There’s something I’d like to confess in this month’s Small Business Deals: October 2026 Edition post.
Remember a few months ago when I said I wanted to tweak this goal, then later decided to scrap the plan altogether?
Well, it turns out that I have to revise this same goal once again.
I’ll spare the details for now since I’m thinking about writing a dedicated blog post just for that.
But suffice it to say that will be how I approach the writing and the business side of things moving forward.
As you can see here, this isn’t an easy decision for me considering that I’ve never done things in this manner before.
And it doesn’t help that I don’t see anyone in the author community who does it this way.
Okay, maybe some of them do.
But it’s certainly not the majority.
If you’re in the middle of making hard decisions for your author business, perhaps the deals you’re about to see in this month’s Small Business Deals: October 2026 Edition post will help you with just that.
Thinking about going wide? Then PublishDrive is the way to go
Talk to any authors about which distributor they prefer for going wide; many of them will pick Draft2Digital, hands down.
The reason behind their decision is pretty clear-cut – Draft2Digital only takes a specific percentage of your book royalty.
While PublishDrive doesn’t take any cut from your royalty payment, they do charge a monthly subscription.
If there’s one thing that authors loathe the most, it will be a monthly subscription just for distributing your books to retailers.
Okay, I’ll be honest here – PublishDrive isn’t for authors who are just starting out.
Even if you do have the budget to shell out for the PublishDrive monthly or annual subscription, I still don’t recommend that you sign up with them.
Only do that once you generate sales from retailers outside of Amazon.
Of course, you can also use PublishDrive to distribute your books to Amazon if you’d like.
But I recommend that you go direct with them so that you have full control of your books’ metadata.
So, who should use PublishDrive if it’s not the right fit for beginner authors with zero sales?
If you do make a lot of sales from retailers across the board in multiple formats, then PublishDrive is the right solution for you.
Of course, you don’t have to take my word for it.
You can test it yourself for free just to see if it’s worth your time going wide with them.
And if you need more details on what each of their plans has to offer, you can have a look at it right here:
Want the Amazon A10 algorithm to work in your favor? Your book metadata is the key
Not going to lie, talking about the algorithm of any kind is enough to drive someone insane.
It’s even more so with Amazon, when the Amazon algorithm itself feels like a black box to most of us.
Regardless of what you think about the Amazon algorithm, it’s important that you pay special attention to it.
After all, Amazon is one giant discoverability engine.
Tell Amazon what your book is all about through the seven keywords, and it will put your book not just in the right category.
But it will also recommend your book to the right audience.
So, how can the Amazon algorithm do just that for you, you wonder?
Well, it’s about using the right keywords to describe your books, of course.
When it comes to keywords, just any keywords won’t simply cut it.
The keywords have to be the ones that people are already searching for on Amazon.
Don’t worry if it sounds like a tall order to you.
This is where software like Publisher Rocket comes in handy.
It can find the keywords that people do use when they’re searching on Amazon.
What’s more, it also gives you an in-depth analysis of the Amazon category and pinpoints which categories are ghost categories.
If you’re not a fan of playing a guessing game with Amazon, you can get Publisher Rocket right here:
Find the best keywords for your book with Publisher Rocket
Thinking about selling direct? Then get started with Payhip
Let’s be honest here – selling direct seems to be one of the things that authors have been talking about over the last few years.
Well, it makes sense why selling direct is a hot topic for many authors.
Not only does more money go into your pocket, but you finally know the people who buy your books.
Try doing that with Amazon, and all you get is crickets.
Unless you manage to convince people who bought your books to join your email list, you have no way of knowing who these people are, let alone keeping in touch with them.
It’s because of this reason, it’s worth considering selling direct.
And yes, even if you’re a brand new author with zero sales and audience.
As much as I recommend every author at every stage to start selling direct, I don’t recommend that you opt for a solution like Shopify.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that Shopify is a terrible solution.
It’s just that it’s a pricey solution for someone who is just getting started.
You can opt for WooCommerce like I do if you’d like.
But it’s not something that I recommend to most people either, since it can be a little tad too technical for some.
If you want something similar to Shopify but not as technical as WooCommerce, then Payhip is the way to go.
And the best part of all?
The free tier pretty much covers everything you need for selling direct.
Does Payhip pique your interest?
You can learn more about it right here:
Get started with selling direct with Payhip
Small Business Deals: October 2026 Edition affiliate disclaimer
Just to let you know that the Small Business Deals: October 2026 Edition post contains affiliate links. I’ll be compensated when you purchase through my affiliate links. Don’t worry, I’ll be paid at no additional cost.
Your purchase through my affiliate links will help me continue sharing my insights on the business side of being an author on my blog.
And, of course, it helps keep this blog running for years, too.