Welcome to 2025…and say hello to a brand new Writers Helping Writers® bookstore!
Like many other authors, Becca and I have switched to a Shopify storefront so we can provide a better experience for everyone wanting to buy direct.
We’re excited about this upgraded storefront, both for the flexibility to eventually branch out to offer things beyond books –workshops, on-demand webinars, packets, etc.– and the fact that it is a vast improvement over the system we’ve had to use to date.
But first, what does “Buy Direct” mean?
Buying direct means instead of purchasing a book from an etailer like Amazon, Kobo, or Apple (who take a big chunk of each sale) you buy from the author’s website. This helps the author because when more book revenue lands in their pocket, they’re closer to making a livable wage. And when they do, it gives them the freedom to write more books, offer discounts, and more. So buying direct is a win-win for the author and readers.
But buying direct also has other benefits, like…
Buying Direct can better protect your books
A problem with buying a digital copy from someone like Amazon is they have control over that book file, not you. If it disappears from your Kindle library due to a glitch, syncing issue, or because they decided you did something wrong, getting it restored can be hard (or impossible). When you buy a digital book from our store, our partner Bookfunnel always keeps your book safe and accessible. You own the book.
Buying Direct means early access
Our bookstore will allow us to offer new releases before they are available elsewhere. Often Becca and I have a new book in hand for weeks prior to a book launch but we have to wait for the official release date. Now, we can pop a new guide into our store when it’s ready and minimize waiting.
Buying Direct keeps you in the loop (and saves you $$$)
Right now our store is set up to offer digital formats (ebook and PDF), but print is coming! And we’re looking to expand to other things as well. If you sign up for store notifications we’ll pop a quick message into your inbox whenever a cost-saving bundle, special workshop, on-demand webinar, discount, or something else becomes available. (But that’s it–no ‘hard sell’ stuff. That’s not us.)
Buying direct is a great way to support an author you care about, and Becca and I want to thank you for considering our Writers Helping Writers Bookstore when you’re looking for writing help. Thank you!
So, ready to check out our new store?
Visit the link above and take this celebratory discount code with you: WHWTHANKSYOU
This one-time code is a buy one, get the second ebook single at a 50% discount. You’ll see a place to enter the code when you checkout. (And a tippy tip: if you sign up for store notifications, you’ll get a bonus code that discounts your entire order a further 10%!) Add that second code at checkout to use both in the same order.
We’d also love your feedback. We’re just getting stared and have improvements in mind, but you guys are the pros here. You know what you need to see when deciding to buy a book, and we’d love your ideas on what might make this store better. If you’d like to leave us impressions or suggestions, zip over here. (It’s anonymous.) And thank you!
Don’t forget to redeem your buy one, get one code by January 15th, 2025, and happy writing!
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Thank you so much for your reply, Angela.
Your advice gives me valuable perspective. Best of luck with your direct sales.
Sincerest regards,
Ardelle
I had to check my library to see which ones I already had, then ordered three I didn’t have. Love your new store, Angela and Becci. Now you can give a workshop on how to set one up. I imagine one has to have a certain level of ‘reputation’ before one should set up direct sales. Best of luck with with your new storefront.
Sincerely,
Ardelle Holden
I’m so glad you were able to fill the gaps in your library, Ardelle :).
I don’t know about doing a workshop, haha! I am no expert and youtubed A LOT when I had questions on design and set up, and I know Becca did too. It helped a lot. So while I wouldn’t feel confident in doing a workshop, I would pass on advice: anyone who wants a store should think carefully about what their goals are.
Some people go all-in on ads, email marketing, sales funnels, A/B testing, all that, wanting to turn their store into a powerhouse of sales. Totally okay. But, this is a big time and money investment, so it’s important to know that upfront. There will be plenty of experts (who are affiliates for popular Shopify apps as that’s part of their revenue) that will tell you that explosive growth is just a few steps away when you use X or y apps & strategy to run your business. Sometimes their advice can be good, other times, listening to someone who promises the secret sauce is X means you end up spending as much or more than a store make. So it’s important to go into ecommerce with open eyes, and understand experience varies, and not all industries work the same way.
But not everyone is looking to grow a massive store and that’s okay too. If you are just looking to sell your products and want to invest more time into building your catalog, I’d say resist the urge to spend a ton of money on all the fancy stuff upfront. You can always add what you need as you grow. It is possible to set up a basic store and not spend a crazy amount. 😉
Becca and I are in the latter camp. We are more interested in investing our time in teaching and creating things to help writers than spend time and money to sell more books. And we hope that people continue to find what we do as helpful as that allows us to keep going. 🙂