Experiments with self publishing

Phosphate Rocks: A Death in Ten Objects

It’s a while since I provided an update on the commercial aspects of my self publishing journey.

For those of you new to this story, a quick recap. In 2023, one of my three publishers, Sandstone Press, went into liquidation. I recovered the print and digital rights to Phosphate Rocks: A Death in Ten Objects, set up my own imprint, commissioned a new cover from the original designer, typeset it myself on Reedsy and self-published the novel.

I decided to go wide, using Ingram Spark to supply bookshops (via Gardners), Kobo as an alternative for e-books and Barnes and Noble as a second source for both. That meant I couldn’t access Kindle Unlimited (initially), as Amazon demands exclusivity.

For local bookshops, festivals and events, I ordered small print runs (up to 50 at a time) through BookVault and Ingram Spark.

It wasn’t all quite as easy as it sounds, but I’m persistent.

So here are the figures and what I’ve learned so far.