ebooks

[CurrentParameter]

SOS is said to be a shorthand for Save Our Souls, a distress call used by marine navigators in case of an emergency.

Hope I could help

AlohaDave had the answer:

SOL=StoriesOnline
SFS=SciFiStories
FS=FineStories, which was renamed to StoryRoom at some point

I think they have a premium subscription to those sites which allows those premium subscribers to access the epub books. I allowed it for my first ebook, but will rethink for the next ones.

 

[CurrentParameter]

I can't say marketing e-books doesn't help but how do you do it?

Putting your books here in the author and their books thread is just vanity, it leads to nothing. Putting a link to your books in your sig is allowed and worth a shot, but you're advertising on a free writing site and on a forum where people are more wrapped up in themselves than supporting someone with more than a comment.

You can advertise on social media-at risk of being shadowbanned or otherwise buried.

The best marketing is your output. Keep steadily uploading new material that gets advertised on the new release pages of Smashwords helps, as does the fact Smashwords allows customers to bookmark you and get an e-mail notification that you just put out a new book.

Its a bit like here, consistent output is the best thing you can do to build a base.

Be warned, there are people out there who will reach out and say for a fee they will market you. Know what they do? Advertise your book on their social media pages. Nothing you can't do yourself and if you write certain content, they won't even do that, but the sketchy ones will take you money anyway.

You're your own best advertising.

I put a link in the last chapter and on my about page. ZBookStore pays out quarterly and only if you have a balance over $20. I'm figuring out the process so I know how to do it. I have a few non-Lit ideas for a story, but until I retire, I really won't have the time to explore writing them. Right now, I'm using Lit to, hopefully, improve my writing skills. If, but the end of 2026, there is over $20 in my account, then it is worth the experiment.

 

[lovecraft68]

It's Bookapy with a name change. Same owner as SOL.

Okay, thanks for that. I looked into their rather long author terms. I see they pay quarterly which isn't something I care to get into.

 

[lovecraft68]

The problem for both readers and authors is the volume of available books and that's another reason why Lit ( still !! ) has a purpose. My reading is always based on recommendation and generally that means online interviews, articles where the book happens to be mentioned.
Most recently I bought a couple of Robert MacFarlane's books, s/h simply because he was a guest on a writers YT and I liked what he had to say. He starts one book "The wind was rising, so I went to the wood" ... I mean, gah
Readers are inundated my 'meejah'. The only words I trust are those from a mouth.

Good point and on that note, how many people-and platforms-can openly talk about erotica, as in real erotica, not racy Harlequin(you know, like 50 shades)
Answer is not many.
I've discussed some of my horror work on a couple of podcasts and got a few bites afterward, but not much.
Us indy's are still often seen as a dirty secret.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I'm published through Boruma Publishing and I'm doing okay. Most of my sales coming from Amazon and Smashwords. I do my own advertising, mostly on BlueSky.

 

[iwatchus]

What are you doing to promote yourself on bluesy?

 

[CurrentParameter]

Good point and on that note, how many people-and platforms-can openly talk about erotica, as in real erotica, not racy Harlequin(you know, like 50 shades)
Answer is not many.
I've discussed some of my horror work on a couple of podcasts and got a few bites afterward, but not much.
Us indy's are still often seen as a dirty secret.

after seeing the books like "Cabin in the Woods" (abduction and BDSM) and "7 Incest Short Stories" (self explanatory what that is) I figured anything I write would probably have no issue with ZBookStore. In their terms, mostly anything outside of underage material seems OK. Of course the issue is not many people know about it,

 

[PennameWombat]

Amazon doesn't have hard limits that ebook prices need to be US$2.99 - $9.99. That's only the case if you want 70% royalty per sale.

If you price outside of that range, it's a set 35% royalty. The minimum price you can set is $0.99.

Amazon ebook royalties
Amazon country eligibility - note that there is a quirk, there are a few countries where you get 70% royalty only if the ebook is also in KDP Select (which makes it visible on Kindle Unlimited, and you earn less than half of one US cent per every page read.) But to be in KDP Select, the ebook has to be exclusive to Amazon (which Lovecraft mentions, this is the program.)
Amazon min & max ebook pricing

Amazon does want to be the "lowest price" anywhere. And they can get snippy about it.

They're also often very inconsistent about how strict they are about banning books containing various different kinks.