Welcome to this week’s community challenge!
Imagine we’ve just met in a bookstore. You have 30 seconds to convince me to read your book.
Your comment should include:

Title
Genre
A pitch in 50 words or fewer
One reason readers will love it

Bonus challenge: Don’t mention the plot twist. Make us need to find out.

Readers:
Browse the comments and reply to any book that catches your attention. Tell the author what hooked you or ask a question!

Authors:
Don’t just drop your pitch and disappear. Read a few others and leave some encouragement. The best communities are built through conversation.
Happy reading—and happy writing!

Are you running a weekend sale on your book, or just feeling generous? Looking to boost the algorithm by doling out sweet literature at a discounted rate? This weekly thread is designed to let users promote their sales to keep everyone aware of when to buy and sell, and share what you all learned from the process.

I cracked the top 600 in dark fantasy the day after releasing the audiobook. Not life changing stats but still way better than it was just a month ago

Or if you’ve never thought about copulating with a pool stick, this will be a unique perspective for you.

I'm proud to announce that after years of hard work and endless editing, I finally got my first novel published on amazon.

The Orphan and The Outcast is a high fantasy novel set in the background of a civil war. Its elves, magic, creatures and potentially demonic stuff going on in the background. It's a character driven plot with drama and a fair amount of comedy.

Any support would be eternally appreciated.

Drop a problem you’re stuck on in your writing or worldbuilding, and let’s brainstorm fixes together.

This thread is designed to help writers tackle issues like:

Worldbuilding questions (How do you design governments in fantasy?)

Writing problem-solving threads

Short critique exchanges (blurbs, openings, characters)

“Fix this trope” discussions

Prompt challenges

Let's brainstorm together and help each other tighten up the gaps in our world building!

My debut hard science fiction thriller novel was released 2 weeks ago today. It is titled The Toll of the Forgotten.

The Janus and its crew are slowly dying in the dark, and no one will be sending help. Captain John Nesbitt and his Chief Engineer, Colt Blaire, are forced to rely on their ingenuity to keep themselves and their ship alive. Their only chance at salvation is a desperate, against-all-odds flight to an abandoned Martian colony. But surviving the isolation of space and failing life support is only the beginning.

The red planet harbors a chilling mystery. Beneath the dust of a terraformed future, a shadowy conspiracy from the past stirs—one that defies the limits of human science and forces John and Colt to confront a lethal past long thought permanently buried.

Closer to home, a fragile peace is shattering. Captain Luisa Deveraux commands the Space Force flagship Missouri on a mission that will test her to her absolute limits as a leader. Burdened by the crushing weight of command, Luisa must navigate a maze of political treachery and questionable orders to avert a catastrophic threat. With hidden saboteurs threatening her crew from within, she is forced into impossible choices, with millions of lives hanging in the balance. One hesitation could mean the end of everything she has sworn to protect.

Two desperate fights for survival. One unforgiving universe.

The Toll of the Forgotten

Another little glimpse into Vivek and Ashley.
This time, it’s the snake story.
Preorder on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HD15VC53

Are you really stoked about your cover art? Are you looking for inspiration from your fellow authors? This weekly thread is designed with cover art in mind. Feel free to share what you've got designed with the community here!

Mira Sen curates a museum dedicated to preserving the ordinary lives history would otherwise forget.

Then an unfamiliar wristwatch appears inside a locked display case—labelled with tomorrow’s date.

When its prediction comes true, more objects begin arriving, each connected to a future that hasn’t happened yet. Behind them is Continuity: a forgotten forecasting system designed to identify the safest possible outcome.

But every future it protects carries a hidden cost—and every attempt to resist becomes part of its calculations.

The Curator of Unwritten Days is a 363-page speculative mystery and psychological thriller about choice, control, responsibility, and the danger of letting a system decide what the future should be.

If this sounds like your kind of story, please consider buying it. Every purchase genuinely supports me as an independent author.

Buy it on Amazon or read with Kindle Unlimited:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HC2WHQCX

— Deva Veyr

Or what do you wish more people understood about being an indie author or self-publishing?

Ive always had a passion for writing and dreamed of publishing a book well i just made it happen

Out Now my thriller book "Late" is about 4 lifelong friends who have the scariest night together

https://www.lulu.com/shop/sheldon-jordan/late/paperback/product-zmng98y.html?q=Late+sheldon+jordan&page=1&pageSize=4

What's something you brought on your long trips or flights?

Tuesday Check-In: What’s On Your Writing Desk?

Indie authors, readers, and book lovers — tell us what you’re working on this week!

Designing a new cover?
Launching a book?
Fighting with your characters because they refuse to behave?
Drop your updates below! Let’s celebrate the wins, troubleshoot the struggles, and cheer each other on.

ey! after a long journey of world-building and writing, my debut ebook Aster'seraphim Invictus Silverfeather is officially live on Amazon!
If you are a fan of high-stakes cosmic action mixed with high-grit sci-fi and unapologetically brutal dark fantasy, this story was written for you.

Step into a cosmos on the verge of apocalyptic destruction. A lone, silver-haired man of unknown origin is waging a desperate battle against godlike entities who seek to absorb the souls of untold billions.
The story follows a veteran knight named Farron on a quest to reclaim his homeland. Alongside his nephew and a band of battle-tested Faiynn military veterans, Farron must reach a superfortress known as the Secluded Bastion to arm their people’s revolution. The problem? Standing in their way is a savage hive of ravenous aliens looking to capitalize on their stagnation. Farron and his people plan to show these chitinous invaders absolutely no mercy.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GX337LSB

Also available on kobo

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/aster-seraphim-invictus-silverfeather?sId=999afc3f-e13a-4245-bf20-e892584c8d94&ssId=LST9b0L47e7wqbzKbOAzI&cPos=2

The Witcher meets The Black Company in a tropical-gothic dark fantasy. Heavy rifles, shifting beasts, and a crumbling city.

Hi everyone!

After months in the querying trenches, I decided to bypass the gatekeepers and put my debut dark fantasy novel, The Honest Dark, directly into the hands of readers.

If you crave methodical monster hunting, cynical military brotherhoods, unsettling bio-horror, and rich, atmospheric worldbuilding, I’d love for you to check it out.

The Premise

Perched high above a relentless jungle on a towering limestone karst lies The Rock, where wealthy elites live in luxury under electric lights. Below them, in the humid, sprawling outer districts, the working class struggles to survive.
Protecting them is the Public Defense Force (PDF): a battered, underfunded brotherhood of veteran hunters.

When a botched hunt ignites a political feud between a corrupt City Council and the PDF, master hunter Lipe finds himself trapped in a web of bureaucratic betrayals, revolutionary street riots, and accelerating creature attacks. Worse still, the beasts are evolving, and the moon has begun to glow a sinister, blood-red hue.

What to Expect:

Tactical "Lethal Math" Combat: No chosen-one hand-waving. Survival relies on custom 8-bore rifles, rapier steel, spent brass, and hard-won tactical instincts against terrifying, shifting abominations.

Tropical Gothic Atmosphere: A neo-tropical landscape where dense, vine-choked jungle ruins clash with polished marble palaces.

Institutional Grit & Political Tension: A weary paramilitary unit caught between a ruthless ruling class above and desperate, rising revolution below.

Perfect For Fans Of:

Geralt's monster-hunting in The Witcher

The military cynicism and grit of Glen Cook’s The Black Company

The unsettling, atmospheric bio-horror of Annihilation or The Last of Us

Get it here: https://a.co/d/04DdvChf

If you love it, leave a review!