A favorite pastime of publishers and indie authors alike is complaining about the market dominance of Amazon and Ingram and the necessity of working with both behemoths. But in recent years, I find that those who succeed—and can sustain that success—reduce reliance on both companies and focus on serving readers directly. In the past I’ve reported on Lost Art Press selling direct and not into Ingram or Amazon. Newly founded Panamerica focuses on direct sales. Microcosm Publishing doesn’t sell to Amazon and handles its own distribution. It’s a strategy that befits publishers that have strong brands and/or serve identifiable communities.
For years, I didn’t think it was worth the trouble for self-publishing authors to sell direct to reader. First, emerging authors may not have a strong way to reach readers, and second, selling direct involves logistical challenges that your average author isn’t prepared to handle. But increasingly, authors who make a full-time living also sell direct. Brandon Sanderson is the superstar example—he has his own warehouse operation with full-time staff—but you don’t have to be a multimillion-dollar author for it to work.
The easiest starting point, or the way authors can get their feet wet, is to begin with a crowdfunding campaign, typically a pre-order campaign for the next release. Platforms like BackerKit offer strong post-campaign management (fulfillment, shipping, add-ons, etc.) that makes handling the logistics easier for a solo author. Another starting point is to sell direct through in-person events, using a platform like Beventi, which I reported on last year. And finally there’s selling through your own online store, and for this, most authors use Shopify.
Shopify helps you sell both physical and digital items online. It’s been around since 2006 and is one of the most trusted platforms on the global market for ecommerce. People like how it lets you spin up a store quickly without technical knowledge or having to design and build something from scratch. You can create an author or publisher website based entirely on the Shopify platform (using your own domain or a Shopify domain)—like Sacha Black, writing as Ruby Roe—or you can create a subdomain that uses the Shopify platform, like Mark Dawson. You own your storefront and aren’t governed by the rules of a particular marketplace, as you are with Amazon. Publisher and author Ian Lamont started using Shopify during the pandemic (after abandoning WooCommerce, a WordPress plugin) and hasn’t looked back. He decided to buy a new domain for the storefront, in30minutes.biz; his main publisher website remains in30minutes.com. The big drawback? Shopify charges a monthly fee—a minimum of $29/month—regardless of whether you’re selling anything.
Shopify integrates with Bookvault. Bookvault is a UK-based print-on-demand printer that self-publishing authors have been using for both retail distribution and direct sales. Because it integrates with Shopify, selling print editions direct is incredibly straightforward and hassle free. Authors can link their free Bookvault account to their Shopify store, upload their print files to Bookvault, then select which titles to push to the Shopify store. Changes made in Bookvault automatically propagate to the Shopify storefront. As Bookvault says, “You can then sit back and watch the sales roll in.” Bookvault offers a free plan if you have a small selection of titles, with a title setup fee of $25 (plus discounts for IBPA or ALLi members). Bookvault also supports printing of box sets, sprayed edges, foil, and other special production features, all print on demand.
Shopify also integrates with Lulu. Children’s author Darcy Pattison prefers to sell direct using Shopify plus Lulu because Lulu offers a coated paper that’s perfect for full-color children’s books. Pattison wrote me, “It acts as a backend ‘warehouse,’ fulfilling orders within 10 days. That works for me because I often get large orders from educational sources.” She describes her process here. Lulu uniquely offers spiral-bound books and wall calendars, along with some other special formats, which is another reason some authors might need or want to use them.
(Guess who doesn’t integrate with Shopify? Ingram. However, if there are any small presses or magazines out there that use Demon, be sure to check out their IngramSpark integration.)
What are alternatives to Shopify? Even though Shopify is probably the most powerful and streamlined of all ecommerce options, authors not ready for that level of complexity or investment might consider Payhip. Payhip was founded in 2011 and started by supporting sales of digital products. Over time, they’ve added the ability to sell physical products as well, and Payhip integrates with Bookvault. Payhip offers a plan that takes a 5 percent fee on top of the payment processing fees (about 3 percent). They also collect and remit taxes for you automatically in the EU and UK. (Shopify does not.) Michael La Ronn, US advisor and ambassador for the Alliance of Independent Authors, uses Payhip at his website to fulfill digital orders; when he sells print copies direct to reader, it’s during crowdfunding campaigns, when he drop-ships from Ingram.
I’ve also known plenty of authors who just do it the “hard” way: They print a bunch of copies and fulfill from their home office. Speaker and author Paul Wesselmann publishes his own books and markets them to clients and supporters; all sales are direct sales through his website, which uses the WooCommerce plugin. He has never otherwise made his books available.
On occasion, I still hear authors express concern that their direct sales won’t be accounted for on BookScan. I suppose that might make a bit of sense if you’re with a traditional publisher and fear that they’re going to drop you or if you’re trying to move into the traditional market and want your BookScan numbers to impress them. But I think that places far too much importance on what industry people think. I’d be far more concerned about cultivating relationships directly with readers—the people who most appreciate your work, who will pay what you’re asking, and who won’t drop you because of BookScan numbers.
Bottom line: In the process of researching this piece and speaking with multiple authors about their direct sales, I quickly concluded that I personally am missing the boat by not having books and related products available for sale from my site. For too long I just considered the logistics too daunting. But that thinking no longer matches reality, especially when selling digital products or print-on-demand editions. The biggest challenge now for authors who want to sell direct is reaching readers, and I have no such barrier. When I spoke with Ian Lamont, he emphasized this was the key to making it all work. His YouTube channel has driven the majority of traffic to his storefront, but he thinks newsletters are the obvious place for most writers to build their reach.
The direct-sales situation does become more complex for authors investing in print runs, which require some kind of warehousing (even if that’s your garage) plus people who can help fulfill and ship orders if you’re dealing with high volume. Keep reading to learn about how author Sacha Black’s business has exploded over the last two years in exactly this manner.
Case study: Sacha Black’s Success with Direct Sales Requires a Warehouse
Further reading
- In 2023, I reported on one author’s direct sales strategy powered by Shopify and social media advertising.
- In 2024, I reported on Beventi, which helps authors sell direct at events (and more).
- This fall, the IBPA published an article on the rising appeal of direct sales for small publishers, while offering considerable warnings. It assumes print runs rather than POD, warns of high costs for warehousing and fulfillment, and questions whether readers can be enticed to order direct. However, if an enterprising author can make it work (see below), it shouldn’t be much of a stretch for a small publisher if they have reach to readers.
Jane Friedman has spent her entire career working in the publishing industry, with a focus on business reporting and author education. Established in 2015, her newsletter The Bottom Line provides nuanced market intelligence to thousands of authors and industry professionals; in 2023, she was named Publishing Commentator of the Year by Digital Book World.
Jane’s expertise regularly features in major media outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, NPR, The Today Show, Wired, The Guardian, Fox News, and BBC. Her book, The Business of Being a Writer, Second Edition (The University of Chicago Press), is used as a classroom text by many writing and publishing degree programs. She reaches thousands through speaking engagements and workshops at diverse venues worldwide, including NYU’s Advanced Publishing Institute, Frankfurt Book Fair, and numerous MFA programs.
For those of us hoping for a traditional publishing route, would direct selling be an option as well?
Yes, but only for the print edition. You would buy print copies to sell direct from the publisher and usually their discount isn’t the greatest for authors, typically 40 to 50 percent, maybe 60 percent if you are able to negotiate it at contract stage. If you know you want to sell direct from the very start (and have a strategy/avenue for doing so), then you could potentially join the publisher’s print run and get copies closer to cost.
Thank you, Jane!