I have read a book called “How to market a book” by Reedsy and they have specified that rapid publishing over a period of 30 days after your previous book for a series such as trilogy would be the best approach since it will give you the most visibility on Amazon.

That means you must publish a book every month. I was wondering if anyone has done this before but also have published within a longer timeframe say 3-6 months apart for a series?

If so, which one would you say had the most impact in terms of sales and KU reads?

And which one would you recommend?

I'm going to self-edit my book.

I won't be hiring an editor of any type. No line editor, developmental editor, or proofreader. I did have some beta readers, but they mostly just pointed out typos along the way. I've already found way more than any of them have on my own.

HEAR ME OUT!:

I am self-publishing a romance book I wrote for fun. I also happen to be very broke, so even if I wanted to, couldn't afford editors, anyway. I also minored in English and read a lot. So, in general, I have a good grasp of grammar rules, spelling, etc.

I'm willing to put the time in to go over and re-read my story a dozen times for errors. In fact, I find them in passages I feel like I've already read a hundred times. Which is why I'm a little nervous about not getting an editor, BUT-- I can't imagine ever making that money back, since self published books rarely blow up.

Also, my target audience is just Kindle Unlimited romance readers, usually young girls who want a cutesy romance, so I doubt they're going to hunt me down over a misplaced comma that I overlooked.

I AM, however, hiring someone to make the cover (because I believe people do judge a book by it's cover and I want something that looks eye catching) and a formatter because the idea of figuring that out is already giving me a headache.

So, with my English background, do you guys think it's a huge mistake to embark on this self-editing journey on my own? Let me know.

And overall it was really positive:

"I liked and endorse this book. I gave it 5 stars but haven’t written a review yet, but will. Bad things: two paragraphs with a repeated word, intentional or not, was distracting. Good things: everything else, especially the writing style that seemed like it could have been written almost a century ago even though that was just a flourish, it was modern conventions/readability all the way. And you made the good call not to go the Cold Mountain way of pretending to be old-timey in a cloying fake way."

I have had good reactions from my ARC readers, but a good review from someone out in the wild is a relief on another level.

OK, I need your help please, this is driving me crazy.

Take a look at this book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DF5X1RHY/

Now I'm really not trying to be rude here, but.....

1) The cover is bad AI art
2) The book description is very bland and unengaging
3) The reviews acknowledge that the book is full of grammar errors, with 'mixed reviews on character development and logic'.

Trying to stay as objective as possible here, but... this book looks terrible. Right? So what am I missing here?

HOW does this book have 3,600+ reviews, and a 4.4 star rating?

HOW has it stayed in the Top Sellers of its genres for multiple weeks now?

It must surely have made PLENTY of money during that time.

What am I missing here? Why does a book with an obviously AI-made cover and quite dubious writing quality have so many sales, and so many very good reviews?

I've read the first chapter, and it's just not a good writing style - I promise I'm really trying not to be mean or judgmental here, but I have to face the facts.

Is this book really just providing exactly what readers want to see?? Am I totally out of touch with the market? Why is it so popular in terms of sales and reviews when it has.... a horrible cover and horrible writing?

I'm so confused it's driving me crazy. I feel like I'm losing my mind whenever I look at this thing. Really, take a look at the writing quality if you don't believe me. Why has it been so successful?? Please help it make sense. I'm kinda desperate for answers here.

My profile: "Creator of weird speculative fiction and art. Sci-fi, fantasy, horror, LGBT, and plain strange. Check out my profile!"

Their spam, that the sent to my publisher of the series, whereas, the second book is self-published without their help: "Hi Vanessa,

Your brand of weird and speculative fiction is exactly the kind of storytelling that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. Whether it's the Fatality Series or Beautiful Dreamer, you’re crafting immersive worlds that deserve a wide audience.

But here’s the thing, new readers need a reason to take the plunge into your universe. That’s where editorial reviews come in.

A solid editorial review doesn’t just validate your work it gives it gravity. It builds credibility, strengthens your book’s visibility on Amazon and Goodreads, and helps your stories reach beyond their usual orbit. Whether it’s sci-fi, horror, or LGBT fiction, professional reviews make your books more discoverable and marketable.

I specialize in securing editorial reviews that matter. If you’re looking to give your books that extra boost, I’d love to help! Let’s chat about getting your work the professional recognition it deserves.

Best, James Emmanuel"

Hello! I'm getting ready to launch my next series in a few months and would love feedback (be as harsh as you'd like!) on my draft blurb. Some points in case it's helpful:

• Target audience is new adult; it's fine for older YA as well
• Themes - coming of age, self-determination
• There is romance between the main characters, and while a significant part of the story I would not bill it as romantasy (though a few beta readers who regularly read romance said it would sit fine next to other romantasy titles)

And the blurb:

A Blood Mage determined to escape her past. A Flame Mage set on proving herself.

Sent on a perilous rite together, they soon find themselves questioning all that they once thought irrefutable truth.

Born into a poor family, Dara is a young woman when representatives of the Quinarium - the religious body which guides praise of the Quinate, the five gods - arrive in her hamlet. Through luck, she is sent to train as a Blood Mage, the most revered of magic wielders in the Quinarium.

Meanwhile, Wynne grapples with the expectations of her high-status birth. As she reaches adulthood, pressure mounts for her to take on a role in support of her family, though she wants nothing more than to choose a future of her own. Standing against tradition, Wynne makes her way to train as a Flame Mage, the lowest in status yet the role Wynne desires more than anything else.

After Dara and Wynne complete their training, they are sent on rite together to ascend as members of the Quinate's Faithful, to become Mages of the Quinarium. Though their motivations differ, they are set on completing their task. However, when they are assigned the unusual task of stopping attacks on a village and investigating a rumor of an impossible source of mana - the fuel for magic - they find themselves on a journey that leads to unexpected revelations and unintended consequences.

Dara and Wynne travel across the world of Llendshold, from the Nomridian Forest, land of the Fae, into the treacherous Zanerian Archipelago, and deep underground to the Dwarf city of Yuvsgrend. All the while, their every thought, emotion, and desire are challenged in ways they never knew possible.

Will they complete their Rite and ascend as the Quinate’s Faithful?

[BOOK TITLE] is book one of [SERIES TITLE], a fantasy trilogy filled with powerful mages, action packed adventures, and a touch of slow-burn romance.

Hey everyone,

I’m devastated and confused—Amazon KDP just suspended my 6-year-old account without any specific reason. I was consistently getting 300+ orders per month, with:

• 100% original content (no AI, no plagiarism).
• Great reviews, proper formatting, no copyright issues.
• Only used in-house Amazon ads, no external promotions.
• Books were related to Kids education.

What Happened?

• Received a generic suspension email with no details on violations.
• No books were blocked before termination.
• No warnings, no chance to appeal.

The Shocking Pattern?

After researching, I found many Pakistani sellers facing sudden suspensions. Is KDP banning accounts based on location? My business was fully compliant, and now my primary income is gone.

Need Help:

1. Has anyone successfully reinstated their account after such a suspension?
2. Should I contact Amazon support via phone/email, or is there a better method?
3. Could kids' content be the issue? (Even though it followed guidelines.)
4. Any legal/alternative steps to recover my account?

I’ve invested thousands in creating these books, and this suspension is crushing. Any advice would mean the world.

Thanks in advance.

My story is a women’s fiction with a side of romance and mystery.

It’s a slow burn romance and the first half is all about the girl and how she survives abuse. So I don’t know if Radish or RoyalRoad is a good fit.

It’s an adult fiction with mature themes so not sure about Wattpad either.

My current plan is Substack but since this is my first time publishing serialised fiction, I’m not sure if that’s my best option.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

P.S. I plan to share excerpts as reels/shorts. That’s the only marketing content idea I have.

I have an idea to translate some works and sell them as ebooks. The works in question include:

1. Public domain works (e.g., Edgar Allan Poe) published before the 1930s
2. Common urban legends from around the world, copied from the internet
3. Creepy Pastas from creepypastas.fandom, which are licensed under CC-BY-SA (following the terms)

I’m confused about a few points:

1. I heard that Draft2Digital won’t accept public domain works, even if they are translated or annotated. Is that correct? If so, what does that imply for CC-BY-SA-licensed content?
2. On Amazon KDP, public domain (PD) content must be significantly altered (e.g., via original translation or detailed annotations). Does the same requirement apply to CC-BY-SA-licensed works?
3. Can CC-BY-SA-licensed content be treated the same as public domain?
4. What about urban legends? If I find someone’s retelling of a legend online and translate it, is that considered copyright infringement? Since an urban legend is not necessarily an original creation—just a story passed around—would a person’s written version still be protected by copyright?

I’d appreciate any clarification on these issues so that I can proceed correctly.

So I have about a dozen novels, I've had beta readers (not friends, strangers from social media writing groups) look at my stuff and tell me it's got the goods. Making money is secondary, i want to primarily build an audience from zero. I have about a dozen novels (some of which not series but tie into a connected universe) and many more on the way.

I want to build a fanbase ONE fan at a time, I have plans to start marketing on youtube with various videos. Not trying to blow it out, not trying to quit my job, damn, not even trying to get a publishing deal. I just want people to read my stuff and say they liked it.

My logic is that if you get an audience somehow the money will come. I have a day job, money is not my primary goal, i just want to express myself and my love of the written word

so yeah, I'm looking for the best channels and avenues for putting your work out for free

Wattpad would be ideal, but I've had little luck there and I think it's too big and it's core audience probably doesn't gel with me

I'm also considering RoyalRoad

My main thing is Id like the online distrubtor that looks best on mobile, as most of my books are shorter novellas, (30-60k) words, and I want to get that "quick read to kill an afternoon/plane ride/commute" on easily accessible devices

I'm starting from 0, I have nothing but 300 subscribers on a youtube channel I haven't touched in years, so yeah starting with nothing and want to build my empire brick by brick.

TLDR What are the best channels for free distribution with high community engagement

Hello guys. As I just finished my first story and a beta reader is actually destroying it to smitereens, I am about to publish it and as I am seeing how to create the book itself, I'd like to know if would be too proposterous to make a page with my email and main social media links.

So I just published three of my books on Amazon and I'm more curious of how I can help market it better because my goal is to write and get my books out to people so they can what I have written based off my ideas. It's also called enchanting kingdoms which is just a three book trilogy.

My book cover is curling and the independent book store has brought it to my attention. Any idea if this is “normal”? or why this is happening? An issue to take up with Amazon? Thank you in advance.

EDIT: I didn't expect to get so many comments on this post in just the first hour. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!

In case this post is TL:DR, here's a summary of what I'd like to know:

1. Am I just setting myself up for disappointment?
2. How can I at least improve my chances of eventually achieving bestseller status despite having no following at the moment?
   
3. If you were a newbie author starting from scratch with no audience, what specific strategies would you use to try to get your book in front of hundreds of thousands or even millions of relevant, targeted readers - and, of course, actually convert them into sales?
4. Can anyone recommend specific marketing agencies/experts/influencers that meet the following criteria:
5. they actually get results for their clients
6. they might actually be able to help me achieve my own goals and sell some books even though I don't yet have a following
7. they use strategies that actually work in 2025, in an ever changing marketing landscape

- they won't scam me or let me down

Okay, so the whole reason I talk about "making my book a bestseller," despite having no following, is because I believe that strongly that my writing has the potential to resonate with so many people and become the next big thing. (Plus I could use the money!) I'm inspired by Robert Munsch, J.K. Rowling and Aaron Blabey and how they achieved such great success. Their success makes me want to become a bestseller too, even if it's not on the same scale as them. Or am I just setting myself up for disappointment, no matter how hard I try and no matter what strategies I use, because of the mere fact that I don't really have a following at all right now?

I'm afraid of launching a book and having it be a complete and total failure - especially if I spend tens of thousands of dollars trying to market it. I've heard that most books never sell more than a few dozen copies - but I have a burning desire to be truly amazing. I just need some mentorship, a kick in the butt, some significant knowledge of how to market my book and get the right people to help me with that, and an enormous boost in my self confidence. Any advice that a newbie author with my circumstances should follow?

I'm especially afraid of failure since I'm nobody in the world of social media. Social media marketing was never one of my strengths - I tried hard for years to get traction as an artist on Instagram and Twitter (which I don't recognize as X) but was unsuccessful. In fact, I remember my Instagram basically being stagnant at 135 or so followers for at least a full year.

Because of this, and for personal reasons, I've mostly quit social media (except for Twitter, which I'm using to try to build an audience) and have seen an improvement in my mental health since. This alone makes me prefer not to go back to Instagram or TikTok at all and to limit my time on Twitter and other socials if possible. However, I'm fully aware that most successful authors have a strong social media presence these days.

Authors, would you absolutely insist that I invest time into social media marketing despite what I've said here?

If you have worked with influencers and/or marketing agencies when you were publishing your books, a list of ones to consider, and ones to avoid, would be greatly appreciated!

What other strategies have you tried that worked for you as an author and helped you sell a lot of books?

Hi guys,

After some advice please - think I've made a dumb mistake.

I am releasing my first novel in May. I had originally planned only to release as an e-book on Kindle. My original manuscript was written on Word. I then used KindleCreate to format it as an e-book. Whilst on KindleCreate, I made some final edits, changed a few words here and there, and uploaded it onto Amazon ready for release.

I then decided that I wanted to release my book as a paperback after all. I hadn't realised that I would need to upload a completely separate PDF to do this. The final edits are on the KindleCreate version, but not my original manuscript, and I can't remember the specifics of what I changed.

Is there any way to convert my Kindle Create file into a PDF/RTF so I can have my novel as a paperback too? Otherwise it's likely that the e-book version, and the paperback version, will be slightly different...

Grateful for any advice,

Thanks,

A dumb newbie writer.

First, I'm very likely overthinking this.

What is the advice on responding to comments on your Facebook ad? I know it's not in anyone's best interest to respond to reviews, but does that extend here too? I wouldn't be questioning this if it was just a regular social media post but, since it's an ad, I wasn't sure. Does it deter potential readers to see an author engaging on an ad?

I ask because an ad I've been running has been getting some comments. Mostly from people saying they wanted to check out the book. One person recently wrote saying they had read all three books and wants me to hurry up and write the fourth. Is it appropriate to respond with a thank you and book four update?

I sort of feel silly asking but I also really don't want to do anything that would annoy potential readers. Thank you in advance!

I don't think so highly that I can be the guy who "Gets me back into reading" but I am male, and my books would most likely appeal more to men than women.

I don't want to be like some guys I see who go "Yeah, we're doing REAL stories that are Anti-Woke and no SJW Nonsense" but my books, yeah, they're not "woke" and they are traditional and (mostly) male led.

So like, how do I let the audience know that like "yeah, don't worry we don't have any of that woke stuff here, just good old fashioned goodguys killing bad guys and marrying princesses and pulp crime thrillers" without falling into the Right Wing Grifter pipeline? I REALLY don't want to be one of those guys because, while I enjoy a lot of the same stuff they do, they're assholes and I don't want to alienate people and get called a right wing chud.

Hi folks! Finally getting close to finishing my title setup on IngramSpark but have run into another confusing issue. When I initially created the title and uploaded the files, I used IngramSpark's free ISBN and the Imprint is set as "Indy Pub." I can't remember if I added that myself as an Imprint, or if it autofilled, but I remember Amazon setting my imprint at that when I created my Kindle/Paperback/Original Hardcover, because I don't have an imprint myself.

Now that I finally have the text set exactly how I want it, layout and everything, when I click "Continue" to go to the next step, it gives me a red box at the top that says "Address the following errors: Imprint name is restricted." I don't know if Amazon "owns" the name "indy pub" or what, but I have no problem changing it. Trouble is, I don't know what to change it to. And when I click the Imprint field, it gives me a dropdown with "Indy Pub" as the only item on the list to choose, no way to delete it and leave it blank. I can add a new imprint, but I don't know what to put - does IngramSpark have their own Imprint name? And do I type it in, or are they supposed to populate it?

Just wanted to get some thoughts

My debut novel has only been out three months! So I know things will fluctuate. But so far it’s done SO well I actually am so shocked about it. Almost 1 million pages read :) I’ve noticed my page reads see a huge dip in the first week of the new month, but I feel I don’t have a lot of data to look out as of right now.

But in March I was doing 15-20k words per day, then immediate on April 1st it dipped to 8k and has been fairly consistent the last few days. That just seems like a pretty substantial dip…

I was wondering if this is a trend others have noticed?

Hello, I'm getting to release my first novel, a techno thriller where the surveillance infrastructure of advertising is used for nefarious means. It's based in part on my professional experience in the field, and am writing under a pseudonym so I can unveil the tricks of the trade without repercussion.

I'd appreciate any advice on my draft blurb:

When a hot new advertising client lands in Diana Lane's lap, it seems at first like her prayers have been answered. But soon she finds herself thrust into a world of technological and political intrigue when it turns out her ad campaign is being used to target a senate candidate for surveillance — and assassination. In this debut novel by an advertising executive, the mechanics of the surveillance economy are laid bare as Lane fights for survival, and to unravel the mystery if who's behind the attacks.

Thank you!

I hope this kind of post is allowed here. I'm a few days away from my official launch date and I'm feeling depressed. Not anxious, just depressed.

I've set up everything for launch, sales site and distribution prepped to go. I've triple-checked all the technical stuff - formatting looks good, cover is done, blurb doesn't suck (I think?), keywords are set... but my timing was pretty terrible and I couldn't get any pre-release marketing going. Although, I do have a few libraries that say they want to order my book.

But, now I'm just sitting here with this strange mix of excitement and absolute dread as the official launch day approaches.

I keep telling myself "don't take this personally" and "first books rarely do well" and all that stuff we're supposed to say, but like... I can't help it. I've poured SO much into this book and the thought of it just sitting there with zero sales is making me feel down. I know it isn't about sales numbers.

It's like I've done everything I could do already, and now I'm just... waiting. Waiting to see if anyone will care. Waiting to see if all this work was worth it. And something about that waiting is making me feel so meh.

I know logically this isn't about immediate results. I have a 3-5 year plan and understand that building a readership takes time. But emotionally? That's a whole different story. I know I shouldn't be putting so much emotional weight on this but it's MY BOOK, you know? Every other one of my creative endeavors have been a flop, but this is the first time that I feel like I legitimately have a shot at building an audience. I am proud of my work but I don't want to walk around patting myself on the back. I think I have something very cool to share with the world and I don't want it to just fade into obscurity... it's likely fate.

Does anyone else experience this emotional slump right before launch? Like you've spent all this energy getting everything ready, and now there's nothing left to do but watch and wait?

Do others feel like this too, or am I just taking it all too personally?

Hey Everyone,

I’m a first-time author, and I’m planning to publish my very first ebook around the middle of this month. I’ve spent a lot of time writing, editing, and preparing, but now I’m at the stage where I need to think about marketing, and honestly, I feel a bit lost.

Here’s the thing: I’m not into social media. I don’t use Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, or Facebook. Reddit is the only platform I’m active on and enjoy using. So I’m hoping to figure out how to market and grow awareness for my ebook without relying on traditional social media channels.

Some quick context: It’s a self-published ebook. I will publish through Amazon KDP and Gumroad. My budget is limited, but I’m willing to invest time and energy.

What I’m looking for:

• Tips or strategies that have worked for you if you also avoid social media
• Low-cost ways to get the word out
• Email newsletters or blog ideas that work for indie authors
• Should I try Amazon ads or meta ads, or is that a waste for beginners?

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s marketed a book without a big social media following. Any advice, lessons, or resources would be super helpful!

Thanks in advance 🙏