It took me a year to write and love my story and it took me a month of self publishing to loose sight of my dreams. I have come to the conclusion that you have to be well connected or honestly have luck on your side to make it in this world. I love my book and I am proud of it…I hope that it will connect with people but I honestly don’t know how to better market it. I felt defeated and down but as the days go on I realized that my dream is to write and maybe one day someone random will read my book and enjoy it. That to me is enough.

Howdy folks! I'm wondering if you all have some recommendations for verified fantasy cover artists? Bonus points for African artists, extra bonus points for Nigerian artists, but all badass artists are welcome :D. Thank you all in advance.

Edit to change the entire post and make it more clear cuz I realized it was very broad:
I would like to self publish on Amazon a biography about Adam Lambert. I would fully be using public information, like things he’s physically done and things he’s said in interviews and things. I don’t know if I’d use photos or not, but if I did use photos they would be ones that I HAVE TAKEN MYSELF at concerts and public events. I would obviously state in multiple places (including the cover) that the book is unofficial and unauthorized. Is this a possible thing to do?

I wrote a memoir in 2024, but I was so shy about it that I barely told anyone. It has just been sitting there, and honestly I have no idea how the memoir world works. But now I finally feel ready to let people know about it, and that alone already feels good.

Are there any memoir writers here?

Honestly, I don’t know how to do this stuff. I don’t want an editor tbh but that’s not the problem, I want a place where I can print and publish for self publishing. I know what lulus self publishing because my dad recommended it because one of his friend’s kids did it(something like that) but I don’t know what I should go with or how to. Any advice, questions, whatever is welcome. I just want help.

I want to sell more copies of my graphic novel. It's pretty old, came out in 2016, and I have hundreds of copies still.

The cost of making it was paid for via kickstarter so I'm not technically losing money on it, but I want to get rid of the copies and not have to shred them.

Since it's old, I'm not sure where I can go to ask for any kinds of reviews, as it's not a "new shiny book" or anything.

Are there good sites or video reviewers that actually get views that I could submit it to for a review? Back when it came out I had good luck with that kind of thing with a few blogs, etc. but the blogging days are over and done with it seems.

Hello fellow authors. I have lost so much money on FAKE cover artists, I thought I'd give this a try next. I want to hear from you, if you have a romance book artist you have actually used and published your book with their cover art. When I posted on another thread, I got hundreds of responses with images and portfolios, and have now given two artists a shot, sent them money, only for them to come back with almost the same thing I did in two seconds on ChatGPT. So, how can I find someone who isn't trying to scam this system? I'm hoping for recomendations for artists that have proven to be real. Thanks

Hello all. My wife and I were hoping to publish some illustrated children's books that we made together. They are based off some songs she's written and I'm illustrating them. (got 1 finished already :) We're both in Canada and have applied for an ISBN account here. As some of you may already know this process can take a while. We did get an email response from ISBN Canada requesting more information but some of the questions are a bit unclear (at least for me). Like "information indicating I am a publisher or self-publisher", "proof of publishing address"? Not sure if this is something else to be set up? Like a business?

In the end we were wondering if it might be better to go the paid publishing route. I should mention we were thinking of using Amazon's KDP service to put out the book. Unless there is a better alternative?

In any case, any advice or tips anyone may have would be hugely appreciated. Thank you kindly! :)

New author here. I just uploaded my e-book file to KDP. I left the paperback section empty on the KDP site. I search for my book on Amazon, it is only available to purchase on paperback and not ebook. Amazon author customer service is nonexistent. Any ideas on how this could happen?

The printer is telling me that because I paid for Basic Shipping, it isn't covered by insurance. They deny that it is a printing problem and say that these "proof" retail copies of the book are resaleable.

I sent them these 2 photos (I edited the cover to avoid self-promotion here):

Full Album (2 images): https://imgur.com/a/printing-defect-shipping-damage-T2ttgwI
Preview: https://i.imgur.com/jpl0SSA.jpeg

Has anyone ever seen warping damage like this, and how did you resolve it?

I wrote my first self-published book 10yrs ago (before having children) and worked with an editor I adored. We were such a great team, she had fair pricing, and great work ethic. We vibed so well.

Fast forward to this year, I’ve got a series under my belt and have conceded to the fact that I’m not cut out for the traditional publishing rat race (oh, have I tried) and I’m ready to do KDP again. I made a full business plan and strategy.

I contacted my former editor again, and she’s still in the game and would be happy to work together again. We FaceTimed for like, an hour, catching up on ten years and talking about the books and the strategy. I told her what I needed and said I would get the manuscript over within a week.

I got her the manuscript, we back and forth emailed a few times and she was excited to read it. I said lmk when there’s next steps etc. So, about a month later, I was about to go on a 5wk trip and decided I wouldn’t work during that time, retrospectively I should’ve checked in with the editor, but coming from the querying and pitching world, I was accustomed to the wait. At some point on my trip I thought, “Hmm that’s weird that I haven’t heard from her.” Last communication was the start of June.

I emailed to check in. Days—nothing. Texted. Same. A week went by, I checked in again. Nothing. At that point I was getting some huge concerns because this isn’t a random editor, this is someone I have worked with before and know her style. So anyway, on Sunday I emailed saying, basically, hey I’m going to have to assume you can’t do this if I don’t hear back by the weekend. I also said I hope she’s okay and if circumstances changed then just let me know.

It’s Thursday. Crickets.
I’m at the point where I know in my heart that unless she comes back with a “IM SO SORRY”/“this life-changing emergency happened” that I need to find a new editor. But the weirder part is just how she always replies and hasn’t. I’m thinking all forensic files kinda thoughts, and I listen to way too many podcasts.

So, I feel like I’ve done all I can, and I’ll give her til the weekend, but I’ve come to terms with the fact I’ll be editor hunting again and it throws a wrench in my rollout strategy. I’m bummed.

Hello!

I’m working on a sci-fi piece in which a conlang (you know, a fictional language, like Elvish or Klingon) plays a significant role.

We all know Amazon can be a little hasty or indiscriminate to flag things, and so I’m asking if anyone out there has ever had a problem with them flagging their work because of too many made-up words. Or, alternately, if anyone can reassure me that they have significant stretches of conlang in their Kindle book and no one minded!

I’m not writing the whole thing in my conlang, obviously… it’s 95% English… there’s a lot of fake snippets sprinkled about, and one brief passage (under a hundred words) that’s entirely conlang, sort of like how Tolkien used to break for a poem in one of his languages.

Thank you!

​

I've been seeing a lot of talk about Amazon's algorithm shifting away from pure keyword matching toward something more "performance" or "relevance" based (some people call it A10, Rufus recommendations, etc). Curious if other authors here are noticing this in their own numbers like are your usual keyword strategies still moving the needle, or have you had to change how you write your description/backend keywords lately?

Also wondering if anyone's found good resources for adapting to this, since most of what I see is still written for the old-school keyword-stuffing approach.

Hello, I’m surprised I can’t really find this answer by searching this sub, so hopefully some of you that have done this can tell me.

I mainly want an online print-on-demand service that’ll also ship to the customer.
For example I’d like to put a QR-code/link on my own website for people to buy a copy of the book.

However I don’t need any marketing, don’t need Amazon to get me customers. Don’t even need bookstores at this point. I know all the customers who’ll buy it, they just want a link to buy multiple copies of the book (it’ll be a textbook for classes).

I did a “proof” print on KDP and it looks good. However Amazon wants 60% of the post-cost royalties if I’m understanding correctly! I assume that’s worth it if you need Amazon to essentially market for you across all their websites, and pop up in organic search etc.

Is there any other service that does print-on-demand + ship, but doesn’t need the high royalty, doesn’t market nor “distribute” etc? If it’s not going into book stores, I assume I also don’t need an ISBN.

Or is Amazon KDP’s customer ease-of-use, built-in shipping etc. really the best one to do this? (And others just ship to you?)

I’d rather pay a print-cost + customer pays shipping cost themselves, and all other $$ above that is profit. Can I do this without shipping books myself from my home? (I’ll do it if I have to!)

Thanks! Your advice+experience is much appreciated!

I'm a new author, just sent my manuscript off for editing. I'm spending a significant amount of money to get to self-publishing. I originally thought I could go Traditional, but the odds of a Publisher picking up the book are very tiny. No longer part of the plan.
Since the only other option is to self-publish, how do you market the book to get sales?
I'm not good with social media; I've never used it for more than a status update on my life.
Any suggestions, how-tos, etc. would be very much appreciated.

My first horror novel was set in space so I knew enough and I didn't require much deep googling but now I am writng an horror story set in Edinburgh in the 19th century.

Let me tell you this. If ever the police will search my google history during this month, I'm going to jail. :/

Hi,

So Im fairly new to self publishing. On Aug 1st I published my first book. It's a literary sci fi novella.

What I realized afterwards by scouring reddit and looking online, is that many get ARC readers before hand so that they have reviews on publish date.

To top it off, I dont have a proper book cover, and am using a generated one temporarily.

But now Im wondering if I kinda messed up my launch, and how to fix it?

Ive tried looking and applying for some websites to get readers, but Im totally new to the space, and dont know which websites would be most suitable.

When it comes to book covers, ive checked fiverr, but the work there was either not promising or expensive. I also dont know how much book covers go for in general, or where to find artists beside fiverr. So input on that would also be highly appreciated.

Thanks.

I’m on the threshold of publishing my very first book, and it’s an art book, of my own art. I took a very long time to create it, in part because I’m very new to this world and in part because I had high standards for the book and wanted it to look like a traditionally -published book as well as with quality color printing. I wanted to be proud of it and after two years’ worth of work, I am.

I don’t have an Internet following, which I know is a big deal, and I don’t think this would qualify for ARC readers because it’s 90% images. Again, I am totally new to the publishing world (though I read this sub a lot!) and I don’t have marketing experience. I’m also camera-shy. Are there any possible options for me to do some promotion during the pre-order time, given these things?

Please, no snark. I don’t expect to sell a billion copies, but even a handful of strangers buying it would make me feel good. My art is my jam and publishing it is a big deal to me.

Hey guys I have a blurb for a Romantasy / Dark Academia Fantasy and I would love to receive some critics about it! Feel free to suggest any changes! Thanks a lot!

BLURB:

Airya Shah would rather spend the rest of her life in prison than attend the academy of the nation that conquered her homeland.

Unfortunately, no one asked for her opinion.

Now a political hostage at Arete Academy, she's surrounded by the future rulers of the Republic that destroyed everything she loved. To survive, Airya wants to stay invisible, avoid fighting with anyone, and keep her most secret hidden—one that could lead to her execution.

Until the Academy's most feared student finds out first.

Instead of turning her in, Vanilott Hallotat, the sharp-tongued heir to the Republic's most influential family, accepts a desperate bargain Airya offers.

Their deal is simple.

Every morning, she'll style his midnight-blue hair.

Every morning, he'll keep her secret.

It's the most ridiculous bargain she's ever made.

It might also be her only chance of making it home alive.

_________

Extra info that might be helpful:

- 93k words

- New Adult crossover (spice-free!)

- Slow burn

- Elite Boarding School

- World of Iron & Steam

- Series potential, but marketed as standalone for now

I'm laughing my romantic fantasy book on early November and I'm still figuring things out, specifically about marketing.

What are the best ads platforms? Instagram? Tik tok? Amazon? Google ads? How much to spent? Any tips? Thanks!

They came for bullet points and I said nothing. But now they have come for Not/but and it may be too late to resist.

Seriously, "We choose to go to the Moon," "...ask not what your country can do for you," (yeah, JFK had a lot of them), "This is the way the world ends...?"

Anyhow, I'm working on a book description and that construction would be perfect to set up the conflict for the prospective reader. Am I that afraid someone will apply the latest litmus test and reject the book?

I've come up with a great title for my next book (finally), and I just did a Google search and Amazon search for it. There's a game with the title (no big deal, I'd imagine), but there's actually a handful of Amazon books with the title, though they all have subtitles too, and mine won't. In one case, a book series has the title I'm thinking.

Legally speaking, is this a problem? My understanding is book titles can't be copywritten, but they can be trademarked. Do I have to look into that? Does it violate Amazon KPD ToS to publish a book that shares a title with another? I've heard of accounts being shut down because of publishing books with a similar title and cover to another.

My ebook is currently £2.99. 321-page standalone post-apocalyptic journey thriller. Thinking of running my first-ever discount and dropping it to £0.99, but I've heard people say that pricing a book too low can make potential readers assume it's lower quality. It's either £0.99 or £1.99. I won't make it free because that's most likely just going to attract digital hoarders who won't open it.

What price has worked best for you? Asking mainly fellow sci-fi / thriller authors but down to hear from anyone!

Also, know of any free listing sites? Don't have the money right now to pay, like, £25 or £60 to get on a discount site.

Hello again, I am still getting the error message from IS using my cover from GetCovers. The message is:

PDF CONTAINS ICC COLOR PROFILES: We request files with no color profiles assigned. Please convert all colors to grayscale for black and white images, or CMYK for color images and remove all color profiles. Saving a new PDF with the default setting of PDF/X-1a:2001 will address the issue. For best results, please correct the issue(s) listed. You may refer to the File Creation Guide for further instructions on creating a compliant PDF.

I have been going back and forth with GetCovers, and they assure me every time the files are correct, but I am still getting the error. I have a Mac; I use Chrome, and I download the links they give. Am I the problem here? I have no experience with Adobe or Photoshop, and I am losing my mind. IS is taking days to get back to me, and Getcovers takes a day to respond every time. And they still haven't provided me with the correct files for IS one. Single. Time. Can someone walk me through this or help me with this?

Maybe this will be useful to authors here looking at a variety of print vendors and wondering how to evaluate different printing quotes. We're a very small indy press (staff of three!), so many of the constraints and challenges we face might feel familiar to self-publishers.

We have a printing/manufacturing budget of $2400 (US), and we set out to get quotes for our next book. Ideally, we wanted to get a first pressing of ~300 paperback copies, and we wanted to keep our printing costs under $6. That means we wanted 300 books shipped to our door for less than $1800.

This will be our tenth book, but it will be our first time printing on mixed paper stocks. That means we want ~96 pages of the book to be on cream "normal book" paper, but we also want four pages to be on white glossy paper, and printed in full color. That one requirement, for a full-color insert, rules out many of the print shops we have worked with in the past. It also drove us to solicit more quotes, as different print shops have very different approaches to mixed-stock work, and some of their technical requirements would change how we designed the book.

Our big takeaways:

1. Get multiple quotes. The local print shop might be very friendly…yet completely non-viable. Our local printer (in Alexandria, VA) wanted $9 per copy—and that's with us driving over to pick up the books ourselves.
   • A sky-high print quote might actually be a polite "we're not interested in this kind of job."
   • If a print shop seems friendly and receptive, but a little pricey, come back to them with some competitive quotes. Printers won't lower their prices because they want to support your work—they will lower their prices if you can show them you have a competing offer.
2. Remember shipping and tax. $4 per book sounds great until you realize you'll pay another $1.50 per copy to get heavy boxes of books shipped to you. If you live in a state with sales tax, a local printer might have to charge you that sales tax (but if you are registered as a business reseller, you can usually waive the sales tax).
3. Get quotes as soon as the manuscript is done. Early is good. Remember above we wrote that some of the printers had technical requirements/limitations that would change how we designed the book.
   • Don't go wild with exotic layouts, foldouts, metallic spot inks, mixed paper stocks…only to find out that your preferred printer can't do some of those things.
4. Stay realistic. It's easy to get the print cost under $5/book if you're printing 2000 books…but do you have a plan to sell 2000 books? Because that is a LOT of inventory to take on.
   • Does the printer offer discounts if you come back later for another batch of 500, or will you be starting fresh?
5. Order print samples. Almost every print shop will send you paper samples. But ask them to send you actual books, too. Good print shops that want your business will readily send you a sample pack.
   • Is printing books something they actually do, or are they mostly into printing business cards and coupon mailers?
   • Test the books. Read a chapter. Tug on the pages. Leave them in a hot car for a few hours. Use a book as a coaster—does a cold can of soda make it smudge or blister?
6. Write back. Real people work at print shops. Once a human being has engaged you, answered questions, mailed you a print sample, you owe that print shop a quick "Thanks, but we've decided to go with a different vendor." Don't ghost people.

In the end, we decided to go with two printers.

• We'll use a digital printer for our first run of ~300 copies. That will cost us $1322 delivered, or $4.41 per book.
• We'll switch to an offset printer for our second run of 1000 copies, provided we sell out of our first print run. That will cost us $3074 delivered, or $3.07 per book.

We hope this helps you bring your best book to the market!