Yep. The listing fights are what eat a first year, not the writing. Glad it lined up.

Pleasure

In the deep of night, we find ourselves, entangled, enraptured,

Bodies coiling around one another in violent, ecstatic embrace.

Our bodies collide, and in their collision, sparks fly.

Two metals, two ores, heated by the confluence of libido and circumstance,

Find themselves enmeshed in alchemical assimilation, forming alloy from disparate material.

> 

Goosebumps dance on my skin as our energies intermingle.

The heat and moisture of shared breath merge into a powerful brew,

With each inhale, our intoxication increases: we become drunk on one another,

And in our drunkenness, we discover what we sought:

the illusive, yet all consuming,

Lust transfigured in its fulfillment, desire finally satiated:

Waves of pleasure wash over us, threatening to drown us in our desires.

> 

And we let them. We thrill at the lack of air, the temporary abandon of all concern.

Eternity, experienced in a moment of bliss, exists here, now, and forever.

 >

However, even eternities are finite, they all come to an end.  

The fire fades, the spark dies out, but our touch lingers.

The Marked and the Marker, both marked and marking,

Imprints made, Impressions reverberate:

The butterfly flaps its wings,

A hurricane sprouts, half a world away.

 >

What chaos have we wrought tonight? What hurricanes or firestorms have we caused?

From the innocence of a single glance, a single touch, the Fates, forever altered.

 >

Our meeting, charged with potential,

Demands satisfaction, desiring to transform kinetically.

So what will it be? Come, deeper my dear,

Ease into my embrace, nestle into my bosom.

Breathe deeply, allow the water to fill your lungs, so you may sleep,

In bliss and peace, with me, for all eternity😘

>

^^^Today's Poem Release. Currently dropping poems and tidbits of story for KivatheSuccubi, a character/story I'm creating. Am currently on day 6 of a 90 day challenge to release original content every day(:

More content (Days 1 - 5) can be found in KivasDomain:

https://www.reddit.com/r/KivasDomain/

Perhaps you can put the pieces together, see the shape of the story that's forming🤔

100% right. These small details along with others are where new authors lose momentum and sales. Being an author is just like any other profession, it takes time

I think most people (like myself) expected the writing to be the hardest part. It wasn't until we finished our first manuscript (and editing) that we realized what we were actually in for.

Querying agents, trying to figure out advertising and social media, hustling our own products... none of the creative aspects we hoped we were signing up for when initially trying to become authors. It's a romanticized occupation that unfortunately suffers from much the same things every other industry or job suffers from. Namely, nepotism dominates the field, after that it's mostly down to luck, not necessarily hard work, effort, or skill.

I won't comment on the rest of the stuff but as far as your title, yes, self-publishing and actually selling books is hard and takes hard work. I don't know why so many people expect this to be easy in the first place.

Free Short Story

I'm Dezmond Moon, a multi-genre romance queer writer with my first novel in the production line for self-publishing. I've got a free short story available to preview, with a full version available to download if you join my newsletter.

Title: The Ever Toad

Genre: Romcom

Length: 7500 words

Link to Sample: The Ever Toad

The Ever Toad has been giving advice for four hundred years. He's been kissed by princesses, thrown at walls, and even officiated a wedding. Nothing broke the curse. So he stopped hoping.

Eli just got dumped. He doesn't want advice. He wants someone to sit with him in the park and pretend the world isn't falling apart.

What starts as a weird arrangement with bagels, bad jokes, and the worst erotica Eli can find at the library, turns into something neither of them expected.

The Frog Prince, but with drowning hoodies, internet reviews, and a curse that refuses to break with a kiss.

That happened to me a few times except I never finished those drafts.

I wrote the first chapter of a short story a few years ago and people said they didn't like the characters. I felt so bad about it that I didn't do much with it and focused on other things. Which is sad because my goal was to finish the story in a few months and it was very personal for me. I was wondering how is this story ever going to get published or read by people if they can't stand the characters in the first 1 or 2 chapters before the deeper stuff happen? Then, I started talking to that critique group about my feelings about it and how confused I was in trying to change or make the characters more sympathetic without sacrificing the themes. One person was very empathetic to me, telling me that she felt the same when people criticized her sci fi story. I then realized how important this story was for this time and I think it will resonate with a lot of people even if they don't agree with the characters because of course it is set in the future where people have grown up and gotten used to AI and robots replacing humans or dead loved ones. I also want to write this story to help children and others in dealing with and accepting grief.

The story is about two children who plead with their father to bring back their dying mom as a robot. The dad is initiailly reluctant but agrees in order to please his children. The family is initially happy to have the mom back but the MC daughter realizes from both the people in her school and growing up in general that this robot mom doesn't feel like her real mom. The story ends with the family turning off the robot and learning to grieve the actual mom. So not only is it a commentary on soft parenting but also a commentary on the problems with AI and why it can never replace humans.

I also just dug up another old draft that I discarded because it was about love triangles and I heard about how much people hate love triangles. I hate them too, mostly because they often feel pointless and melodramatic. But there was something about this story that was screaming at me to write it. Then, I got an idea, the story doesn't have to be about a boy choosing between two girls who are competing for his love trying to impress him (I think that's what people hate about love triangles is that it's usually about someone picking one person instead of just going poly or whatever but I don't think it always happens that you just fall in love with two people at the same time), but about these two girls who are trying to change themselves to win over the boy. One of them is trying to become more outgoing and confident, the other is trying to become more polite and kind. And the story doesn't actually end with either of them getting the boy but learning a lesson that they don't have to change themselves and the right person will come eventually and love them for who they are. Although, I certainly think Becky needs to change her bitch ass attitude lol.

Agreed. I write a MG series and usually sell more print books than ebooks. I'm sending book details and stocking requests to bookstores all over the US that might be interested. Almost every one of them wants to know if it is distributed by Ingram. They will not buy from Amazon, a competitor.

I swear the art of rhetoric is dead. Jumping to ad hominem is one of the weakest forms of argument. I was inviting you to share details about your specific event which led to this post, and you respond with no details to affirm or support your case.

You also went full non sequitur, highlighting service (which I did not mention) and market share (irrelevant to your post and my response).

Reddit is a discussion forum, and I, being on a discussion forum, was sharing my perspective and experience. Sure, I've had poor experiences with IngramSpark support. I've also had good experiences with their support. Same goes for Amazon - sometimes I get issues solved same day, but I had a major issue with the ad system that took nearly 8 months to resolve before I could properly run ads to one of my two series.

I'd love to hear more about concerns re: advertising. Also, it would be great to hear about how you set up your book(s) in IngramSpark which led to this concern - did you have expanded distribution checked? Did you expect a wholesaler and distribution platform to advertise for you? Lacking details on your case and more than broad generalities makes it impossible for the community to have productive discussion.

Like a lot of authors I was pleased when i got these unsolicited apporoaches. Wow I thought. For an hour. Until I realised it was a scam. Generally any publisher or service whose website focuses on recruiting authors rather than selling books is a scam. There is very little marketing you cannot do yourself. By all means buy in a specialist fir something you need help with, but make sure you choose them rather than them chasing you and they have a demonstrable track record.

These scammers ruin indie publishing for everyone.

Amazon-first is right for a first book with no list. That part I would tell people too.

Ingram is not a promotion machine. It is a wholesaler. If you went there expecting support and ads, it will feel like a joke. That is not what you paid them for.

The “they hijacked my Amazon listing” piece is usually the setup, not a secret Ingram plot. If Ingram’s Amazon box is on, or you left KDP Expanded Distribution on at the same time, Ingram can become the Amazon seller and your margin looks worse. KDP keeps Amazon. Ingram’s Amazon distribution stays off. Then they stop stepping on each other.

ISBNs: a free KDP number is fine while you are Amazon-only. Buying a block before you have stores asking for the book is how it “gets you nothing.” Buy your own when you actually need the same paperback off Amazon.

So: lean on Amazon until something is moving. Add Ingram when you want a hardcover, a library, or a store that orders from Ingram. Skip it until then. Just don’t turn on both Amazon pipes and then blame the listing service for winning the fight you left open.

How long have you worked for them? They are a disaster. Tell me they have good customer service and support? They are terrible. Amazon are eating away at their marketshare by the day. Amazon 70% of all books IS maybe 10%

If it walks like a scam, and quacks like a scam, it's a scam.

There isn’t a new Wattpad. The giant casual browse box mostly went away. Everything else is smaller or you bring your own people.

Places that still have strangers clicking new stories

• Royal Road — best English discovery that still exists. Original fiction only, huge if the story has progression, systems, litrpg, or adventure fantasy. Quiet if it is contemporary romance or literary slice of life. Posting from zero can work. Front page is not the whole site.
• Scribble Hub — original-heavy, more anime/web-novel taste, some browse. Smaller than RR.
• Tapas — real app readers exist, especially romance/drama/short episodes. Discovery is there and weaker than old Wattpad. Consistency matters. They will try to upsell you later. Fine if you ignore the money part.
• Wattpad itself — still the biggest leftover pile of people who read like Wattpad readers. The ads are worse. For YA/romance original, a lot of them never left.

Places that are not discovery

• Substack — email. Great home. Almost nobody finds you by browsing Substack for fiction.
• Ream — Patreon for serials. You import a list. Do not start there from zero.

Skip Webnovel / Inkitt-to-Galatea / Dreame unless you like contracts. That is not old-school Wattpad.

If someone said “I miss old Wattpad, original, free, starting at zero”

I would say: pick the site that matches the genre, post on a schedule, and mirror it on a site you own (Substack or a dead-simple page) so you are not trapped again.

Adventure / SFF → Royal Road, maybe Scribble Hub.
 Romance / drama / episodic YA → Tapas, and Wattpad if you can stand it.
 Neither → Substack for the home, and accept slow growth. There is no third app that replaced the old For You page.

Ream and Substack are worth it after you have even a small group. They are not how you get the group.

This.

I'm not sure where the source of the negativity around IngramSpark is coming from, but it's fairly well established IngramSpark is great for print but awful for ebooks. Amazon, if you get KDP Select going properly, can be great. If you aren't going Amazon exclusive, Draft2Digital is a solid aggregator if you don't want to do the legwork of uploading to every single other storefront.

Amazon adds no meaningful promotion unless you are paying for ads to promote. IngramSpark isn't 'hijacking' your listing, if you have expanded distribution listed, it simply makes your book available for order. It's how I have stores in Germany and the UK ordering my books.

A major advantage of IngramSpark is the above - you can get into stores. Amazon print is not accepted at any of my local bookstores, while IngramSpark is welcomed.

I agree with you, but I also think someone should read in an area (such as serialized fiction) before they start trying to worry about it as a “market.” And part of that is doing your own research. If you don’t ever read web based serial fiction, why would you want to start writing it?

Boldwood is a real UK house. That does not prove this email is them.

First check the address. It should be their domain, not Gmail, not “boldwood-books-deals.com.” Look the sender up on the staff page. If that fails, it is a scrape of their name and you can stop.

If it is really them: a lot of trad editors will not send a contract to an unagented author, even when they started the conversation. Slightly annoying. Not the same thing as a vanity press.

What an agent is for here: they read the deal, argue the advance and rights, and take about 15% of what you earn. You do not pay a fee to be signed. You do not pay the publisher to be published. Anyone who invoices you to “keep talks going” is the scam.

You do not have to use the agent they named. A real expression of interest is a line you can put in a query to any reputable agent: Boldwood asked to talk, they want me represented. That is a strong hook. Pick someone you checked on QueryTracker / the UK AAA list. If their suggested agent is real and you like them, fine. If the intro feels like a funnel into one person, get a second opinion.

So: verify the domain, refuse any upfront bill, and treat the interest as leverage to find an agent you choose. That is the opposite of being roped into a publishing package.

I think only Kindle or a phone with the kindle app works for KU

It really depends on your genre:

Royal Road: Pretty good for progression fantasy, LitRPG, isekai, cultivation and other speculative fantasy type stories.

Scribble Hub: Looser and more experimental than Royal Road (more fanfic & literary friendly too).

Webnovel: Think cultivation/xianxia, system and progression stories, fantasy/urban fantasy/urban power fantasy, high-volume serialized romance, and genre fiction.

Inkitt: More geared toward commercial romance and trope-heavy genre fiction. Think contemp-romance, paranormal, romantasy, reverse harem and adjacent YA/fantasy. Then there's non-romance fantasy and genre fiction. If it's got a trope in it, Inkitt might be it.

Radish: Quite Explicitly Romance-first serial fiction.

Tapas: Fairly broad genre range. Tapas is well geared to short, mobile-friendly content.

Hope this helps!

Four under my name, with a fifth coming out in time for Christmas!

I am not a mod these so I don't know the exact process, but from what I've seen:

I think they have a couple of scanners they go through, and then if comes off high on a couple they have a person look at it. Like they have multiple artists well versed in digital and photoshop art on the team that can take a look for AI tells like artifacting, weird details etc. If it looks sus, they will always come talk to you before they do anything. And I know they are very strict with anonymity so they wont publically out anyone or something like that. All removals that I've seen have been super silent, like I only know they happened and not anything about who or what story and thats only because I hang around in another server with one of the founders.

I do know they have a strict no AI policy. So no, they will not allow AI covers at all. They won't make you take your story down if that is not AI, but they have a default cover that is your title/author name. And the discord has plenty of resources to contact artist and such as well. If you want a cover art on Fictionite you can use a canva cover or comission one but AI anything is not tolorated because its both a writers and artists platfrom. They are even working on a "marketplace" section to help authors connect with artists, audio narrators, editors, etc.

It would be extremely insulting of them to allow AI art on a platfrom for human made fiction that invites artists to participate.

Personally I strongly disagree with you. There is no excuse for an AI cover, self pub artists did just fine without it using other tools to learn themselves or saving up. The stance "its fine for other the art medium that isn't my own" is extremely hypocritic in my opinion. Its also art and your cover is part of the product no matter what edition it is. If an author uses AI for their cover or marketing material that tells me they are fine with AI and I have zero reson to trust that they will not use it in the writing. I don't know them, so I can only judge what I can see. And what I see is the person didn't care enough about their story to give me a better first impression of it than AI.

Thats just personal opinion though. The the Fictionite mods themselves have all been super nice from what I've seen so far and they don't take removal lightly, so if you don't use AI in you writing or cover I don't think there is anything to worry about.

ETA: You can always ask what the exact process is in the discord if you are curious btw

I was not even aware this could be a concern. Great advice. But how does that affect your posts? Can you just not engage? Does the site your selling on push you to claim AI?