Comments for David Gaughran

Comment on The Best Book Promotion Sites in 2026 by D.L. McKown

D.L. McKown — Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:28:40 +0000

Well, I’m not David, but I had a Free Reads promotion back at the start of June. Mine was in the Cozy Mystery category, and was for a, pretty much, unknown book at the time (never had a promotion before, was dead on Amazon’s charts, had… er… I think around 50 ratings – It’s rating wasn’t bad (4.2 or so)). I saw just over 10K downloads after two days (7600 the 1st day, 2500 the 2nd).

At the end of day 2 Amazon scr*wed me and reverted the free price match (which they admitted was their mistake – not that they did much about it), so I don’t know how it would have looked after that.

I saw somewhere around 200 ratings (about 10 reviews) pile up over the next couple months. It was in the “top 100 free books” for all of its categories (in the top 10 for two of them I think), until, of course, it was no longer free.

That was my experience, anyway. Hope it helps.

Comment on Following – Resources by David Gaughran

David Gaughran — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 08:04:09 +0000

In reply to Alexandra.

Hi Alexandra, I don’t think Substack is a great choice because, despite the obvious pros, it has several huge cons – and won’t allow you to do some things that are pretty critical for an author newsletter. I have written about this a few times. This was the most recent (you might also want to check the linked FB post for a discussion on these points from Substack users past and present): https://ckarchive.com/b/lmuehmhnmpvgzbd7kkm78c8w6qvxwhgh2lrq2

Comment on Following – Resources by Alexandra

Alexandra — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 18:36:50 +0000

Hi! Thank you so much for this very helpful guide.
One question, you don’t mention Substack anywhere, various authors that I respect are on it and it seems like it does the job of the website AND the mailing list AND the SM…. I just can’t figure out where the catch is.
Thank you!

Comment on Let’s Get Digital • Self-Publishing Resources by Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 19:05:53 +0000

In reply to David Gaughran.

Hi David thank you for getting back to me so quickly too sorry I was delayed. Thank you for answering my questions. I totally forgot that its 0 delivery fees at 35%… the reason why I was worried isbecause im writing a Collector’s book so a lot of pic in it. Im not sure exactly how big the file is yet cause I started writing a paperback first, but was considering an ebook.. I got 2 of your books very helpful and will be doing an ebook as well. I love your backdoor suggestion.. I’ll do that for sure
Than you!

Comment on How To Self-Publish A Book In 10 Steps [2026] by Guy Spidel

Guy Spidel — Sun, 23 Aug 2026 16:48:04 +0000

In reply to David Gaughran. I am sorry for the confusion. I saw a news about a recent author, Jerry Falade, that just had his $2.2M deal cancelled over the simple claim that they could not "prove" AI was not involved. Seems crazy to me but for myself I am a newbie to the indie author sphere. I am working on a book. Have an editor I hired from Reedsy and intend to self publish. I am probably unhealthily interested in AI and writing, and AI and everything. I personally would never use generated content. but won't condemn those who do. We are just in different lanes. Anyway, thanks again for your content, books, and info. I'm working my way through, Starting From Zero, and love the granular help! I've seen TONS of other stuff, sifted through mountains of it, and truly appreciate what you are doing. Best of luck in all your endeavors!

Comment on The Best Book Promotion Sites in 2026 by J R Tomlin

J R Tomlin — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 19:52:39 +0000

David, do you know anything about the Free Reads promotion BB has added as an option if you don’t get their regular promotion?

Comment on How To Self-Publish A Book In 10 Steps [2026] by David Gaughran

David Gaughran — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 07:29:08 +0000

In reply to Guy Spidel. Hi Guy, it's impossible for me to be definitive here, and not least because if a publisher wishes to cancel a contract because of a media storm, or some other reason, then I'm sure they have well-paid lawyers who can find some clause or other in the contract which may give them an opportunity to do so. And whether that is legal or not might be something that could only be determined by the courts. I'm also loathe to give advice here because I'm not a lawyer, and I obviously have no idea what you have signed and scant detail on what may or may not have transpired here. I'm also not sure exactly what you are referring to here. If you have a $2.2m deal with a publisher, surely they are editing the book for you (and I would respectfully suggest that this is a conversation you should be having with them, or your own lawyer, perhaps). The atmosphere around these topics is quite febrile right now and a public setting might not be the most useful arena to seek advice.

Comment on How To Self-Publish A Book In 10 Steps [2026] by Guy Spidel

Guy Spidel — Sun, 16 Aug 2026 20:39:36 +0000

Hey David,
Thanks for the wealth of information you provide. I will be buying some of your books, BTW and using the crap out of your free stuff! I have an editor through Reedsy, about to start on my 100,000 word thriller. I would like your thoughts about something that’s all up in the news right now. I sukc at speling, grammer, punktuation; etc,,,: So, I used very careful prompts in an AI to help me with typos, grammar, punctuation and to apply CMOS rules to my writing. I prompted clearly that i wanted zero rewriting or suggestions for rewording etc. just point out the errors, explain the rule, and show me the fix in those areas. Fairly often I double checked against other sources. I, on principal, refuse to use any Ai generated content. Considering the news recently is this going to cancel my $2.2 million dollar deal? Thoughts?

Comment on How To Self-Publish A Book In 10 Steps [2026] by Ed

Ed — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 19:02:30 +0000

David,

Thank you for all the great, free info (most of which I haven’t read yet). I have to wonder, though, if all you’re getting out of the free material is people signing up for your newsletter, that doesn’t seem like a great business model to me.

I’m writing what was originally the prologue to a notional novel set in 2050, formulated as excerpts from the protagonist’s blog starting in 2020. It’s currently 40 pages long, although a lot of that is blog headers. My uncle keeps pushing me to publish (and publicize) it before the midterms. Is that even possible? If so, any tips for working under such tight time pressure?

Cheers.

Comment on Let’s Get Digital • Self-Publishing Resources by David Gaughran

David Gaughran — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 06:27:12 +0000

In reply to Kelly.

Amazon just updated some of this in the last few weeks so it’s possible the online resources are still being smoothed out. But hopefully I can clear it up. It’s a little different in some international markets, but just speaking about the US to keep things simple, you get paid 70% royalties if your book is priced between $2.99 and $12.99 (the upper bound was $9.99 until just recently – they’ve increased it). You get paid 35% if your books is priced above or below that. Delivery fees are only levied on books at the 70% tier – but here’s where I have a question for you. Why are you so concerned about delivery fees? How big is your book file? Book files are usually quite small and don’t normally attract significant delivery fees. Something sounds off there, and there might be another way to solve that side of things.

It may be moot however, if you plan to give your book away. Amazon doesn’t allow you to directly price your book at free – but there is a backdoor way of doing that. Simply price your book at free at competing retailers like Google or Apple or Kobo and then force Amazon to price match (which is exactly what I do with Let’s Get Digital). Then there are no delivery fees as there are no royalties to deduct from.

Hope that helps.

Comment on Let’s Get Digital • Self-Publishing Resources by Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 22:45:48 +0000

I Just finished reading your book “Let’s Get Digital” 1. I love it cause its going to be very helpful, but I have a question to clear up…
In the US Amazon for ebooks, it says something about 30% and 70% for Royalties when pricing and uploading the ebook to Amazon. I looked this up on Amazon help center and is very confused with this. Does this mean that there 70% higher royalties the ebook can be sold in more territories and the 30% only in the USA and can be at $0 cost? What I want to do is sell my ebook for $0 royalties and I dont know how to do this exactly when the ebook is going to have high delivery costs… thank you for your help.

Comment on Following – Resources by David Gaughran

David Gaughran — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:10:31 +0000

In reply to Ray Ronan. The newsletter is the best place for up to date resources these days - I am putting together some exclusive newsletter resources at the moment on email marketing and ads.

Comment on Following – Resources by Ray Ronan

Ray Ronan — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 15:08:39 +0000

In reply to David Gaughran.

Hey David,
Just joined up after many years. Will you be releasing anything new or updated regarding the evolving landscape since Lets Get Digital.
Thanks
Ray

Comment on The Best Book Promotion Sites in 2026 by Alex Mahon

Alex Mahon — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 18:05:33 +0000

Great site!

What’s the best promo site for cosy mysteries?

Thanks

Comment on The Best Email Marketing Tools For Authors by Cathryn Cade

Cathryn Cade — Sun, 26 Jul 2026 23:39:47 +0000

David,
Boo, hissss! to MailerLite on the price rise + less service.
They are going to lose customers like the Titanic lost passengers. And I’m proud to be one of the first to go.
Looked at the octopus, since they are one of my favorite ocean beings, but nerp. Checked into Kit and am thrilled with their immediate and helpful response to questions. Will be swapping to them very soon.
I’ll use your affiliate link as a small thank you for all the wisdom you’ve imparted over the years.
I haven’t followed all of it, but you bothered to impart it, that means a lot.

Comment on Starting From Zero • Resources Page by David Gaughran

David Gaughran — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:54:35 +0000

In reply to Tara Ryan.

You run everything simultaneously for maximum impact and synergy. So your free run should start on the first day of your launch push, etc. It’s ok if your book is live a day or two early – you don’t need to tell people until you are ready!

Comment on Starting From Zero • Resources Page by Tara Ryan

Tara Ryan — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 23:24:47 +0000

Hi David, thanks so much for the course! I decided to wait to do any advertising or promotion until I published book 5 in my series, so this was a great and timely resource for me. I’d like to do the promo stacking when I release book 5, but I’m not clear on the timing. Do I make the first book free for the five days before the launch of book 5 or do I start the first book free on the day of launch (of book 5)? Or some other answer? I hope that’s clear and I thank you for your time and energy in giving back to the indie author community.

Comment on The Best Email Marketing Tools For Authors by David Gaughran

David Gaughran — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 05:20:51 +0000

In reply to Pyra. Hey Pyra, I have been covering these changes in some detail. You do get a link to the Email Archive as one of the welcome emails but I don't think it contains these latest newsletters yet so just respond to any email from me and I'll send you the link to that newsletter!

Comment on The Best Email Marketing Tools For Authors by Pyra

Pyra — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 22:47:44 +0000

In reply to David Gaughran. Hi David! For those of us that missed that newsletter (just signed up today) and also just noticed MailerLite's changes, do you have an archive of your newsletters? Or will you be posting a blog post about the MailerLite changes?

Comment on The Best Book Promotion Sites in 2026 by Frank Faustino

Frank Faustino — Sun, 28 Jun 2026 18:05:19 +0000

Hi David,
Thank you for all the content. It is spectacular. Most of it is for people with many books. How do I advertise my prerelease through the release. I’d be willing to run sales a few weeks after the book launches but from now till a few weeks after it launches, I don’t want to reduce the price. It will be in Kindle Unlimited for the launch, so it is free there. I don’t have 29 friends, but I have that many preorders for a book that launches 9/11. I know that isn’t spectacular but as a first book and an introvert with maybe 4 friends that bought my book, do you have resources for someone like me?