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What Is A Mobi File

MOBI is an ebook file format originally created by Mobipocket in the early 2000s and later adopted by Amazon as the native format for Kindle devices. For years, it was the standard format authors needed to publish on Kindle.

Selling Your eBooks On Smashwords

Smashwords remains one of the largest independent ebook storefronts, but the way you get your book there has changed. As of 2026, you no longer publish directly through Smashwords — instead, you publish through Draft2Digital, which now owns and operates Smashwords, and select the Smashwords store as one of your distribution destinations.

Selling Your eBooks on Tradebit

Tradebit is a digital marketplace where you can sell ebooks directly, with a tiered commission structure that improves as your sales volume grows.

Finding Free Fonts And Typography For Your Book Covers

The right typography can make or break a book cover — it’s often the first thing a reader registers before they even process the title. Here are trusted sources for free fonts, plus one thing worth checking before you use any of them commercially.

Editing PDF Formats

Editing a small detail in a PDF is more annoying than it should be — PDFs aren’t built to be edited directly the way a Word document is. Here’s the fastest path, depending on what you have available.

Making Use of Flickr.com Images

Flickr hosts millions of Creative Commons-licensed photos, but not every CC-licensed image is safe to use on a book cover you’re planning to sell. Here’s how to search correctly and stay within the license terms.

Types of Licenses For Stock Images

Not every stock photo license permits the same uses — and for a book cover specifically, the license type actually matters, since your cover is a commercial, resold product. Here’s what each license type means.

Selling Your eBooks On XinXii

XinXii is a Berlin-based self-publishing and distribution platform that lets independent authors sell eBooks and audiobooks directly through their own XinXii author page, with optional distribution to major retailers like Amazon, Kobo, Apple Books, and Casa del Libro.

Goodreads

Goodreads is one of the largest concentrations of active readers online, and — since it’s owned by Amazon — activity there can feed directly into your book’s broader discoverability.

Print On Demand Book Sizing

Amazon KDP Print offers a fixed set of trim sizes for both paperback and hardcover. Picking the right one affects not just how your book looks on a shelf, but your printing cost and royalty margin.

How To Edit .MOBI Format Documents

Important update: Amazon officially stopped accepting MOBI files for new Kindle eBook uploads on March 18, 2025, completing a phase-out that began in 2021. If you’re formatting a new book for KDP, you don’t need a MOBI file at all — Amazon now requires EPUB, DOCX, or KPF, and converts it internally to their current KFX format.

Breakdown Of Where Aggreggators / Retailers Ship Their eBooks

Before you publish anywhere, keep this rule in mind: don’t list the same book through two different aggregators that ship to the same retailer — most retailers won’t accept the same title twice, and it creates confusion about which listing is the “real” one. Know where each distributor actually sends your book before you sign up for more than one.

Selling Your Book On Lulu

Lulu is a self-publishing platform supporting both print-on-demand and ebooks. Opening an account and uploading a book is straightforward.

Smashwords Uploading Errors

One of the most common errors when uploading to Smashwords is a corrupted image — and it’s usually not actually corrupted, just mislabeled.

Useful Links For Advertising Your eBooks

Beyond the major retailers, there’s a whole ecosystem of ebook deal blogs and reader communities that will feature your book — some for free, some for a fee. Reaching out directly to the sites below is a low-cost way to get in front of readers actively looking for their next book.

Aggregators Who Will Really Sell Your Books

An aggregator distributes your book to multiple retailers — Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and others — from a single upload, rather than you managing each retailer relationship separately.

Creating A Book Cover For Your eBook

Your book cover carries more weight than almost anything else in your listing — it’s the first thing a reader sees, often reduced to a thumbnail the size of a postage stamp on a phone screen. Here’s how to approach it.

Pursue Paid Book Reviews

A professional, independent review can lend real credibility to an author without an existing track record — useful for pitching libraries, seeking press coverage, or entering literary award submissions. Paid reviews aren’t the right fit for every goal, though, so it’s worth understanding what each service actually offers.

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