Eliot's Cozy Little Internet Bookstore
I opened a store where you can order signed copies of my novels.
It started with an experiment. I created simple payment links where you could buy signed copies directly from me, and then shared those links in my newsletter and on social media.
The response was surprisingly strong. Readers bought books. Some bought multiple copies to gift to friends. A proud handful of readers bought signed collections of all eleven of my novels. Turns out people like to buy signed books directly from authors!
So I built a store. It’s very simple. You can order my books at their normal list price, and I’ll personally sign and mail them to you. That’s it.
Oh, and if you’re a paid subscriber to this newsletter, you get 35% off everything forever because you’re already underwriting my creative process—thank you!
What’s the stack behind my store? I use Shopify to host it, 8.5x13 inch Jiffy Rigi Bag mailers to package the books, a BIC Round Stic to sign them, a Rollo thermal printer for shipping labels, USPS Media Mail for shipping, and the mailbox around the corner for drop-off. I recommend these options if you want to replicate my set-up, and I’m immensely grateful for the tools and infrastructure that allow me, a human with marginal technical skills, to launch a nationwide retail operation from the comfort of my home office.
Even more than that, I’m grateful to be learning from the examples set by other authors experimenting with new ways of selling direct to readers. Hugh Howey self-published Wool and then did a first-of-a-kind, print-only, time-limited publishing deal before the series was adapted into Silo by Apple. Craig Mod pioneered a new kind of membership model where readers (including me!) help fund his efforts to write and publish beautiful books, the latest of which was bought by Random House in another first-of-a-kind deal. Derek Sivers sells his books exclusively via his hand-built website, packaging all formats together, and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity along the way. Brandon Sanderson raised more than $42 million on Kickstarter to launch four new epic-fantasy books. And Robin Sloan is printing and selling gorgeous zines and posters tied to the enchanting fictional worlds of his novels (he also generously shared a bunch of practical tips that informed how I built my store).
Why should this matter to anyone who isn’t a publishing nerd?
A handful of giant platforms won the internet (for now!). Whether you’re checking Gmail, scrolling TikTok, or browsing Amazon, algorithms decide what you see, and those algorithms are designed to maximally benefit their respective platform at everyone else’s expense. We live in a world run by greedy intermediaries, so if you make things you’re proud of for people you care about, now is the time to invent new ways of going direct to the people you seek to serve. Experiment. Plant seeds. Foment weird informal networks. The culture needs rejuvenation.
In addition to being a nice place to buy books, Eliot’s Cozy Little Internet Bookstore is my itsy-bitsy contribution to that larger effort. I hope you find something you like, whether it’s a signed copy of Foundry, or the inspiration you needed to bring your art directly to whoever you’re making it for.
Eliot Peper is the author of Foundry, Reap3r, Veil, Breach, Borderless, Bandwidth, Neon Fever Dream, Cumulus, Exit Strategy, Power Play, and Version 1.0. He also works on special projects.
“Relentlessly readable. Be warned, if you start, you probably won't stop.”
-San Francisco Magazine on Version 1.0