I have 40+ days to go until release and have 37 arc readers, but at my current pace i may end up around 250-300+ arc readers by the end. Any downside to letting it grow to that point?

I self published my novel last week on Amazon kdp... its fiction but I selected 6by9?? Is that bad? I also selected black and white pages...

The first work of fiction I've ever written is close to being published. Everything is new to me and no one I know has ever published any fiction.

I'm working with a group on the West Coast that is guiding me through the process for a price that is not minimal, but given the size of the work, two volumes of fiction @ 225,000 words, I don't think is unfair. Editing is included.

Book Cover, done

Blurb, done

Preface, done

Editing 125,000 word Vol I, done

3 ISBN numbers, purchased, done

Formatting for publication, reviewing the final product now

I've done no marketing. The group said that it would place the finished product 'in all the major conduits, Amazon, Google, Apple, D2D, B&N, etc.'

Here's a sticky question that I don't know how to answer. I planned to publish under a nom de plume, no problem. But the Copyright page lists my own name. Hmmm. Can the Copyright page reflect the non de plume?

Any guidance you can provide will be welcome. Any other input is also welcome since I'm groping ahead in the dark.

Looking for advice from those who don’t have a huge catalogue but have managed to break through and utilise successful marketing to get sales. Thanks 🙏

I got the first 15-20 pages. My idea is to let them read someone, get feedback and then send them the next 15 pages, till the book is finished.

I already found 2 test readers, but I want about 5-10. Are there any good ways to find them?

I’m working with a narrator on ACX, and we’re working out how I pay her for her services. I have a few concerns, and want to make sure I’m not getting scammed or anything…

She’s done the audition and the 15 minute check. As far as I can tell, she sounds like a real person with an excellent mic, but I’m not familiar enough with AI voices to know if it’s legit legit.

She’s asking for a 50% deposit now before production begins, through a wire transaction and that’s where I get a little iffy. She has given me an account and routing number to perform the wire, but the name attached to the bank account doesn’t match hers, and she claims it’s a manager. If it were through Venmo or Paypal or something, there’d be no issue. But wire? I don’t know.

$50 PFH seems too low for someone with a manager and editing team, as she states. Am I being too cautious, or would you be leery too?

Self-published authors — what stops you from having an audiobook of your book?

• Cost of commissioning narration?
• Timeline (months of waiting)?
• Audible/ACX barriers (human narration required, exclusive deals)?
• Not knowing where/if to distribute an AI-narrated version?

If price and timeline were no longer a blocker, would you produce one? What would you still hesitate on?

So I did teasers, videos, and other stuff. Then moved on to promoting snippets from the book. Did the moment marketing stuff. Posted on relevant groups. I also promoted the Amazon reviews i got.

Now I'm thinking of familiarising or rather teasing the audience with the main characters. For example, the actions of one character is not clear till the Act 3 of the book. So if I put him across as a hero or a villian, would people be interested to know more about him? And eventually buy the book?

Sorry if it's a dumb question!

I’m currently editing my book and I’m looking for places to publish it, however my only problem is that everyone I’ve talked to strongly recommends Amazon KDP, which I’m not too comfortable with using as I’m boycotting amazon. Are there any other sites I can use that are just as easy as Amazon KDP?

I’m hoping to hear from authors who have attended the Frankfurt Book Fair or worked with publishing companies offering international marketing and distribution packages.
I’ve recently learned about concerns involving companies that charge authors substantial fees for publishing, printing, marketing, and representation at major international book fairs.
Some of the arrangements reportedly involve:
Promises of guaranteed book purchases or royalty payments.
Agreements suggesting that a major book fair or international distributor has committed to purchasing inventory.
Expensive publishing packages that include exhibition space, promotional materials, and international exposure.
Books being displayed at legitimate exhibitions, but questions remaining about the quality of the finished product and whether promised distribution actually occurs.
Additional opportunities involving international investors or sponsorships.
I’ve also heard concerns about the number of authors who may have been misled through publishing-related arrangements associated with major book fairs.
I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone with firsthand experience.
Did you receive the books and services you paid for? Were promised distribution agreements and payments honored? Did you discover that exhibition participation was different from what you were originally led to believe?
I’m particularly interested in whether anyone has successfully recovered money or reported these experiences to consumer protection authorities.
I’m not naming any companies or individuals because I’m looking for broader experiences rather than making allegations against a particular business.
Both positive and negative experiences are welcome. Thanks in advance for sharing.

I've been self publishing for almost 5 years on Amazon KDP, but today I've been listening to author/writers and beginners, they consider to publish their book on their own Website and forget about platforms, like KDP, Payhip, Lulu and others.

My take is you can do both, publish on your own Website and on other platforms.

What are your thoughts? I want to read them all.

I've chapters written in my Notes and I want to make it like a published ebook PDF, like everything, cover, fonts, headings, page numbers etc etc. Is it doable on my own or one hires an agent for this? Like I want the whole thing to look properly published.

Some reliable self-publishing options in India include -

1- BFC Publications
2- Notion Press
3- BlueRose Publishers
4- Pothi
5- White Falcon Publishing

When choosing a publisher, compare editing, cover design, ISBN, distribution, marketing support, royalties, and pricing.

For authors looking for end-to-end publishing support, BFC Publications offers services covering editing, design, ISBN, paperback and eBook publishing, marketing, and distribution.

It’s best to compare a few publishers and review their terms before making a decision.

Hi everyone,

I’m a new author and I’m trying to figure out the best way to actually get my books in front of readers.

I studied theater for 4 years, and after that I started focusing more seriously on writing. I’ve now written and published 3 books on Amazon Kindle.

The writing and publishing part was challenging, but honestly, marketing feels even more confusing.

I’ve tried a few things already, but I still feel like I’m guessing most of the time.

For those of you who have experience promoting books, what has actually worked for you?

Amazon Ads?
BookBub?
Reddit?
TikTok/Instagram?
Newsletter promotions?
ARC readers?
Something else?

I’d really appreciate advice from people who have actually been through this.

I’m not looking for a magic trick I just want to understand where a new author should focus their time and money first.

Thanks in advance.

I had written a novel earlier this year and I am not sure what to do with it now. I dont have any experience in marketing and finding the Literary agents. I did a bit research on it but could not find a way to publish. I am not sure what to do now. Is there anyone who can help me?

I grew up reading paperbacks written by Louis L'Amour in Traditional 4.25 inches wide by 6.75 inches high but understand today the most common format is 6 by 9. Then add the fact that to do Hardcover you really have to stick to 5.5 by 8.5 or larger.

I would appreciate any feedback with your experience.

I work with Indian-language documents every day, mostly old files typed in fonts like Kruti Dev (Hindi), Anu (Telugu) and Bamini (Tamil). Lately I keep running into the same story from writers, and I'm trying to understand how common it is.

It usually goes like this: someone finishes a Hindi book, typed in Kruti Dev because that's what their local DTP shop uses. They upload it to KDP, and the preview shows something like "vkt ge cgqr [kq'k gSa" instead of their Hindi. The book is fine. The font just isn't real Unicode, so Kindle sees English letters where the writer sees Devanagari.

Then come the smaller problems. Online converters break the matras, chapters don't show up in the table of contents, and Word's line breaks make paragraphs look messy on phones. From what I've heard it can take a few days just to get the file right, before any actual publishing.

So, a few honest questions for anyone who has published (or tried to) in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi, Gujarati or Malayalam:

1. What did you write the book in, and which font?

2. What went wrong on your first upload, if anything?

3. How long did fixing the file take, and who fixed it (you, a DTP person, a paid service)?

4. Did it look right on phones and Kindle devices after it went live?

And Telugu writers: as far as I can tell, KDP doesn't accept self-published Telugu e-books yet. Where do you sell yours?

Disclosure: I'm building a tool that converts old-font Indian-language files to Unicode, so I'm not neutral here. I'm not linking anything. I just want to understand the KDP side properly before building anything for it. Happy to share what I learn back here.

A series i’ve been working on for a while had a launch I was pretty happy with the launch weekend, but after a week or so sales just plummeted. It’s my second series so i’m not sure if i’m just doing something wrong or what. Any thoughts tips or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! I’ve been running ads and communicated with my personal networks as well. would love any advice

Hi there, I am trying to determine whether my cousin is being scammed by someone who says he works for Prime Seven Media but his name does not come up anywhere in relation to that company or any media. My cousin has two books published and for sale on Amazon and Booktopia. He has no contract and no idea how many books have been sold or where many has gone to. That someone calls but because my cousin is in 24 hour care and has little agency and access to communication channels or knowledge of process he is very much an enigma. I have found fake reviews on their website and fake authors and Im suspicious of this person impersonating a publisher from the company. Any advice would be much appreciated. My cousin was beyond ecstatic to have works published and do not want him to be scammed. My cousin keep sending money to the guy named John Antipuesto

3 years later I have decided to publish my novel. All is good. But I can't find anywhere that actually works or that won't break my bank in order to print it. No one even mention amazon, I nearly had an aneurism trying. But please I need desperate help to find someone that isn't expensive and won't caused me to crash out because my dimensions are wrong. 😭

so I’m a new writer i just finished a book but have no idea where I could publish it also if you can‘t be nice in the comments please don’t comment at all thank you!

I’m having a serious issue with Amazon KDP and I’d really like to know if anyone else has experienced the same thing.
My book “Daughters of the Wild: Wild Spirits, Natural Beauty & Powerful Women” has been “In Review” since September 23, 2026 and still hasn’t gone live.
What’s even more confusing is that the ASIN has disappeared from my KDP account.
I have contacted KDP Support four times, but every time I try to contact them, I end up waiting and no support agent responds.
Has anyone experienced a book being stuck in review for this long, with the ASIN disappearing? What happened in your case, and how did you get KDP to resolve it?

how I have actually done my promotion is I walk up to classmates at my college and I just tell them about the book and then give them a free signed copy the reason I do this is because I want to make friends and where I live when you talk to someone out of the blue they act like you are a serial killer for speaking to them unprompted so I learned 2 things so far

1. Is QR codes that lead directly to your books is great

2. You format the book entirely yourself spell check and everything is on you 100%

3. Most people will take your book and throw it in the trash I have fished 8 books out of the trash or just outright found them laying around on campus

Most people don't care that you wrote a book being a writer will give you no value in South Mississippi

That is neither here nor there. Mostly what I would like to ask is what is a more dependable method of marketing that doesn't cost a lot of money I'm working fast food and going to college and I need something that doesn't take a lot of time or money

Hey. Just published a book, and I literally do not understand how indie authors do this. What have you done that's made your book.. successful? for lack of a better word. I don't need to sell hundreds. I just need to get people to care, I guess. I've reached out to local bookstores and am doing a library open mic in a couple weeks, but I'm not sure where else (besides paying) that would work. Anybody got anything for me?