Indie Author Academy
Guides to the Indie Author Toolchest
How to do each job in the Indie Author Toolchest, step by step.
Add a book to your author website
Add a book to your author website with its cover, blurb, status and buy links for Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo and more. Each step is shown. Free for 14 days.
Add an extra page to your author website
Add an FAQ, a reading order or book club questions to your Indie Author Toolchest site with the Extra pages screen, and see where it appears in your menu.
Add Google Analytics to your author website
Paste a Google Analytics 4 ID or a Meta Pixel ID into the Indie Author Toolchest to see who visits your author website, and see the cookie notice readers get.
Add social links to your author website
Add Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Goodreads and Amazon author page links in the Indie Author Toolchest and see where the icons show on your site.
Add your audiobook to your book page
Tick the audiobook box on your book in the Indie Author Toolchest and add your Audible code or link, so your book page shows an Audiobook button.
Ask other authors for help in the community
Read topics, start your own and reply to other authors on the Community screen in the Indie Author Toolchest, a members-only place to ask questions and share what works.
Change your login email
Learn how Indie Author Toolchest sign-in works with an emailed login link and no password, and how to change your login email so you keep your access.
Change your plan, update your card or cancel
Subscribe to the Indie Author Toolchest, choose monthly or annual, update your card, find invoices and cancel, and see what happens to your site.
Choose a look for your author website
Pick a theme for your author website and fill in your photo, bio and the line under your name. See each setting and preview the result. Free for 14 days.
Download your data or close your account
Download a copy of your books, mailing list and sales from the Indie Author Toolchest, or close your account, and see what is removed and how to cancel the request.
Earn commission by referring an author
Copy your referral link from the Indie Author Toolchest, share it with another author and earn 20% of what they pay for their first 12 months.
Email your readers about a new book
Write an email to your confirmed subscribers in the Indie Author Toolchest, preview it, send it and find it in your Sent list, with the daily limit explained.
Find your way around your Toolchest dashboard
Learn what each item in the Indie Author Toolchest dashboard menu does, from My books to Reviews and press, and which one to open first. Free for 14 days.
Get help and send us a message in the Toolchest
Search the Indie Author Toolchest help articles, open the Guide link on any dashboard screen, and send a message to support. See where the reply arrives.
Gift an ebook to a reader by email
Send a free copy of your ebook to one reader by email with a personal note, using Gift a copy in the Indie Author Toolchest, and see when they open and redeem it.
Give away a free chapter to get email sign-ups
Set up a reader magnet in the Indie Author Toolchest: upload a free chapter or story, then share a sign-up page that turns visitors into email subscribers.
Give away ebooks at events with printed codes
Make one-time download codes in the Indie Author Toolchest, print postcards with a QR code for signings, and add an Amazon table postcard for your book table.
Hand out review copies before your book launch
Offer free review copies in the Indie Author Toolchest: share one link, approve each reviewer, and let reminders go out for you before launch day.
Launch a book week by week with the Toolchest
A launch plan that uses the Indie Author Toolchest in order: coming soon page, review copies, press kit, reader magnet, launch day email and event codes.
Let readers contact you through your website
Every Indie Author Toolchest site has a contact form. See what readers fill in, where their message arrives, how to reply and how to change the address.
Link Apple Books, Kobo and other stores from your book page
Add Apple Books, Kobo, Google Play Books and Barnes & Noble links to your book in the Indie Author Toolchest so each one becomes a buy button on your book page.
Link readers to their own Amazon store
Add a Buy on Amazon button in the Indie Author Toolchest that sends each reader to the Amazon store for their own country, and learn who earns the Associates commission.
List book signings and launches on your website
List a book signing, launch or talk in the Indie Author Toolchest and see how it shows on your author site until the date passes.
Make a QR code sign for your book table
Print a table postcard with your cover and a QR code that sends readers to your book on Amazon, in four sizes, from Codes for events in the Indie Author Toolchest.
Make an author press kit page
Fill in your profile and books once and the Indie Author Toolchest builds a public press kit page with your photo, bio, praise and cover downloads.
Offer print on demand copies from your book page
Add a Lulu, IngramSpark, Bookvault or other print store link to your book in the Indie Author Toolchest, with a button label you choose and a preview.
Post news on your author blog
Write a news post in the Indie Author Toolchest, publish it, edit or delete it later, and see where readers find the Blog link and blog page on your author site.
See and export your email subscribers
Read your subscriber totals in the Indie Author Toolchest, learn what yet to confirm means, and export your whole mailing list as a CSV file in two clicks.
Selling direct while your book is in KDP Select
What the KDP Select tick box on your book does in the Indie Author Toolchest, which warning it adds to Codes for events, and what you still switch off yourself.
Send a review copy to a journalist or podcaster
Email a private ebook link to a journalist, reviewer or podcaster from the Press kit screen in the Indie Author Toolchest. The link works for 14 days.
Set up your author website with one ISBN or Amazon code
Build a live author website from one ISBN or Amazon code and an email address. Follow each step from the sign-up form to your finished site, free for 14 days.
Show reader reviews on your author website
Add praise and reader reviews in the Indie Author Toolchest, and see which ones show on your author site, publisher page, press kit and each book page.
What you can do during your Toolchest free trial
See what you can build and collect during the 14-day Indie Author Toolchest trial, which tools wait for a subscription, and what happens to your site on day 14.
Write a book press release as a PDF
Write a press release for your book in the Indie Author Toolchest and get it as a PDF on publisher letterhead that journalists can download from your press kit.
Write your author bio for your website
Fill in your public name, genre, the line under your name, your bio and your photo in the Indie Author Toolchest, and see where each one shows on your site.
Your author website and your publisher page
Every Indie Author Toolchest author gets two public pages. Learn what your own site and your BulletPoint Publishing page are for, and which link to share where.
Run it all from one place
Author page, direct sales, reader list, review copies and press kit, built from one ASIN. Free for 14 days, no card.
Start your free trial