Self-Publishing Platforms For Your Fantasy Books

So you're gonna publish your book huh?

That's amazing. Congrats, first of all for getting your book done. That's an achievement all in itself. It's not easy to get an entire manuscript done. But if you are new to the publishing world, little do you know, that was the easy part of being a published author. But don't worry. I'm here to help. In this article, I'll be going over self-publishing, the few most important things to look out for, and some of the most well-known platforms to write on that are non-exclusive and don't touch the rights to your book.

The best way to succeed is to publish your preferred way. For those of you who have decided that self-publishing is the route you want to go, there are a few things you need to understand BEFORE publishing your book.

First and foremost - Marketing your book before publishing is all on you.

Don't be like me, okay guys? I have published my book on my favorite non-exclusive sites. But I didn't market BEFORE I published my book. So instead of building my audience, being able to write on vocal, and working on my second book, I am still marketing and trying to push sales. You would think that with my book being on three different platforms it would be easy right?

Wrong.

I didn't create any hype, or put out any trailers and all I did was post my updates on social media and even published a few chapters for teasers on medium and vocal, I didn't properly market at all. Now I am treading water, trying to find a balance between moving forward and making this book a success. I'm not exactly made of money, so paid marketing is very limited for me.

So far, not been a great experience - but luckily, I have learned my lesson for the next book that I publish.

Do your research on the platform you are publishing on - and make sure that you don't fall into any legal traps.

Some platforms will leave fine print, as fine print. And for your self-publishing needs, you will need to make sure you read their legal jargon. Some platforms have an exclusivity clause - and not just that but they will outright say that signing a contract with them will sell the rights to your work to them.

Meaning they now own it, and you don't. Meaning that if a producer wants to buy the movie rights to your work, they would play the platform for those rights, not you. Or if someone wants to turn it into a comic book series. Or ANYTHING that would earn you money on the rights to your books. You MIGHT get royalties for it, but you probably won't.

So, make sure, if you are not okay with another entity owning the rights to your works for a cheap price, that you don't fall for it.

So what's the difference between an exclusive clause and a non-exclusive clause?

The difference between a publishing platform that has exclusivity clauses and a platform that isn't exclusive in their contract with you is simple: Exclusive means you CAN NOT publish your book in the version that it's demanding exclusivity to anywhere else.

So with Amazon for instance... you can choose either regular KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) or KDP Select. With KDP Select, you agree that you will NOT publish your eBook on ANY other platform that allows eBooks, only with Amazon.

This means your ebook will not be available through Apple, Nook or other reading platforms. Though you retain your rights to your work, you are entering an exclusive relationship with your eBook through KDP Select. There are better marketing perks through Amazon should you choose to do this, but you limit the scope of where your eBook can be published.

Another reason I avoid exclusive contracts is a lot of them sneak into their contract the lingo that the rights to your works are no longer yours when you sign these contracts. Not all of them (such as Amazon KDP Select), but most of them do (such as Dreame [stary writing]). Even if you choose to go through a publisher, if you want the rights to your works to remain YOURS, first check your exclusivity clause, and then make sure you read the fine print about Ownership Rights in your contract.

Don't just sell out your rights to the first buyer. Wait for someone to offer you the amount it's worth - especially if there are talks about silver screens and animated series. These people will take your rights, and then churn millions off of it if they can by selling them to producers.

You deserve that money - YOU created the work after all. So just be careful about who you sell your rights and exclusivity rights to.

Non-Exclusive Contract Publishing Platforms:

I'm going to link to my finished published works on each platform I use - just so you can see how your work will look when it's published and ready for purchase on platforms.

Ingram Spark - ALL THE PLATFORMS!

Ingram Spark is a great place to upload your work - and have it distributed to ALL the platforms and distributors (Apple, Nook, Kindle, Amazon, Kobo, etc). If you have the money for it, and you don't want to individually manage your accounts on all the publishing platforms, Ingram Spark gives you a platform where you can manage it all from one place. There ARE fees associated with it, however, and to publish here expect to shell out some money - especially when you start making sales. Because this is not feasible for me yet, I went ahead and submitted my work individually to each platform below, as most of them have no fees that you pay, they simply take their commission and printing fees out of the sale. I imagine this is the most helpful platform when you have more than one book to manage.

Apple Store - (Audio/eBook)

If you're going to go with self-publishing, Apple is a no-brainer. SO many people purchase their entertainment through the Apple store, so getting your book to be a validated item in their merchandise is good for your exposure. If you have that Audio done, this is one of the best places to put it.

You set your own price, you get analytics, and you can of course promote your book directly through the publishing platform with Apple. Royalties are a standard of 70% for your eBooks and Audiobooks - which is fantastic since you worked hard and you deserve the money from it.

Amazon.com - (eBook/Paperback/Hardcover/Audio)(However, there is an option you can go exclusive with your digital ebooks with them, for better marketing perks)

KDP is the publishing platform Amazon uses, and once it's published it goes straight onto Amazon.com for purchases once it's been approved. They have two sets of royalty programs - though I'll be honest the difference between them is little to nothing. You can choose the 70% royalty program, and any regions that your book is purchased from that is outside the eligible locations, you get 35% royalties.

This is going to be the platform where you get the most out of your printed versions. While it doesn't hurt to have printed versions available on other platforms, this is by far the one you DO want printed versions available on.

The unfortunate thing is, for the 70% royalty, your printed paperback version must be priced at $11.95 at the minimum, so if you feel like a printed version of your book should cost less, go with the 35% program.

My advice is not to sell yourself short. Remember, MOST of your business with books (which is NOT easy, and it will be a LOT of discouraged moments when you check your analytics at first) will be eBooks. That is where I primarily put my focus.

Barnes & Noble - (Kindle ebooks/Hardcover/Paperback)

You can do almost all of it with B&N. Right now, I only have the eBook available to Barnes and Noble, because that is what I would earn the most revenue on. Their royalties aren't the best, especially with printed books, but it is exposure. Nook is one of the most used reading platforms out there. While it couldn't hurt to have physical copies available from Barnes and Noble, the most profit you're going to get is from their eBooks.

You can set your own prices, keep the rights to your books, and of course, publish on other non-exclusive platforms. With ebooks, you get 70% royalties off of your sales, and for the printed versions, it's basically: The cost of your book should cover the printing costs and whatever is left over after their commission, you get.

And no hidden fees! This, of course, is only for online sales. If you want to get your own stand and display in B&N stores, things get a lot trickier and more expensive.

Campfire Writing - (eBook/Audio in the future)

Campfire Writing is a relatively new reading/writing platform, I believe it came out in 2022-2023. It's still collecting readers and writers, but they are well on their way to becoming one of the best reading and writing platforms out there for writers and readers alike.

With the variety of Dreame and the other reading platforms on here, you can publish your fantasy, romance, dark fiction, cyberpunk, sci-fi, and many other books on Campfire Writing. This is a place for purely fictional and original works for authors. You may not publish another person's work - however, there is a way to use other writer profiles to stay anonymous. But unlike the Stary company writing platforms - when they agree to publish you, they do not touch the rights to your books.

The BEST part about Campfire is the extras you can make on there and publish for your readers. When people buy your work on Amazon or B&N, they get what they see. Your book, while perfect by itself, is what is bought and sold here. On Campfire, you can publish extras, such as character profiles, location descriptions, bonus hidden chapters, and MUCH more! Your readers have the option to buy just the book, or for a few more dollars they can buy the book AND the extras! If they only bought the book originally, they can come back later and buy the extras if they decide to. Extra money.

Also, the revenue you get from Campfire Writing will rival ANY other platform you publish on. You get 80% royalties on any sale that is greater than $2.99, and 40% on any below. If anyone knows any publishing platform that meets or beats this commission, let me know in the comments, because I have been looking!

If you'd like to buy my book on Campfire you can use this discount code: J3F-HK4-I0K

Exclusive Contract Publishing Platforms

Exclusivity usually comes with major publishers. If you choose to go through a publishing house, you can be sure to read your contract and you'll see that publishing your book through anyone but them isn't allowed. But here are a few self-publishing platforms where you will find exclusivity clauses.

Stary Writing - (Any and all versions) (Rights to your work are no longer yours)

I am not even gonna bother fishing the link for this one guys. I do NOT suggest writing for Stary Writing or publishing for any of their reading platforms. They pay you pennies compared to what you make on your book, they take away the rights to your books, and once they have contracted you, they own everything regarding your books. And they can take you to court if you even try to skirt around it. They are still trying to build up to printed books and have working on audiobooks.

As nice as they make their publishing contract sound - you will be ripped off and your books will no longer belong to you. Meaning if you get an offer for your book series to turn it into an animated film - they are paying Dreame that big chunk of change, and they will continue to pay you for only the royalties of the ebook bought on their reading apps.

Amazon.com KDP Select - (eBook exclusivity for better perks)

I've explained this one! But if you check out Amazon's KDP offers, they can tell you much more about it.

These are not the only publishing platforms out there.

These are just the ones that I have explored, but there are a ton more out there you can try. And if you have had an experience (good or bad) with any of the other publishing platforms out there - tell us about it in the comments! There are plenty of writers out there looking for more advice on success.