Fire bad. Tree pretty. But a very hot storefront.

Choosing not to sell on Kindle, especially with established series, is maybe not my best decision (but it is, as I’ve said, the only one my conscience will let me choose). This is the first month with none of my books on Kindle and I have to start leaning on other ways to make up for any loss in writing income there.

While Kindle readers with other apps have moved on to buy elsewhere, like at Kobo, those with dedicated Kindle eReaders need an epub file to side-load. Already some have converted to buying direct for that and I am so, so grateful (*waves to any who might be reading this*)–I know what a convenience Kindle is, as it was my first eReader years ago (and I still have the app! I still buy KU titles I want to read, I’m not an all-or-nothing boycotter). Taking the extra step to buy direct is incredible dedication, and I thank you.

But if I’m going to ask more previous Kindle readers to buy directly from me, I felt like I had to treat my store a little more seriously than as an afterthought, and in between writing I’ve spent the past several days exploring Payhip and creating a more visually attractive, organized storefront that also takes advantage of some of the other options like cross-selling and bundling discounts.

Eventually, it might be more prudent for me to try another way of selling direct, but for now Payhip is a good balance of making 90% of what people pay plus not having to handle VAT or worry about bandwidth and potential downtime, and there’s a plethora of info out there for customers to learn how to download and find their files without me needing to reinvent the wheel.

“Why would I spend $15 on an audiobook I might not be able to load?” could be a potential deterrent from buying, so the test file is featured prominently. An EPUB, PDF, and M4B (audiobook format) are available to download freely for readers who would like to try a test-run on any of them.

There are also bundles, so readers can get a discount buying both eBook and audiobook formats if available, and cross-selling bonuses like this one: buy the two-book Livi audio bundle and get the Vol I boxset discounted.

In discussing the current state of publishing (“trashfire” comes to mind), friends and I have lamenting how difficult it is to find things–Kobo’s sales are at least curated, but Kindle has long been a mess and now it’s a cesspool of gen-AI books; Kickstarter is saturated with gen-AI slop special edition bling books; everyone touting Itchio as an alternative fails to point out you have to know where to look there to even find books. Aren’t direct stores like this going to be even more difficult for selling books?

My theory has been relying on word-of-mouth from readers will be more important than ever, as well as maybe a return to old-school tools like webrings/blog rolls only more for our independent shops. To that end, I’ve added some links to friends’ storefronts to the footer of mine, at least for now as a way to cross-promote other independent stores. For myself, at this point I’m just relying on visitors to my website clicking over to buy from Payhip.

I have done so much, from figuring out custom landing pages to the bundles to more customizing as much as possible, my brain actually feels like Swiss cheese however I think it’s fine to leave for now.

Down the line, I’m going to experiment with potential print-on-demand paperback integration, as well as replicating Patreon at Payhip for another patronage option, but that’ll take more brain than I have at present. The next task will be the eventual big update of the Livi cover rebrand* (remaking all the eBook and audiobook files, all the print files, re-uploading, swapping them out everywhere), and down the line the Demons of Oblivion cover rebranding (covers still in progress, I can’t finish until I have time to pick at the books, which I know I’ll do the moment I start remaking files).

But I’d like to actually write some books for a while rather than be a publisher and bookstore owner here, so I’m back to trying to get Demon Fall finished.

Thank you to everyone who has shopped there, anyone considering it, please give the test files a try and let me know if you have any questions.

* To that end, I’m looking for review quotes/endorsements from authors and reviewers for Livi, both to put on the new book covers and to feature on collection page (eg see Waverly’s at the bottom). If anyone can provide some, please comment/DM/message/reply etc to let me know plus how you’d like to be credited (eg reviewer site name, author of ___, etc).