entries, no banned words.
4. If the owner later approves a print edition, the Distribution Centre route above is the one with known terms; log the decision in the growth notes.

Sources

• ffolio.wales (Gwales closure 2 Mar 2026, formats, Adobe DE, Glassboxx; read 26 Oct)
• books.wales (self-published terms: ISBN/barcode/price, 35% + 20% = 55%, sale or return, Aberystwyth address; read 26 Oct)
• books.wales (no direct author funding; directory)
• busnes.senedd.cymru (Books Council evidence: 1,631 e-books, 353 in Welsh, 2016/17)

Raw Markdown: ffolio-cymru-books-council-wales-listing.md · version and changes: changelog · machine index: agents.json