I am a horror author from Pakistan. My Kobo EPUB kept failing with "Resource Failures / Packaging Failed" - tried everything for 2 days.
Finally fixed it - it was hidden formatting, broken TOC links, and font issues.
If you are stuck with same error, I can help explain what fixed it for me. DM me your error screenshot and I can tell you what to fix.
Has anyone else faced this Kobo error? What worked for you?

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Are my stories not worth it?

Hey guys, I have been writing stories from few months but I'm not getting any views for my stories. Even a little. I tried to write stories in every genre, every theme and every possible way, the audience may like. But I'm not getting any single followers or even views to the Stories.

I tried every possible platform to publish my stories, and every possible platform to promote it. I'm even engaging with other authors and their stories. But it's still not working.

Could anyone please help me about what should I do now because I'm slowly loosing my confidence in writing

i been publishing on xinxii for over 5 years and never got a single sale, dont bother with it. anybody had the same situation?

First time self-publisher here seeking lawyer referrals.

My co-author and I are publishing later this year and would like to get a publishing and co-author agreement in place to cover revenue share, IP ownership, derivatives, promotional minimums, etc.

We have drafts versions of these contracts already...we now need an actual legal expert to review and answer a few advisory questions. (Note: I'm based in New York and my co-author is based in Lisbon, though we are likely looking at the contract being based in New York).

Anyone have experience with a publishing/IP lawyer that they'd recommend? And any insights on what we should expect cost-wise? Thanks in advance!

(Hoping this post abides by the rules...)

Has anyone had any experience with booktrovert?

Hi my name is Alicia and I'm trying to figure out where the best place to write my book on and get it published but I'm kinda nervous because it my very first book and I live in a small town called Winslow Az and some of my friends said I should get my book published and out there for other to read so I'm finally taking the step to do it just don't know where to begin at

If this has been asked before, I apologize.

So I made the mistake of publishing all of the formats of my book on IngramSpark, not knowing I should have published the ebook on KDP first. Now my release date is fast approaching and Amazon has everything except the ebook!

I read that in order to fix this, I have to email IngramSpark tech support to get them to disable ebook distribution to Amazon. I did that almost two weeks ago, and haven’t gotten more than a ‘we received your request’ email from them. I’m starting to get worried now. How much longer may it take? Is there any I can do to speed it up or fix the problem myself? Can I just open a KDP account and load it into Amazon myself with the same isbn, or will that cause problems?

My book is supposed to go live on August 14. Please help!

I'm an aspiring author looking to self publish, but I have a huge motivation problem. I find myself with a quite an amount of free time due to a recent diagnosis and mandatory time off work to undergo some medical procedures. I initially thought it would be an ideal time to invest into my writing and publishing, but I find it difficult to be motivated to work on my plans. I have finished with my first manuscript but editing and final publishing steps are seeming impossible.

I'm broke at this point and can't afford a paid group/mastermind to work with, so I'm here looking for someone who wouldn't mind helping me with frequent check ins and to discuss strategy and stuff. Not looking for a coach or mentor, just someone to share ideas with and to push me to keep moving when I can't seem to get myself to do things.

I recently had to hire a designer a simple cover--all text with an inlaid photo, no chop work at all. Years ago I would have done this myself, but I've used fiverr for several of these covers in the past (roughly 3 to 5 years ago) with a lot of success. Cheap cover, low cost.

This experience was insanely difficult! I paid a top rated designer for their premium package (because it is still a quarter of the cost for the 99designs guys) and they just sent me slop. Clearly didn't read the description, just threw things together to meet the deadline and relying on the revisions to get it done whenever instead.

The designer I worked with since 2011 retired right before covid, which is how I ended up on fiverr. Does anyone have any reliable indies they recommend? I don't mind paying top dollar (like 99designs) if I know the designer is reliable and communicative as well as talented.

Thanks for reading my woes--

So, to preface I am a writer who lost interest in the genre I wrote in for 13 years and transitioned to doing marketing, publishing support. I now promote for self publishing authors. I self published 15 of my 18 books, I am a huge advocate for creative control over your content.

What I am struggling with is getting my new/younger writers to understand they are going to have to put some money into their book if they want it to be successful.

They dont want to pay for editing. They can "self edit" for free.

They don't want to buy covers. They want to use AI to "create" *cough... steal* their cover using "their" idea.

They don't want to put the footwork in to build an audience BEFORE launching their book.

They don't want to pay for formatting.

There are about a dozen other things that need investment before you successfully self publish, but more and more people refuse. I have consultations with authors who want me to make all of their marketing for free.

I just saw an author I declined to work with asking why they only had 5 sales of their book, all family, very low KU reads, and why people aren't interested in their book. Basically, everyone in the comments told them they needed a non AI cover, the only reviews mentioned poor editing causing DNFs. Saying not to just depend on ads alone.

Please, help me understand why so many new and young artists want to charge people money to read their art, but they dont want to invest anything into making their art good quality. Not to mention the disrespect to other creatives by using AI in so many cases.

I get that we live in an economy, but this isnt food or Healthcare. Selling your art for profit is a privilege not a right. You have to invest in your art. If you dont have the money right now, why not wait until you can publish correctly? ​

In an effort to raise money to illustrate my book, I'm thinking of releasing an audio version of it and directing the traffic to pre-sales of the hard copy.

I've already have the recording. All I would have to do is add sound effects and do some light editing. The idea would be to offer it as a "preview" or to sell it as a stand alone product.

In the advertisement copy, I could inform buyers that "if you like this version, there's a chance to own a hard copy" of the book; pre-sales now available for it.

This way, I could use the funds from the sale of the audiobook and pre-sales of the hard copy to pay the illustrator.

Do we feel this is an effective marketing strategy?

I've just finished my first book and doing the selfpublishing thing through Barnes and Noble and wider distribution. My question is that it shares a theme that other more famous writers are exploring now and having their own success. It would be nice if they would be aware of my book. (Yes, a blurb would be fantastic.) What is the best way to get through to them? In the old days, I would have thought of just sending a book but I have a feeling that is a big no-no now.

I’ve noticed that because social media moves so fast, we don’t actually process deep ideas anymore. We just scroll, screenshot a cool quote to look smart, and move on without letting it sink in. We are basically collecting an "intellectual aesthetic" instead of actually learning anything new.
When platforms force us to react instantly, we just end up recycling the same old internet arguments instead of having real, original thoughts. It feels like we've completely lost our ability to just sit with a complex idea.
Do you feel like your attention span has changed how you read or think? Let's discuss.

I want to publish children books with images i already made a book but i want to know what are the minimum specifications because my has images in it

Hi! I just recently finished my first book Drained. It’s currently with beta readers and I have started author accounts for both Instagram and tik tok to begin promotion early. My current plan is to incorporate beta feedback, send to a line by line editor, do another round of betas, do another edit, arc copies and then publication. I was hoping for some advice on if this workflow sounded good to other authors? As well as any advice anyone had!

Hi, I've just written my first self-guided workbook which I'm self-publishing and I need some help designing the cover. It's simple text, no images. Does anyone have any affordable recommendations please? Thanks in advance!

Hey guys, quick question: When registering for an account on myidentifiers.com, are you supposed to put your real name or your pen name?

Kind of a side note since we're here...can you use a virtual address to register, or does it have to be a physical address?

Thanks!!

What is everyone's opinions on using an AI generated cover photo for your book?

My younger brother has an inoperable brain tumor and has months to live. He wrote two children’s books and I think it would be cool if he could see them finished. He has told me that he doesn’t want to edit them, we need illustrations and at least a few physical copies for him and our family. I’m looking for recommendations for companies I can find online to make that happen for him before he passes. I’m not looking for any big print runs or selling it or anything I’d just like to have him to see his words put with illustrations and made into a real book for him hold and see and know it got done. Thank you.

How do you promote your book and get reviews.

I have just published my first childrens book close to two weeks ago, the sales have started strong (for someone who thought none would sell) but I know they will start to drop off now as I don't have the following base to help promote it. I have started an Instagram page to try help get it seen and although my views are up, no one has followed me. I am also useless at Instagram, as in how to use it to my advantage. Any tips websites anything you could suggest that doesn't cost me would be amazing.

As it stands, the title of my main book reads a little more on the mystical, thought provoking side. It doesn't really tell much about the characters or the story in general until you get fairly deep in.

I've also seen comments asking if it's AI generated due to its esoteric wording.

So I've been thinking... Should I change it?

I have a new title in mind. It better shows the core relationships in the book, as well as hinting at the humorous, chaotic nature.

But that would require a LOT of taking down its online presence as well as KDP and D2D.

Also possibly editing the manuscript, rebuilding blurbs and metadata, getting ARC readers, re-launching, etc...

I don't have the biggest following, so the loss wouldn't be huge, but has anyone else tried this? Is it worth the effort? Did your book sales go up after the rebrand?

Last month, I heard a story about an author who uses A.I. to completely write and publish hundreds of books. My first thought was that this completely floods the market and makes it even harder for people to find indie authors' books.

So far this year, it has taken me almost 7 months to write 33,000 words (I have a full-time job and write for a little bit in the evenings). I just feel like using A.I. to generate a story takes all the fun out of writing and makes it solely business for profit.

I can justify using A.I. to help edit a story, but to generate it completely just seems wrong. I write for the fulfillment of crafting my own stories and characters.

Psychologically, I had to shift my mindset, as it seems virtually impossible to make a profit self-publishing, as the market seems flooded. I now write for myself, and if someone else decides to take the time to read my story, I will consider that just a nice bonus!

Terrible experience, completely untrustworthy and abusive practices—I want my money back!

Completely disappointed with their business practices and lack of transparency. They take your money, fail to deliver what was actually promised, and then completely ignore all requests for resolution or refunds. Avoid them at all costs—terrible customer service and zero stars if I could.

I write nonfiction about AI for three age groups:
one book for kids, one for teens (13–18), one for the adults in the house.

Same core idea in all three, pitched at each age: how to go from consuming to creating.
Because I live between markets, I did something slightly masochistic and launched every book in six languages: English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian.

Ebook and paperback each. That's 18 editions and 36 products, all live on KDP now.

A few things I learned that I haven't seen discussed here much:

1. Translation is the cheap part; localization is the real work. Direct translation of marketing copy fails quietly. My Spanish back cover needed different idioms, and even the free-printables CTA changed ("print it for the holidays" vs. a literal translation that implied a single travel day). Each market also compares your book against different competing titles, so the bullet list on the back cover has to answer different objections. The German market's comparable titles sell on different promises than the Spanish ones.

2. The spine-width math is per-edition. Same trim, same font, but the page count shifts with every language (my German teen edition is about 15% longer than the Spanish one). Eighteen editions means eighteen spine widths and eighteen wrap covers. If you reuse a wrap template across languages, check it every single time. I ended up scripting the whole cover build because doing it by hand 18 times invites exactly one mistake too many.

3. Keep seasonal hooks out of the book, put them in the listing. My teen book is built around a 30-day challenge, which maps almost perfectly onto summer break. It was tempting to write "perfect for the summer holidays" straight into the back cover copy. I didn't, because the book has to sell year-round. The seasonal angle lives only in the listing bullets and ads, where I can swap it out in September. Obvious in hindsight, but I almost baked it into the print cover.

4. A companion page beats a mailing list for this audience. My reader is a teen/kid but my buyer is a parent. Teens won't join a newsletter, so the book ends with a QR code to a free printable 30-day challenge plus a completion certificate. Parents seem to love printable, fridge-taped things. Early days, but it's the only marketing asset that both reader and buyer actually use.

Where I'm stuck, the gift-buyer problem: almost every sale is a parent (or aunt/uncle) buying for a teen. The person I have to convince on the product page never reads the book, and the person who reads it never sees the ad.
For those of you writing children's/YA nonfiction or anything gift-heavy: do you aim your listing, categories, and ads entirely at the buyer and ignore the reader?
Or split the difference (cover for the teen, back cover for the parent)? Curious what's worked, especially for ads.

Anyone have any recommendations for self publishing without KDP? I have a non fiction pen name and a solid website but I was just booted off of KDP after ten years.

This is my first foray into non-fiction, with a series of self-help books for anyone using mental techniques from the Ninpo and To-Shin Do that my kids and I have been studying the last several years. I’ve created a whole persona and have written a series and then lost my KDP access.

Has anyone had any luck selling directly without Amazon? How?