Frequently asked questions

Yes. Listing your books, creating an author profile, and everything in the guides is completely free, with no hidden charges and no forced payments. Every author account comes with 5 free listings. The two optional paid things are extra listing slots past those 5, and the Upcoming Release subscription for a book that isn't finished yet. Neither is ever required. Publishing a short story is free too, for you and for everyone who reads it.

No. Never. We don't sell your book and we don't sit between you and your reader. Every book page links straight to wherever you sell it, whether that's Amazon, IngramSpark or your own website. You keep 100% of what you earn.

Independent and self-published authors who want to be found, whether you're drafting your first manuscript or already have books on sale. It's also for readers who want to discover books outside the bestseller lists.

No. We're a discovery platform, not a publisher. You publish your book wherever you choose, and we help readers find it. Our publishing guide compares the main platforms if you're deciding where to go.

The core of IndieFiction (listing books, author profiles, browsing and the guides) is built to stay free, and optional paid features like the Upcoming Release subscription are what fund it: hosting, email, the domain, security. They stay exactly that, optional and clearly marked.

Create a free account, then head to submit your book. You'll add the title, a short description, your purchase link, a cover, and choose your own genre. Once approved, your book gets its own page and appears on its genre shelf. An account comes with 5 free listings, for individual indie authors; if you've published more than that, extra slots come in bundles of 5 from $3 USD a month (see “Can I list more than 5books?” below). The free plan isn't for presses, publications, or other organisations or businesses. If that's you, the Business plan is yours, and you can always write to us if you're not sure which fits.

Yes, on the Business plan: $9.99 USD a month plus tax, with the first 15 days free on your first subscription. It covers up to 50 listings, a publisher page with your logo and the authors you publish, a published-by link on every book page you list, and short stories. An optional add-on puts up to 3 works in progress in Upcoming for $4.99 USD a month. The honest part, said here too: business listings are visible while the plan is active. If it lapses they are hidden, not deleted, and everything returns when it restarts. You create a business account to begin; it's a separate account type from an author account, and it doesn't switch between the two.

Two ways, both automatic. We email you the decision — approved, or not this time with the reason — and your account page keeps a record of it under “What's happened”, so if the email ever goes missing the answer is still waiting where your books are. When you're signed in, the bell in the header shows how many are new and opens the full list. Notifications stay for six months, and you can dismiss any of them whenever you like.

With a reader account, yes: every author who has an account and has left their inbox open has a Message button on their page, and their books carry one too. They get a notification and can reply from their own account. A conversation is private to the two of you. Either of you can block the other, which closes it both ways, and either of you can report a message to us. Authors can switch messages off from their account page. Authors can also write to a reader from the reader's public page, and readers can switch that off the same way.

So that a message means something. Every account gets 5 free tokens on the 1st of each month, and opening a new conversation uses one. Replying in a conversation that already exists is always free, in both directions. Unused free tokens do not carry over, and a token is not returned if a message is held, blocked or never answered.

Yes: $5 USD for 50 tokens, plus tax where it applies, from your messages page. Checkout is handled by Stripe and we never see your card. Paid tokens never expire and carry forward for as long as your account exists; they are not refundable once bought, and they are forfeited if you delete your account. A conversation opened with a paid token is also announced to the other person by email, with a link to reply; the message itself is only ever shown inside their account.

Yes. A free reader account gives you a private shelf: press Save on any book page, reading list pick or unwrapped Blind Date parcel and it goes on your TBR, then mark it finished when you have read it. You can also follow authors and other readers, and you hear on your account page first when one of them lists a new book, publishes a short story, or posts a review or note. Nobody sees your shelf. A reader you follow sees you on their own followers list, and nobody else sees who you follow. A reader account cannot list books, so if you write as well, create an author account instead: it can save and follow too, and a switch on its account page opens the whole reader side, with your books and author page untouched. Readers can also write reviews (a short blog post about a book, no star ratings) and notes, which appear on a public page at indiefiction.com/@handle the moment the first one is published, and in the site-wide feed at indiefiction.com/reviews.

Yes. Books are submitted through an author account so your book is tied to a real person you can prove is you, which means you can edit or remove it later, and readers can find everything else you've written. Creating the account is free and takes about a minute.

No, that part is entirely optional. You can submit a book without ever writing a bio. But a profile gives you a public author page readers can browse and recommend, and your name becomes a link on every one of your books rather than plain text. Readers can also recommend you from that page; the count is public, and your account shows it too. You can add a profile any time from your account.

Any genre, fiction and non-fiction both. Despite the name, IndieFiction covers fantasy, romance, thrillers, poetry, memoir, self-help, business and more. The book needs to be genuinely self- or independently published and available to buy or to pre-order somewhere; you tell us which when you submit, and a pre-order says so on its page. Books that are still being written are declined: the Upcoming Release plan is built for exactly those.

We neither require nor forbid AI tools in authors' work, and we don't label content either way, because AI detection is unreliable and a false accusation harms a real writer. Authors answer for what they publish however it was made, and the decision to read or buy stays with you. The full position, including how we use AI ourselves, is at AI on IndieFiction.

A little matchmaking game at Blind Date with a Book. You tell us what you're in the mood for (a few taps, no account needed) and we hand you three books wrapped in paper: no covers, no titles, just a line about why each one turned up. Unwrap the one that whispers to you. The matching happens in your browser and your answers are never saved to an account or profile; if you've accepted analytics cookies we count plays and unwraps the same way we count page views, and that's all.

Three levels of book trivia at the Book Quiz, from questions anyone who reads will know up to proper bookworm territory. Ten questions a level, a clock on each, two hints if you need them, and seven out of ten opens the next level. Pass Level 2 or 3 and we'll email you a certificate, with your name on it if you like. The quiz runs in your browser with no account needed; your address is used only to send the certificate, unless you also choose to join the reader newsletter. We count how each question performs (right, wrong, timed out) with nothing attached that could identify you, and that is how we retire bad questions.

Tags are how we recommend your book to readers: the mood, the tropes, the setting, the themes a genre alone can't express. You pick at least one when you submit a book, and can change them any time from your account. Choose from our list, and add a few of your own if ours don't cover it. Tags from our list appear as quiet “what to expect” pills on your book's page and give it a shelf under Moods & Tropes; they also work behind the scenes, matching your book to what a reader tells us they're in the mood for, in site search and in Blind Date with a Book. Tags you write yourself stay off the page and feed search only.

Short, hand-picked lists at Reading Lists: a first handful of books for each genre and the moods readers ask for most, five at a time. They're starting points, not rankings; nobody pays to be on one and we rotate the picks as new books arrive, so more authors get a turn. A book qualifies when its author has an IndieFiction account, is subscribed to our author emails, and has written a real description, because the description is where each list's one-line pitch comes from. The best way to be considered is the ordinary one: keep your account, stay on the list, and give your book a description worth quoting.

Yes, both, from your account. Change the title, description, genre, cover or buy link and the update goes live straight away; there's no second wait for approval. Take a book down and it comes off the public site immediately. Everything you submit stays under your control.

That'll be one of the listings migrated from our old site, which pre-dates author accounts. Open the book's page and use “Claim this listing”. Once we've verified it, the book links to your account and you can edit its details like any other.

Yes. The free plan covers 5 published books, and past that, extra slots come in bundles of 5 for $3 USD a month or $30 USD a year, plus tax where it applies, up to 15 books in all. You add a bundle from your account page in a minute; checkout is hosted by Stripe and we never see your card. If a bundle ever lapses, your books all stay up for 30 days, and after that your newest books beyond your remaining slots are hidden, never deleted: resume the bundle and they come back instantly. If you're listing for a press or other organisation, the Business plan is the right fit instead.

It's the one paid feature on IndieFiction, made for the book you're still writing. For $4.99 USD a month plus tax where it applies (about the price of a coffee), your unfinished book gets its own page in Upcoming, up to3sample chapters readers can read free, and a reader list: real email addresses from people who want to know the moment it's published. It covers one work in progress at a time — finish it and the same plan points at your next one. The full details are on the pricing page.

Readers leave their email on your book's page, and they're told plainly that it goes to you. You watch the count grow from your dashboard and download the addresses whenever you like. The list is yours to keep, with one condition: you use it only to announce this book, never for anything else, and every email you send includes a way to opt out.

Your plan runs to the end of the month you've paid for. After that your book and its chapters are hidden, not deleted, and you get 30 days to download your reader list before our copy is removed. Resubscribe any time and everything comes back exactly as you left it.

Checkout happens on Stripe's own payment page, the same processor behind millions of online businesses. Your card details go to Stripe directly and never touch IndieFiction's servers. Card changes, invoices and receipts live in Stripe's billing portal, linked from your account, and cancelling takes two clicks on your own dashboard.

Two things worth knowing before you pay. Stripe sells the plan as the merchant of record, which means it works out and collects whatever tax your country charges on digital services and adds it on top. So the $4.99 USD is the price of the plan, and the total at checkout depends on where you live. There is no tax to add in some countries, and the checkout always shows the full amount before you confirm. And when the payment lands, your statement will read LINK.COM* INDIEFICTION, not IndieFiction, because Link is the part of Stripe that handles the sale. It is us, and it is the right charge.

You won't be left out of pocket. If two subscriptions ever end up on one account, we cancel the newer one and refund it in full, tax included, without you asking, and we email you to say so. It happens automatically, usually within the hour. If a refund doesn't reach you, tell us and we'll chase it.

The happy ending: announce the release to your reader list, delete the work in progress, and submit the finished book free like any other book here. Then cancel the subscription, or point it at your next work in progress.

A place to publish a finished piece of short fiction and have it read here, free, by anyone. It has nothing to do with listing a book or with the Upcoming Release plan — it is its own thing, and it is free. Readers get something to read; you get a page that ends with who you are and everything else you have written. Browse them at short stories.

Between 1,500 and 15,000 words. We check when you publish, so anything outside that cannot go live — but you can save a draft at any length and come back to it.

For a sense of scale, that is roughly a 25-minute read at the shorter end and 75 minutes at the longer. These are proper short stories, not five-minute pieces. The minimum is there because a very short fragment does not give a reader enough to arrive for; the maximum because this is short fiction, not somewhere to serialise a novel.

Yes. Anyone can leave a comment on a story page under whatever name they type — no account needed. Comments appear straight away, spam is filtered, and we remove anything that breaks the community guidelines. If a comment on your story is abusive, email hello@indiefiction.com and we will deal with it.

Yes, completely. You keep the copyright. What you give us is permission to publish it here for people to read free, and to quote a short extract when we promote it — in the newsletter or on our social accounts — always credited to you and always linking back to your story.

That is the whole of it. We cannot sell your story, licence it to anyone else, put it in a paid product, or publish it in full anywhere but here. Delete the story and the permission ends. The terms spell it out.

Yes. Once a story is live, your stories page shows its view count and the average time readers spend on it, and the story's own page shows the view count to everyone. Likes sit beside both.

The numbers are aggregate only: you see how the story is doing, never who read it. Counting starts the day the story goes live, and a view means a visit — the same reader coming back tomorrow counts again.

From our side, yes — we do not ask for exclusivity and we are happy for your story to live in several places.

The catch is on your side. Some platforms and publishers do ask for exclusivity, and checking that you are free to publish here is your responsibility, because we have no way of knowing what you have agreed with someone else. Worth a look at the terms you signed before you paste it in.

No. Anyone with an account can publish one. If you have books here they appear at the end of your story, and if you don't, your other stories go there instead. Writers who have never published a novel are exactly who this is for.

Because we look at every new story before it reaches search engines. Yours is live and shareable the moment you publish — the link works and you can send it to anyone — but it stays out of Google, out of site search and off our home page until we have reviewed it.

It is a quick check, not a critique, and we will not ask you to change your writing. Once it is done your story goes into search on its own.

Newly approved books appear at the front of “Fresh on the shelves” automatically, so every new listing gets time on the homepage. We also occasionally hand-pick a featured selection. Beyond that, your book lives permanently on its genre shelf and its own page.

We can't promise sales; anyone who does is selling you something. What we can do is make your book findable: a page search engines can index, a genre shelf readers browse, and a direct link to your retailer. We also encourage everyone here to buy at least one indie book a month.

555 and counting. You can browse the whole library or narrow it down by genre.

Yes, on both the signup and login pages. Google confirms who you are and passes us your name and email address, and nothing else: not your password, not your contacts, and we never post anything to your account. There is no password on a Google account here, and nothing on the site asks you for one.

You get your existing account, not a second empty one. Because Google has verified that the address is yours, we connect the two, so your books, profile and everything else are exactly where you left them and either way of signing in works from then on.

From your account page, yourself, at any time. We show you exactly what will be removed first and ask you to type DELETE to confirm, because it cannot be undone. Your profile and your answers go; questions you asked stay up as Anonymous; books you listed remain credited to you but no longer editable. If you have a subscription it is cancelled first, so you are never billed after leaving. Prefer a person to do it? Email us and we will.

No. The newsletter is optional: you can untick it when you sign up, or turn it off any time from your account. We send new releases, publishing tips and the occasional author story, and every email has a one-click unsubscribe.

An ARC (advance review copy) is a book an author shares before release, hoping for an honest review. Switch on “open to ARC requests” on your account and other authors can ask you to read theirs. It's entirely separate from the newsletter: turning one off leaves the other alone, and both live on the same page. Switch it off and you come straight back off the list. No account? The readers page has a one-box signup.

We never sell it. We collect what's needed to run your account and reply to you, and that's all. We also use Google Analytics to see which pages and books people find — but only if you accept it in the cookie banner. Decline and the script is never loaded, and the site behaves identically. There are still no advertising pixels and no cross-site tracking. Change your mind whenever you like with “Cookie settings” at the bottom of any page. The full detail is in our privacy policy.

Get in touch. There's one short form and it reaches us directly. We reply as quickly as we can.