What element of the books you examined stood out to you?
How do you want the design of your book to feel?
Here are some vintage examples from the public domain:
Weird Tales Volume 10 (1927)
Horto (1910)
Through a Glass Lightly (1897)
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What marketplaces & formats are you considering?
.mobi – Amazon’s standard ebook file type (required to sell through Amazon)
.epub – most common outside of Amazon’s marketplace
.PDF – cheapest DIY option
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Distribute on Audible with ACX
Libro.FM (which partners with local bookstores)
My podcasting & audiobook gear1
Ferrite Recording Studio (app for iPad)
Austin Kleon, How I recorded an audiobook during a pandemic.
And an alternate opinion about when to record the audiobook that is especially relevant if you’re hiring professional narrators.
Share your reflections or questions about this part of the process below.
I’ve used different microphones in the past (including a Blue Snowball, MOVO, and AT 2020). The Blue Snowball broke. The MOVO had a headphone jack and started to have compatibility issues with newer Apple devices. I struggled with the AT 2020. I was using a cardiod condenser version (not a USB) which had to be recorded with a Zoom H4N. I’m not sure if it was postpartum baby brain, but it was a giant headache and I wanted to go back to a simple USB mic.
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
Creatively Conscious by Philippa Stanton
Learning by Heart by Sister Corita Kent
Google Fonts (free open source fonts)
Creative Market Fonts (a good source for purchasing fonts for your book cover or headers)
What books would you find on the shelf next to your own?
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (known as Amazon KDP)
Barnes & Noble Print on Demand
I am not endorsing any of these companies. I am sharing the information I have at hand about your options. My personal experience is limited to print on demand through Amazon KDP. I’ve written about the complexity of choosing whether or not to publish through Amazon here:
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Now that you know the costs you’ll need to decide how to price your book and what investment is required.
Here are a list of possible costs for you to consider:
Book Cover Design
Book Proofs (3-5)
Developmental Editor
Copy Editor
Proofreader
Fact Checker
Website Shop & Fees
Crowdfunding Fees
Shipping Materials
Hosting Fees (for ebooks & audiobooks)
Email Automation (for delivering digital editions)
Microphone & gear for audiobooks
Editing software for audiobooks
Interior Illustrations or Photographs
Professional Author Headshot
ISBNs
Advance Reader Copies*
Marketing Materials (stickers, bookmarks, etc.)
Ads
Conferences
Signage, etc.
* Advance Reader Copies (often called ARCS) can be free PDF or cheap paperbacks. ARC are often lower quality than finished books. Or you can send finalized author copies. We talk about this more about ARCs later on.
Considering your costs you’ll need to consider where to price each edition of your book. How many books will you need to sell to break even? How many to turn a profit?
Ingram Spark’s How Much Should My Book Cost?
Bear Hebert’s Anticapitalist Guide to Pricing Your Work
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Here are the best resources I’m aware of to purchase your own shipping labels.
This is what I use. It requires a Paypal account. I like this because it allows me to ship books (within the US) using media mail, which is the cheapest way to mail books.
I haven’t used Shipstation without the Paypal integration so I’m honestly not sure what the differences are.
I haven’t used this myself, but it’s on my radar as a way to get discounted prices for shipping through UPS & USPS.
Ideally you want to package up your book babies so they arrive in pristine condition. (Unlike Amazon who chucks a book in a box and hopes for the best.) This means you probably want a rigid or bubble mailer. I’ve used a few different companies, but Eco Enclose is my favorite. If you use Eco Enclose be sure to order a few free samples and make sure the book fits nicely (sometimes it’s hard to account for the thickness of the book when choosing a mailer size.)
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Does your book have a title or topic that people may be searching for on Amazon?
Would you rather market and sell your book directly through your own website?
Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (known as Amazon KDP)
Squarespace (Website upgrade)
Woo Commerce (for WordPress Websites)
Shopify (Monthly Subscription)
Wherever you sell your book you’ll probably want a sales page on your own website.
You can do this even if you use an online marketplace.
This is a place to make the sales more personable. Share the why behind your book (revisit your notes from the “Why” module) and who it’s for. You can include videos, images, and reviews.
Then put a clear “Buy Now” button that links to whatever shopfront you choose.
There is a beautiful example from Katie Daisy here.
Or a simple approach from Austin Kleon (you’ll notice he links to Bookpeople and not Amazon.)1
My first book has a tiny profit margin (due to being full color print on demand) so I have not yet explored brick and mortar for my own books. I have done a bit of research though and will share that here.
After recording this podcast I learned something important about bookshops.
Bookstores sell on consignment.
The way this works with traditional publishing is book distibutors offer the ability to return books that don’t sell. If you sell to a brick and mortar shop they might be more comfortable selling on consignment or with the option to return unsold stock.
In addition to independent bookstores consider small shops that sell gifts or wares from local artisans. Consider the topic of your book and think outside the box about shops that might be a good fit. You’ll make less profit from books sold in shops, but you will likely reach different readers who may not find you online.
How to Sell Your Self-Published Book to Bookstores
Book Distribution with Ingram Spark
Expanded Distribution with Amazon KDP
If you want to consider Book Distribution to independent bookshops (versus a personal relationship and purchase order with local sellers) I’d recommend reading So You Want to Publish a Book by Anne Trubek. She sheds light on some of the opaque elements of selling to bookstores through distributors (like delayed payments and the prevalence of bookstore returns.)
My research also showed many bookshops won’t consider stocking books with free Amazon ISBNs. This is something to consider and the reason I purchased ISBNs from Bowker. It felt like a worthwhile investment to have the option to be stocked in bookstores later on.
Many authors sell their books at book festivals or conventions that fit the theme of the book. For this you’ll need a way to take payments during the event as people (at least here in the US) rarely carry cash. Here are some options. Both are free.
Venmo (easy for people with the Venmo app)
Square Up Card Reader (take credit card payments)
Indiegogo (flexible goal)
Kickstarter (all of nothing)
If you have a small following and want to self publish with the smallest overhead here are some options for you. These are less polished and professional, but they can do the job if you are bootstrapping your project.
Gumroad (Free)
Square Up (Free, but cannot fulfill digital products)
Etsy (Free, not ideal for books but good for journals or planners)
Substack (Offer your ebook or audiobook to paid tier)
I started out selling through the Square Up free online shop. This worked well for physical books, but was not ideal for ebooks and audiobooks. At this time2 Square Up does not have the capability to automatically deliver digital products so I was having to send these myself.
Recently I upgraded my Squarespace website to include a shopfront. For me the investment was worth the peace of mind that my ebooks and audiobooks will be automatically fulfilled.
Share your reflections or questions below.
What experience do you have selling your books? What platforms have you used? Have you ever been stocked in a brick and mortar shop?
Let’s have an open chat and share information below.
Bookpeople is an independent bookstore based in Texas. They sell self published books on consignment.
This post was written on December 16, 2023.
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Who did you write the book for?
What are their expectations?
What are your intentions?
Formal (The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron)
Conversational (Steal Like an Artist by: Austin Kleon)
Academic (Daring Greatly by: Brent Brown)
Jessica Allowski, my editor for How it Feels to Me, has generously recorded a bonus module for you about the editing process.
Share your reflections or questions about this part of the process below.
