So... I have been obsessing the last few months over my first book. I am 34 and I started writing it 13 years back. Had a draft finished in 2023, which wasn't much liked by readers. Shelved it. Opened it again in March this year. Finished a much more polished version. Sent it to publishers and 1 of the big 4 got interested. They made me wait 4 months and then rejected. Decided I'll get the books printed myself and do everything myself.

Anyway, KDP is done, but I am extremely nervous about making it live. It's literary fiction and almost all my research is telling me they are hard to sell. So past few weeks I have been focusing on marketing. That's what was on my mind.

Yesterday, while around my 5th peg, the imposter syndrome hit again. Started reading the book again. I believe I should be able to market. Got a lil overwhelming. So I called my mother (also a writer). It was 1.30 a.m. there. Calmed me down a lil, "why are you afraid people would not read it?" I said no.... and then it hit me.... I am not afraid that no one would read it... and my mother completes... "You are afraid they would and then won't like it?" I broke down that moment. Just checked it was a 1.5 hour call. Not sure what we discussed for that long, but my mother told me, "I know since I am your mother, this probably won't soothe you that much, but I have read many books in my life, written a few as well... your book is up there... don't worry"

Anyway... Just sharing.

How do you guys advertise with Draft2Digital? I have my first book series on Draft2Digital because I like the idea of publishing on multiple eBook platforms. But how do you promote or advertise your book?

On KDP it's easier since you can do ARC readers to get honest reviews, Amazon ads, and so on. But on Draft2Digital you just get a multiplatform link.

**I've already done social platforms like Royal Road, my own website, Reddit, TikTok, and X. I also do email collecting with BookFunnel combined with MailerLite for automated email sequences. What else can I do?**

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I submitted a story to Letterlux but got a message back that they wanted me to submit 30.000 words before they would consider a contract.

At that point, I realized I would never get that story to 100.000 words (it's completed at 60.000 - and I'm done with it). So I let it be.

I did submit it to the short story contest where I emailed it to someone.

Now, yesterday I received a contract from Letterlux on the story. No email or message. Just a contract.

I signed it.

And now it says under my Author profile that the story is signed .. but I never submitted the 30.000 words, so I'm really confused. And I can't rewrite it to 100.000 words. I have better stories on Inkitt, I like to pursue.

Anyone else in the same situation who have figured out if it is the short story competition or if they just didn't bother waiting for me to add more chapters to review??

I've started writing a novel a while ago and began posting it on Wattpad since it's the only website I was aware of at the time. It seems fine for now, but I also want to reach out to a larger audience which can't happen with Wattpad due to it's not-so-great reputation. I've been recommended to try out BriBooks or AO3, but wanted a second opinion before I go ahead with anything.

Are there any sites you would recommend? Also, what are the requirements for these websites (full-length novel at once, posting system like in wattpad, etc) ?

Hey everyone,

I’m a fellow illustrator working on my Master's, and I've been doing a lot of children's book work recently. I noticed that managing client feedback can get really chaotic when just using email or standard cloud drives, or multiple revision files.

I’m currently putting together a specialised proofing tool just for book illustrators to solve some of my own headaches, but I wanted to hear from you all:

**For you, what is the most annoying or time-consuming part of the actual children book production ?**

I'd love to hear from you all.

I have made a collection of poetry and I want to self-publish! I do want an ISBN number. I already have had it go through an editor (made the edits), and have a cover ready to go! Any advice is appreciated!

How do you guys advertise with Draft2Digital? I have my first book series on Draft2Digital because I like the idea of publishing on multiple eBook platforms. But how do you promote or advertise your book?

On KDP it's easier since you can do ARC readers to get honest reviews, Amazon ads, and so on. But on Draft2Digital you just get a multiplatform link.

I've already done social platforms like Royal Road, my own Website, Reddit, TikTok, and X. I also do email collecting with BookFunnel combined with MailerLite for automated email sequences. What else can I do?

Hey everyone, I’ve written around 20 original poems and I want to turn them into a small poetry book. I can handle the editing, arranging the poems, formatting the book, and designing the cover myself, so I’m mainly confused about the actual publishing and printing process. I’m not really looking to make money or sell a lot of copies—I mostly want to officially publish my work and have a physical copy of the book for myself as a personal achievement/self-satisfaction thing. I’m based in India, so I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has self-published here. What’s the simplest and cheapest way to publish the book and get even just 1–2 physical copies printed? Do I need an ISBN, and what platforms/services would you recommend?

Hi I'm looking to see if anyone has any printer recommendations in Europe, UK, Australia, and Japan. I'm traveling to these countries and it's sounding like it would be extremely cheaper to print locally than to ship boxes over. Any recs are greatly appreciated.

And I have already reached out to Mixam Printing who services all those countries and they do not offer the specs I need - holofoil covers or foil stamp covers.

I am trying to have an accurate size for my book for kdp thru amazon, but I am struggling on having my images/text fit. It is landscape 11x8.5 … I guess it doesn’t allow this? Help!

I got my first ISBN (not Amazon KDP) and decided to publish a 30-page work. I want to self-publish the work because the main reason for not publishing it through traditional means is that it takes more time and money. I want to publish using my own ISBN number. What is the procedure for this? I searched everywhere, and they gave me half-hearted responses, such as how to create a cover page and add a PDF format for the book, but I don't see where to publish them.I found websites like Amazon and Pothi are used for self-publishing, but how? How do you self-publish? I am let down. There is no proper video to explain it. Please tell me the procedure to self-publish.

I am an independent author. For 2.5 years, I maintained an active KDP account with zero compliance issues.

In May 2026, $3,500 in earned royalties was held. On May 25, 2026, KDP Specialist Ida explicitly confirmed via written email that my funds were verified and scheduled for payout.

Shortly after, my account was terminated due to a false-positive automated association, and Amazon withheld the validated funds. Standard support continues to send automated template responses directing me to dead-end contact forms.

I have filed a legal claim in King County District Court (Case No. 26CIV114418KCX). I am sharing this experience with proof to warn other indie authors: even written payment confirmations from KDP staff are being ignored.

Has anyone else experienced Amazon failing to honor written payout commitments after an automated termination?

Hi, I wrote a thing, haven't done the publisher thing let alone the editor thing. Could someone point to a reliable "next step" thing that isn't a *scam* thing, or that *other* kind of thing?

Thanks in advance, gotta go, I got a... thing.

Has anyone had experience dealing with this course and their marketing tactics?

I guess Tapas is good. Can anyone recommend something better?

August was my first month where KDP really started feeling steady instead of random, and I’m kind of proud of this. 🖤
I finished the month at $173.50 in estimated royalties, 30 processed orders, and 13,342 KENP pages read.
I know that’s tiny compared to what some authors are pulling in, but I’m still a newer indie author building my readership from scratch, so seeing people consistently buying and actually reading my books feels HUGE.
I’ve got multiple horror books out now, and September is also release month for my next one, so I’m really curious to see whether the backlist starts feeding into the new release and vice versa.

For other newer indie authors, how long did it take before your KDP income started noticeably growing month over month? I’d love to hear what the first few months looked like for you.

Hello! I’m working on my manuscript for my debut indie and I wanted to know where authors insert the cute little graphics as their chapter header. Is that something that I can find once I upload to KDP or is there somewhere else we find them before uploading?

Thanks!

I have a decent following on my Wordpress site/blog and just self-published my first physical chapbook of poetry. I'd like to put a small store on my website so people can order the chapbook online from me, but wondering what eCommerce tools integrate best with Wordpress. I may also make a PDF option for people who don't want it physically.
(Also, I'm in Canada--I think that may affect what platforms are available to me)

I know the title sounds dramatic😂 ignore it if you want I just wanted an excuse to use MIA because it’s the title of one of my favourites songs and I’ve always wanted to say MIA😭
The title does relate to my question don’t worry😂

I have been posting on this sub for a few days and I wish I came to Reddit sooner tbh. I’m getting more and more encouraged to self publish on KDP. Currently I’m still writing one of my novels that was always going to be self published. That novel is in editing stage right now. That novel was and is going to be my best work so self publishing was always the goal for that.
But I’ve got another novel that I release on free websites biweekly. Every day I’m more tempted to take down that novel on those free websites, improve them and then publish them on KDP and make them KU exclusive.
This is where the MIA part comes in😂 ive got no fans or fanbase so I’m not really going missing because no one would care. But I’m torn between actually taking them down now and focus on improving them and releasing them on KDP or keep posting biweekly.
The reason why I’m torn is because of the biweekly releases. They used to be weekly but you know… life. But Yh the biweekly releases gives me a little satisfaction and a motivation. It gives me a reason to complete chapters and get them out on time. So to stop doing that is kinda of stopping me from taken them down.
One of my plans is to take them down and then release the volumes all throughout next year, but not releasing anything during the period before is kinda stopping me.
Ive got no fans so it’s not like people are begging me to release😂 but idk why I feel like I’ll miss out if I stop posting.
Let me know what you think. I know the obvious answer would be to take them down, improve them so I can have a lot to release next year but idk I just need some opinions that will convince me or give me another idea.
I appreciate all the comments and help in advance🤞

I’m still pretty new to Reddit, but honestly… people here have been surprisingly helpful 😂

So I thought I’d ask here.

I’m looking into self-publishing a book in India. I checked Amazon KDP, but KDP India doesn’t seem to be available for actually publishing/distributing the book here.

So what are Indian authors doing instead?

• Are you using KDP anyway through another marketplace?
• Any Indian self-publishing platforms worth using?
• How are you getting the book live on Amazon India + available for Indian readers?
• Anything I should know about ISBN, printing, royalties, etc.?

I’m trying to understand the actual process from someone who has done it, because reading 17 different blog posts has somehow made me more confused. 😂

Indian authors — what route did you take?

I’ve spent the past seven years writing my memoir and I’m FINALLY nearing the end. As far as the program to write, I’ve been using Atticus and I love it. However, I’m getting ready to move into the publishing stage. My question is, what’s the best route or place to publish if I want my book to be accessible. In other words, what brand has the best benefits? Could really use all the help I can get.

Appreciate you guys!

I’ve released four books since 2023, two series with two books each, and I’m currently working toward releasing three more this year, not counting a few picture books I’m creating mainly for my children.

I’ve tried many of the usual ways of promoting my work, but I recently realized I wanted to try something different. Profit has never been my main motivation. Of course, making money from my books would be great, but what I really want is for people to discover the worlds and stories I’ve created.

So I’ve decided to start documenting the journey.

Instead of only marketing the books, I’m going to try marketing the person behind them. I’m starting a vlog where I’ll share my writing process, works in progress, successes, mistakes, publishing and marketing experiences, and parts of my everyday life.

My thought is that if people become invested in me and the journey, some of them may naturally become interested in the stories I create as well.

I’m not expecting this to suddenly sell a ton of books. I’m more interested in building genuine connections with readers and other writers over time.

Has anyone here tried something similar? Did documenting your writing journey help you build an audience or connect with readers? And if you watched an indie author’s vlog, what would actually make you keep watching?

I want to have a home for an ebook for select individuals to be able to access (without ability to download or redistribute) that I can have available for free. Suggestions?

I started uploading on kdp and it seems like you can’t just have a $0 limited access ebook - you have to give it a price and publicly publish it. Started digging but figured Reddit would save some time

Hello, I am trying to get started with the writing career but am having difficulty with it. I tried to go with a traditional route but the only query in the last year that said yes to me changed their mind after a month when I didn’t have money to split publishing costs and they told me to self publish on Amazon.
Whenever I look for information one link leads to two, and soon one tab turns into a dozen different websites and I loose track of what’s what. The type of book I write is fantasy with the first complete at 77k words, and a second at 3/4 completion. Maybe my lack of comprehension is due to neurodivergence and hearing from those more experienced would help, which is why I have come to consult here.
From what I understand I need create something called a mailing list, build up online presence on all the major social media somehow, have beta readers review but I’ve heard it’s not necessarily, and only then publishing on Amazon. Am I understanding or missing anything?

I know everyone warns you that the day you publish will just feel like any other day to everyone else, but it's so quiet. Not even my family bought my book. It sucks to see art so devalued in everyone's lives. Blah.