#Self-Published Authors

[bookboundblogger]

Under the Spotlight: Ashlei Morelli

Author of dark romance and mafia heat, coming in hot from Upstate New York. ✨ Yesterday marked the release of Naughty Pleasures, the latest spicy drop from self-published queen Ashlei Morelli. I’m thrilled to be putting her Under the Spotlight today! Ashlei writes dark romance filled with obsession, danger, and just the right amount of steam, and her stories always bring the heat. Based in…

[toutmoi24]

The Ultimate Guide to Self-Publishing in 2025

Self-publishing has revolutionized the publishing industry, making it easier than ever for authors to share their stories with the world. However, navigating the process can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. This guide provides a comprehensive roadmap to help you confidently embark on your self-publishing journey in 2025. Step 1: Write and Edit Your Manuscript The Writing…

[thebookmarketingsource]

🚨 Struggling to market your book without feeling like a salesperson? 🤯 Good news—you don’t have to! The best book marketing feels natural, engaging, and fun. 💡 From turning your book into a movement to using social proof, I’m sharing 5 unconventional ways to sell more books—without the awkwardness. 📖✨ 📲 Read the full post here → https://thebookmarketingnook.com/how-to-sell-more-books/ What’s your favorite low-pressure way to promote your book? Drop it below! ⬇️

[jimdjordan]

Do you have an author website? Post your link in the comments.

[elletromil]

So I do a lot of book suggestion with my public libraries because, well, I'm a big reader and I can't buy all of the books, no matter how much i might want to.

Anyway, it always completely baffles me when, with series - especially when its in ebook form where you can see fairly easily on Libby whether or not there is another installment after the one you're currently reading - *I* have to suggest the next book for it to be picked up.

And not in a 'why is the librarian not buying it' way, but rather in a 'why are people not asking for it????'

For exemple, I've been reading a series of like 5-6 books total. I suggested my library get the first ebook, suggestion got accepted, i read the book and liked it well enough. About 10-ish people were in the hold queue. Of course that doesn't mean they actually liked it but whatever.

I suggested the second book, and because of the nature of ebooks reservation, some people got to read it before me. Ok fine. I read it, about 6-7 people are on the hold queue when i finish it.

Guess what? No one asked for the third book.

For EVERY book in the series, i had to ask for the next one and i'm just...

For people to read it before me, they had to have an alert on the book so they would know when it becomes available at once. Cuz obviously I have those alerts, but even just checking 5 minutes after the notification, there would be at least 2-3 people with a hold on the book already.

And its not even a 'oh, the library will get the ebooks at a certain time every months/few months so that's why it wasn't available yet'

I finished the second to last book of the series recently. It had been available since like october-ish. I had actually started back then, but since I'm not a fan of reading ebooks, I couldnt finish the book in time, so into the hold queue I went.

I know that public library. I know how often they get their ebook. If anyone had asked for the last book, it would be available already.

It wasn't.

Do people not know they can suggest books? Is the process too obscure for them?

Anyway, there is no point to this post except to say, my good peeps, you can make books (or dvds or games or whatever kind of item your public library offer) suggestion! You usually can do it online!

If you can't find where exactly, usually just googling 'purchase suggestion' or 'reccomand a title' with the name of your public library will get you to the right page

And if you're still not sure, you should ask your librarian, they'll be happy to tell you how!

[ariaste]

🚨WRITER BEWARE🚨

I've just gotten an email from a new "self-publishing platform" called Written (written.app), which is making suspiciously extravagant promises about the benefits they offer to authors. After further research, this is just "upload your book with us and we'll make it an NFT :)"

There is a "thesis" that you can read right on their website if you're interested in looking for yourself at the business model of their grift, but if you'd like to save yourself the trouble, I've pulled out some of the highlights of the receipts over on Bluesky. TLDR: I would not touch this platform with a ten-foot-pole. This is not a book-selling platform, this is a Coincidentally Book-Themed NFT Platform.

[keyboard-squared]

Self-Published Authors, Don't Miss Out on This Free Conference Happening Right Now!

Are you a self-published author? Make sure you check out this incredible free opportunity happening this week!

I interrupt my normal Tuesday post to tell you that I finally opted to pay for a ticket to a free online writing conference. As I talked about a few weeks ago, free online writing conferences are happening all the time. If you haven’t already, you should start subscribing to writing websites so you can hear about these events and make sure you grab a pass before they start.  Yesterday, I got…

[bonnibelleangelica]

3 Exercises To Improve Your Writing/Manuscript

1) Sentence Patterning 🎨

Print off a random page of your work and use different coloured highlighters on each sentence depending on how long they are. You might notice you’ve been stuck in a rhythm without realising it. A rainbow is what you want to see!

2) Stickynoting! 📝

Write out each scene (or topic change) on a stickynote thats colour indicates how plotheavy it is. A few fluffy, relaxed scenes are fine, but you don’t want half the book to be pointless. Likewise, you also don't want every scene to be insanely over the top.

3) Pindropping 📌

Draw a line, mark out the major events of your story, then drop in every revelation, character introduction, first mention, shift and development. See how dense certain areas might be vs others. Do you throw everything at the reader in the first chapter? Or do you hold back too much and leave your audience clueless.

Here are some examples I did for my book!

Click “My Writing Tips” in the tags for more!

Click here to check out my book! @statusquoofficial

[jstor]

In the 19th century, Black authors turned to self-publishing to overcome systemic barriers in mainstream publishing. As Bryan Sinche explores in Published by the Author: Self-Publication in Nineteenth-Century African American Literature, self-publishing was often the only avenue available due to exclusionary practices in white-dominated print culture.

Self-published works were–and, arguably, still are–acts of agency. Authors used their works to piece together family histories and document lived experiences. Self-publishing also allowed for freedom in genre and form. This mode of publishing wasn't without risk, however: printing costs could lead to financial ruin, and some authors, like David Walker, faced outright censorship. Yet, it still provided opportunities to challenge dominant narratives and ensure voices that would otherwise be silenced were heard.

The linked article from JSTOR Daily highlights the resilience and resourcefulness of Black writers who used self-publishing to claim their space in the literary world.

Read a free chapter from Published by the Author.

[madi-konrad]

A DEMON'S NAME UPON YOUR LIPS

It is the curse of ADHD that, at least for me, I'm always running to the next project, and then the next, chasing the new shiny thing. And that has served me well in my creative endeavors, as much as it has stymied me. But I really do think that I caught something special in my first novel, A DEMON'S NAME UPON YOUR LIPS. And thanks to how my brain works, I rarely ever promote it! Which seems unfair for how much effort I put in, alongside my friends who patiently helped me edit it.

It's a sapphic romance between a (newly minted) Duke and the demon she summons. It's a fantasy which takes place in a secondary world loosely based on Victorian-era Europe, though without any of the queerphobic, or even sexist, hatred endemic to its real-world counterpart (or even to our modern day). It's fast paced, gay as fuck, and I poured my heart and soul into it.

I'd be honored if you picked it up; it's only $5.99. About the price of a Latte.

Grab it at the following places:

itch.io (PDF, ePub, and mobi all included!)

Kobo link (ePub version)

Apple Books, Smashwords, and a few others (ePub version)

Amazon (Kindle version)

Barnes and Noble (ePub)

Synopsis below the cut:

Lucia is a succubus, a demon with the power to shape the emotions and passions of mortals. Summoned often into the world of Melodia, she takes pride in upholding her demonic contracts to the best of her abilities. She likes to think she does her job well … though a string of recent failures say otherwise.

Talia, the recently elevated Duke of Fallmire, summons Lucia for a simple reason: to pose as her wife and fulfill marital obligations to the satisfaction of Parliament. All to say, just a few weeks of walking around the estate and playing nice with the neighbors before a conveniently tragic death. Quick and easy.

But immediately, Lucia smells blood in the water. Behind closed doors, the Duke plots vengeance upon those who killed her father—and the demon wants in. Revenge, after all, is much more fun … and more lucrative, to boot.

But can Lucia predict how hard she’d fall for the Duke? (Not a chance). And can the Duke find it in her vengeful heart to love?

Spice Level: lightly described nudity, fade-to-black sex.

64,000 words.

[thatdisasterauthor]

I am not sure where my fascination with disasters came from, but I have had it for a long, long time. So much so that I very specifically remember being in Middle School and writing a short story about a tornado hitting our school and trapping all the students in the gym (but none of the teachers, of course, because what fun would it be if the teachers were around?). My poor teacher didn't quite know what to do with me when she tried to pair everyone up by genre to critique one another's stories, as no one else had written something remotely similar. It didn't matter though, I was hooked. That afternoon I was standing in my garage and thinking about how I wanted to grow up to be an author who wrote disaster stories, and I wanted to write one story about each kind of disaster.

After several years (and two agents) trying to get these books picked up traditionally with no luck, I've decided to just do it myself. And so, the Little Disaster Books collection has been born! When you pick up a Little Disaster Book, here's what you're going to get:

A short read. Each book is around 50,000-70,000 words. That's a bit longer than a novella, and shorter than most novels, because sometimes you just need a quick book, not a door-stopper.

Each book is a standalone. Because, again, sometimes you just need something quick that you don't have to invest in for a decade while you wait for each book to come out.

Lots of queer characters of all sorts. The disaster genre is, unfortunately, pretty notorious for either not having queer characters at all, or killing them off. Little Disaster Books will instead center them and their narratives. But, the stories won't be ABOUT queerness, they'll just have characters that are queer.

No quickie romance. There will be characters in relationships (I'm a sucker for books with couples that are already together at the start), and maybe the first blooms of a potential romance, but nobody is falling head over heels when they should be focused on survival.

No gore for gore's sake. Characters might get hurt, or even die, but these aren't horror books or slasher books or anything in that vein.

A realistic look at disaster. I'm not just obsessed with fictional disasters, I'm obsessed with the real ones too. I have spent a lot of time studying disasters, myths around disasters/disaster response, and the sociology of disasters. With Little Disaster Books I have worked very, very hard to make the books as realistic as possible when it comes to things like civilian responders, everyday heroes, and how disaster response tends to work. At the end of the day they are still fiction, but they're fiction heavily grounded in reality. No "everyone for themselves/we're all animals when the lights go out" nonsense here.

Full endings. There's a bit of a trend in survival thrillers for them to end right at the climax/moment of rescue, or within a few pages of it, even if things haven't been fully wrapped up. Little Disaster Books will all have more rounded endings that delve, at least a little bit, into the aftereffects of what the characters go through, because sometimes the after is the hardest part of all.

The first book in this collection, Lie Down in the Ashes, is launching on Kickstarter on Janaury 15th, 2025! Sign up to be notified on launch here. It is about a group of teens who get caught in the middle of a fast moving wildfire that one of them accidentally starts.

Sign up to be notified on launch here.

[thebookmarketingsource]

Where to Find a Narrator for Your Audiobook – And What to Look Out For

If you've ever wanted to see your book as an audiobook, don't miss this post! Indie Audiobook Productions gives expert tips on where to find your perfect audiobook narrator.

Guest Post by Indie Audiobook Productions I’m excited to post a guest blog today! I recently met Nicky Griffiths, founder of Indie Audiobook Productions. Immediately, I was drawn to her desire to make the audiobook process clear and transparent while providing support for the author. Thankfully, Nicky agreed to write a blog about finding a narrator when I asked her. Indie Audiobook Productions…

[writeblrfantasy]

I am far from the first person to make this point, but…

Isn't it strange how authors, both self and traditionally published, have been forced to become jacks of all trades in recent years? Graphic designers, content creators, social media managers, web designers, marketing managers tasked with knowing what’s trendy and exactly where to go viral, all while juggling day jobs and leaving room to actually write?

since we are both passionate about this strange shift in recent years, author @ettawritesnstudies and I collaborated on this topic, and you can read our blog post about it here.

if you're an author for which this issue grinds your gears like it does mine, give it a read! not only is there some good old fashioned (thank you, etta, for your endless optimism and insistence on finding a solution to the problems of the publishing market.)

enjoy! if you're an author with any personal experiences to share or thoughts to add, we would love to hear them. we worked hard on it and i would love to hear what everyone thinks

[alinacapellabooks]

The temptation to share snippets of my WIPs vs the desire to not spoil too much of them before they’re published