@Jill Cooper sorry for tagging you on this older thread, but I didn't want to start a new one. I watched the last lunch with Mal, and have comments! lol You guys mentioned blog hopping or rings (I remember those, used to be part of a couple) ... this reminded me of this website: https://buydirectfromauthors.com/ It's hosted by Rebecca Hefner, the same author who runs the Stuff your Earbuds (Zoebub for audiobooks) and several other audiobook promos and groups. Her idea was to have a directory with all authors who have a direct store, sorted by genre. It costs $5/month, though to be listed. She also has a large substack for it, runs several promos for direct stores, and she has a newsletter for authors to keep us informed of all the promos and stuff she's working on. This isn't exactly what Mal was talking about, but I thought I should say something ... Also, about TT's demise and a new social media - I heard through the grapevine that the #1 downloaded app for social media right now is Upscrolled. I've downloaded it, created an account, but haven't touched it since lol Anyway, just wanted to share :)

@Jill Cooper me again! I just remembered something else. It's called Shopify Collective: https://www.shopify.com/collective I don't know the exact details, but apparently, you can sign up for it, then have other brands show your products on their Shopify for wholesale pricing. And you can do the same on your store. I think you can choose who can have your products, and who you want to have on your store ... so this might be a way to get like authors of the same genre in a "ring"? Like I said, I haven't explored it, but at some point, it might be worth learning more about how it all works.

@Danica Favorite Also recognize you from the podcast!

Hi! I'm Juliana and I've been published for almost 13 years (next week!) and have 60+ titles in the PNR and romantasy genres. I was almost always wide and jumped into the direct store space in May 2023 and that was a total game changer for me.