How to Sell Your Books

How to Sell Your Books Outside Our Platform: A Guide to External Monetization

Publishing your book on Novellion is only the first step. To build a sustainable income and grow a dedicated reader community, many authors use external crowdfunding and monetization platforms alongside their Novellion page.

This guide covers popular third-party services, available monetization models, how to connect a paid external offer back to your Novellion books using our own Access Codes feature, and what to keep in mind before launching.

1. Which Platforms Are Best for Selling Books?

The right choice depends on your target audience and distribution format:

  • Patreon — a globally recognized platform for paid subscriptions and direct digital sales. Best suited for reaching an international audience, and pairs naturally with Novellion’s own Access Codes (see below).
  • Gumroad / Payhip — platforms tailored specifically for direct digital sales (e-books in EPUB, PDF, or MOBI/FB2 formats).
  • Buy Me a Coffee — a lightweight, creator-friendly platform for receiving one-time support and selling digital products.
  • Ko-fi — similar to Buy Me a Coffee, with both one-time tips and optional monthly memberships; popular with readers who prefer a lower-commitment way to support a favorite author.

2. Choosing a Sales Model: One-Time Purchase vs. Monthly Subscription

External platforms offer two primary approaches for monetizing your work:

Option A: One-Time Purchase of a Finished Book

  • How it works: you upload your book file (PDF, EPUB, FB2, etc.) to the platform’s storefront (e.g., Patreon Shop or Gumroad) and set a fixed price. Once payment is complete, the reader instantly receives a secure download link.
  • Best for: authors with completed novels, short story collections, or illustrated editions.

Option B: Monthly Paid Subscription (Tiers)

  • How it works: readers pay a recurring monthly fee (e.g., $3, $5, or $10) to access your private feed and exclusive updates.
  • Best for: authors releasing works in progress (chapter-by-chapter), as well as creators who regularly share drafts, behind-the-scenes notes, and bonus content.

3. Connecting an External Sale to Your Novellion Book (Access Codes)

If you’re running a paid Patreon tier (or similar), you don’t have to publish those chapters as public content on Novellion at all — Novellion has a built-in way to reward paying supporters directly on your existing book page:

  1. On any of your books, turn on Restrict chapters in the book’s edit screen. Chapter 1 always stays free and public for everyone — the rest unlock only for readers who follow you or redeem one of your access codes.
  2. Go to your Author Dashboard → Access Codes and generate a batch of one-time codes.
  3. Hand out one code per paying supporter — for example, as a reply to their Patreon pledge, or as a perk listed on a paid tier.
  4. The reader enters the code once, while logged in to Novellion, on the locked chapter’s page. From then on, they have permanent access to all of your restricted books on Novellion, including ones you publish later — not just the one they unlocked it on.

This means you can keep selling full access to your work on Patreon exactly as described above, while readers experience it in Novellion’s normal reading interface, with their library, reading progress, and bookmarks all in one place — instead of sending them a separate file to manage themselves.

4. Step-by-Step Guide: How to Start Selling on an External Platform

  1. Set up your creator profile. Sign up on the platform of your choice and customize your page with an engaging banner, avatar, and a clear bio.
  2. Configure payout details. Link your preferred payout method (bank account, PayPal, Payoneer, or digital wallet, depending on the service).
  3. Prepare your book files. Provide the text in popular e-reader formats (EPUB, PDF, MOBI/FB2), and prepare an eye-catching book cover and a compelling blurb/synopsis. If you’re using the Access Codes approach instead, you can skip preparing a separate downloadable file entirely.
  4. Publish the product or tier-restricted post. Upload the file directly to the platform, attach a protected cloud storage link, or simply describe the Access Code perk in your tier’s description.
  5. Share your link. Promote the direct checkout link (or your Patreon page) across your social media channels, personal blog, and your author profile on Novellion.

5. How to Increase Reader Interest and Drive Sales

To encourage readers to support you on external platforms, consider offering extra value:

  • Private community — invite paying readers to an exclusive Telegram channel or Discord server.
  • Early access — give subscribers access to new chapters weeks before their public release on Novellion.
  • Exclusive content — share character artwork, world maps, deleted scenes, audio commentary, or companion short stories.
  • Direct engagement — host online Q&A sessions, author live streams, and polls to involve readers in your creative journey.

6. Key Factors to Consider in Advance

  • Platform & processing fees. Most platforms deduct a platform fee (typically 5% to 12%) plus standard payment processing charges on each transaction — factor this into your pricing.
  • Payment accessibility. Make sure the service you choose accepts payment methods convenient for your core audience and allows hassle-free withdrawals to your location.
  • Taxes and reporting. Income from these platforms is generally taxable in most countries, and thresholds/reporting rules vary by where you live. This guide isn’t tax advice — check your local requirements, or ask an accountant, before treating this as regular income.
  • What Novellion does and doesn’t handle. Novellion doesn’t process any payments, and access codes have no monetary value on their own — they’re purely a way to unlock chapters for someone you’ve already decided to reward. All billing, refunds, and payout questions are between you and the external platform.

FAQ

Do I have to choose only one platform? No — some authors run a Patreon for ongoing subscriptions and a Gumroad page for readers who’d rather make a single one-time purchase of a finished book.

Can I change or revoke an access code after giving it out? Once a code is redeemed, it’s tied to that reader permanently — there’s no separate “remove access” action per reader at the moment. Unredeemed codes you generated but haven’t given out yet can simply be left unused.

Does turning on “Restrict chapters” affect my book’s visibility in Browse or search? No — the book itself, its cover, description, and first chapter stay fully visible and discoverable to everyone. Only chapters after the first are gated.

Do I need to tell Novellion I’m selling access elsewhere? No — this is entirely between you and your readers. Novellion’s role is just to host your book and provide the Access Codes tool if you choose to use it.