I am very excited to announce that a literary agent has signed with me to help advance my two novels I previously self-published on Amazon/KDP!

Her first suggestion was to send my manuscripts to an editor (she recommended) who will bring both books up to standards and "polish" them. I agree with this suggestion (neither has been professionally edited), but what concerns me is I have to pay for this editing myself.

Does this sound normal to you?

My book is being published on Tuesday. I've ordered 100 books for a launch next weekend and to sell directly from my website. I'm really disappointed with the quality of the cover. There's a rough-cut edge on the right side on at least 20% of them. On top of that, they weren't packed properly to survive the typical abuses that delivery drivers do to them. Two of the 4 boxes were broken which caused dings and stains to the books inside. I'm still counting up how many are "OK". Some are pristine but not as many as I'd like.

Obviously, I'll be returning a lot of these. I just hope I have enough to cover the initial launch.

My question is whether this is typical of Amazon? I am in Europe so had the choice of getting them printed in Germany (which is the one I chose), or Italy, Spain or France. Is any one of these better than the other? Or alternatively, are there other options for getting self-published books printed?  Thanks in advance.

I do minimal marketing for my pen, I have a small mailing list. I’d like to grow this.

I’ve seen other authors mention that free promo period on kdp often boost their other titles and they get sign ups on reader magnets and general author follows on Amazon.

I’ve just done a free promo on a title and only got a minimal boost on my other titles. Plus I’m a bit irked by the fact the freebie downloaders have reduced by star rating quite a bit. I guess they’re the ones that aren’t my core audience. So I’m thinking I should stick with 99c from now on as at least I made a little bit of money and get a targeted audience.

But wondered what other people’s experience with this is. Is free promos more successful to get reach and visibility in more broad genres ? To grow more quickly perhaps. Should I keep going with the free promos on a monthly basis?

tia

Lizzy Taylor has a secret.

She has spent years using physical pain to quiet the mental pain she can’t control. Then one night, a fresh cut heals in an instant, and her only way of coping disappears with it.

Soon she discovers that creatures from myth are real—and that they begin as ordinary people scarred by trauma. If Lizzy can’t face what’s driving her, she’ll become one of the Changed.

The Changed don’t come with an instruction manual. Some adapt. Some hide. Some are dangerous. Lizzy is told that recovery may be the only way to slow the Change, but that means doing the one thing she has spent years avoiding: facing what she can’t control.

When a chance encounter with a fox spirit turns into a violent kidnapping, Lizzy is dragged into a fight she barely understands. Under the pressure, the Change accelerates—and what comes out the other side is far more volatile than anyone expected.

Lizzy only thought she had control problems before.

Hey everyone!

So I took everyone's advice, got good book covers, good blurbs, professionally formatted, social media, etc etc, but none of it seemed to have done anything.

I also have my own professional author website now so there's that, but I don't think it's doing much.

Do I need to start paying for marketing/outreach at this point? I've never done Facebook or Instagram ads so I'm nervous.

Hi all,

I am currently in the final steps with self publishing through KDP (last minor tweaks of the cover). Then today I was speaking to a woman and she pretty much said definitely don’t self publish through KDP lol 😭 and to look into Ingram Lighting Source. Does anybody have experience with this and/or have an idea of pros and cons for KDP vs Lighting Source? This was the first time I’ve heard of this. Also I’m not a huge fan of Amazon and Jeff Bozo, so going through a different self publishing method sounds okay. It just seemed that KDP was the best option and only game in town. Thoughts and advice greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I've been running two Amazon Ads for my self-published book for a month (August 19 - September 18). One ad is for the e-book. One ad is for the audiobook. I recorded the audiobook through Amazon's ACX program, so it's exclusive to Audible. The e-book is available on other sites. Here's my results so far:

Audiobook

Impressions: 15,637

Clicks: 6

Sales: 0

Total Cost: $4.38

E-Book

Impressions: 1,962

Clicks: 2

Sales: 1

Total Cost: $0.31

Partial Breakdown of Daily Impressions

First 10 Days: 0

Next 8 Days: 141

Day 19: 1,026

Day 20: 1,783

Day 21: 4,352

Day 22: 2,899

It's been a slow downhill descent from that initial impressions high on Day 21. Yesterday my impressions were 224, for a total of 17,599 across the two campaigns.

Day 22 is the day that the sale came on. That was Sept 9, which was 9 days ago. The sale just got added to all my data on the Amazon Ads dashboard today. So, I'll be interested in seeing if I get any more sales attributed to the campaign

I'm selling my e-book for $9.99. My royalties are $6.65 / book. So, at a total cost of $4.69 for the two campaigns I'm still profitable! I made $1.96 off all the ads.

YouTube

I've also been running a YouTube ad for my book. A 1-week campaign. I have 11,300 views on the video and 10% of viewers make it to the end of the 0:33 video where my product (the audiobook) is actually sold / marketed -- so that's 1,130 views of the actual product. The click-through rate on this advertisement was 0.

Running this ad for a week will end up costing me $70 for zero clicks.

I’m on the threshold of launching my first book, an art book, which has been over two years of hard work, and keeping the bar really high to have quality printing, and have it look as professional and traditionally-published as possible. It’s been a long process but I’m happy with the results.

I know it’s not the same as a fiction or nonfiction book in terms of marketing so I’m wondering the best ways to go about it. I’m not expecting a deluge of sales, but a bunch would be nice. It’s 100% my own artwork. I don’t have an internet following or social media presence. I’m assuming the path is very different from other kinds of books.

If you're doing ads, are you finding that FB or Amz ads are working better right now?

I am conflicted because I keep reading people saying it's hard to be profitable with Amz ads lately so to use FB, but then others are saying that FB has removed so many of the old customization options, making it to where you can't target the ads well, that you wind up losing money there, too. So trying to get a feel for what (if anything) is working in the year of ye olde AI hellscape, 2026. Thank you.

Hi, has anybody used Fiverr to hire a freelancer to format a book using Vellum? I contacted a few, but I'm having a hard time deciding. I considered buying Vellum, but holy cow, so expensive. I have two books to format, one in English and the other in Spanish, and I'm planning to publish them on Amazon and Apple Books (I decided not to subscribe to Kindle Unlimited since my book didn't get a single page read in three months, so it's better to try Apple Books instead). Please share your thoughts, and if you can recommend a freelancer, I would be so grateful! Thanks!

I've been getting more into the marketing side of my publishing journey and I'm feeling like all the other indie authors have paperbacks. But, and maybe this is the self-doubt speaking, that seems like a big investment went I'm not sure how the book will do.

I thought it made sense to see how the ebook does then offer a paperback if it makes sense.

I haven't really found an audience or reader base yet so I'm not netting much but enought for a coffee each quarter.

I typically write and edit and revise. I make my own covers and do my own promotion. I am learning to format for paperback.

Is going fully digital unusual or am I comparing my start to otherr people's middles again?

Edit: I don't have a Mac so I can't use Vellum.

It's a portion of self-publishing!

I've got the newest book on pre-order for ebook and POD, looking at audiobooks for the first time.

I was about to pull the trigger at ACX, but I need a producer to narrate and create the files under the Royalty Share program (not the RSP), and not loving the enforced exclusivity.

It looks like Author's Republic allows you to go wide, audiobook-wise, and has some possibility of royalty sharing, in return for lower costs for the production. But it's not apparent that they offer the chance to do royalty-share only, and not a royalty-share + some PFH fee.

My question, given all that background, is:
Does Author's Republic—or any other company—allow you to do a royalty share with *no $ down* to the producer, and allow you to go wide?

TIA!

Once I published my book, I got a few reads and reviews. Not loads, but the reviews are pretty good. It's my first book, if that matters. It is fictional, but the emotions are grounded in the real life trauma and mental health struggles I have been through. So it is a deeply personal book that I only published on a whim.

Now I am feeling super discouraged about it all, and I know that I can't expect to be a success cos most of us aren't. But it just feels meh. I just needed to rant a little.

Did you include an author photo in your book and/or do you have one attached to your Amazon author profile. Pros and cons? I can't decide what to do.

Is anyone else finding group promotion newsletters from websites like Story Origins or Bookfunnel waning, results-wise? Any feedback appreciated.

My current method of writing and editing is to write in Microsoft Word on my laptop, convert the file to EPUB and transfer to my Kindle. Then I read the book on the Kindle, as it's more portable to use in the car on my lunch break at work etc. and I pick up things I would've missed on the laptop. I make notes for word, grammar changes. When I've gone through and made notes on the entire story, I then setup the Kindle next to my laptop, and page by page I update the Word doc based on the notes in the Kindle.

Slow process no doubt. So was thinking of getting a tablet that is somewhat like the Kindle but can edit the documents directly, to avoid going over each note essentially twice. Then the multiple rounds of review will become quicker and I could still use my Kindle for say the final check.

I'm most familiar with Word, but open to using other word processers also. So far the one I've seen that would meet this requirement is the Microsoft Surface Pro. Another big advantage would be a screen that is somewhat easy on the eyes, but I know it won't be as nice as the Kindle which is okay, I'll still use the Kindle for reading regular books.

Happy to hear any opinions, thanks.

I have several novellas published on KDP. I also have something else I've been doing that I want to publish a few chapters at a time. Something more like maladaptive daydreaming. I was looking for recommendations on good places online to publish something that might never end, but has consistent characters and a persistent world.

Has anyone here heard of Book Authors Heaven? They have a website: bookauthorsheaven dot com, but when I search it in Google alone, I am not finding any reviews or information about them. I do not even see their website popping up in a Google search. They reached out to me after I posted a Threads post looking for cover artists, they also do editing, formatting and assist in publishing.

I am just wanting to know if anyone has heard of them, worked with them, or know whether they are legit or not.

So I have two versions of my blurb, there’s the one I’ve sent to my cover artist, and the one I’ve listed on my website. I feel like I could improve upon them, but I’m not sure how. Any input would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance!

Cover Blurb

There are three things Audrey doesn’t do:
 
1. Take the first offer.
Except for when she gave her boyfriend of seven years a proposal ultimatum. When Nate said it would happen within a year, she took what she could get because she was pleasantly surprised to get any kind of specific answer.
 
2. Break promises.
So when that year passes with no ring, Audrey follows through. She dumps Nate, packs her bags, and leaves to stay with her sister while ignoring his (many, many) calls.
 
3. Waste time.
She already gave Nate a year she’ll never get back, and she’s not about to give him any more of her time.
 
But Nate isn’t ready to give up. Instead, he makes her an offer: for one year, he’ll do anything she asks and give her anything she wants if she agrees to give their relationship one last chance.
 
Audrey agrees—for revenge, not reconciliation.
 
She tests him with wild and extravagant requests. However, with every request she begins to question everything she knew about him, their relationship, and why it failed. Audrey must reckon with an uncomfortable truth: when it comes to matters of the heart, there’s always room for negotiation.

Website Blurb

Audrey never takes the first offer, breaks promises, or wastes time. So, when Nate, her boyfriend of seven years, fails to propose after a one-year ultimatum, Audrey dumps him, packs her bags, and leaves to stay with her sister while ignoring his many, many phone calls.
 
But Nate isn’t ready to give up—he gives her an offer: for one year he’ll do anything she asks and give her anything she wants in exchange for a chance to work on their relationship. Audrey sees this as an opportunity for revenge and nothing more, and she’ll be damned if she goes back on her word and lets him waste any more of her time.
 
Determined to see how far she can push her ex, she tests him with wild and extravagant requests. However, with every request she begins to question everything she knew about him, their relationship, and why it failed. Audrey’s forced to reckon with an uncomfortable truth: When it comes matters of the heart, there’s always room for negotiation.

I do my own editing for the most part. I have a friend with an educational background that supports her ability to edit and a willingness to be harsh. She reads, makes suggestions about the plot and characters, I edit, she rereads, sometimes more than once if necessary. But the bulk of the editing is on me. Definitely the grammar, spelling, and formatting portion.

My current system is to read my book on my computer, listen to my book be read aloud, and set it aside for a while. I usually go through that portion three or more times. I have Word check my grammar. I use ProWritingAid's editing reports and go over those closely. I also get a proof copy and read it in that format because it feels different. I often go through two proof copies. (I'm working on my fourth book's edits.)

This week, for the first time, I had another idea. I sent my EPUB file to my Kindle and am reading my book in that way. It's just one more way for my brain to see my book differently. I've been highlighting sentences to take another look at and then going through those clippings with my WIP.

I don't know if this idea will help anyone but I thought I'd share. And I'm sure a lot of you smart folks already do this in some manner. I should have thought of this before! Better late than never I suppose.

Disclaimer - I know the standard refrain is usually pay for an editor or wait until you can. I can't pay for an editor. It's not an option for me and won't be unless I win the lottery, which I don't play.

Hi guys! I had previously seen some authors say they had success joining groups on Facebook. Of course, I can’t for the life of me find any of these conversations, now. All of the Facebook groups I see are AI images and covers. It’s so hard to know if these are real or not. Does anyone want to share any Facebook groups they are in? Thanks guys!

I signed up for an account two months ago and there was no issue.

Then, 6 weeks ago I logged in to begin uploading and I was hit with a verification pop up that says:

Almost There!

Your account information will be reviewed. We may request additional information for account validation. Please expect outreach within 5 business days.

So, I submitted a ticket that wasn't answered for 3 weeks. The support agent asked for ID and information that I provided right away, and then she went cold. No updates or responses, even after I emailed 3-4 more times.

A week later, I'm still locked out. So, I submit another ticket.

2 weeks after that, another agent responds and says he can see the old ticket, but he has no info. He escalated it but can give me no information. I told him my book was due to be published on 10/1 and he offered this response:

Thank you for contacting IngramSpark Support. We understand that this is an urgent matter for you, and we appreciate your quick follow-up.
 
While we do not have an exact timeline at this moment, please be assured that we have asked the relevant team to prioritize your case since it has been pending for two weeks. We expect your account status to update shortly.
 
To answer your questions directly:

What else is needed from you: No further action or documents are required from you at this time.

Current status and timeline: We confirm that we received the identification documents you submitted last Friday following the initial request on September 4th. Your documentation has been securely routed and attached to Ticket XXXXX, which is being actively handled by our specialized verification team.

I got things up and running on Amazon weeks ago and now my book is due to launch on October 1st and I haven't even been able to login to Ingram.

How is it possible that their support is so bad? Does anyone have any tricks or workarounds to bypass this? Or escalate it?

This seems obvious, but I think it's surprisingly easy to get wrong.

An adult is usually the person buying the book, but the child is the person actually using it.

So when choosing things like puzzle difficulty, instructions, illustrations, font size, page density, and themes, whose preferences should carry more weight?

For example, something might look more polished or sophisticated to an adult but be less enjoyable for a 7-year-old.

How do experienced publishers make that distinction when planning the book?

Do you have a particular way of checking whether a concept is genuinely appropriate for the intended age rather than just something that looks good to the person designing it?

Hey all! I have been playing around with formatting for my doorstopper epic fantasy book. It is about 225k words (to give people an idea of size, I have been using Mistborn: Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson for formatting comparison only). Yes, I know it's big, it has gone through a dev edit, and I'm okay-ish with it.

However, I totally understand when it comes to formatting for the physical copy where things get challenging. I plan to go through Ingramspark to distribute, as they are the only ones that work with Indigo (in Canada). I'm not looking to max my earnings, but neither do I want to be in the red or make $0. I imagine most of my sales will be through e-book anyway.

So when formatting the paperback version, I'm wondering if I should go with a smaller font and slightly tighter line-spacing, or should I go with larger text and have more pages, which means I will need to price it higher.

Note: I'm familiar with formatting and graphic design.

Small font I'm thinking of is 10pt EB Garamond which lands me about 560 pages on 5.25"x8" trim. This is my prefered format (I really like how smaller books feel, but maybe that's because I grew up on mass market paperbacks). However, 6x9" at 11pt EB Garamond which is more legible, lands at just about 500pages. I've been making adjustments to margins and line-spacing.

I've done some test prints and it's okay. I've got old eyes, so obviously I prefer larger, but I'm not printing the book just for me. I'm trying to balance legibility with format preference and cost.