Yes, that’s right. I just finished setting up an online bookstore via PayHip where you can buy books directly from me. Right now, it only has six books (my Winds and Pillars), but I’ll be adding more in the next few weeks.
Setting it all up wasn’t entirely easy, although there were plenty of good guides and help files. With everything to do, it took me about a week to get it all done. Some of it was really tricky, such as adding a subdomain to my DNS files.
Why my own bookstore?
If you’ve followed me or even just looked at my books and the links, you already know that I sell through a lot of stores, such as Amazon, Apple, Kobo, B&N and even Tolino. Among authors this is called “being wide”.
I never liked to keep all my eggs in just one basket (which in this case would be called “Amazon”). That means I’m foregoing a few perks that Amazon only offers to those authors who work exclusively through them.
Creating my own bookstore takes me even “wider”, if you forgive the pun. It means that readers can buy directly from me, giving me a little more money per sale than the bigger stores or libraries (yes, my books are also in library systems).
Best of all, I don’t have to wait two or three months to get the money I earned through the sales, unlike with all the other stores.
How does the bookstore work?
It’s really simple, actually, because it’s just an online store. You click on a book, and then you can buy it (or download it if it’s free). Payment is through credit card (Stripe) or through PayPal. Easy enough.
I went with a slightly more complicated option for fulfillment, because in the end, it’s easier for everyone involved. Let me explain:
I use BookFunnel to deliver my eBooks (and in the future, my audio-books). They have a whole help desk to help you, my reader, if something goes wrong. Or if you can’t figure out how to get the darn eBook to your Kindle (or other eReader). Yes, you can get any eBook you buy from me to your Kindle, and it’s easy peasy.
If you buy a book from my store, you get to download a PDF with instructions, but you’ll also receive an email from BookFunnel with the download options for the eBook. In addition, the book will always be in your very own BookFunnel library, just in case your computer crashes and you lose all your data.
Where can I find that bookstore?
Simple. I added the link to my books menu, but I’ll also dump it into this post. Here you go:
I’m trying to keep it clean and easy to navigate. Fortunately, PayHip does offer nice ways of organizing the products.
If you are missing a book of mine that you really want to get – let me know. Write a comment, drop me an email, and I’ll do my best to add it as fast as I can. For now, I’m working my way through my series, basically in order of how well they sell. My short stories will probably be last. (But as I said, I’m flexible.)
Unfortunately, I cannot add my store link to those wonderful Books2Read Universal links. I did ask, but it’s just not in the cards. So please, bookmark my store page if you intend to use it.
If you’d rather buy from a big store, don’t feel bad. I’m still earning money, and you can find all my books right here: Hannah’s Universal Book Link. I do understand that it can be much more convenient.
Not a bookstore – the newsletter not-a-pop-up
So that’s it for today, but if you feel like never missing a new release, or any other big news about my books, consider signing up to my newsletter through this form. I send it out once a month (unless I have really big news or a sale). Oh, and you get the Ember Tale, stories about my little red dragon familiar that are exclusive to the newsletter.
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