Looking for a way to sell your books direct to readers? Spicy romance author Emilia Rose built a full-time income on Patreon before she’d even finished college. Then Patreon pulled her account down over her content, more than once. So she and her husband built their own platform for fiction authors. It’s called Ream.

In this episode of The Write Podcast, Emilia shares how she went from writing werewolf romance on Wattpad to publishing more than 30 books wide. She explains why she chose wide publishing over Kindle Unlimited, and how authors can use Ream to sell ebooks, subscriptions, audiobooks and webcomics in one place, for a 10 percent fee. Ream has been open to the public for about three years and now has 20,000 author signups and around 160,000 readers, most of them reading romance.

If you haven’t published yet, Ream lets you share your story chapter by chapter, see exactly where readers stop reading, and build your email list before your book is in any store.

In this episode:

• How Emilia turned Wattpad reads into a full-time author income on Patreon
• Why she publishes wide instead of Kindle Unlimited, and how that saved her business
• What Ream is and how its 10 percent fee compares to other platforms
• Selling ebooks direct with preorders, discounts and your own pricing
• Social reading, where readers comment paragraph by paragraph
• Serialized fiction and writing chapter by chapter with reader feedback
• Ream’s reader discovery tools, from genre pages to Top 50 and Rising lists
• Releasing audiobooks and webcomics alongside your ebooks
• Building your newsletter list from every reader who buys, subscribes or follows
• The top genres on Ream and what’s coming next, including print on demand

Find Ream: reamstories.com

Free training: Learn the three decisions that turn a finished manuscript into a career, and the order most authors get wrong, in my free one-hour training. It runs live every month. You’ll leave knowing which decision to make first for your book.

Claim your seat: serenadepublishing.com/training

Episode descriptionYou’ve finished your manuscript, but when someone asks what genre it is, you say “it’s a romance, but...” and then there’s another but. It’s a bit romance, a bit paranormal, a bit historical, and every category you look at feels a little bit like lying. And you’re worried the wrong reader will pick it up, feel let down, and leave a one-star review that has nothing to do with your story.In this episode, I talk about how Amazon’s smaller shelves actually work, the phone call that changed how I think about the parts of a book that are hard to label, and how to position your book so the right reader finds it and the wrong one keeps walking.In this episode:- How subgenres work on Amazon, and why a smaller shelf can help you- How to find the main genre underneath a book that’s a little bit of everything- Using your categories and keywords so the unusual parts of your book get found- he busload of readers who went looking for a station I made up- Four questions that tell you who your book is for, and who it isn’t for- How your cover, blurb and categories can bring the right reader in and keep the wrong one outFree training: Learn how to set a clear goal for your book, and which decision to make first, in my free one-hour training, The 3 Decisions That Turn a Finished Manuscript Into a Career. It runs live every month.Claim your seat: serenadepublishing.com/training— — — — — — — — — —✍️ Writers: Want help building a real writing career?Join my free weekly email for tips on writing, publishing, and growing your readership.→ www.serenadepublishing.com— — — — — — — — — —👋 About This ChannelHi, I’m Sarah Williams. I help writers turn their books into sustainable careers.Here we talk about:• writing and finishing books• publishing and the book industry• author marketing• building a long-term writing careerWhether you're writing your first book or already publishing, you're welcome here.— — — — — — — — — —🚀 Ready to go deeper?✦ The Author CEO – for writers ready to treat their books like a real business ✦ Author Retreats – immersive strategy and writing retreatsLearn more:www.serenadepublishing.com— — — — — — — — — —📌 Connect With MeInstagram → https://www.instagram.com/serenadepublishingTikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@serenadepublishing

You don’t need a bigger platform to test a new idea. You need five samples and the nerve to ask a question you’re embarrassed you don’t already know the answer to.

Monster romance author Natalie Starkoss joins me to talk about building worlds out of gargoyles and genetically altered hybrids, and the business lesson that came out of nowhere. How sourcing her own candles, keyrings, and custom bookmarks changed what happened at her book table, and lifted her profit at a single event by 23 percent. We get into where to actually source this stuff when you’re starting from zero, the supplier mistake that almost put her off trying again, and why the thing sitting next to your book might matter more than the book itself.