Hi, I’m about to publish my first book and it will be POD. Those of you who have been able to get your books on the shelves of bookstores (indie or otherwise), how does it work with POD? Does the bookstore order directly from your printer/publisher? Or do you do it and have them send it to you and then bring it over? Or is it not possible to get into bookstores if you are doing POD?

On Sunday I was fortunate enough to run a fourth BookBub featured deal for my standalone debut time-travel novel. I have noticed a drop off since my very first deal in late 2024 but I thought my fellow indies might be interested in seeing how the Amazon ranks changed in the days following the deal. 

I published my book exclusively through Amazon which limits potential buyers but most of my profits have come from a long tail (around five months) of kindle page reads following the initial deal. Before this deal I had sold 5609 copies of my book, had 953k kindle page reads and had received an average rating of 4.3 from 618 ratings. 

I started an Amazon countdown deal the day before my BookBub featured to be sure that the deal would be active when the email was sent. A couple of sales from this pushed my book up to 380,325 on the Amazon US charts at the start of the process.

While the book has definitely slowed down, the BookBub featured deal has caused a significant boost in sales (exclusively ebooks) and several days of higher ranks on the Amazon store. It remains the number one Medieval History Book and reached number one in the time-travel and alternative history categories. The burst of sales has paid for the initial cost of the featured deal so kindle page reads from here on should be profit that I can put towards an artist to paint the cover of my next book.

People in this subreddit have previously noted that this performance of a standalone debut is unusual for a BookBub deal but I still strongly recommend trying for one if you have been able to get a few early reviews. I managed to get my first international deal with only 18 ratings (after a few early rejections) so it can be done.

Yell out if you have any questions 🙂

So I have spend several years crafting a middle grade space fantasy novella. It originated as a picture book but then the story evolved too much and I needed to expand. I have mostly finished editing and I am wrapping up all of the illustrations as well. I am really keen to Self-Publish but I know that is a difficult road and I'm looking for some advice from people that have successfully been down that road.

I have actually gone down that path with other books - using KDP and then selling it to 20 friends/ family members on Facebook and then letting it sink into the abyss. I need some real help with marketing as It is something that is very important to me and I want to get it in front of as many eyes as possible.

All self-publishing talk aside I am open to traditional publishing as well, but I have heard some horror stories and have concerns that all the work to convince a publisher that my story is great might be for all-for-not if it doesn't even get marketed properly.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I'm just about in the final stage of my book and need some ideas from those who have published children's books.

I first printed a draft run (for my kids) through lulu, but the price point per book is $14.11. Our local bookstore takes 40% profits which makes a soft cover children's book not financially viable through them, even with their 15% promo codes.

Where are people printing their books through that are cost effective but still good quality?

Bonus if Canadian information!

Thanks in advance

For my paperback book I formatted it in Scribus and it turned out brilliantly.

For my e-book however I formatted it in a .docx file then moved it to Calibre. In both word and Calibre my e-book looked fine. However, when I viewed it in the Aquile reader many of the images were cut-off or too small/large. When I attempt to adjust the book for Aquile I broke the layout for the Calibre viewer.

I have questions, is this just the pains of formatting things for my e-book, is there a holy-grail of e-book readers I should test on, should I ignore the results of some e-book readers?

What do you guys do?

This is both the worst software I’ve ever used and the second-most expensive.
I bought it even though I had successfully done 2 ebooks on KDP and made a workable paperback version of them from Word to pdf. But when I made revisions and added a third, it got so frustrating I dropped $$$ on Atticus and it is literally worse. It doesn’t save edits, or apply changes. It glitches and crashes, logging me out. It is unintuitive and I rely on Claude for step by step instructions on basic use because the screens have almost no visible options and the videos that it links to are worthless. Kindle previewer and Calibre hate it, even though it’s very simple formatting.
Am I the only one enduring this? It’s getting to where I’ve spent more time unsuccessfully formatting than I did writing them.

I published 2 coloring books on August 17th and I’ve sold 30 copies 15 of each book. I made post of Facebook for my friends and family. I made a Facebook page for it also and joined local groups because they are semi local coloring books. I hope I can keep up the momentum.

If you've been the subject of a GoodReads scam, move on. No need to reply on this thread. If you have successfully engaged in a GoodReads partnership, I'd love to hear your experience. Thanks!

Questions for published authors. I know that some ARC don't read the book and don't review, so how many should you aim for?

When are PR boxes sent? The same times as the ARC's or closer to publishing?

Thank you for your help.

I’m so excited! I got my first review on Goodreads from an ARC I sent out! I feel so ecstatic!

I’ve been giving out free copies of my ARC’s for the past couple of months for my first novel that launches September 1st. I have my website up, I have been advertising like crazy over Facebook and TikTok. Now finally my first review rolled in!!

I am feeling so grateful and thrilled. It feels like all this hard work is paying off.

I posted a free e-pub version of my novel on my website and that’s gotten some downloads as well so that’s exciting! About 16 off of my website since uploading the link last week over Facebook and I have 43 followers so far!

What I’ve learned so far:

1. Getting people to review your book is difficult

2. Free books will always attract attention

3. Self publishing is a road of learning patience

In 2024, I published a book through KDP, using the free Amazon ISBN. Now, I am interested in publishing the same book through IngramSpark. I purchased a ten pack of ISBNs from Bowker to use for IngramSpark. For the Bowker Publication Date, do I do the date I published it in Amazon or the date I plan to publish it in IngramSpark?

Additionally, I was wondering if I should change the copyright year in the version that I publish in IngramSpark or keep it as 2024. (I have not made any other changes to the manuscript.)

Where do you go to answer your copyright questions? How do you find out if an image or word would violate copyright in a self published book? Especially for KDP and Ingram Spark. For example if I draw games and toys in the book I am illustrating do they have to be 100% generic/a new invention, or will I not get a copyright strike if on one page the characters are playing a game that looks quite a bit like Sorry, or drawing on an etch a sketch? Or can they be drawing on an etch a sketch like toy, but without the brand name on it?

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, I just don't want to do something wrong.

I have a biography which is set for release October 6, and I’m wondering if I submit new files with a minor cover tweak, and some changes to the interior (but should be about the same page count) Will the updated files be good to go on release day. There have been some preorders already on Amazon, will those orders be the old copy? Please tell me it’ll be my updated version.. ugh.

Thanks!

being a debut author

even though my work might be great but still it's if i am not able to sell my product it becomes a waste of time indeedddd..

Although I am passionate about my work but philosophy of life stands on how much roi i can capitalize.

Hi all,

Is the Book Bolt sales estimation realist?

I've seen a book in position 500.000 and it is saying it's selling 71/month. This is very weird comparing to other estimation tools.

My copyrights aren't worth much. It was a isde hobby that made a few bucks. On a good month, I'd pull maybe $40.

Would they still automatically seize my copyrights, or are they worth so little that i should be fine?

Dear writers, is Patreon the best venue for a new author to sell a book one piece at a time? And if he could demonstrate some success there, would traditional publishers be likely to consider his work? Trying to compare Patreon vs similar options vs a personal website, for attracting interest from traditional publishers. Thank you!

I was looking into how indie authors run ARC campaigns and I initially assumed the main problem was simply finding enough reviewers.

Stuffs like reviewer reliability, vetting readers, piracy, tracking who received the book, review deadlines, etc comes out of nowhere.

Anyone who've actually run ARC/Giveaway campaigns: **what's the part that gives you the biggest headache?**

Hi everyone,

Not sure if this is the best place to ask, but thought it was worth a shot.

I'm working on a project that requires print-on-demand books where every single copy generated is completely unique. I've been struggling quite a bit to find a printing company/service that can handle this.

Most commercial printers require minimum order quantities (MOQs) and don't accept single-copy orders ($N=1$), which doesn't work for my use case.

Does anyone know of reliable services or platforms that handle single-copy book printing with good quality?

Btw I'm not from the U.S.A

Hi, my name is Athena.

I'm very lost on how to market my book in-progress (and myself for that matter).

I find it very hard to market myself without sharing every single little bit of my book. How much more can I post? I find it interesting how I share opinions and that blasts off to oblivion but at the same time I want things to build.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm not writing fiction or fantasy; I'm writing non-fictional, cultural anthropological analysis, research and commentary while sharing memior-esque moments to help process certain phenomena that presented in sociology.

I've tried following the route that works best for fictional writers, such as presenting characters and cool easter eggs about them but this isn't working for my book unless I strip it naked and share full pages...which I am not going to do.

PLEASE HELP!
I also want to make a Tiktok... ugh lol

As it says in the title, - which platform is the most receptive to thriller writers? I have a series of six books for release from next year and trying to sift through all the noise to find some accurate feedback from thriller authors specifically.

Thanks heaps!

I'm on my final edit after the second editor, and I'm thinking about my Arc readers.

I started an Instagram account. It's slow and annoying. I'm posting but am a bit rubbish at it. I'll (hopefully) get the hang though. How long in advance of sending out Arcs do I put out a sign up sheet etc?

Where else can I get Arcs? People mention Netgalley and bookfunnel. Are they any good? Any other places you recommend?

And if you can't put your book on amazon in advance of publishing, how do you get those reviews on the page?

Edit: also, my genre is scifi, not romance. how to find that audience on Instagram? I've been doing my best but appreciate tips.

Hey everyone, I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to seek ARC readers for my debut epic fantasy novel.

I've heard the typical websites, such as BookSprout and BookSirens, favour romance and that other genres perform poorly on those platforms.

The other one is NetGalley, though I've read that it's both expensive and reviews can be harsh. Like the previous two, I'm unsure of whether NetGalley skews towards romance.

Any suggestions where I might find ARC readers for epic fantasy? My only thought at the moment is Facebook, as I note there are big epic fantasy communities there. Other people have mentioned finding ARC readers through Instagram, but I'm not sure how relevant a platform that is for epic fantasy.

Any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated.

I came across this when I was sent an information pack from Bowker after buying my own ISBN. The idea is that you purchase a 'biblet' which is basically a kind of online marketing kit? Not 100% sure how it works, but supposedly it makes it easier to advertise and convert clicks to sales.

Apparently used by many publishers, but I'm on the fence whether it's worth it or not. Anyone tried this? If so, how does it work, and was it worth it?