Getting Started as an Author

Welcome to BookAuth — the all-in-one platform built for indie authors who want to publish, market, and sell books on their own terms. This guide walks you through every step of setting up your author account, from completing your profile to making your first sale.

What You'll Learn

• How to complete your author profile and identity
• How to connect Stripe for seamless royalty payments
• How to upload and publish your first book
• How to set up your dedicated author website
• How to launch your first ARC campaign for pre-launch reviews
• How to start building your email subscriber list

Step 1: Complete Your Author Identity

Your author identity is the foundation of everything on BookAuth. It's the public face that readers, reviewers, and industry professionals see across the entire platform.

1. Navigate to Settings > Profile from the sidebar navigation
2. Upload your author photo — this appears on your profile, author website, and book pages. Use a high-resolution headshot (minimum 400×400 pixels)
3. Write your bio — you have a full rich-text editor. Include your writing genre, notable works, and what makes your stories unique. This bio is indexed for search, so include relevant keywords naturally
4. Add your social links — connect your website URL, Goodreads profile, Twitter/X, Instagram, and any other platforms where readers can find you
5. Set your pen name (if different from your real name) — this becomes your public display name across the platform

Pro Tip: Your author identity is "universal" on BookAuth — any changes you make here automatically propagate across your author website, book pages, ARC campaigns, and marketing materials. You never need to update your bio in multiple places.

Step 2: Connect Stripe for Payouts

Before you can sell books directly, you need to connect your payout account. BookAuth uses Stripe Connect for secure, automated royalty payments.

1. Navigate to Settings > Billing from the sidebar
2. Click "Connect Stripe Account" — you'll be redirected to Stripe's secure onboarding flow
3. Complete the Stripe verification — this typically takes 2-5 minutes and requires:
   • Your legal name and address
   • Your bank account details for direct deposit
   • Tax information (SSN or EIN for US authors)
4. Return to BookAuth — once connected, you'll see a green "Connected" badge on your billing page

Platform fees vary by subscription plan:

• Free plan: 5% platform fee per transaction
• Pro plan ($12/mo): 3% platform fee
• Business plan ($29/mo): 2% platform fee

Stripe's standard processing fee (2.9% + $0.30) applies on top of the platform fee in all cases.

Pro Tip: You don't need Stripe connected to list free books or run ARC campaigns. Stripe is only required when you're ready to accept payments for premium books.

Step 3: Upload Your First Book

This is the exciting part — getting your book onto the platform.

1. Click "Add New Book" from your Dashboard, or navigate to Content > My Books and click the "+ New Book" button
2. Fill in the book details:
   • Title — your book's display title
   • Synopsis — a compelling description that appears on the book's detail page (supports rich text formatting)
   • Cover Image — upload a high-resolution cover (recommended: 1600×2560 pixels, JPEG or PNG)
   • Genres — select up to 3 genres from BookAuth's taxonomy
   • Tags — add relevant keywords to help readers discover your book
3. Upload your manuscript — supported formats are ePub and PDF. ePub is preferred for the best reader experience
4. Set your pricing — you have three options:
   • Free — available to all readers at no cost
   • Paid — set a fixed purchase price (you receive the sale amount minus platform and Stripe fees)
   • Subscriber-Only — exclusive to readers subscribed to your VIP tier
5. Set the status — save as Draft to continue editing, or set to Published to make it live immediately

Pro Tip: Don't want to type tags manually? The BookAuth AI Assistant can automatically extract genres, themes, and content warnings from your uploaded manuscript. Just ask: "Analyze my book and suggest genres and tags."

Step 4: Customize Your Author Website

Every BookAuth author gets a free, dedicated website at yourname.bookauth.com. Business plan authors can connect their own custom domain.

1. Navigate to Website > Dashboard from the sidebar
2. Explore your website sections:
   • Pages — create static pages (About, Contact, etc.)
   • Blog — write blog posts with categories and tags
   • Design — customize your theme, colors, fonts, and even add custom CSS (Pro/Business)
   • Navigation — configure your header and footer menu links
   • SEO — set global meta tags and Open Graph images for social sharing
   • Content Library — add testimonials, FAQs, milestones, and news/events
3. Preview your site — click the external link icon to see your live author website

Your website automatically displays your books, bio, and social links. Any books you publish are instantly reflected on your author website.

Step 5: Launch Your First ARC Campaign

Advance Reader Copy (ARC) campaigns are the fastest way to build review momentum before your official launch.

1. Navigate to Content > ARC Campaigns
2. Click "Create Campaign"
3. Select your book — choose an unpublished book from your catalog
4. Configure the campaign:
   • Reader limit — how many ARC copies to distribute
   • Review deadline — when readers must submit their reviews
   • Application requirements — optionally require a minimum reviewer reputation score
5. Launch the campaign — readers with qualifying reputation scores can apply

BookAuth tracks reviewer reliability across the entire platform. You can see each applicant's completion rate, past review quality, and reviewer tier (Bronze through Platinum) before accepting them.

Step 6: Start Building Your Subscriber List

Email marketing is essential for any indie author. BookAuth includes built-in newsletter tools.

1. Navigate to Marketing > Subscribers to see your subscriber list
2. Navigate to Marketing > Newsletters > Campaigns to create your first email blast
3. Use Tags (Marketing > Subscribers > Tags) to segment your audience by interest
4. Set up Sequences (Marketing > Newsletters > Sequences) for automated drip campaigns (Pro/Business plans)

Subscriber limits by plan: Free (500), Pro (5,000), Business (25,000).

Your Author Dashboard at a Glance

After completing these steps, your Author Dashboard will show:

• Total Books — your published catalog count
• Total Readers — unique readers engaging with your content
• Reviews — reviews received across all books
• Subscribers — your newsletter subscriber count
• Performance Chart — book sales and engagement trends over time

You'll also see quick-action cards for Edit Profile, Add New Book, and direct links to your most-used tools.

What's Next?

Now that you're set up, explore these areas to grow your author business:

• Series Management — organize your books into chronological series
• Discount Codes — create promotional coupons to drive sales
• Book Bundles — package multiple books at a special price (Pro/Business)
• Analytics — deep-dive into your book performance and reader demographics
• AI Assistant — ask the BookAuth AI for marketing copy, blog drafts, and analytics insights (Pro/Business)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is BookAuth free for authors?
A: Yes! BookAuth offers a generous free tier with unlimited book listings, 2 active ARC campaigns, 500 email subscribers, and a free author website. Pro ($12/mo) and Business ($29/mo) plans unlock advanced features like the AI Assistant, custom domains, and higher limits.

Q: Can I import my existing books from Amazon or other platforms?
A: Yes. Navigate to Content > My Books > Import to import book metadata from Amazon using your ASIN or ISBN. This is available on Pro and Business plans.

Q: How long does it take before my book appears on the platform?
A: Books are live immediately upon publishing. There's no review queue — you have full control over when your content goes live.

Q: Can I have multiple pen names?
A: Your primary display name is set in your profile. Support for multiple distinct pen names under one account is planned for a future update.

Related Articles

• Setting Up Your Profile
• Uploading Your First Book
• Understanding BookAuth User Roles
• Managing Your Subscription (Free/Pro/Business)