This post is dedicated to Ladz, author of one of my newest favorites, Cradle of Eternal Night. They asked over on BlueSky about marketing when there are no big releases on the horizon and while I provided some quick examples, I want to expand on that here.

I know you've written a bunch about marketing for indie authors and I was wondering if you had a thread or a blog post anywhere for how to market in lull years because I don't have anything planned for 2025 and I'm getting the Sunday scaries about it

These tips and suggestions work well for anyone, trad or indie, Amazon Exclusive or Widely Published, but as a widely published indie author, these tips are coming from that perspective.

Here are my suggestions and advice for marketing when you have no new releases coming up.

We're back again with another guide for your potential journey to spreading your wings and going wide. In Part I, we discussed the why and the basic mindset you need when being a “wide” author. Part II, we discussed aggregate publishers, the other major retailers, and library services. In Part III, we will go over smaller or niche retailers that might be suitable for certain readerships as well as going over some of my favorite choices for selling directly, and getting really excited about things like VAT and Merchants of Record. Sounds complicated, and it is at first. But once you know what you're looking for, it becomes a lot easier.

Niche or Smaller Option

Aside from the major retailers, there are many smaller ones that cater to specific genres or offer unique features that you won't find elsewhere. Having your books available on these retailers can help you bring in readers who are looking for something a little more unique! This list is by no means exhaustive, but it does include only smaller retailers that I have direct experience with and feel confident commenting on!

If you've read part one, thank you! I hope it was helpful, and I hope that Part II and Part III will help you further in your decision-making process.

I mentioned briefly that going “wide” means taking a different marking approach a is a bit of a mindset shift. A lot of people in KU spend tons of time on PublisherRocket trying to find the perfect keywords for their book in hopes of climbing the Amazon Best Seller Ranks, making it to the top of search results, and getting into the “Also Boughts” of their “competitors.”

Note: I do NOT consider other authors to be my competitors, no matter how closely they align with my niche—sapphic thigh high fantasy. Readers can read my books in 10 hours. I cannot ever hope to write, edit, format and publish a book in 10 hours. Other sapphic thigh high fantasy authors are who I send my readers to so that they can keep getting their fix while I write the next one, but Amazon encourages this “competitor” mindset, and this is a mindset you have to break out of if you are to be a “wide” author!

“Going wide” in industry parlance is a choice that not many indie authors make and one that is often seen as less lucrative that enrolling your book in Kindle Unlimited.

Yes, right now, most readers are on Amazon, and many of them are enrolled in KU and rarely look for books outside of that. But read that sentence again, paying close attention to that dependent clause right at the start. Right now.

What is happening right now, however? Many readers are considering ditching their Kindle Unlimited subscription and taking their business to non-Amazon places. Honestly, I do not blame them. I have never been a KU subscriber myself; I am more likely to get my books via Libby and Hoopla using my free county library card or purchase the book outright.

Yes, I have had readers tell me they are disappointed that my book isn't in KU since they only read KU books. But since I am wide and do not, therefore, have to abide by an exclusivity clause, I can tell that reader, “Would you like a free copy? You can request a review copy from this link.” I get a review, a reader gets a book for the price they are willing to pay. We all win.

But you know what? I've had more readers thank me for having my book available on (retailer of their choice). More readers have thanked me for having my book on Kobo, Barnes and Noble, Fable, Everand, Apple, Google Play, etc, than have expressed disappointment that I am not in KU.

And I have made more money in royalties being “wide” than I ever did when I was in KU.

If 2023 was me dipping my toes into the lake of “trying new publishing things,” then 2024 is me diving into the deep end.

I chose indie publishing for freedom, and yet I’ve found that I have unnecessarily shackled myself to an ideology. I kept my books in Kindle Unlimited/KDP Select because that was “where the readers are” and what was supposed to make the “most sense” from a money point of view, too. But Amazon slashed KU payouts and there is just a constant low rumbling threat that they will do so again. IngramSpark decided to force upon authors a larger wholesaler discount and their shenanigans with returns have made it a risk for authors to accept returns, which in turn leads to indie bookstores not wanting to carry our books.

I threw off the shackles of traditional publishing, thinking I was embracing creative control. And yet I then locked myself down in a cell with Amazon and IngramSpark and believed that this was “the only way.”

But then Campfire added monetized stories and I also found Ream Stories. Some part of me was still determined to define “success” as an indie publisher as Amazon Rankings or Bestseller List. But isn’t that the kind of ideology that I wanted to escape when I decided against traditional publishing?