r/selfpublish

r/selfpublish, founded in 2011, is Reddit's most focused community for the practical business side of self-publishing. With over 110,000 subscribers, it covers the full indie publishing workflow: choosing a POD platform, pricing ebooks, navigating KDP and IngramSpark, evaluating cover designers, decoding ISBN ownership, spotting vanity press scams, and debating the Kindle Unlimited exclusivity trade-off.

The subreddit explicitly identifies itself as not a promotional venue — its sidebar reads "Not a place for self-promotion." Book promotion is restricted to a weekly Self-Promo Saturday thread. Newcomers are directed to read the subreddit wiki (covering ISBN ownership, Library of Congress registration, and POD platform comparisons) before posting questions the FAQ already answers.

What You Get#

• Self-Promo Saturday thread: The one weekly venue where members can share and promote their books. All other self-promotion is prohibited and removed.
• Detailed wiki: Covers ISBN ownership, Library of Congress copyright registration, trim sizes, and POD platform comparisons — useful reference for authors at any stage
• Peer discussion: A July 2025 analysis of 600 high-visibility threads found visibility/marketing topics dominate (~31%), followed by cover design (~20%), Kindle Unlimited debates (~7%), editing costs, and scam avoidance warnings
• AMAs: Periodic threads where indie authors discuss their experience, sales, and strategies with the community
• Archived discussions: Searchable thread history covering years of KDP policy changes, Amazon algorithm shifts, and distribution debates

Who It's For#

• New indie authors: The wiki and FAQ threads answer most foundational questions about ISBNs, POD platforms, and KDP setup without requiring a post
• Authors making distribution decisions: KU vs. wide, IngramSpark vs. KDP print, D2D vs. Smashwords — these debates are heavily represented and frequently updated as platforms change
• Authors evaluating services: Cover design vendors, editing services, and marketing tools are regularly discussed and vetted by the community, including active scam warnings for predatory vanity publishers

Pricing: Free. Reddit Premium ($5.99/month) removes ads but has no effect on subreddit access or functionality.

Strengths#

• Practical focus: Discussions center on business mechanics rather than craft or motivation. Questions about royalty calculations, advertising ROI, and platform policies are the norm.
• Strict no-promo culture: The prohibition on self-promotion keeps the feed free of marketing noise. What gets upvoted tends to be substantive advice, not promotional posts.
• Honest signal: The community has a documented culture of sharing real sales figures and transparently discussing what works and what doesn't, including failures.

Limitations#

• Echo chamber risk: Most advice comes from mid-tier authors, not six-figure earners or industry veterans. Crowdsourced wisdom can entrench conventional thinking over advanced or contrarian strategies. One prominent indie publisher (Derek Murphy of Creativindie) described it as "an echo-chamber of inexperienced writers giving each other advice."
• Low post volume relative to size: The community has 110,000+ subscribers but generates approximately 2 posts and 9 comments per day — most members are passive readers, not active participants.
• Amazon/KDP bias: Discussion skews heavily toward Amazon-centric publishing. Authors publishing wide or focused on non-Amazon retailers may find advice less applicable.
• Member count unverifiable: As of September 9, 2025, Reddit removed public subscriber counts from all subreddit pages, replacing them with rolling Visitor and Contribution metrics. Third-party trackers now diverge wildly — as of June 2026, The Hive Index reports roughly 251,000 members (35.8% annual growth), while other trackers show figures closer to 75,000–110,000. No current figure can be directly verified from the subreddit page; the 110,000+ used here is a conservative floor.

Alternatives#

r/selfpublishing (35,000–40,000 members) covers similar topics with a warmer, more beginner-friendly tone — useful as a companion to r/selfpublish. For curated expert guidance rather than peer discussion, the SPF Community (54,000+ members) and Wide for the Win circle are more moderated environments where experienced authors are more active.