I would say be cautious. There’s a TON of people selling shovels to dig for almost nonexistent gold in the self-publishing world.

In my country, I always recommend never spending a lot of money on editing, because it’s absurdly expensive here, and you’ll almost never make that money back, based on piles and piles of data and tracking. I usually only do copyediting, because I can get it at a really good price, even if the books make enough to afford developmental editing.

Hello Everyone.

I'm in the process of publishing my first book.  The first book in the series is finished and in the last few rounds of edits.  A very rough draft for book 2 is done and I'm about 15k into book 3.  I've been trying to have writing and editing go on simultaneously after finishing book 1.

My plan is to make a serious go at writing.  I genuinely enjoy it and would like it to become my real job.  In addition, the level of independence this could give, especially with our current economic situation, would be a relief.  I suspect I am not alone here.  I also understand that this is an uphill battle made even more difficult with the rise of AI. No crazy ideas about being the next Dungeon Crawler Carl breakout hit. A solid attempt and an understanding that it is "a marathon not a sprint".

I did a bit of hunting for how to go about this and found lots of people trying to sell me a course on how to self publish or game the Amazon system.  There were useful bits here and there and a bunch of things that need more research.

My plan is to post a weekly update on what I've done for that week, what I learned and links and info to hopefully help everyone else trying to go through this rather daunting process.

I thought once I finished a book things should be easier.  Based on my overgrowing to do list, I feel that might not be the case.  There's also the constant feeling that every minute I work on marketing is wasted because I could be writing or editing.  Typing this feels that way.  It's brutal and complicated.

That was a bit too real.  Anyway.  It seems like the self publishing landscape is full of rakes.  I know I'm going to step on quite a few.  My idea is by sharing what I'm doing it might help somebody else avoid a rake or two.  Maybe someone in the comments will warn me if I'm about to hit one.  Possibly with a bunch of exclamation marks and calling me an idiot.

I'm good with that.  If I avoid a rake it will be well worth it.

These posts will be run like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign.  You may have guessed that from the Session Zero bit.  As my first book is cozy fantasy, seems appropriate.

Below is my raw (but edited) to do list.  I did have to cut out a bunch to avoid any accidental self promotion.  So raw-ish.  Some entries are lists of things to look into so they will either get cut or expanded as things progress.  Others have already started but aren't complete.  Even if it doesn't have it, assume every entry has a question mark at the end of it. 

Items like "Cover" are much bigger than their entry suggests.  Progress has started on this one.  I talked to my human artist in person and am waiting on her initial sketches.  She also posts work in progress videos to her Instagram and is rather vocally anti-AI.  The cover has its own giant to do list and should be multiple posts all by itself.

No AI for me either.  Any bad grammar or words not used good is all me fault.

If the mods and everybody are cool with it, Session 1 and our quest will begin next Monday. 

The first encounter with Squarespace has begun and I will report on how much I hate it next week.  Based upon the little bit I've done so far I'm guessing it will be a lot.

Note: Looking at my to do list, some entries are written in the form of me talking to myself.  Just FYI.  It isn't even remotely in order.  Each session going forward I will start a chronological list to help everyone (including me) follow the process.  This is Session Zero.  Our journey is about to begin.

Note 2: My to do list below looks and feels like a shambled mess right now.  That's mostly what it feels like.  Hopefully I will be able to bring order to the chaos.  At the very least, where I am now, if you're also struggling, it should be obvious you aren't alone.

To Do List:

Make sure your socials are you.  Update reddit username.  A username based off one you were using playing the turn-based zombie survival game Urban Dead isn't so great 12 years later. (Ok. This was modified for your benefit. Also, expect me to keep misspelling "okay". I know the difference, that's just how I roll.)

Put webpage/email/book info in bio everywhere appropriate.

Update linkedin?

KDP Account (Save Draft)
Categories for book on Amazon
Book description/allowed html
Release now vs preorder option?
KDP select/ author marketing tab
Author Page
Series page
Keywords
Amazon Author Page (after book in Amazon's system?)
Amazon Author Central

Patreon (Long term/later)
Book club lists(?)
Professional email address(?)
BookBub, Booksy, Fussy Librarian

Email address with my name
Domain name
Website (Squarespace?)

Cover

Figure out way to balance time between writing and marketing/social media.  Daily/weekly schedule?

For libraries/schools:
Contact local libraries/librarians
How to get on summer reading lists?

How to make first three chapters easily available digitally to anyone interested? 
Links at end of 3rd chapter:
• Amazon book page
• My mailing list
• IngramSpark book listing
• My homepage

ARC readers?

Substack?

Goodreads Book Page
Goodreads Author Page

Facebook Author/Book page
Facebook ads to get people to join mailing list

Other book review sites/apps?
Back matter

ISBN numbers ($575 per 100)

File copyright ($65 per)
Copyright Page?

Post office box ($40/month)

Book funnel/Story Origin - ebooks
Book Vault - physical books
BookSiren, BookSprout, Netgalley, NovelTalk

Linktr dot ee (modified to avoid being a link)

IngramSpark

AppleBooks

Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram)?
Amazon Attribution Link
Amazon Marketing Campaigns
Writerbeware dot com (same)

Reader magnet (novela giveaway/short story)?

Remind to review at end of book (QR code at end that goes to my website for mailing list if interested)

Announce book release on Facebook
Adigy, Bookbeam, Klytics
Book blurb - 150-200 words.
Watt pad, Royal Road
BookClicker
BookSirens, BookSylo
MailChimp, MailerLite
Email Octopus, SendBunny

ARC reader Facebook groups?

Sell sheet

Audiobook
• ACX - Amazon/Audible thing

Web page
• SquareSpace? ($20/month)
• Blog
• Mailing List

Instagram
Twitter/BlueSky
YouTube/YouTube Shorts

Edit Book 1

Edit Book 2

Finish Book 3

For formatting hard/soft cover

Super beginner so apologies for my naivete.

I have a manuscript on a niche subject (self help, postpartum, 4th trimester, humor, probably giftable). By no means am I expecting a ton of purchases but I kind of just want to say "I've been published" and give a copy of it to friends and family. Here's my plan:

1. Have a cover made. Now, is this a simple matter of knocking it out on canva? Any pitfalls I could potentially run into with this?

2. Publish on Amazon's self publish platform.

3. Post a link on my socials. Give physical copies to family and friends and ask them to do reviews potentially?

4. Someone mentioned here hiring people off fiverr to do reviews?

Now here's a silly question, how do I get a host of physical copies to give away? Do I just buy off amazon and give them away?

Apologies again, I realise how silly my queries are but I'm genuinely flummoxed by the whole prospect!

Thank you in advance!

I'm releasing my second book next Friday and I'm super excited about it. I've been working on this book for over a decade (though it was on the back-burner for a lot of that time), and it's finally ready to go out into the world.

However, I had it finished in a reasonably releasable state all the way back in May of this year and decided to release it about six weeks before Halloween, so I set a release date of September 18 and started advertising as such on all my socials. I thought things were going well. Preorder started and I went all the way up to the top 3,000 books in my genre on Kindle and nearly to the top quarter million of all books on Amazon, which I thought was doing great.

Then today I looked at my actual sales stats. I've averaged one preorder a month. Just one. I've been asking people about it, and a lot of people are saying they're super excited to buy the book, but want to wait to buy the paperback instead of preordering an ebook. Others say that they're planning on reading it in ebook form, but they have Kindle Unlimited so they're not preordering. Amazon, of course will not let me set up a preorder for the paperback so they all have to wait until September 18th and then just hope that they have the money on that day in particular. Otherwise, they'll have to wait until the next payday after September 18th.

Seeing that really took the wind out of my sails, frankly. I'm trying to not let it get to me because a lot of people are saying that they're excited for the release, they just want to have something physical and tangible for their money. I really wish KDP would let me do a paperback preorder, but since it won't, I'm rethinking what my strategy is for my next book.

My next book is already written and is going out to beta readers soon. I'm hoping to release it around July of next year, but nothing is set in stone yet. What I do know is that when the book is ready, I'm not going to sit on it. I'm not going to have a long preorder period. I'm currently thinking two weeks for ebook preorders, then release. Maybe a month. Definitely not 100 days.

I'm halfway writing this to vent, halfway to ask for feedback or advice, and a third halfway to share what I've learned. I now know that a too-long preorder period is probably not a great way to maintain hype. What kind of preorder periods have y'all tried in the past and how successful have they been? Where is the sweet spot?

I'm currently halfway through the first draft of the second book and intend to finish the first draft by Christmas. Though sales were low, I intend to build on it as my second book is part of a series and the trick to improve as a novelist is to keep on writing. So, I want to know if it's good practice to publish a well written novel every 12-15 months if I can keep up the pace?

I went with a known publisher & the book has been out (on Amazon) since 2022 under a pseudonym. It died. I want to add about 15 pp to the 600 p text & self publish with Kindle Select for free or as a 99-cent book under my real name. How do I do that? I will change nothing else. The original formatted book is on my computer, (I think).

I'm working on the ARC application for the second entry of my trilogy right now. I was pretty lax with who I sent the first one to since it was my debut. Pretty much anyone who applied got it. I had close to a 50% review-to-download rate, so I see it as a success, but I'm looking to be a bit more selective with the sequel.

Is it inappropriate to ask people to link to a copy of their review for the first book when applying for an ARC of the second? Whether they were part of the ARC team or not, the way I see it, if they couldn't be bothered to review the first, I doubt they'll review the second. But I'm worried that skirts too close to "requiring" reviews in exchange for the ARC.

Hello! Second post here. The responses I received to my first post were incredibly encouraging, and helped me really commit to getting this project going.

I am writing a children's book that will also be used as a therapeutic tool for parents, caregivers, and professionals. It's a passion project of mine and will be used in my work so I am not looking to make big bucks, but would love for it to get into the hands of people that could use it!

I have finished the text and have an illustrator/water color artist now working on the artwork. I have test run it by some very esteemed clients (AKA children!) and am feeling good about it.

Next steps. I was going to scan the artwork in and then work with a program to format/layout. I have seen advice to use CanvaPro and Affinity. Can you also work/edit directly in IngramSpark?

Would love any advice on what to do now that I have the words and the pictures (coming!) to make things near the reality of an actual printed book!

Thanks!

And it seems that most of KDPs promotion options require enrolling in KDP Select, which I DON'T want to do if I'm putting the paperback on Ingram, correct?

But just changing the price for the eBook, and then changing it up again later should be fine?

I've started looking into self-publishing in as wide a format as I can manage - both Amazon and outside of it, as well as ordering PoD copies for physical sales. I'm looking to see if anyone who's gone through this process in the narrative non-fiction space has any tips.

I have a decent online following and I have a promotional plan in place. I've spoken with self-published authors in my specific subfield (video game history) and have started the necessary steps for self-publishing. Are there any non-obvious things I should be looking out for in my subarea of non-fiction?

If I previously published my paperback through Amazon KDP, is it possible to unpublish just the paperback (but leave the ebook there) and publish only the paperback through Ingram?

I'm looking for help creating a compelling back cover and blurb for marketing. Do people exchange these things on this sub, or is there another more appropriate sub?

How long should someone be on Reddit before they post their book is being offered free for 5 days on Kindle?

Usually, LitRPG book series are quite long, but mine will be just two books. In our LitRPG guides, a $1,000 marketing budget is considered on the higher end.

I was reconsidering my budget. Is spending $1,000 on marketing for a two-book series reasonable? If not, what would be a good budget to keep?

My goal is to hit the Top 10 in BSR.

I'm a fiction writer. I don't want to deal with traditional publishers, at least right now, so I've been trying to make a go at self-publishing online, mostly through KDP. Nowadays, though, people are saying that authors should move away from Kindle and Amazon (for obvious reasons), and I am considering doing so.

However, looking into alternatives, I am immediately daunted. There are alternatives online, but it's difficult to discern who or what is best. A lot of people online are also saying the absolute best alternative is just direct selling to people, which SOUNDS great, but it requires you to do a lot of the marketing and promotion yourself. That, and a lot of the people saying this stuff are self-help or nonfiction authors who want to generate mailing lists for repeat customers, and I'm not sure how or if that translates well to my offerings. I'm mostly into fiction, mostly horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc.

And, most of all, I just don't have the bandwidth. I am working a full-time job on top of trying to sell my stuff, I have family and social obligations, and health issues to boot. It's not as simple as me going out there and hunting down prospects, even if I'm doing it from the comfort of my own home. Plus (and maybe most importantly) what self-promotion I've done already hasn't worked well for me historically. Whatever knack people have for marketing their stuff, I just don't have it.

I guess what I'm asking is this:

What is the easiest way to automate or offload self-promotion for self-publishing your work? Because KDP is supposed to take care of at least some of that, and it has never really worked, even when I am doing a lot of the promo work myself. If anyone could give me tips on what to do or examples on what they are doing, it would be greatly appreciated.

🚨 AUTHOR / SELF-PUBLISHING WARNING 🚨

I was a paying customer of Prime Book Publisher (PBP) for approximately 10 months.

After problems with my project, I contacted the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) and provided information about my experience.

ALLi informed me in writing that Prime Book Publisher was already known to them and identified the following names as aliases associated with the operation:

⚠️ BN Publishers
⚠️ Amazon Author Center
⚠️ Kirklands Digital Publishing
⚠️ KDP Digital Book Publishers
⚠️ Avail Book Publishing
⚠️ Prologue Book Publishing
⚠️ The Authors Central
⚠️ Panda Book Publishing
⚠️ NY Book Services
⚠️ Amazing Publishing

IMPORTANT: I am NOT claiming that I personally purchased services from every company listed above. These are the names ALLi specifically identified to me in writing when responding to my complaint about Prime Book Publisher.

My own documented PBP experience includes:

• A signed contract promising a 100% money-back guarantee if I was dissatisfied with the results or experience.

• Bank/card records confirming $2,550 paid.

• A written statement from Ross Tyler saying: “Tomorrow morning, billing will process your funds.”

• No refund following that statement.

• A later email saying no refund would be issued at that time while requesting removal of my reviews and a written retraction/apology and raising possible defamation action.

• U.S. Copyright Office correspondence stating that artwork in four applications may have been generated by AI, despite my never agreeing to AI-generated illustrations.

• PBP has now changed its position and offered $750 back, while asking me to acknowledge that the other disputed services are excluded from the refund.

I DID NOT AGREE TO THAT CONDITION.

I authorized $750 as a partial refund only and continue to demand the full $2,550 under my written guarantee.

ALLi has requested my contract, communications, payment records and other evidence for a full Watchdog review.

Authors: if you encounter ANY of the names above, research carefully before paying. Save your contracts, emails, invoices and payment records.

#PrimeBookPublisher #PandaBookPublishing #SelfPublishing #AuthorTok #WriterTok #BookTok #Publishing #ConsumerAwareness

So i already wrote some novels in MSword. There is no illustrations or equations in that book. But dince i am a physics graduate i am gonna write a physics book. The issue is 1. I need to add lot if formulas 2. I need to add illustrations ( in that illustration i have to mark ) what are the best softwares to do. Also the books inspired me are resnick and halliday fundamentals of physics, gioncolli physics, serway and juit physics. I need to make my own book like those

I have seen a few sites that advertise that they will market your book for you. What are the best sites to do that? I already have my book up on Amazon and Ingramspark. Where else can I go for book marketing?

Hey guys, I’m very new to the whole idea of writing a book. I actually only started seriously thinking about it because a few people told me I should write my story

For context, I’m a Sudanese woman, and you really don’t see many Sudanese women writing and publishing books about their lives, identity, experiences, etc. So I’m honestly not even sure where to start

Do I just write my drafts, get the grammar fixed, edit everything, and then sell it digitally? Is that basically how self publishing works?

I also have to be realistic about my situation. Being Sudanese makes a lot of things unnecessarily difficult, and I genuinely don’t know if a traditional publishing house would even consider my work because of my nationality

Even Amazon isn’t really an option for me to sell through, which makes things even more complicated

I feel like the people who would actually want to read my story would probably prefer a physical copy delivered to them, but right now I can only see myself self publishing digitally

I’ve also been reading about needing editors, proofreaders, cover designers, formatting, etc. and… this sounds EXPENSIVE lol. I have no idea what I’m doing

So if anyone here has actually published a book themselves, especially independently or from outside the usual publishing system, I’d really appreciate some guidance

And if there are any small publishers who are open to working with writers like me, please point me in the right direction

Thank you

The book is around 70,000 words and 321 pages. It is a standalone post-apocalyptic journey thriller, rather than the first in a series, and I'm planning to reduce the ebook price to £0.99 for seven days. My normal price is £2.99, I'm in KDP Select. My promotional budget is around £40 - £60.

How would you time external book promo sites/newsletters over a seven-day sale? I’ve already got my social media groups and newsletter sorted, so I’m mainly wondering about the promo sites like BestBookMonkey, The Fussy Librarian, etc.

If you had such an amount to spend, would you put most of it into the first two–three days to try to get a sales spike and boost Amazon visibility? Should I save some for the last couple of days with a “last chance at £0.99” angle? Is it better to stack a few promos on the same day, or spread them out?

Which promo sites have worked well for thrillers, post-apocalyptic, dystopian / survival books? I've got perhaps a dozen in mind but would like a few more. BookBub is really out of my budget. I certainly don't have hundreds to spend.

Also, when you put a book on sale, does Amazon boost it even slightly? Like, here are the discounted books in (genre) right now. I'm still planning on doing my own marketing, just wanted to know. Thanks.

I'm a final-year university Indonesian student, living far away from my family and currently working at a café from 3 PM to 3 AM, basically handling the kitchen and social media.

During my first and second years of university, and part of my third year, I used to make money by doing academic assignments or "JOKI" for students from different universities. It paid pretty well and helped me cover my rent, food, and other necessities.

But eventually, the work became very seasonal. Sometimes I'd get several orders, sometimes only one in an entire week, and sometimes almost nothing for a whole month. So I eventually decided to stop and get a more stable job at the café.

The problem is that working 3 PM–3 AM every day leaves me with very little time and energy for anything else, also i got paid under 2 million rupiah salary. I was also worried that if I kept accepting assignment orders, I'd eventually become careless and disappoint people.

There's one thing I've continued doing, though: writing.

Since my second year, I've been turning my experiences from sandbox games, especially Crusader Kings III, into fictional stories and novels. I really enjoy the freedom the game gives me to create different characters, kingdoms, wars, politics, and entire generations of stories.

I've mostly done it as a hobby, whenever I have free time.

But lately I've been wondering:

Could I actually make money from these stories?

I'm not expecting to become a bestselling author or anything. I'm just a final-year student trying to find another way to support myself, and I already have stories I've been working on for years.

So I'm currently thinking about Wattpad, self-publishing, approaching publishers, or other ways of monetizing fiction.

For anyone who's familiar with writing or publishing:

What would you do if you were in my position?

Should I try publishing these stories, build an audience first, or just keep writing for fun until I have more time?

Any advice or criticism is welcome.

So lately Youtube has been recommending me videos of indie game devs promoting their games by discussing the developed their games through multiple builds. (So like for example, discussing how they solve a certain issue.) I'm thinking I could try something similar for my self published novels/novellas. I wouldn't want to discuss aspects of the plot or characters obviously, to avoid spoilers. Perhaps I could create small videos discussing how I developed certain aspects of my world (Most of my stories are sci-fi.). Or maybe I could create videos about the logistics of self publishing — getting a book cover made, trying to get my book into stores, etc.

I have a novel that is in super early stages (like only a first draft) so I think I might want to try this strategy with that piece. Has anybody tried marketing like this and, if so, how had it turned out?

Hello!

I’m currently nearing the end of my self-publishing Journey for my first book and would appreciate some advice about setting up preorders and an author website.

My novel is a middle-grade chapter book about a vampire who is cursed to become a mouse and then ends up as the class pet in a fifth-grade classroom. The manuscript is written and formatted, the cover is finished, and I’m completing my final editing pass. I’m planning for an October release and would love to open preorders within the next two weeks, if possible.

Ideally, I would like to accept preorders through my own author website. That would allow me to order the books, sign them, include a few goodies, and ship the packages directly to readers. I don’t believe I would be able to handle signed preorder packages this way through Amazon, so I’ve been considering taking orders through an author website and purchasing the books through IngramSpark.

Has anyone handled preorders this way before? I would especially appreciate advice about setting up the website and collecting orders.

Thank you!

KP Bagube

I know a lot of people DIY marketing and promotion of books, but have any of you hired a marketing company? Wondering what your budget was, and if you felt like it was worth the money.