Word has been circulating that the retail bookstore is making quite a comeback, with plans to open between 30-60 new locations in 2024 alone. This is excellent news, not only for Barnes & Noble but for all lovers of books and brick-and-mortar stores.

But weren’t bookstores going out of business? What changed?

Making reading cool again

Many factors have affected physical shopping’s resurgence—a major one being the post-COVID nostalgia for enjoying public spaces again. That and commercial lease prices dropping in places to attract businesses back to malls and open-air shopping centers helped secure an economic growth spurt. But when it comes to book buying, something defies the norm. It’s a little thing called trends.

Social media’s recent boom has brought with it a new era of content creators and a “show-off” culture. People want to flaunt the latest and greatest, or at least give off the perception they can. It’s prevalent in many markets, particularly in trading card games, where retail shelves were emptied by fans and scalpers alike. I blame Logan Paul for that one.

Bookstagram, BookTube, and BookTok are examples of trendy content creation that hypes books to virality, smashing chart sales and flooding people’s feeds. Those heavily involved have started to reflect and question if they ever liked the books they were buying in the first place. I temporarily fell victim to this culture, purchasing exclusive editions of books I had no interest in reading to be among the first to post a picture or video of it in my collection. After reading some of these books, I regret fueling the fire.

The silver lining is that the power is no longer in the hands of the gatekeepers. Traditional publishing doesn’t have the only say in what tops the charts. Rabid fans or even clout-chasers can prop up their favorite (or best-looking) books online, and potential readers appear to respond. Whether BookTok is doing more harm than good remains to be seen.

The rise of indie

Over 2,000 independent bookselling companies are operating around 2,500 bookstores in the U.S. Despite signs that reading for pleasure is declining, book sales and places to buy them are on the rise. How can that be?!

Aside from overly optimistic folks buying books only to place them on their shelves and never touch them again, there are a few explanations:

• Why not open a bookstore? Fans of something tend to want to dedicate themselves to it. The super readers seeking to be surrounded by books all day will realize they can do that if they quit their desk jobs and commit. Running a bookstore isn’t easy, but the opportunity awaits those willing to pounce. The accessibility of these types of ventures has only become easier over the last decade.

• It’s more than a bookstore, man. It’s a vibe. Writers, readers, and normies love a cozy nook to lose themselves in for a few hours. Buying local is great for the community. The browsing traffic alone enables increased book sales and is a solid reason for a store to exist.

• A book cafe is the best of both worlds. Coffee and books? Now we’re grindin’ and bindin’ (oof, sorry). If there were candles that smelled like coffee and books, I’d buy them in a heartbeat. Anyway, I think you know why this one is a winner.

• On the flip side, finding the time is difficult. For most working adults, setting aside the time to read requires a strong will and desire. After scrolling for an hour on IG, the patience to stare at other imaginary possibilities becomes strained. Jokes aside, where does the time go?

So what happened with B&N?

In 2019, Barnes & Noble was acquired by investment firm Elliott Investment Management and turned into a privately held company. James Daunt came aboard as CEO and immediately steered the ship in what would become the financially correct direction. But who is James Daunt, and how did he reach the position of overseeing 900 bookstores worldwide?

James is certainly a book guy. In 1990, he opened an independent bookstore, Daunt Books, in London. He expanded to nine locations, with a unique theme of books categorized by country. After some time, he took over for Waterstones, the largest book chain in the UK. In just 5 years, James turned it profitable and became “the man who saved Waterstones.”

This was his strategy:

1. Decentralize book-buying decisions to individual store managers

2. Prioritize books over non-book products

3. Enhance the in-store experience

My takeaway is that these three steps scream “indie bookstore.” Curating bookshelves to meet your local customers sounds pretty straightforward, but for the chain, it was apparently a foreign idea before James came along.

But that’s not all. There’s another element not often discussed: the B&N membership. The store offers a free tier called Rewards and a Premium subscription with specific benefits for its members. It recently increased from the $25 to $40 in 2023.

James predicted that 75% of its 5.5 million paying members would upgrade to the new price. That’s roughly $165 million a year before book sales, coffee purchases, and merch have been factored in. One can see how that might help with those profitability metrics. Maybe Substack is on to something…

Still, nothing beats a good indie bookstore. Finding one in your local area is bound to give you the warm and fuzzies. I plan to visit more spots in New Mexico in the coming months since I just moved here.

Share your thoughts on the indie model and any reasons I didn’t cover for why it might be successful in the comments. If you enjoyed this, let me know by hitting the Like and Restack buttons to help support my independent press. Who knows? Maybe someday I’ll have a physical location… I mean, why not, right?!

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If you’re new to the series, here are the first two installments:

Why Plan A Novel?

Planning your novel is almost as important as writing it. A well-planned novel helps determine the plot, character, and theme, providing a framework to guide you to the end. Plus, it saves you time in the long run.

I’m more of a pantser, as I like to experience the story for the first time as if I’m its first reader. Lately, however, I’ve been experimenting with note cards and character sheets to hone in on the specific story elements I need to ensure are included in the first and final drafts. Therefore, I suppose I’m a hybrid of plotter and pantser… a plantser (it’s apparently coined).

A novel is much more than a series of events on the page. First drafts might look like that because you’re telling yourself the story. But a final draft should be a well-polished whole of all the greatest aspects of storytelling. One thing that might help a new writer get there is the planning stage.

So Why Reedsy?

If you have a Reedsy account, you can use their suite of developing tools for free. Some of these are still in “Beta,” which means there will be some growing pains with certain features, but it’s also an opportunity to help shape the development to your benefit. It’s fun to experience the growth of a new product in real-time.

Another bonus is that if you’re planning on collaborating with a Reedsy professional, the Book Editor enables others (with permission) to access your book and work with you simultaneously. This has been a long-running staple of other tools like Google Docs.

It doesn’t have every feature I need yet, but I chose Reedsy to plan and format my next fiction novel because it’s aesthetically pleasing to write in. Many software tools can be overly complicated or visually displeasing to navigate. I can’t say the same for Reedsy’s Book Editor. Did I mention it’s free?

What are Boards?

I’ll use my ongoing serial novel, The Erosion of All Things Sacred, as an example in this article.

Once you’ve opened your book in the Editor, you’ll see the side menu on the left. The slim column beside your book’s content is how you access Boards. These boards are where you can create additional resources that help you organize your thoughts for your work in progress.

So far, I’ve created two boards for my book. One is designated as the planning board, while the other is a character board. This is what Reedsy had to say when introducing Boards:

Boards sit alongside your manuscript and are a great way to gather your thoughts and research. Whether you’re developing complex outlines, creating far-flung worlds — or just need to keep basic notes — boards can meet all your planning and outlining needs.

Using boards, you can organize your: book outlines, to-dos, notes, random ideas, scene cards, characters, locations, worldbuilding, historical research, and anything else you’ll need for your writing project.

This is the first version of this new creative space — we can’t wait to share what we have in store as boards continue to evolve!

Now, let’s explore how these boards work

The first board was already created for me when I launched the new book in the Editor. It has a Tolkien novel planned out as an example, along with the hero’s journey for assistance with plotting and character motivations. I removed the pre-written text and replaced it with my own while keeping the structure intact.

It’s easy to see why they call them boards since it reminds me of a corkboard with pinned-up note cards. This is useful because you can create unique ideas and move them around as you see fit.

You can add Blank Notes or New Folder by hitting the Add+ button on the top left. The top right menu includes Duplicate Board, Delete Board, Select Notes, and Board Settings (for renaming purposes). The bottom right menu allows you to implement List View or Grid View. I prefer Grid View.

Clicking a note opens a full-screen page for that note. The layout lets you title your note, provide a summary, and upload an image. Below this, you are given the choice to add attributes (which I’ll address later using a character note) and as much qualifying text as you’d like to add. If you’re planning to repeat a format, I advise creating a template to start with and then duplicating it when creating new notes.

Another feature in the top right is the Pin Note button. This designates certain notes as quick references that appear in your Editor, so you don’t have to navigate to your notes. This might be handy for fantasy glossaries, characters, or plot summaries.

Character Board Idea

Another example of how you might use these boards is for character profiles. You can change the icon for each board by selecting an applicable emoji. I chose a dragon since the novel features a dragon. Needless to say, have fun with it.

When selecting your character, it’ll open up to their full profile. As I said before, it’s best to utilize a template note card; that way, you can duplicate it to have all the attributes pre-determined. It saves a lot of time.

When creating an Attribute, you select the Type first. Once you select the type, a title box for the attribute pops up, which gives you a lot of customization. For example, the “Checkbox” type creates a true or false checkbox, and then you can alter the title of the attribute to create your topic or question for the checkbox. If that’s unclear, another example is when I selected the “Text” attribute; I changed the titles to “Age, Race, Sex, etc.” (see the above image for reference)

Here are the following attribute types:

• Number - To assign a number to a note card.

• Text - Free text box to write anything you want.

• Checkbox - True or false checkbox.

• Link - Links to a specified URL.

• Date - Generates a calendar to choose a date.

• Relationship - Links notes together.

There are many combinations and uses for these attributes, but I find the Text box and the Relationship ones most useful. The relationship attribute links directly to other notes, which associates characters, items, or places of origin.

Adding a Group lets you make categories of attributes, similar to Folders for organizing notes. Speaking of folders, I used them to separate my characters for the character board: Protagonists, Supporting Cast, and Antagonists.

Changing the view to “List View” provides an overview of the columns showing attributes you’ve selected for each character. This could be useful for character comparisons, quick references, or making connections you hadn’t considered otherwise.

And that’s my overview of the Reedsy Book Planner

I’ve responded to a survey for Reedsy after using the Book Planner tool. A feature I requested was the ability to add more images to a note since it limits you to one. Another request I had was more of a pipedream but a “universal planner” outside of the individual book you’re editing so that, theoretically, one could access worldbuilding notes for a series of novels. I don’t expect that any time soon. Therefore, I’ll continue to use Obsidian as my go-to notetaking and world-building resource.

What would you like to see added to the Book Planner? Are you willing to try something like this, or are you more of a pantser? What’s your go-to planning tool and why? Let me know in the comments. I look forward to hearing your thoughts! ~ WM

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Evaluating IngramSpark

IngramSpark is an on-demand publisher and worldwide distributor of books and eBooks. They have formed relationships with a broad network of retailers, libraries, and academic institutions, allowing them to order from a diverse catalog. Unlike major traditional publishers, such as Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster, IngramSpark is focused on self-publication. No agent or publishing contract is required. Potential authors do not submit for consideration, and you will not be paid an advance.

An argument can be made about using the terms “publisher” and “distributor” in the case of IngramSpark. It’s possible to refer to them merely as printers and fulfillment providers focusing on self-published authors. Regardless of the terms, the company is a respected and established entity within the book publishing ecosystem. Nevertheless, it’s best to understand the distinction since any writer using IngramSpark will be required to provide more than an imaginative novel.

An account with IngramSpark can be created by visiting the IngramSpark company website and clicking “Create Account.”

Forming an Imprint

Forming an imprint is not required to use IngramSpark or to complete any portion of the publication process. An imprint is a trade name that often represents a specific brand or genre independent of the author. Major publishing houses use imprints to distinguish fiction from nonfiction, including major subgenres such as fantasy, science fiction or horror. As a self-publisher, it represents a higher degree of professionalism and increases the chances bookstores and libraries will order copies.

As an author, forming an imprint distinguishes your work and helps protect your brand. In the United States, an imprint is typically associated with an LLC, offering legal protections as a business when entering into contracts. Winston’s recent release, Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel, was published under the imprint Storyletter Xpress Publishing LLC, and my recent release, Voices from the Deep: A Collection of Fantasy and Science Fiction Short Stories, was published under the imprint Red Giant Press LLC. Both of these are legal entities.

Speak to a lawyer or personally research the options. Services like LegalZoom, ZenBusiness and Nolo offer self-service, which can be helpful if you’re willing to pay the additional costs. It’s not advised to publish under an imprint without legal protections, and the exact process will vary depending on your country of origin and state or province.

Finishing the Manuscript

The best place to start is with a finished manuscript, edited, proofread, formatted, and ready to print. Several steps are involved after the book is written, and progressing in an orderly fashion helps reduce stress throughout the process. Without a manuscript, it would be impossible to continue with IngramSpark. If the first draft is done but requires editorial review, those services will need to be procured. IngramSpark does not edit or proofread a work. Comprehensive editing, critiques and proofreading are all the responsibility of the author.

To locate an editor, contact other authors who have already published and are known and trusted. One place to start without any connections is Reedsy Marketplace. The network will provide guidance on associated costs and there are a number of articles discussing how to find and build a working relationship with one or more editors.

Formatting or typesetting the manuscript is not the responsibility of an editor. Writers are responsible for ensuring the book looks professional and aesthetically pleasing, which can be a daunting exercise. Some book designers will provide a full-service package comprising interior design and page layout, but don’t expect it to be all-inclusive.

Author-friendly desktop software and software as a service are also available. A few to research are Reedsy Book Editor, Atticus, Vellum, LibreOffice Writer and Scrivener. I used Scrivener to write and LibreOffice Writer to format my first book. The latter is free to use and has become my word processor of choice for my second book, but both have a steep learning curve.

Whichever software is chosen must be capable of exporting to PDF, with the option to embed fonts. Creating an eBook requires exporting to a reflowable (flexible) EPUB format. Both are the formats IngramSpark requested during the preparation of a title. Not all software will produce a professionally formatted eBook, an afterthought for many authors. Take advantage of software trial periods and experiment with several offerings.

IngramSpark now provides a free book-building tool, which is very similar to Amazon’s book-building tool. This is an incredible resource for authors who can’t afford software or to pay a designer. The link includes a video overview with design tips for adventurous authors.

A few key decisions must be made if the manuscript is manually formatted using a word processor since IngramSpark will only provide general guidance. While not exhaustive, the following topics cover the essentials. Review books you have on hand from major publishers to get a good sense of standards.

Front Matter and Back Matter

These items are often overlooked when crafting a story but are standard in the final manuscript. Front matter is just a fancy term for the Title Page, Copyright Page, Dedication, Table of Contents, Foreword, Preface, and Acknowledgements. None are required, but the Title Page, Copyright Page and Table of Contents are almost always present. The back matter can include an Epilogue, Afterword, Acknowledgements, Appendix, About the Author, Index, and Bibliography.

Book Dimensions

The book dimensions, in combination with the font and font size, will affect the number of pages and spine width. The most common sizes for trade paperback and hardcover are 5” x 8” (127 x 203 mm), 5.5” x 8.5” (140 x 216 mm) and 6” x 9” (152 x 229 mm). Mass market paperbacks are often smaller, and IngramSpark includes the aforementioned sizes and a number of other options. 

Font, Font Size, and Spacing

Using a serif or sans-serif font is a matter of preference. The most important consideration is the right to use the font if it was not pre-installed with the word processor since it will need to be embedded within the PDF and eBook. Choosing a font readily available is the safest choice. Common serif fonts are Garamond, Georgia, Baskerville, and Palatino. Common sans-serif fonts are Helvetica, Futura, Open Sans, and Gill Sans.

While largely dependent on the font chosen, a size between 12 and 13 points is recommended for legibility. If the aim is to produce an accessible large print format, then at least 18 points is necessary.

Paragraph spacing should be equal to or greater than 1.5 and less than or equal to 2. Anything below 1.5 is difficult to read when transferred from digital to print, and anything greater than 2 gives the impression spacing was added to pad the page size.

Header and Footer

Books should include a header or footer. Many novels include both, and the goal is to include information relevant to readers. Page numbers should appear on every page but do not typically appear on the front matter or back matter. Some novels choose to use Roman numerals to represent front matter page counts. The first page of the story should start with number 1, even though it may not be the first physical page. The author's name and title of the book should alternate between even and odd pages, either alternating right and left justified or each centered.

Table of Contents

The table of contents requires a special mention. Many novels don’t include a table of contents, or if they do, it’s in reference to parts instead of chapters. Almost all young adult novels include and name the chapters for the table of contents.

Insert the table of contents after the final draft is complete. Editing can change the page references, but in most word processors, this requires manually refreshing the table of contents to reflect the update. There’s nothing more frustrating than ordering a physical proof only to find that the table of contents doesn’t match the page numbers in the header or footer.

Margins

IngramSpark provides print guidelines for margins, which may be dependent on the book dimensions. The common recommendation is a 0.5” safety margin. The header and footer will need to be placed inside that margin. This is the bare minimum. However, a review of popular fiction titles reveals safety margins closer to 1”.

Remember to mirror the margins, placing larger margins on the gutter sides of pages. The gutter is the center channel where pages meet when a book opens. Failing to account for the gutter means readers will need to strain to read text on the inside edges of the page. An additional 0.75” to 1” is recommended for the gutter side of a page.

Designing the Cover

IngramSpark does not provide design services, but the book-building tool contains imagery for the cover design. This aspect of publication can be frustrating since most authors are not artists. If the goal is to provide an original, professional product, then it will be necessary to work with a designer. The cost will depend on the designer's experience and portfolio. It can range from $100 USD to $1000 USD.

The generated cover template provided by IngramSpark will need to be sent to the designer. The dimensions are based on the number of pages in the manuscript, cover format, and paper choice. Dedicated book illustrators understand the dynamics of crafting a book’s design. Be careful choosing a graphic designer who advertises book illustration as a service but can’t show a full cover spread.

A good place to start is searching for design services on the Reedsy Marketplace. You can also search social media like Pinterest or Instagram for book cover designs in various genres and reach out to the credited illustrators for a quote.

Purchasing ISBNs and Barcodes

According to Bowker.com:

“The most important identifier your book can have is the ISBN. As the U.S. ISBN Agency, Bowker is the ONLY official source of ISBNs in the United States. ISBNs provide unique identification for books and simplify the distribution of your books throughout the global supply chain. Without an ISBN, your book will not be found in most bookstores, either online or down the street from your house.”

Nielsen is the official ISBN agency for the UK and Ireland. Thorpe-Bowker is the official ISBN agency for Australia. Agencies of record for each country can be located using the ISBN international website.

IngramSpark and Bowker are two separate entities working together to supply libraries and retailers with all of the book metadata required so it can be searchable and cataloged (through Bowker, also known as MyIdentifiers) and ordered once it’s found (through IngramSpark). While institutions will use more than one distributor for ordering (such as Baker & Taylor or Follett), the source of truth will always be Bowker. The metadata will often be repeated in both locations and should match the most common fields: title, subtitle, description, and author.

Bowker offers several ISBN packages, including a single ISBN for $125 USD. Every book format (including eBook) must have its own ISBN, which means purchasing a single ISBN will only allow for a single format. The best package to purchase is 10 ISBNs, which is currently $295 USD, allowing an author to create a softcover, hardcover, and eBook at a significant cost savings. ISBNs don’t expire and can remain unassigned until a future date.

Just like Amazon, a retailer-specific ISBN can be obtained directly from IngramSpark for free. However, this is not recommended unless an author plans to use IngramSpark only as the printer and use a secondary distribution path, such as Kickstarter or conventions.

While ISBNs catalog a book, it must be scanned via a barcode to enter retailer and library databases. This requires a barcode image to be printed on the back of the book. Barcodes can be purchased from Bowker and other third parties online, but if you’re using IngramSpark, don’t spend the money. A free barcode can be generated as an option through the cover template generator tool. It will automatically be generated at the same resolution required for the final cover design.

You can create an account with Bowker by visiting the MyIdentifiers company website and clicking “Sign In/Register.”

Preparing Metadata

Book metadata is an important component of any book and is used to present the contents accurately. This information is used on retailer websites and in libraries to catalog and categorize titles. Crafting metadata for IngramSpark and Bowker needs to be given the same attention as writing the novel. Marketing materials should contain similar language, giving potential buyers a consistent experience.

Filling out these metadata fields is not complicated, but it’s good to prepare the information before adding a title to IngramSpark. The most important metadata will be the title, subtitle, series name and number, description, author bio, and subject categories (also known as BISAC codes). The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) contains the full 2023 BISAC listing and is a fantastic resource for determining the right category for a book. It’s not necessary to know the exact code; IngramSpark will provide the names and send the codes during distribution. 

Libraries and retailers like Amazon will choose how BISAC codes align with their own system categories. It may not be an exact match, but it won’t prevent potential buyers from finding a book using the keywords provided in the other metadata fields. This information should never change unless a mistake is being corrected.

Selecting Print Options

Print options are selected when adding a new title. A paperback and hardback cover finish can be matte, which has a soft, velvety feel with no shine, or gloss, with a high shine and smooth finish. Practically speaking, the matte finish will show fingerprints on darker colors, and the gloss covers can peel after years of abuse. Hardbacks can also include a dust cover jacket with or without a digital cloth cover alternative. These options are provided at an additional cost and contribute to the overall design.

Interior paper options are Groundwood 38lb (56gsm), Crème 50lb (74gsm), White 50lb (70gsm) and White 70lb (104gsm). Groundwood is used for mass-market paperback, while Crème and White 50lb options are the most common. The White 70lb is a thicker option for a classier appeal. If the book contains color illustrations, then the thicker paper is a better choice, while black and white illustrations work well on both 50lb and 70lb paper. According to IngramSpark, ink and paper options may not be available at all book trim sizes. Not all ink options will be available for all paper options. 

Submitting for Approval

The title can only be submitted for approval after the ISBNs are purchased, metadata is complete, and the manuscript and cover files are ready. These files will be submitted to IngramSpark and will return after a few days as a digital prepress PDF, allowing an author to review and correct any mistakes. The proof can be rejected, corrected, and resubmitted. An author must complete and resubmit all corrections within 60 days, or additional fees may apply.

After submitting a title for approval, the associated ISBN can never be reused within IngramSpark. Even after rejecting a digital proof, a title can only be canceled by contacting support, but the ISBN still can’t be reassigned to another title. It’s the primary unique identifier associated with a title in the system.

Once the digital proof is acceptable, it can be approved by checking one of a few options presented. One of those options is to approve and immediately enable distribution. No author should enable distribution without first ordering a physical copy for review, which is another option. Distribution can be enabled at any time in the future, but it’s difficult to correct mistakes after a book has already been distributed. The risk is readers buying and receiving a printed copy with errors.

Distributing the Book

Determine a publication date and an on-sale date strategy before enabling distribution. A best practice is to choose the same date for both, 30 days in the future. Another option is to choose the current day as the publication date and 30-45 days in the future as the on-sale date, but it’s not a standard practice. This buffer can be used to generate preorder marketing buzz and allows time for early readers and reviewers to finish the book. When distribution is enabled, the on-sale date can’t be changed! The On-Sale Date, Publication Date and Pre-Orders help page provides all the necessary details.

Price Point, Wholesale Discount and Returns

The price point, wholesale discount and returns policy are likely the most significant considerations in the eyes of any author using IngramSpark. A video describing the available choices is in the IngramSpark Support section, but it doesn’t adequately inform (or warn) the authors. The right choices need to be made, focusing on two broad markets an author can serve: the retailer or the consumer.

IngramSpark sells to wholesalers, who in turn sell to retailers like Barnes & Noble, who in turn sell to consumers. A wholesale discount must be offered by the publisher so that all of the interested parties can receive payment. The minimum requirement in the US is 40%, while the maximum is 55%. Those numbers vary slightly within international markets. Everyone in the process chain will take a cut. This discount also determines an author’s final payout after the book is printed.

If the intent is to recoup costs by encouraging retailers to stock several copies of a book at multiple store locations, then authors will need to offer the maximum discount and accept returns. Offering returns is a gamble. A wholesaler or retailer can order a significant number of copies by mistake and decide to return them. The cost of shipping those titles back to the author is debited out of the author’s IngramSpark account. Even if wholesale returns are not enabled, customers who order the book will be able to return it back to the store under the terms and conditions of the store policy.

But enabling returns doesn’t really affect first-time authors. Big box retailers won’t know to stock a self-published book inside the store unless otherwise informed of the release by the author, an agent or a publisher. Still, this isn’t a guarantee, as shelf space is competitive. Some authors who directly approach hometown retailers and libraries find success, but it’s limited.

Don’t be discouraged! Interested buyers can go online, find the book via their preferred retailer within the IngramSpark distributor network, and order it. It will be printed and shipped on demand, which is one of the greatest advantages of using IngramSpark. Focus on the readers first, and they will drive sales through the retailers. It’s unlikely to happen in reverse. The best possible choice (against the advice of IngramSpark and retailers) is the lowest wholesale discount with no returns.

Retailer and Library Availability

Once distribution is enabled within IngramSpark, it can take 2-6 weeks for the full details, including different formats, to show up on a retailer’s website. Simply put, there are no guarantees. Retailers can choose to apply arbitrary rules around the books they carry online or in the store, which puts authors at a disadvantage. Be sure to inform readers they can still make a customer service request using the ISBN. It’s possible the title is already in the system through Bowker, not just IngramSpark.

In the case of Voices from the Deep, the softcover format showed up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble within a week. However, with Barnes & Noble, the description and cover image were not transmitted during the same time period, and neither outlet has included the hardcover format yet. It’s possible they do not allow preorders for hardcover formats and are waiting for the on-sale date to lapse before offering it to customers.

Libraries require a special mention. Just like retailers, shelf space is coveted, but budgets do allow for patron requests. A great strategy is to contact friends and family and make sure they request your book. Even if they’ve purchased it already, the library is interested in serving the community. Getting a book into circulation is a difficult but not impossible endeavor when a village of people is involved. One suggestion is to craft a sell sheet directed at your hometown library. Several videos and articles exist online that outline the necessary details.

Conclusion

Publishing through IngramSpark, or any publisher, can be an exhausting process. While writing the next bestselling novel requires a unique creative voice, sending it out into the world requires a keen business sense. Our hope is the process will be much smoother with the guidance provided here.

If you found this post helpful, please support Winston Malone and Storyletter XPress Publishing with a paid subscription. The subscription helps defray the costs associated with publishing and marketing indie authors.

You can also purchase my latest book, Voices from the Deep: A Collection of Fantasy and Science Fiction Short Stories, available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your preferred retailer.

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This article was written for Storyletter XPress Publishing by Brian Reindel, creator of Future Thief and Lunar Awards.

Independent writing is evolving, and we’re witnessing the groundwork being laid for popular IPs (intellectual properties) to emerge from indie creators, writers, and presses. With sites like Wattpad, Royal Road, and others, these IPs will be developed by relatively undiscovered writers and adopted by online communities of readers who love what they read instead of what publishers want them to read. The next print bestseller topping the charts—only to become a multi-media franchise—could originate from an online writing community near you.

Recently, I discussed the announcement and business framework of Authors Equity. In this article, I’m covering yet another example of exciting innovation at the grassroots, independent level that highlights the crucial changes in publishing. This time, it involves a partnership between a growing online writing platform and an independent full-service press. I’ll be explaining who they both are, what we know so far, and what this might mean for the future of publishing.

What is Royal Road?

Royal Road is an online platform and community where writers can publish and share their stories, often serialized, for free. It primarily focuses on fantasy, science fiction, and LitRPG (literary role-playing games), but it also hosts various other genres.

Key Features:

• Serialization: Many stories on Royal Road are published in parts or chapters, allowing authors to build an audience over time as they release new content.

• Free Access: Readers can access the stories for free, which makes it a popular platform for both established and emerging writers to reach a wide audience.

• Community Engagement: Royal Road has a strong community aspect. Readers can leave feedback, reviews, and ratings, which can help writers improve and gain visibility.

• Ranking and Discovery: The platform uses a ranking system highlighting popular stories, making it easier for readers to discover trending content.

• Author Support: While the platform is free, many authors also use it to build a following they can later monetize through Patreon, self-published books, or other means.

Royal Road is often compared to Wattpad but is particularly known for its focus on genres that appeal to fans of gaming and fantasy literature. There are several notable success stories where authors have gained significant recognition, published books, and even turned their online works into profitable ventures.

One of the biggest stars from Royal Road is Travis Deverell, AKA Shirtaloon. He rose in popularity while releasing his LitRPG serial “He Who Fights With Monsters” on Royal Road. Now, he makes between $28K-78K monthly from paying subscribers on Patreon.

What is MoonQuill?

MoonQuill is a publishing program that helps indie authors get their books to market by cutting out the middlemen and providing author-centric services. They offer customizable packages that meet the author’s needs, whether that’s editors, artists, or a marketing team.

Here are some of their core tenets (as seen on their website):

• Resources - We have vetted editors, award-winning artists, and a staff full of indie publishing experts.

• Quality Service - Our staff has extensive experience publishing and marketing books, including e-books, paperbacks, audiobooks, AND webcomic adaptations.

• Focus - We’ll handle all the logistics that come with preparing a book for sale so that you can focus on your craft.

• Transparency - We will key you on the process and communicate your novel’s progress with you as often as you’d like.

The Partnership

On August 12, Royal Road announced its publishing program partnership with MoonQuill. As the owner of a small press, I was immediately interested in how this partnership would work. In the initial post, this is what Royal Road said:

It is such an honor that we are the cultivation ground for new and old authors alike to find their footing and following for their stories right here on Royal Road, and as such, we thought, why not help in that process?

Initially, we felt that authors should leverage their own follower base in order to self publish and retain 100% of their rights. However, over time we saw that authors prefer to focus on creating content, which is what they enjoy, and leave the logistical stuff to publishers. It is also expensive to prepare a story for publication, and publishers remove that burden from the author. (Side Note: This is about publishers that cover the entire cost, if any publisher ever asks you to pay, that is called a vanity press and you should not sign with them.)

To that end, we've decided to partner with established publishing companies to tremendously simplify the process for authors seeking publishing deals but not knowing where to start looking for such an opportunity.

For starters we decided to introduce MoonQuill, a publisher with vetted editors, quality experience preparing books for publication (including several Royal Road titles), and significant experience making audiobooks, translations, and adapting novels into webcomics. 

To clarify, Royal Road isn’t publishing your book; it’s a contract with MoonQuill. Royal Road is merely a mediator providing a dashboard for you to submit your manuscript to MoonQuill, who will oversee all services. However, based on an update to the article, Royal Road added that they receive a financial kickback on royalties from the publisher(s) receiving manuscripts from their website.

Here is what they had to say about their financial interest in this partnership (highlights are my own):

We have been notified that a previous version of this article didn't make it clear that we have a financial interest in this arrangement; per our agreements with MoonQuill and Mango Media, we do take part of the royalties from the publishers' side as part of this deal. The actual percentages are likely to change going forward as we see what works and what doesn't; we are looking to come to an arrangement that's beneficial to all involved.

This percentage does not impact the royalties agreement in the contract between the author and the publisher. So, this would be a slight upfront loss on the publisher’s side for being an affiliate with Royal Road, but with the benefit of increased exposure (example being that here we are discussing them in this post).

What this means for the future of publishing

Publishing is still a growing market, as evidenced by the rise of self-published books in recent years. The stigma associated with reading a self-published book is quickly fading as the quality of self-produced works skyrockets with the improvement of fulfillment services like IngramSpark and Amazon’s KDP. The lines are blurring, and everyone seems to benefit from this, from readers searching for better books to writers seeking an audience and to the companies willing to bring them to market.

According to Jim Milliot’s article on Publishers Weekly, ISBN purchases more than quadrupled from 2011 to 2021. This surge in self-publishing can be attributed to the democratization of the process and the ever-increasing requirements imposed on authors by the Big Five. If breakout authors are expected to gain a large following on social media and market their own work anyway, then the allure of traditional publishing will erode. The rise of smaller publishers offering higher royalties, tailored packages, better IP control, and “no cost to publish” services will continue to take market share. That is, until the Big Five pivot to do the same. Only time will tell.

Like MoonQuill, Storyletter XPress Publishing is committed to bringing quality fiction to market at no cost to the author. Just this year, I signed two Substack authors and will publish their books in 2025. Therefore, this endeavor is near and dear to my heart. I hope the Royal Road partnership thrives—not just from a business standpoint but for all authors who believe their stories are worthy of being published and for all of the readers who wish to read even more amazing, original fiction often overlooked by traditional publishing.

I’d love to hear what you think about this partnership. Is it offering a service you’d be interested in here on Substack? Are you a fan of Royal Road? What are your thoughts on the future of publishing?

Thanks for reading! See you in the comments. ~ WM

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But first, what is a text editor?

You’ve likely used a program or software that functions as a text editor in the past. It can be as simple as Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and Apple Pages, or it can be more tailored software like Atticus, Scrivener, Final Draft, and a hundred others I could name here. Many of these programs have their own unique aesthetics and user interfaces that favor certain styles and preferences. Some are free, others are paid. It all comes down to the writer’s preferences, budget, and publishing goals.

Formatting enters the equation when a writer is ready to export their work into a single document for specific purposes, usually to publish a book either in print or digital formats. Books are generally formatted into a .pdf document (print-ready PDF) for print publication and a .epub file (EPUB) for ebook readers.

To present the following information accurately, I tested out the editor with an ongoing serial of mine, The Erosion of All Things Sacred. I’m publishing a first draft of this dark fantasy novel for free over on my private Substack, Tales of Havek. If you’d like to become a beta reader of my upcoming novels before they are revised and published, click the button below to subscribe!

Tales of Havek

Reedsy’s Book Editor

Reedsy’s Book Editor is a free website that can be accessed by typing editor.reedsy.com into your browser. You’ll need to create an account or sign in before it will take you to your “Bookshelf.”

When you’re on this page, you can create a book and open the editor to write, organize, and manipulate your manuscript.

Once you’ve created your book, hovering your mouse over it will give you the option to Manage or Write. Clicking Manage will transfer you to another page with two tabs for Settings and Exports. The Settings tab lets you modify your book’s title, subtitle, writing goals, and upload a cover.

While the Exports tab will present the following:

• Export your book as a print-ready PDF or EPUB

• Hide chapter numbers

• Include drop caps at the start of a chapter

• Choose endnote positioning (end of chapter or end of book)

• Trim size: 5x8, 6x9, 5.5x8.5, 4.25x6.87

• Template: Reedsy (Merriweather), Classic (Crimson), Romance (Crimson)

• Back up your book: Export a simple .docx version of your manuscript.

Clicking on Write will open the editor. It’s simple, sleek, and smooth. This design choice enables you to focus on the writing by keeping the menus hidden on either side of the editor.

By clicking on the side arrows, the menus will pop out to provide additional settings, widgets, and tools for quick access, as seen below.

The right sidebar contains the following, in the order presented:

• Goals & Insights: Provides word counts by day of the week, manuscript word count goals, chapter word and character counts.

• Pinned Notes: Quick access to notes that you’ve pinned in the Book Planner (more on that later).

• Changes & Comments: This section shows a list of changes or comments made by you or another collaborator. Like Google Docs, you can choose to ignore or accept these changes with the click of a button.

• Writing Timeline: List of previous draft versions of your book organized by date of logged changes.

• Find & Replace: Find words throughout your book or the selected chapter and conveniently replace them.

• Spellcheck: A built-in spellchecker to ignore, accept, or add words to your personal dictionary.

• Insert: Add an image, endnote, or scene break to the chapter.

• Split Chapter: Turns your cursor into a pair of scissors to split wherever you click into a brand new chapter.

• Delete Chapter: Deletes the current chapter.

• Export Book: This takes you to the Exports tab.

• Share: This is where you can generate a private link to invite collaborators.

• Settings: You can adjust the theme, font size, line height, and language (doesn’t affect your export file).

The left sidebar menu contains your manuscript’s organizational structure, which is divided into the Front Matter, Body, and Back Matter.

Front Matter options are as follows: Copyright, Dedication, Epigraph, Table of Contents, Foreword, Preface, and Acknowledgements. Depending on what type of book you're creating, you’ll select the applicable pages to include. The Copyright page is added by default. What’s neat is that these pages are pre-designed, so you don’t have to worry about formatting them yourself. I tried moving the Acknowledgements to the Back Matter, but I wasn’t successful. However, there is a workaround I cover in a moment.

The Body is where you will add and organize your chapters, including the prologue and epilogue. You can easily drag and drop the chapter placement for quick alterations to the structure of the manuscript.

Back Matter contains anything that you’d like to add to your book after the story ends. The pages here are Endnotes, About the Author, and Also By. I figured out that you can create a new chapter in the Body, write your own Acknowledgements page, and drag it here if you prefer it to be in the Back Matter.

In the top left corner, you’ll find the buttons for Manuscript and any subsequent Boards you’ve created for your story’s notes. You can create as many Boards as you want. This is known separately as the Reedsy Book Planner, and I’ll cover that in a future post.

On the bottom left, you can see your manuscript’s total word count and whether the latest changes have been saved with a small checkmark icon.

Last but not least, the text editor permits the following options when highlighting text within a chapter:

• Paragraph

  • Bold, Italics, Underline, Strikethrough, Superscript, Hyperlink, Comment

• Header Levels 1, 2, and 3

• Alignment of left, center, and right

• Number list and Bullet list

• Block and Pull quotes

• Code Block

That’s it for this walkthrough of what you can do with the Reedsy Book Editor. What do you think about it overall? Have you used it to write your book? What is your go-to editor for writing and formatting novels? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading!

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If you’re an author, you’ve likely commissioned work or thought about commissioning work on your novel in the past. Once, I had a friend of a friend create a cover for $50, and I was pleasantly surprised at the result. Another time, I overeagerly walked into a deal that cost me $1200, and I subsequently never published the book. Since then, I’ve become a little more cautious, understanding that costs do not determine how well a book sells, nor does hiring someone mean the book will ever materialize.

For my most recent project, Take Me There: A Speculative Anthology of Travel, I wanted to hire a professional artist but didn’t want to break the bank. I also needed something to help me find the right artist for the job that didn’t have me scrolling through Instagram or cold-contacting people without knowing if they’d ever respond.

So I checked out a website called Reedsy, and it impressed the heck out of me. It turned the entire process of freelance hunting on its head and put me in control of my budget and job requirements. It streamlined what was once a headache into something I now look forward to.

Let’s talk about what it is and how it works.

(I’m not paid in any form to talk about Reedsy, nor am I arguing that it’s the best way to hire freelancers. No referral links are used in this article.)

What is Reedsy?

Reedsy is an online platform designed to connect authors with top-tier publishing professionals. But “platform” doesn’t quite encapsulate its full potential. I like to think of it as a suite of tools and services to help authors through the writing and publishing process. Key features include:

• Marketplace: Authors can hire editors, designers, marketers, and ghostwriters. Reedsy ensures that all professionals are vetted, ensuring high-quality services.

• Writing Tools: Reedsy provides a free online book editor that helps authors write and format their books. It includes collaboration features, making working with co-authors and editors easier.

• Learning Resources: The platform offers courses, webinars, and articles on writing, publishing, and marketing. These resources help authors improve their craft and navigate the complexities of the publishing industry.

• Book Marketing: Reedsy offers marketing tools and advice to help authors promote their books and reach a wider audience.

• Community: Authors can connect with other writers and industry professionals, fostering a supportive environment for collaboration and networking.

I’m breaking this Reedsy series up into distinct articles. For this introduction, I’d like to focus on the big-picture tools it can provide for your next project. That way, you'll know what Reedsy is and how it works. Then, I’ll follow up with more detailed use cases and how I will be using it for my small press.

Marketplace

Reedsy professional accounts look somewhat different than initial user profiles. The layout above doesn’t show two significant components for users, which I’ll address shortly.

The Marketplace is where you decide what you need help with. It has jobs broken down into categories, with an even more refined selection process once you select the category you want. The categories are as follows:

• Editing

  • Developmental, Copy, Editorial, Proofreading, Query Letter, Indexing, Book Coaching

• Design

  • Cover, Illustration, Typography, Book Interior, Production Management

• Publicity

  • Press Coverage, Blog Tour

• Marketing

  • Marketing Strategy, Email Marketing, Advertising, Metadata & Blurb Optimization

• Translation

  • Book Translation, Translation Assessment

• Ghostwriting

  • Books, Proposals, Short-Form Content

• Website

• Reviews (explained later on)

This page includes your Inbox for communicating with potential clients once you’ve been verified as a freelancer on the platform, quick access to referral links, and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).

Projects

On the Projects tab, you’ll access your collaborations once you’ve found your freelancer, or in this case, your collaborator. This is where Reedsy shines because it keeps everything neatly organized between you and your collaborator, so it’s easy to find the most up-to-date notifications and files through the Activity and Files timelines. There’s also a Finances tab for seeing your payouts as a freelance collaborator.

In a follow-up post, I’ll explore exactly how to hire a collaborator. Please make sure you subscribe for updates!

Books

Switching to my original profile, you can now see the two missing tabs I mentioned.

“Books” is Reedsy’s internal editing and formatting tool. It’s completely free. I currently use Atticus, which was a one-time purchase of $147 and has everything I need, but it’s hard to compete with free!

This requires its own post to describe how awesome it is. If you’re new here, subscribe for “A Complete Breakdown of the Reedsy Book Editor and Planner,” coming next.

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Learning

This section is Reedsy’s Masterclass service dedicated to authors. It’s a neat idea until you notice the $1249 tuition fee. I have a lot of feelings here, as I’ve spent thousands of dollars on stuff like this over my writing career. I’ll spare you the negativity, but spoiler alert: the best way to finish your book is to start writing it. You can find everything you need to know about writing for free online, especially with resources like YouTube.

I don’t mean to knock Tom Bromley’s class. I haven’t personally taken it. If this interests you and you think it might help (and have the money burning a hole in your pocket), check out this 3-month writing BootCamp.

Profile

Once verified (optional), you’ll be asked to set up a profile. This is where you define what services you provide, your work portfolio, bio, and other qualifying information that might help you stand out from the other professionals. I will move past this since it’s not the article's focus. If you would like more details, let me know what questions you might have in the comments.

Other Cool Tidbits

Reedsy Discovery

Weekly curated reviews of new and upcoming indie books. You can select your favorite genres for specialized recommendations or check out the Discover page to see everything they have reviewed before.

A Library tab lets you import your Goodreads profile and track your books and reading goals.

Oh, and you can submit your novel to Discover. Reedsy will review it for $50 and add it to their email list if it rates high enough. They will also create a dedicated splash page for your novel, whether you qualify for their email distribution or not. I will be testing this out soon and report back on how successful it was.

Reedsy Blog

Here, you can subscribe to specific topics and articles that interest you. I need more time to explore this, but I figured I’d include it if you like reading about writing. Hey, you’re here, aren’t you? ;)

Reedsy Live

A free version of their “Learning” section where you can watch past presenters cover events and topics that focus on helping indie writers improve their craft. I will tap into this resource in the coming weeks and report back. There’s a vast selection of videos to watch in their back catalog. Plus, you can register for upcoming events and the live viewing sessions.

Reedsy Prompts

Weekly contests where you can win cash?! That sounds awesome. The prompts rotate weekly, and the winners are published in a quarterly print and digital magazine called Prompted.

Literary Agent Directory

This directory is an invaluable service for writers seeking a traditional publishing route. At the time of this writing, it has 677 agents listed for the US alone. That’s a lot of books being sought after. Maybe an agent is looking for yours!

Reedsy Wrap-up

Reedsy might not be perfect; it might not have everything you need… yet. But at the very least, it’s on your radar as a resource to leverage when you’re ready to take your manuscript to the next stage of publication. I, for one, will be using it to find my cover artists and potentially an editor.

Have you used Reedsy before? Will you try it out in the future? Let me know which sections of the Reedsy suite grabbed your attention the most. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this platform!

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Substack is an excellent place for writers and, of course, readers. However, the future of Substack relies on its ability to attract a broader consumer base through the Internet and social media. That’s not to say writers aren’t readers and vice versa. I encourage everyone to start writing, and Substack does as well. But can a platform’s creator base mainly subsist on the interconnectivity between its creators?

The simple answer is “Yes.” The more complicated answer is “Yes, but with diminishing returns.”

Imagine if filmmakers spent all their time producing a movie, and the audience comprised only other people in the film industry. The idea is wild and implausible—even unsustainable. The film industry makes movies for moviegoers, and writers need readers. Substack focuses on attracting big names in the writing industry to bring their respective audiences to the platform, hoping those readers will check out other publications.

But how do you get readers to flock to the platform without being dragged along?

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Reader Analytics

As a writer on Substack, I’m pleased with the analytics in the Dashboard. I see where my traffic is coming from, my most active subscribers, and post stats, among other things—too many to list here.

I'd love to see the most common open timeframe and day of the week, so I know when to send an article. That I can’t think of much else is impressive, and Substack should be applauded.

However, as a reader, analytics are nonexistent. My profile has tabs that show Posts, Notes, Likes, and Reads (the Substacks I follow). And yet, there’s nothing to show how active a user I am. Do I read the posts in my inbox? Am I an outlier when paying for subscriptions? Am I a chatty commenter or a faithful lurker? How often do I share posts? There’s no way to quantify my reading experience.

I receive a monthly summary of my publication's statistical trends. But I wonder what a reader summary might look like. Would it encourage me to finish reading my saved library or comment on a post I liked last week? Could it help me catch up on a publication’s posts I’ve missed? If this exists in any capacity, please let me know!

Badges Revisited

One way to highlight milestones for readers is to offer unique badges to collect. Maybe the badges remain on the profile forever, or they cycle based on periodic refreshes to keep users active. These could be publication-specific or Substack-wide. Here are some simple ideas off the top of my head:

• Founder - Reader pays for one or more founding membership

• Devoted - Reader hasn’t missed a publication’s posts in # months

• ‘Stacker - Reader has restacked more than # posts

• Advocate - Reader has liked # posts

• Life of the Party - Reader has made # comments

• Patron - Reader is a paid subscriber to # publications

Badges were a hot topic for creators, but I don’t anticipate such a negative response to rewarding readers for being active in the community. It adds a bit of fun competition and reading-oriented objectives. One of my favorite things on Goodreads is setting my book goal for the year and trying to reach it.

I'd welcome this even if badges remained in an email summary rather than on the profile.

Substack Re-Wrapped

Another significant engagement tool is the “Wrap-up.” A wrap-up is an annual review of your activity, making for a fun end-of-year thing to look forward to. Many platforms use this technique to increase customer loyalty and personalization. Here are a few examples:

• Goodreads’ Year in Review shows how many pages and books I read, the shortest and longest book, the average book length, the most and least shelved books, my average rating, the highest rated on Goodreads, and a list of all the books I read.

• Spotify’s Wrapped provides a fun, interactive collage of statistics that show how much I enjoyed certain artists and genres. One of my favorite stats is the top fan percentage I fall in for a specific musician (e.g., the top 3% of listeners for Post Malone). It also lists top songs for the year in a convenient playlist that I can listen to again and curate more songs I might be into.

• PlayStation’s Wrap-up is less influential, but it shows the types of games I played, the number of hours played, and other usual top-ranking metrics.

Implementing a wrap-up feature has many perks. It’s free advertising for Substack when its staunchest advocates promote their wrap-ups across their social media. It gives me something to reflect upon. And to beat a dead horse: personalization, personalization, personalization.

Gamification Works

In January, I wrote about the pros and cons of gamification in the digital era. By the end of that article, I realized gamification doesn’t have to be deceptively evil if done for the right reasons. Substack implementing more analytics and metrics for the platform’s readership would add value to those users and, as a byproduct, increase engagement, which would be a net good overall as long as an algorithm isn’t implemented.

Gamifying reading has noticeably improved my own reading habits. It provides a sense of achievement and quantifiable progress. While it won’t apply equally to all users, it might be the one thing that gets the ever-growing population of digital readers to commit to reading a publication or creating their own Substack.

If you’ve watched a Twitch or YouTube stream, you’ve seen the chat where users post unique stickers and sport special icons. These gamification aspects make community members feel unique and want to engage with the creator more often. It’s also a way for them to show off to other folks in the chat and convince them to become members as well.

Substack has courted writers. Now it’s time to court readers.

What are some pros and cons of adding more analytical tools to Substack's reader base? Would this have any impact on your experience? Are there ideas I missed in this topic that you’d like to see implemented instead?

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Hybrid publishing has been around for a long time but has taken off in the digital era due to the democratization of publishing. I’ve tried to distance myself from the “hybrid publisher” label since it’s often framed in a negative light (and, in some cases, for good reason). Independent authors must be wary of scams and being taken advantage of by services that overcharge or lack transparent business practices. However, despite this uphill battle, many hybrid publishers have paved the way for new forms of publishing to be welcomed into the mainstream.

My company, Storyletter XPress Publishing, was founded on the idea that emerging authors deserve more compensation for their hard work and that even with the rise of self-publishing, there can still be services tailored to writers who want to focus more on writing and less on all of the other stuff. I realize that this concept isn’t new but has mostly been shunned or discredited by Big Publishing, likely because it disturbed the status quo and because, until the last decade or so, it was much more challenging to get a professional-looking book to the wider market independently.

When you’re a single-employee startup, it’s hard to convince yourself that you’re on the right path, that it’s what people need or want, that maybe it’d be easier not to pursue something that will require a large investment of time, energy, and money to get going. Then along comes possible confirmation that the thing you were working on does have value and that the highest echelons within the industry see the writing on the wall and are moving in a similar direction.

Hybrid publishing has always been as legitimate as traditional publishing, and here’s proof that there’s no stopping the tide once it begins to rise.

Authors Equity is a new publishing company founded in March 2024 by former CEOs of the largest publishing houses in the world. It aims to team up with freelancers to produce books with a profit-sharing model that favors the author (reportedly 60-70% royalties), like how some hybrid publishers currently operate. Not much is known about the specifics of their business model, but let’s dive into what we do know.

Their core principles are as follows (as seen on the website):

Aligned Incentives

Our profit-share model rewards authors who want to bet on themselves. Profit participation is also an option for key members of the book team, so we’re in a position to win together.

Bespoke Teams

We’ve assembled a wide network of creative talent – from within and outside publishing – that we can tap for projects based on an author’s unique goals, needs, and ambitions.

Flexibility and Transparency

Every author brings something different to a project, so we approach every project differently. By shaping the process and strategy alongside each author, and making decisions together, we’re able to act in the best interest of that book.

Long-Term Collaboration

Too often, even the very best publishing talent has too little time to invest in helping an author develop their ideas and their audience. This bandwidth pressure can translate into saying “no” a lot. We’re deeply committed to trying for “yes”: to giving books room to breathe and supporting individuals and teams with the space they need to think big and think differently. We’re in it from day one, and for the long haul.

Madeline McIntosh is the former U.S. CEO of Penguin Random House, who stepped down in 2023.1 Nina von Moltke is the former president and director of strategic development for Penguin Random House U.S. And Don Weisberg is the former CEO of Macmillan. They’re also financially backed by James Clear, Louise Penny, and Tim Ferriss, prominent authors who will publish directly through Authors Equity.2 The credentials and experience here are nothing to balk at, but will it work?

Author Alyssa Matesic recently outlined some possible concerns surrounding this proposed business model:

• Will the freelance rates for editors, artists, publicists, etc., be competitive and comparable to wider industry standards?

• Will this format mostly suit already established authors, or will they be able to suit debut authors as well?

• Will the lack of an advance affect writers’ ability to produce the books they want to produce?

Since some traditional publishers have been caught using A.I. art for their covers, freelance payment rates are probably the least of my worries, but I don’t see how freelancers wouldn’t be in control of their own rates. As for promotion and advances, indies are already forced to manage themselves on that front without the help of traditional publishers, and the existence of Authors Equity doesn’t mean that traditional options are removed from the equation. If an author needs an advance to write their book, they could still attempt to go the traditional route like before.

The sudden emergence of Authors Equity, backed by industry veterans, proves there are gaps traditional publishing fails to fill. At the very least, it’s adding more options for authors to get their books published. And the more opportunities we have to do that, the better.

I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this new publishing company. What are the pros and cons of hybrid publishing that you’ve seen? Is it indicative of a greater shift that will change publishing as we know it? Comment below.

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Additional reading from SXP

A writer’s dream

With the ability to control subscription tiers, access newsletter stats and metrics, and the ease with which to engage readers and fellow creators, Substack is an independent writer’s dream platform.

Almost.

Substack performs its established functions quite well. Creating an account allows you to build a home for your work with limited friction. Sharing articles and connecting with other newsletters is straightforward, and the community is incredibly supportive. Complete with a sleek app that brings everything together on the device of choice in everyone’s pocket. What more could a writer want?

Recently, I discovered I had written enough essays over the past two years to warrant publishing a new book. But herein lies the problem. To publish this book, I must do it off of Substack using formatting tools (for example, Atticus) and roundabout methods (like BookFunnel) to deliver my ebooks to Substack readers. I have nothing against those services; I happily pay for and use them (and I’m not sponsored to say that).

It would be compelling for a platform hoping to attract independent writing if one never had to leave the platform. Publishing books—in this case, ebooks—directly through Substack to my audience would be the ultimate dream for independent writers and small presses alike.

And I believe it’s the ultimate dream for Substack, too.

Helping indies

Speaking with a fellow Substack author, , we had discussed what it would mean to publish our ebooks directly through the one platform in which we spend most of our time writing and building an audience.

Daniel noted that he had minimal experience with self-publishing and that the whole process mystified him. I don’t blame him. I just spent two years learning the ins and outs myself, and I still get apprehensive about doing it again for my upcoming releases. It can be expensive, time-consuming, and complicated.

Based on my observations, I’d wager that unpublished writers represent the majority of writers on Substack. Luckily, we’re all learning together and sharing that knowledge, and many of us are becoming independently published with the assistance of our peers. But here’s the thing: why not make it even easier?

How convenient would it be for writers and readers if we could navigate to a section in the app where books by our favorite authors were available? Then, those books could be paywalled or not based on the writer’s choice, separate from any monthly subscriptions one might have.

Alternatively, independent from designing an entirely new way to deliver ebooks to readers via the app, if Substack could allow for “Sections” or individual posts to be paywalled by a one-time payment, then writers could, in theory, sell serial or complete novels to subscribers. This would be a game changer in my book (pun intended).

Disrupting the industry

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) dominates the indie publishing sphere, specifically with ebook sales.1 Substack stands poised to disrupt this status quo because it’s home to many writers building an audience around their work. By integrating ebook sales (or one-time payments) into its platform, Substack could revolutionize how independent writers publish and sell their work. Writers of all kinds would flock to the platform to sell their books.

Amazon KDP harbors a vast audience with the Kindle reader and app but at the cost of high competition and significant revenue sharing. Readers can follow their favorite authors for release updates and offer reviews on Goodreads (another component of the Amazon publishing monopoly). Still, the ecosystem lacks Substack’s more robust engagement and community aspects. Authors with books on Amazon often find their work lost in a sea of other books, struggling for visibility, while readers are subject to the algorithm of paid advertising.

Substack is a more intimate, direct channel between authors and readers, fostering stronger connections. Authors with a dedicated subscriber base can bypass the saturated marketplaces and forgo the need to pay for ads. By offering an alternative to Amazon KDP, Substack is further democratizing the publishing process, giving authors even more control and a fairer share of the profits.

It’s time the ebook market had a new competitor. I no longer want to go out of my way to sell on Amazon or some other complicated self-publishing service. I want to sell directly to those who enjoy my work and would happily purchase it, and I want to use Substack to do it.

How this might look on Substack

Imagine you open up your app. At the bottom of the screen are the Home (Notes), Inbox, and Chat icons, but then to the right of Chat is another icon that looks like a stack of books. You click that Book Stack (whoa, how fitting?) icon, and it brings you to a screen with categories like this (for example):

• My Saved Books (ebooks you’ve bought or are interested in reading)

• Recommended (ebooks based on your subscriber recommendations)

• Trending (ebooks based on likes outside your network)

• Top Paid (or ebooks of the week to cycle through top performers)

• Categories (static listings for nonfiction and fiction)

Navigate to Categories, select Fiction, and then Fantasy. It brings up rows of ebooks complete with their title, summary, and the author’s name (hyperlinked to their Substack). For a great look at how this might work, check out The Library, a service dedicated to delivering indie books on Substack that I co-manage with .

How this might work on Substack

Substack is partnered with Stripe. Writers set up their Stripe accounts to receive payments from subscriptions. A one-time purchase option would allow subscribers to buy individual ebooks, catering to those who prefer binging longer works over time-based access. This would reduce stress and burnout among many writers who feel like they must perform on a weekly/monthly basis to provide value to paid subscribers.

Readers could be more susceptible to paying an up-front fee for a completed work rather than the price of a subscription for something that may never materialize. This would unlock an entire marketplace of readers seeking streamlined and more traditional-style publications. Since audio narration is already built-in, this enables ebooks to double as audiobooks.

It could even improve the rate of upgrade conversions if someone consistently pays for ebooks, only to realize that if they’d upgraded, it would have been a better value to get the author’s entire library.

App and website considerations

• A dedicated carousel of available ebooks on the author’s profile.

• A new tab in the app where you can store downloaded ebooks.

• A way for writers to recommend ebooks and not just Substacks.

• Reader comments and likes on the ebook page but without a strict rating system to not allow for review bombing.

• Sections should be accessible in the app, not just on the website. (I can’t stress this enough!)

• A formatting option to download posts off of Substack. Even if it was just a text file so I don’t have to copy and paste it into another tool.

• Private viewing mode for free subscribers with all of the benefits of a regular Substack in terms of recommendations and discoverability.

Possible issues that may arise

1. Digital Rights Management (DRM): Prevent the sharing of paid ebooks to outside parties.

2. Quality Control and Curation: Without an algorithm, ebooks would succeed based on user recommendations, likes, and Notes. This would create a more positive publishing environment without the potential negative ramifications of a rating system.

3. Royalty and Payment Structure: It would be very competitive if it stayed at the current rate, as seen with subscriptions and Stripe. But this may cause some industry pushback.

4. Technical Aspects: This includes UI/UX design, handling financial transactions, and ensuring a smooth user experience for writers and readers.

5. Legal and Tax Implications: Legal and tax implications for Substack and its authors, including copyright issues, international sales tax, and other regulatory concerns.

6. Author Relations: Substack would need to establish a dedicated work role for tackling the issues originating from this add-on, both from a technical standpoint and responding to customer concerns.

The dream continues

I don’t pretend to know the difficulty tethered to the features requested in this article. As a small press and indie writer, I’m merely pitching for improvements to my favorite platform. Even without these changes, I plan to continue building my readership and publishing strategy around Substack. I will use BookFunnel to deliver my ebooks to paid subscribers here on Substack and Atticus for formatting purposes. My strategy must remain structured around the monthly subscription model until more options become available.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject and any other ideas you may have for Substack to help improve their UI and UX for writers, readers, and publishers.

Can Substack disrupt the established ebook marketplace? Does it even need to? Leave your thoughts below. Thanks for reading. ~ WM

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Intro to marketing your book

Aside from acquiring a decent cover and professional formatting, one of the biggest challenges for authors is making it known that their book exists. Traditional publishing has its perks—a team of people working to alleviate much behind-the-scenes tediousness. However, similar tools are available to indies. The irony is that even traditional publishers request the author to market their book to a built-in audience.

The following ideas are simply methods of marketing that could get your book in front of more eyes. Your success rate is variable and determined by aspects of the indie publishing process likely outside the scope of this article.

I’m learning to market fiction myself, and I’d love to hear from other writers and publishers on this subject. Drop a comment below with insights into your biggest marketing dos and don’ts.

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An Increasingly Online World

Having an author website where readers are directed to your work can be an excellent way for people to check out your book. At the very least, it’s a central hub to find your work later. It can also introduce readers to other books you’ve written or maybe a separate creative endeavor, such as artwork or author services.

Then, there’s social media.

The engagement necessary to harness the power of each social media platform can get overwhelming. I’ve noticed that most sites aren’t particularly fond of you linking off of their platform. It can be hit or miss, but trying a shotgun approach to understand what works couldn’t hurt. I do not recommend buying ads to start. I haven’t seen a decent return on investment when boosting posts. I get a few likes, and less than 10% convert to link clicks.

Let’s go over how each platform might help with marketing:

Facebook:

• Author Page: If you create a dedicated author page, you can share updates about your books, writing process, and personal insights with readers who might share them with family and friends.

• Facebook Groups: Joining or creating a Facebook group is a great way to connect with other writers in your genre or local area. However, promoting yourself in these groups is frowned upon unless stated otherwise in the group’s rules.

X (formerly known as Twitter):

• Tweet: Share regular updates, quotes, and snippets from your book. Use relevant hashtags to increase visibility. The trending topics are constantly changing, so see what is trending and loop in your thoughts on the subject to get more attention to your profile.

• Chats: Participate in or host book-related X chats to connect with fellow authors and readers. I’ve never done this, but this might be fun if I were more social.

Instagram:

• Visual Promotion: Use Instagram’s visual appeal to showcase your book cover, behind-the-scenes content, and author life.

• Reels: Produce short clips featuring books you’re reading, your writing process, or exciting news to attract similar readers to your work.

• Instagram Stories: Post daily or weekly Stories to keep your audience engaged with sneak peeks, polls, and Q&A sessions.

Goodreads:

• Author Profile: Set up an author profile on Goodreads and engage with readers by answering questions and participating in discussions.

• Book Giveaways: Host giveaways to generate interest and reviews for your book.

• Join Groups: Become an active member of Goodreads groups related to your book’s genre and participate in discussions.

Pinterest:

• Visual Storytelling: Create boards representing your book’s themes, settings, and characters—pin images related to your book’s world.

• Infographics: Share infographics or visuals that provide interesting insights or facts about your book’s topic.

LinkedIn:

• Professional Network: Use LinkedIn to connect with other authors, publishers, and industry professionals.

• Author Articles: Share articles about your writing journey, insights into your book, or topics related to your genre.

YouTube:

• Book Trailers: Create and share book trailers or author interviews on YouTube.

• Author Vlogs: Consider vlogging your writing process, book reviews, or discussions about your book’s themes.

TikTok:

• Short Video Promotions: Create short, engaging videos showcasing your book, reading recommendations, or storytelling tips.

• Use Trends: Participate in trending challenges and use relevant hashtags to increase visibility.

Reddit:

• Subreddits: Participate in book-related subreddits to discuss your book and engage with the Reddit community.

• AMA (Ask Me Anything): Host an AMA session in relevant subreddits to answer questions and promote your book.

Try focusing on one or two to start with. The problem I have is that I’m not tailoring my posts to specific platforms. I’m just linking back to Substack, which isn’t necessarily what people resonate with. The nature of the post should probably connect with folks who enjoy using that platform.

Book Launch

Depending on where you’re at in the publishing process, you could plan for a book launch. A book launch can be virtual or in-person. I’ve been to a couple of in-person launches, and it’s a great way to generate initial buzz and excitement around the release of your book.

Another consideration is sending advance review copies (ARCs) to reviewers and book bloggers to lock in early impressions. Encourage readers to leave reviews and ratings on Amazon and Goodreads to boost the likelihood of someone else picking up the book.

If you’re creative and have the time, create a book trailer or teaser video. I’ve seen some of these where they are collages of imagery that set the aesthetic tone of the book mixed with music.

Participate in author interviews and go on a podcast tour to introduce yourself and your work to new audiences. Easier said than done, I know. But podcasts and YouTube channels are probably the quickest way to reach an established audience willing to take a chance on your book.

Promotions, Discounts, and Awards

Running limited-time promotions or price discounts could be an excellent way to make your book accessible to a new audience. Many people wait for a sale before leaping on a purchase, so slashing your price may be the appeal needed to jump on it. Sites like BookBub and KDP offer unique ways to discount and promote your book.

Submit your book to literary awards and contests to gain recognition and credibility. Be wary of contests and awards seeking costly payment upfront. $50 would be too steep for me to enter a contest. However, $5-$25 is pretty reasonable, depending on how reputable the organizer is.

The Lunar Awards by is an excellent option for fans and writers of speculative fiction here on Substack. There is a short story and first-chapter category (depending on the award season).

Events, Merch, and Collabs

• Attend book fairs, conventions, and local author events to meet readers and other authors.

• Collaborate with other authors for joint promotions or anthology projects.

• Organize book signings at local bookstores or libraries.

• Consider creating merchandise related to your book (e.g., bookmarks, posters) to offer as giveaways or for sale.

BookFunnel

The power of BookFunnel. BookFunnel is a suite of tools for indie authors to scale their business or reading lists. I’m not affiliated with BookFunnel, so I do not benefit from promoting them. It’s simply that good.

Whether it’s delivering your reader magnet, sending out advanced copies of your book, handing out ebooks at a conference, or fulfilling your digital sales to readers, BookFunnel does it all.

Reader Magnets

With BookFunnel, you can create what is known as a landing page or reader magnet for your eBook. A reader magnet is a succinct pitch of your book and how to download it. It’s fully customizable and can be used in various ways. Here is an example of one I created for The Weight of the World for paid subscribers to access their copy:

Group Promos

If you’re seeking to grow your audience and sales, there are group promotions of all types that you can join. You set your filter settings for the promotions you want to participate in and apply to join. The promos’ summary includes the rules for each promotion, and you must follow them to be considered. Some are focused on building newsletter subscriptions, while others are more focused on sales on Amazon. To enter a promotion, you must have a finished book to include in the promotion, and you must promote the other books by authors cooperating in the promotion, so confirm the other books are similar to yours in both content and audience.

Author Swaps

These are more personal promotions where you collaborate with another author to promote each other’s work. This is an excellent option for collaborating with a writer on a niche subject matter or dialing in on a particular audience. The clicks and conversions on author swaps may be better or worse than a group promo, depending on the reputation of either author and how trusted their recommendations are.

Just be you

The meta behind consumer trust is increasingly becoming creator-centric, where people tend to rally behind the people they see and connect with rather than an overarching company or brand. Not to say that branding has no value; it’s essential, but corporations are too inaccessible and inhuman to connect with on a fundamental level.

That’s part of the power behind Substack or mailing lists; it bridges that connection with your readers that traditional publishing doesn’t achieve. When was the last time you went out of your way to read a Penguin Randomhouse book? It’s more likely that you buy specific authors or genres because you trust that they will deliver the experience you’re searching for. Publishers play a role in maintaining quality, but if the success of writers on Wattpad, RoyalRoad, Patreon, and Substack is anything to go off of, then people really want a lot more of what they like, regardless of strict quality standards.

Before this section spirals into its own article, I’ll end by saying that you can build an audience anywhere you wish by utilizing the tools available. Some things cost money, others don’t. Whatever you decide, know that you can positively affect others by your words and actions. By showing your true self, you can connect with people in a way that wasn’t possible before.

That’s truly special and unique to our time. Embrace it!

Thank you for reading this far! What do you think about these options for promoting your book? Have you used any of the methods mentioned in this article? If so, what were your results?

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That concludes the limited five-part series To Build a Book. The eBook version is being revised and formatted and will be available to XPress members for download soon. Your patronage and support is greatly appreciated!

We’ve been hard at work on drafting, formatting, and covering our manuscript, but how do we publish it? In this post, I’ll cover some of the most popular platforms for self-publishing, some important considerations, and a step-by-step walkthrough (with pictures) to publishing your book on Amazon KDP.

Intro to publishing the book

I decided to self-publish for many reasons. For starters, my book was a collection of short stories, and I wasn’t confident that it’d be picked up by a publisher. Plus, I needed to test the entire indie process from start to finish to see if I could do it.

I once had aspirations and dreams of making it “traditionally.” But times have changed. If we have the necessary tools, the lines between trad and indie publishing have blurred. True, there’s no advance money in self-publishing, and yet the flip side is that indies are their own boss. Authors on Substack get to engage with their audience in a way that hadn’t been possible before and get supported simultaneously. It’s the best of both worlds.

This post won’t have all the answers, but I hope that by going through the process first-hand, I can extend that knowledge to other writers seeking to get their work into print for the first time.

Overview of popular platforms

Here are some top examples of publishing platforms that enable writers to get their books published in print or on digital marketplaces:

Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) - A self-publishing platform where authors create a free account, upload their formatted manuscripts for eBooks and print books, set book details like keywords and descriptions, design book covers, determine pricing, and publish their works. Authors can enroll in optional programs like KDP Select for promotional benefits. After publishing, authors market their books, track sales and royalties through the KDP dashboard, and receive monthly payments. KDP offers a vast global reach, but success depends on effective marketing in a competitive market.

IngramSpark - A self-publishing platform that empowers independent authors to publish and distribute their books in print and digital formats. Authors create IngramSpark accounts, upload professionally-formatted manuscripts, set book details, and establish pricing. Unlike some platforms, IngramSpark provides expanded distribution options, enabling authors to reach a vast network of bookstores and libraries. IngramSpark is a versatile platform that offers global distribution, making it a valuable option for authors seeking broader exposure to their works.

Draft2Digital - A user-friendly self-publishing platform designed to assist independent authors in publishing and distributing their books to various retailers like Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and more. Authors have control over pricing and can easily make changes to their books. The platform also provides access to marketing tools, simplifying the promotion of their work. With its user-friendly interface and broad distribution reach, Draft2Digital is a valuable resource for indie authors looking to expand their eBook readership.

Barnes & Noble Press - A self-publishing platform that enables authors to independently publish and distribute their books in both eBook and print formats to the Barnes & Noble online bookstore, providing access to a broad audience of potential readers. Authors have control over pricing, royalties, and book details. The platform also offers marketing and promotional tools, allowing authors to showcase their works and engage with readers. Barnes & Noble Press is an excellent choice for authors looking to reach a substantial readership through one of the largest book retailers in the United States.

Keep in mind there are other options, too. They range from tailored experiences to outright scams. Caution yourself when working with lesser-known entities, and exercise due diligence. This goes for publishers in general, not just print-on-demand companies.

It’s worth noting that you don’t have to choose one. You can publish through multiple providers. Just be aware of the implications and potential crossover effects. You want to avoid having multiple versions of your book on sale to reduce confusion for yourself and the buyer. Also, your book may become ineligible for exclusive perks with specific platforms like KDP. Make this determination based on your goals and how you want your book available to the public.

Things to ask when choosing a platform

Reach: Does the platform provide access to my book in the way that I desire? Is it a local company or a global distributor? Is it print-on-demand, or will I order and ship copies? Will my book be in bookstores, or will it be available online? Are there benefits to going exclusively with one company, or can a shotgun approach broaden my reach? What is the company’s reputation like when dealing with other writers?

Print Options: Does the company offer multiple printing options, such as paperback and hardcover? Can I upload a digital version to publish as an ebook? What is the printing quality like? Are there options to set up pre-orders and author copies? How much does it cost to print each book?

Ease of Use: How intuitive is the website and book settings adjustment? Are there guides to publishing on their website? How is their customer service with you as the author and the customer purchasing the product? Do they offer templates?

Distribution Options: What sort of ecosystem is your work being published? Is there expanded distribution? Is it geared towards digital or print?

Fees and Costs: Are there upfront fees? What are the royalty rates? Are there charges for revising your work and republishing?

Marketing and Promotion: What are the tools being offered? How will marketing be handled? Can the resources be used effectively? Do they accommodate their authors? What type of support network is established?

Creating your book on KDP

For this guide, I will use Amazon KDP. I tried IngramSpark simultaneously to “go wide,” as it’s called. However, IngramSpark was slightly more complex with its 24-hour turnaround customer service requirements, and by the end, I threw up my hands and decided to go with KDP.

After you set up your free account, the main KDP page should look like this:

You’ll hit + Create, which brings you to the following page:

For The Weight of the World, I chose Paperback and ebook. It’s worth noting that each version will be uploaded like a separate book. Granted, it’ll be organized in one segment on the Bookshelf, as seen above, but each of these categories (ebook, paperback, hardcover) will need to be updated separately with their own ISBNs, keywords, details, dimensions, prices, files, and so on.

It’s tedious, so I recommend having a blank document for copying and pasting your book descriptions, dimensions, and keywords.

Once you select a category to start with, in this example, Paperback, it will take you to the following screen:

The process is divided into Details, Content, and Rights & Pricing. It saves as you go, and you can close the window and return to finish the details at your convenience.

Details

• Select your language - Choose your paperback’s primary language (the language in which the book was written). Learn more about languages supported for paperbacks.

• Input your book title - Enter your title as it appears on the book cover. This field cannot be changed after your book is published. Learn more about book titles.

  • Optional subtitle

• Series - If your book is part of a series, add series details so readers can easily find the titles on a single detail page. (Optional)

• Edition - You can provide an edition number if this title is a new edition of an existing book.

• Author - Enter the primary author or contributor. Pen names are allowed. Additional authors can be added in the Contributors field. This field cannot be changed after your book is published. Learn more about authorship.

• Contributors - If others contributed to your book, you can add them, and they’ll be listed on the Amazon product detail page. For multiple authors, they’ll appear in the same sequence as you add them below. Great for anthologies or co-authoring a novel.

• Description - Summarize your book. This will be your product description on Amazon so customers can learn more about your book. Look up some of your favorite books on Amazon and see how they structured their descriptions.

• Publishing Rights - Select whether or not you own the rights to publish the property or if it is in the public domain.

• Primary Audience - Does the book’s cover or interior contain sexually explicit images, or does the book’s title contain sexually explicit language? Learn more. You can also select an optional age range for your preferred audience.

• Primary Marketplace - Depending on your country, you’ll select the appropriate Amazon market. For the USA, it is Amazon.com.

• Categories - Choose up to three categories that describe your book. Note: You must select your primary marketplace and audience first.

  • Categories are where your book appears in the Amazon store. They’re made up of a category, subcategory, and placement. For example, History > US History > 19th Century

• Keywords - Choose up to 7 keywords that describe your book.

  • Search keywords help readers find your book when they browse the Amazon site. You can enter keywords or short phrases that describe your book and are relevant to its content. The best keywords are those that do not repeat words in the title, category, or description, as these are already used to help readers find your book. Some keywords are prohibited and may result in content being removed from sale. Learn more about KDP’s keyword rules.

Content

Once you hit Save & Continue, it’ll take you to the Content section. This section will likely take the longest, or rather, it’ll be the page you come back to most often since you need to upload the manuscript and book cover on this page. I was repeatedly re-uploading and resizing my cover throughout this process to correct the page count and dimensions.

The first thing it’ll prompt you with is the ISBN. You’ll need to choose whether to use the free one from Amazon or your own. Deciding to go with a KDP ISBN will restrict your book to Amazon and Kindle. It will fill in “Independently Published,” where the publishing company’s information would typically go on the front matter page. This is best if you haven’t incorporated yourself into a limited liability company (LLC).

If incorporated, you can publish with your own ISBN on Amazon and list your book with most other distributors to maintain a singular listing on their respective sites. You want to avoid having multiple book listings to reduce confusion and preserve your sanity.

To buy an ISBN, you can go to a trusted site like Bowker and purchase one or more in a discounted bundle. I chose a bundle of 10 ISBNs for $295 + tax, significantly cheaper than buying them individually at $125. It’ll then ask for your publishing imprint—your company's name—to sync with Bowker’s records and prove it’s a legitimate ISBN.

• Publication Date - Enter the date on which your book was first published. Leave this blank if you are publishing your book for the first time.

• Print Options - KDP books can be printed in black and white, standard or premium colors. Standard Color offers a good balance of price and quality but is unavailable in Japanese and Australia marketplaces. Premium color provides a more vibrant, crisp color.

  • Ink and Paper - I used a black & white interior with cream paper

    • Typical for fiction and memoirs

    • Paper weight: 50-61 pounds, 74-90 grams per square meter

  • Trim Size - Trim size refers to your book’s dimensions as it will be printed.

    • I chose 5x8 in or 12.7 x 20.32 cm, but this is entirely up to you and your preferences

  • Bleed Settings - Setting your interior to “bleed” allows printing at or off the edge of a page. It is used to support images and illustrations. Most books use “no bleed” unless there is a specific reason to apply “bleed.” Changing the bleed settings will not change the manufacturing cost.

    • I chose “No bleed”

  • Paperback Cover Finish - KDP supports glossy as well as matte covers.

    • I chose “Matte” (your preference)

• Manuscript - Upload a manuscript of your book’s interior content. For best results, we recommend using a formatted PDF file to create your book. You can also upload a DOC (.doc), DOCX (.docx), HTML (.html), or RTF (.rtf). Hebrew, Japanese, Latin, and Yiddish only support PDF manuscripts. Learn more about manuscripts or download a KDP template for your preferred trim size.

  • I used Atticus to format my book for publication

• Book Cover - We recommend a book cover for a good reader experience. You can create a cover using our Cover Creator tool or upload your own book cover. Learn more about book covers or download a KDP template to create your own cover.

• AI-generated Content - Amazon is collecting information about the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in creating content. It’s a “Yes” or “No” question.

• Book Preview - Preview your file to check for formatting and print quality issues. Learn more about formatting and print quality on KDP.

  • This was handy after re-uploading the manuscript and book cover to ensure everything looked like I wanted. Expect to use this feature a lot.

• Summary - It then summarizes your above responses and overall printing costs for each book copy. Knowing your print cost helps you choose your pricing, which is our next section.

Rights & Pricing

This is the last page before you publish your book to the world! And it’s arguably the most exciting because you can decide your royalties. Who doesn’t like that?!

• Territories - Select the territories for which you hold distribution rights. Learn more about distribution rights.

I chose “All territories. Worldwide rights.” The other option is “Individual territories,” reserved for if you request specific geographical restrictions for your book.

• Pricing, royalties, and distribution - Enter the list price you’d like to sell your book for. Your book will be distributed in the marketplaces listed. You also have the option to make your book available to bookstores and other distributors, reaching readers beyond Amazon. How do pricing and royalties work?

The royalty rate is 60%, so price your book accordingly to make a slight profit based on your printing costs. Since my printing cost was $3.64, I went with a list price of $12 to receive a royalty of $3.56 from each sale. Not bad!

Of course, with an ebook, you can set a lower price and still make more royalties due to no printing costs. Follow the link if you’d like to learn more about Expanded Distribution.

• Terms & Conditions - It can take up to 72 hours for your book to be available on Amazon.

• Request a proof copy - Get a printed preview of your book before it goes live. Check for printing errors and if everything looks correct. You can order author copies once your book is available on Amazon. Learn more about proof and author copies.

Once you’ve checked and rechecked your manuscript and cover and requested an author proof to see it firsthand in all its glory, you’re ready to hit the final button, “Publish Your Paperback Book.”

After about three days, your book will show up on Amazon. You’ll be able to request author copies at print cost + shipping. I purchased 50 author copies because I noticed the printing costs were increasing. I haven’t sold any physical copies in person, though, as I tend to hand them out to friends and family. Hopefully, you’ll have stronger entrepreneurial fortitude!

Thank you so much for reading! Let me know if I missed anything or something that needs fixing.

In part five of To Build a Book, I’ll cover marketing your book online, in person, and with Bookfunnel.

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Part One - Drafting your book | Part Two - Formatting your book

Intro to covering your book

The cover for my first book, The Weight of the World, caused me a lot of stress and led me to procrastinate the release by a few weeks. Not only was coming up with the cover concept difficult, but it was even more aggravating to find out the dimensions had to be altered when I was ready to publish.

Even though the adage is to not judge a book by its cover, we tend to anyway. I know I do. Of course, it depends on the book. If it’s a famous classic or best-selling author, the cover doesn’t factor in as much due to name recognition. But when it comes to indie books, and the reader is unsure about committing to a new writer, the cover can make or break the opportunity. I’d even wager that it almost matters more than anything else for getting new eyes on your work.

Designing a book cover is also the most subjective part of the process, other than writing the book itself. I debated on several ways to present this information, but cutting it down to the basics and letting you decide how to proceed is the best option, at least to start with.

This article will explore finding your theme, designer, and the necessary DIY tools. I’ll even include information on the specific dimension guide I used to prepare for publication. With this in your toolbelt (or your Saved inbox), you should be well on your way to finding your next favorite book cover design.

Define your book’s essence

To define your book’s essence, consider at least three things when imagining a book cover: Genre, Audience, and Theme.

• Genre - The best bet is to have it be recognizable among other books in the same genre. The trick here becomes tweaking it enough that it’s not the same as every other book. However, a similar style can work for readers looking for books in their favorite genre, i.e., spaceships on the front of a science fiction book.

• Audience - Know the age range of your target audience. If it’s a younger audience, consider adjusting the font, colors, and art style in a more fun and approachable way. Walk through the different sections of a bookstore and try to pick out trends from each age range (Children’s, Middle Grade, Young Adult, New Adult, and Adult). This will give you ideas on how you might want your book to appear on the shelf.

• Theme - This works in conjunction with the other two elements. Some books are a melding of two or more genres. Knowing the theme of your book allows you to weave in specific imagery that only your book can showcase, making it more unique and exciting.

One way of designing a cover is to treat it like a promise. If there’s a spaceship on the cover and no spaceships in the book, you will likely upset your audience by selling them a lie. Don’t falsely advertise what’s in your book. Consider ways to incorporate elements of your book that promise the reader what experience they are signing up for.

Determine your path

Decide whether you'll design the cover yourself or hire a professional designer. The cost can vary widely depending on whether you hire a professional, purchase a pre-made cover, or use design software.

If hiring, research and select a designer with experience in your genre. Provide essential materials, including your book's title, author name, back cover blurb, ISBN (if available), and any specific ideas or imagery you want to incorporate. Collaborate with your designer to brainstorm cover concepts. Create rough sketches or mood boards to visualize potential designs and layouts.

If choosing DIY, ensure the fonts are legible and align with the book's genre and theme. Select or create images or artwork that align with your book's content and cover concept. Create multiple design iterations. Explore different layouts, color schemes, and typography combinations. Seek feedback from family, friends, beta readers, author peers, or professionals in the industry. Make necessary revisions based on their input and your own assessments.

Once you've settled on a design, finalize all elements, including colors, fonts, imagery, and layout. Ensure that the cover meets the specific requirements of your chosen publishing platform.

If you or your designer use design software, export the cover as a high-resolution image (e.g., 300 dpi for print). Consider creating promotional materials such as social media banners, author website banners, and bookmarks that feature your book cover.

Find your designer

Keep in mind that different services offer varying prices. Some can overcharge for their services, so compare options in your budget before committing to an overpriced design.

• 99designs: 99designs is a platform that connects authors with freelance graphic designers. You can run a design contest, set your budget, and receive multiple cover design concepts.

• Reedsy: Reedsy offers a marketplace of professional freelance book designers, including cover designers. Authors can browse portfolios and request quotes from designers who match their style and genre preferences.

• Fiverr: Fiverr is a freelance marketplace that offers a wide range of services, including book cover design. Authors can browse designers' profiles, view their past work, and hire them for custom covers or pre-designed templates.

• BookBaby: BookBaby provides many self-publishing services, including professional book cover design. Authors can choose from various design packages to suit their needs.

• Damonza: Damonza specializes in book cover design and formatting services. They have a team of experienced designers who create custom covers tailored to the author's genre and vision.

• Premade Book Covers Websites: Several websites offer pre-designed book covers that authors can purchase and customize with their book's title and author name. Some popular options include The Book Cover Designer, CoverVault, and SelfPubBookCovers.

• Designer Direct: Many professional cover designers have their websites or portfolios where authors can directly contact them for custom cover design services. A Google search or social media platforms can help you find designers specializing in your genre.

The DIY method

While DIY book cover design can save you money, consider your design skills and the complexity of your cover. If you're unsure about your design abilities, hiring a professional cover designer may be a better investment to ensure a polished and marketable cover.

Here are some of the top options for designing a cover yourself:

1. Adobe InDesign:

   • InDesign is a professional desktop publishing software widely used for book cover design. It offers advanced layout and typography tools.

   • Ideal for authors with design experience or those who want complete control over their cover design.

2. Adobe Photoshop:

   • Photoshop is a versatile graphic design software that allows you to create custom book covers from scratch. It's suitable for both print and eBook covers.

   • Offers extensive image editing and manipulation capabilities.

3. Canva:

   • Canva is a user-friendly online graphic design tool with various pre-designed templates for book covers, social media, and marketing materials.

   • Great for authors who want to create professional-looking covers without extensive design knowledge.

4. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program):

   • GIMP is a free, open-source image editing software that provides many of the features found in Photoshop.

   • A budget-friendly alternative for designing book covers, especially for eBook formats.

5. Book Cover Creator (Lulu):

   • Lulu, a self-publishing platform, offers a free Book Cover Creator tool. It's user-friendly and provides templates for print book covers.

   • Suitable for authors using Lulu's publishing services.

6. Microsoft Word:

   • While primarily a word processor, Microsoft Word offers basic design tools for creating simple book covers, especially for eBooks.

   • Best for authors with limited design needs and basic cover designs.

7. Kindle Cover Creator:

   • Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) offers a free online Cover Creator tool for eBook covers. It allows you to customize pre-designed templates.

   • Convenient if you're publishing on Kindle and want a straightforward eBook cover.

How to avoid my mistakes

When I went to publish my first print novel, I created a cover design myself using Canva. The problem? I only created the front cover, assuming I would wrap a matte color around the back…or something. Looking back, I don’t think I was anticipating the back section of the cover at all, or the spine, for that matter.

It was a learning process that I understand much more in-depth because of the headaches it caused. I consider the cover for a book holistically now, not just the front-facing design aspects. Every part matters, down to the back blurb and the spine text placement. But, as I mentioned before, it’s all very subjective, so I’ll stick to the specific measurements here.

Several factors determine the cover size: the height and width of the book, the bleed area for the font placement and cover art, and the spine width.

For example, say you choose to print a 5x8 paperback book. Right off the press, the cover is 10x8 because of the front and back. Then, there’s the .125 (in) for the margins and another .125 (in) for the bleed surrounding the cover. This is in conjunction with the spine’s width and margins, which depend on the page count and binding type. So, the combined total might equal roughly 10.85x8.25 for a 240-page book.

Figuring out this information was the leading cause of my distress when dealing with IngramSpark. They provided it upon request (in an email 12 hours later), but I didn’t know how to decipher their template. It had no defining text on the numbers I was seeing. I opted to publish with KDP because of the nature of Amazon’s easy user interface.

Amazon KDP provides a print cover calculator and template for hardcover and paperback. The best part is it is free and available to anyone. Here is what it looks like from our example:

KDP Cover Calculator

That covers the basics of book cover design. Let me know if you have any specific questions, and I’ll happily try to answer them.

There are a ton of helpful tutorials on YouTube for DIY covers made in InDesign and Canva. I recommend watching some of those before diving into it. I own InDesign, and the most significant learning curve right now is the initial set-up of a template design, but once you get past that, re-creating book covers shouldn’t be as difficult. It’s hard to justify the price, though.

Let us know if you have any additional cover design tips or what your experience has been like working with another designer or service. Your expertise is what enables this community to be great!

Thanks for reading. In part four of To Build a Book, I’ll provide information on print-on-demand companies and a step-by-step guide to publishing with Amazon KDP.

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We reviewed drafting and designing your book in part one of To Build a Book. However, that was merely the beginning. Where do we go from there? We’ll discuss formatting your book in this month’s XPress Access post. There’s much to cover, so let’s get right to it.

Intro to formatting the book

Over the past decade of writing, much time was dedicated to drafting novels and screenplays, but I barely explored how to format that manuscript so it could be published properly. Only in the last two years have I exposed myself to that side of things, and I’d like to summarize what I’ve learned in formatting my book for publication.

The world of formatting software is vast. Many options can meet your specific needs and budgets. The choice to use a specific software is your preference, and the best advice I can offer is to go with one you’re comfortable with and is most convenient for you.

Formatting your manuscript is essential to ensure that your work meets industry standards and looks professional. In this guide, we’ll navigate the software that most people use, the major components of formatting, and additional info needed to finalize your manuscript for publication.

Overview of popular software

1. Microsoft Word:

   • Microsoft Word is widely used for formatting fiction manuscripts. It offers features for formatting text, adjusting margins, adding headers and footers, and applying styles. It’s a versatile choice, especially if you know its functions. Many publishers and self-publishing platforms accept manuscripts in Word format.

2. Scrivener:

   • Scrivener is a popular writing software that also offers powerful formatting capabilities. It’s designed with novelists and screenwriters in mind. It allows you to organize your manuscript into chapters, scenes, and sections, making it easy to manage longer works.

3. Google Docs:

   • Google Docs is a free, cloud-based word-processing tool that can be used for manuscript formatting. It’s collaborative and accessible from any device with internet access. While it may not have as many advanced formatting features as Word, it’s suitable for basic manuscript preparation.

4. Reedsy Book Editor:

   • Reedsy offers a free online book formatting tool called the “Reedsy Book Editor.” It’s designed for creating both print and eBook manuscripts. It provides templates, style customization, and export options for various eBook formats.

5. Vellum:

   • Vellum is a premium eBook formatting tool for macOS. It’s known for its beautiful and professional-looking eBook layouts. While it’s primarily focused on eBook formatting, it can be used to create print-ready PDFs for some book sizes.

6. Atticus:

   • Atticus is a writing software on macOS, Windows, and Chromebook that offers advanced formatting capabilities. It allows writers to design manuscripts with themed templates and export them in both print and ebook formats. It’s cheaper than Vellum and offers additional features.

Remember that the choice of formatting software depends on your specific needs and preferences. Microsoft Word is often the go-to choice due to its widespread use and familiarity, but specialized tools like Scrivener or Atticus offer additional features tailored to writers’ needs. Explore these options and choose the one that aligns best with your manuscript formatting requirements.

Major components of formatting

Document Preparation:

• Use a consistent font throughout the document. Common choices include Times New Roman, Garamond, or Arial, with a readable font size (10pt to 12pt).

• Set your page size to match the intended book format (e.g., 6x9 inches for a standard trade paperback).

Margins and Page Layout:

• Ensure proper margins (typically 1 inch on all sides) to provide sufficient white space and prevent text from getting too close to the edges of the page.

• Adjust line spacing (leading) and paragraph spacing for readability, typically at 1.15 to 1.5 times the font size.

Chapter Headings:

• Use consistent formatting for chapter headings, such as bold or larger font size.

• Center or align chapter titles as per your design preference.

Page Numbers:

• Include page numbers in the header or footer of each page. Page numbers are usually centered or placed in the outer corners.

Headers and Footers:

• Customize headers and footers with author name, book title, or chapter title, if desired.

• Use header and footer styles to ensure consistency.

Paragraph Formatting:

• Indent the first line of each paragraph or use block paragraphs with spacing between paragraphs, depending on your preferred style.

• Avoid using tabs or multiple spaces for paragraph indentation; instead, use the paragraph formatting options in your word processor.

Dialogues and Quotations:

• Use quotation marks (“") for dialogues and consistent formatting for quotes.

• Ensure proper attribution of dialogues and quotations.

Font Styles and Special Text:

• Use italics or bold for emphasis, thoughts, or titles within the text.

• Ensure consistent formatting for special text elements like foreign words, book titles, or internal monologues.

Scene Breaks:

• Indicate scene breaks with a consistent symbol, such as “***” or a decorative ornament.

• Center scene breaks to create a visual separation.

Check for Widows and Orphans:

• Avoid single lines of text at the beginning or end of a page (widows and orphans). Adjust page breaks or text to eliminate them.

Proofreading and Editing:

• Carefully proofread and edit your manuscript for typos, grammatical errors, and formatting inconsistencies.

• Consider hiring a professional editor or proofreader for a thorough review.

Testing:

• Before publishing, test your eBook on different eReaders and devices to ensure proper formatting.

• For print books, order a physical proof copy to check for any printing or layout issues.

Metadata:

• Prepare metadata such as book title, author name, description, keywords, and ISBN (for print books) for distribution platforms.

Formatting Guidelines for Print Books:

• If publishing a print book, follow the specific formatting guidelines provided by the chosen print-on-demand or traditional printing service.

Remember that proper formatting enhances the reading experience and reflects the professionalism of your work. Whether self-publishing or submitting to a traditional publisher, adhering to industry-standard formatting guidelines is essential for your novel’s success. The power of formatting software is that it does all of this with easy-to-use tools.

Converting your book into an eBook

Converting a book into an eBook format typically involves using specialized eBook conversion software or services, which is why some of the above software may benefit you in the long run. However, there’s nothing wrong with copying your text from one software into another to achieve the same result.

When converting your book, consider the format requirements of the eBook retailers you plan to use. EPUB is a widely accepted format for most eBook retailers, while MOBI is used primarily for Kindle. Utilize the appropriate software or service to ensure your eBook is properly formatted and ready for publication on your chosen platforms. Publishing services like Amazon KDP and IngramSpark can automatically convert your EPUB into the appropriate format for various devices, so don’t stress too much over this step.

Atticus has a simplified option to export to PDF for print books and export to EPUB for ebooks.

Additional components

The most significant help for me when I used Atticus to format my book was the Front and Back Matter pages. Atticus conveniently formatted the spacing and the placement of the pages without much thought on my part.

Depending on your work, you’ll want Front and Back Matter appropriate for your goal. In most cases, you’ll need a Title Page, Copyright, and a Dedication or Note. For my short story collection, I decided to include a Table of Contents for easier reference to the individual stories, but it’s not required.

The Copyright page should include a disclaimer that your work is a product of your imagination to protect yourself. It should also show the publisher, the publication date, the ISBN, the cover artist, the editor, and any pertinent copyright information.

As for the Back Matter, consider adding an Acknowledgements page, an Also By page for your other works, and a short About the Author bio for those interested in learning more about the author. You can even add relevant website and social media information for readers to find you online.

I hope you found this helpful! If you have any questions or need clarification on anything discussed in this article, feel free to contact me in the comments or by emailing storyletter@protonmail.com.

In part three of To Build a Book, I’ll discuss formatting your book for publication.

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Building a book is essential to every writer’s journey to publication. In this post, I’d like to provide an overview of the main components necessary to go from a working draft to a printed book. This will double as a framework for follow-up posts in the “To Build” series.

Writing a book can be daunting. It’s like entering a pitch-black tunnel without knowing when you’ll reach the other side. With this guide, I hope to ignite your idea headlamp so you can use it to dispel the darkness ahead.

The Storyletter has been running a series called “To Build,” emphasizing the basic tenets surrounding writing fiction online and establishing yourself as an independent creator. If you’d like to read the topics covered thus far, here’s the list:

• To Build a Community

• To Build a Habit

• To Build a Substack

• To Build a Podcast

• To Build a Submission

• To Build a Method

• To Build a Contest

• To Build a Website

• To Build a Reason

• To Build a Brand

• To Build a Store

• To Build a Business

Drafting the Book

Your objective when seeking publication is to have a finished product. Whether it’s working with an agent, editor, small press, traditional publisher, or indie publishing, you should have a manuscript on hand. Therefore, your initial mission will be to finish your story. Even if it’s just for you, completing the book is an accomplishment worthy of your time and effort.

Set goals. Establishing a plan solidified my decision to progress toward something tangible. Without a goal in mind, there’s minimal direction. The goals don’t have to be huge; they should be one step in the overall process, and checking off these goals allows you to feel more accomplished along the way.

Stay consistent. If you’re not writing consistently, reaching your goals will take much longer. It doesn’t need to be a 5-hour session; even 5 minutes gets you closer to finishing your first draft. Daily writing is highly recommended, but rest days can be healthy, too. Discover what works for you.

Find your aesthetic. I mention this because I prefer writing in an enjoyable environment. That environment could be a virtual one through favorite writing software, a hardware component such as a keyboard, or a physical setting like a coffee shop. Whatever gets you to sit down and focus on the task at hand.

Remove friction. Distractions are the number one cause of project death (probably). As with aesthetics, choose a location or mode of writing that allows for the least distractions. Writing in the early morning works for me because there’s something about accomplishing things while others are sleeping and the world is quiet.

Maintain momentum. Working on anything book-related keeps your mind on the mission and the momentum to finish what you started. Jot down notes relating to your characters, the setting of your story, and the themes you’re shooting for. Draw if you want. Anything as long as you’re involved in some aspect of story creation.

Revision is key. Writing the story is one thing, but editing is a different beast. Make sure to add or cut things to make your story better. This process could mean deleting entire sections of your book. That’s okay. The first draft is meant to be an exploratory framework. Knowing what you do and don’t need to keep is part of the journey.

Seek assistance when necessary. The great thing about writing is that it doesn’t need to be a solo endeavor. Guidance and critiques from fellow authors can be the wind in your sails that you need to move forward. Beware of bad advice or overcorrecting based on outside input.

Professional services are an option. Hiring an editor is easier than ever in the digital age of writing. This might help if you don’t have time to edit, aren’t sure where to find a community, or want to ensure the writing quality reaches a certain standard. Grammarly is another option that may help with basic line edits to take your writing to the next level.

Once you have a finished manuscript, you can begin refining it. The goals should now become more straightforward and tangible. The timeline can be set as the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel has appeared as a mere twinkle in the distance.

Designing the Book

Interior

You’ll want to complete the interior formatting of your book before you deal with the cover. The cover’s dimensions will depend on your finished manuscript’s page count. Some of the steps in this guide can be done out of order, but this one, in particular, will cause you a lot of busy work if your page count changes at the last minute and you need to resize everything.

I’m not a professional at formatting. I’ve acquired Adobe InDesign but have only watched a few tutorials. It will provide incredible customization for the small touches I couldn’t achieve with my current formatting software. I used Atticus to format my first book, “The Weight of the World,” but since it was a collection of short stories and poetry, I needed to have different formats for each, and Atticus only allowed one for the whole book. I implemented workarounds to make the book look decent in print. If I had used Adobe InDesign, I could have made those tiny improvements, and the book would’ve been more polished.

Atticus is still an excellent resource for simplified formatting, and I’ll likely still use it for more standard novels. It breaks your book into sections on the lefthand side of the software for easy navigation, such as the Front Matter: Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, and Table of Contents, then allows for the Body to become chapters that can be moved around in any order (perfect for a collection). Then, the software presents the Back Matter: Special Thanks, Also By, and About the Author, among other options. Additional key features like adjusting Alignment, Margins, Font Size, Line Spacing, and Ornament Breaks can be done instantaneously with little-to-no effort.

I’ll go into more detail with an in-depth formatting post next, but if it helps to state it now, my book was formatted with the following specifications:

• Alignment - Not justified (due to poetry) with hyphens

• Margins - Inches (0.875 inside and 0.75 outside)

• Font - Source Sans Pro, 12pt

• Line Spacing - 1.35

• Trim Size - 5x8 inches

• Title and Chapter fonts - Cinzel Decorative and Cinzel

Exterior

It is said not to judge a book by its cover. However, when I pick up a book in the bookstore, it’s almost solely based on the cover or if I recognize the author. I assume a lot of people operate this way. A cover is critical in conveying the type of story you’ve written to the reader. The last thing you want is to spend hours upon hours to finish a manuscript only to have someone grimace at the cover and put your book down.

But…the point I’d like to make here is that your cover shouldn’t prevent you from achieving the end goal. There have been plenty of traditionally-published books that have had reprints and redesigns after the book was released. An excellent example of this was The Lightbringer Series by Brent Weeks, in which the first novel had a portrait of a man on the front but was later altered to display a mysterious, hooded individual to match the other four installments. Don’t think you can’t publish your book because your cover doesn’t meet a certain standard.

Hiring a professional artist or designer is ideal, but I refuse to believe an industry should be gatekept behind a monetary barrier. Plenty of ways exist to create your cover for free or cheap. Canva has been my go-to program for nearly all of my design needs. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulator Program) has been popping up lately in my feeds, and I’m curious to check it out. Adobe Stock used to be a trusted source of stock photography, but with the flood of AI-generated imagery, it isn’t easy to filter out those illustrations if that concerns you. If AI-generated artwork doesn’t bother you, Midjourney is another alternative to creating unique imagery.

Other ways of acquiring your book cover:

• You can search for free images in the public domain or under Creative Commons licenses on websites like Pixabay, Unsplash, or Wikimedia Commons. These images can serve as a starting point for your book cover design.

• Some websites offer free or low-cost book cover templates you can customize with text and images. Examples include DIY Book Covers and PosterMyWall.

• Consider hiring a freelance designer on platforms like Fiverr or Upwork. While some designers charge higher rates, you can often find talented designers at more affordable prices. Check their portfolios and reviews to ensure they meet your needs.

• Reach out to local art schools or design programs and see if any students or aspiring designers are interested in collaborating on your book cover. They may be willing to work at a lower cost or even for free to build their portfolios.

Consider what genre you’re writing in and how the cover might appear to your target audience. Familiarize yourself with your genre’s common design elements and visual styles. For example, a romance novel may feature an embrace or an image of a couple, while a fantasy novel cover may showcase magical elements or fantastical landscapes.

The final dimensions of a cover are tricky. Not only do you need to know the page count of your book to determine the width of the spine, but the bleed and safety margins at the edges come into play. With IngramSpark, they need you to submit the page count, and then they email an image with the dimensions. This was too confusing for me to decipher. Amazon KDP offers a digital template you can use to line up and check to ensure it looks correct. However, the software wouldn’t tell me the exact dimensions BEFORE I uploaded the print PDF. I had to upload the document first; only then would they provide the dimensions to fix it. I re-sized and downloaded the image through Canva, and then it worked. Phew.

The exact dimensions for my PDF were 10.86 x 8.25 in for a 5x8 book at 220 pages.

Thank you so much for reading! In part two of To Build a Book, I’ll cover formatting your book.

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