Self-publishing promised so much independence to authors, but has failed to deliver. Bookstores like Amazon can take up to a 55% commission on every sale and share nothing about your readers. Publishers take large commissions, take forever to pay, and don't help you sell more books. The modern author earns less than 8% for their work — if they're lucky. We created Books.by to change this.
Before Books.by, our team spent decades building technology for self-publishing companies. We've seen first hand how and why the publishing industry is disadvantaging authors — in part because we built the systems. There are too many parties involved. Publishers, distributors, printers, and bookstores all take a share of your earnings and pledge that they're indispensable. In reality, with on-demand printing technology, social media and online marketing, authors today are more independent than ever.
Our mission with books.by has been to create the first self-publishing platform that truly empowers authors. With books.by, you become the bookstore. You can upload or create your books, publish them to your own personal storefront, and sell them directly to your readers. You receive a personalised domain (books.by/you), instant sales notifications, daily payouts, a transparent view of your customers, and keep all of your royalties after printing and shipping costs.
Our publishing software is used by more than 10,000 authors, including NYT Bestsellers. Authors using Books.by earn 5× more per copy than the average author (and we think they're happier too).
Joining books.by and creating your personal bookstore costs just $99, with no lock-in or ongoing subscription. We're here to change the publishing industry and make it more favourable for authors. We hope you'll join us.
Ash Davies, CEO