How to Build a Book Empire Without Really Meaning To
A Sensible Empire
There are probably sensible ways to start a book empire.
A business plan would be useful.
Market research would probably feature somewhere. There might be meetings, spreadsheets, consultants and somebody wearing an expensive suit saying things like "customer acquisition strategy".
I didn't do any of that.
I had an argument with Amazon.
In my defence, I wasn't planning to have an argument with Amazon. I was merely trying to give away one of my books.
You might imagine that giving something away would be relatively straightforward.
Apparently not.
One thing led to another, emails travelled backwards and forwards, eyebrows were raised and eventually I had one of those dangerous thoughts that occasionally afflict authors:
"I could do this myself."
This is approximately how The Fiction Bookstore was born.
How Difficult Could It Be?
Never ask this question.
It is responsible for sheds, home renovations, boats, small businesses and an alarming number of unfinished novels.
Nevertheless, I asked it.
I already had a website. I already had the books. I had covers, descriptions and ePub files. I even had readers.
All I needed was a shop.
Simple.
A few days later I had product categories, SKUs, payment processors, shopping bags, download systems, Reader Support, FAQs, returns policies and an intimate knowledge of several parts of ecommerce that I had previously been perfectly happy knowing nothing about.
Somewhere along the way, The Fiction Bookstore stopped being an idea and became an actual shop.
Then Came the ePub
There was, however, a slight problem.
I knew what an ePub was.
You may know what an ePub is.
But somewhere out there is a perfectly normal reader staring suspiciously at a file called something.epub and wondering whether opening it will cause their iPad to explode.
This seemed undesirable.
So I created instructions explaining how to put an ePub onto Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo and NOOK.
Then I realised I should probably explain what an ePub actually is.
Hence Going Down the ePub, in which we established that an ePub is simply an electronic book and, despite considerable technological progress, still contains no actual beer.
But I'm working on that aspect of refreshments.
Why Build a Bookstore Anyway?
Because the way we buy books has changed enormously.
The enormous online bookstores are very good at what they do. Most of my books are available through them and will continue to be.
But there's something rather appealing about an author having his own little bookshop.
Here I can put together collections that aren't available elsewhere. I can offer books at different prices. I can give books away. I can experiment.
And if something goes wrong, you, the reader, don't have to explain your problem to a multinational corporation employing an AI instead of a human.
You can contact Reader Support.
There's a real person there.
Admittedly, he may be drinking coffee, with his feet up, but he's real.
The Shelves Are Full. Where Are the Customers?
Ah.
There is apparently another part to running a book empire.
You have to tell people it exists.
This minor detail became apparent after I'd spent several days lovingly arranging the virtual shelves, testing downloads and generally behaving like a digital bookseller.
Eventually I looked at the shop and thought:
"This is rather good."
Then I looked at the sales.
Apparently customers do not spontaneously materialise simply because you've built them a nice bookstore.
Who knew?
So now comes marketing.
Facebook. X. Bluesky. Threads. Instagram. Websites. Newsletters. Articles. Blogs.
And presumably standing on a virtual street corner wearing a sandwich board if all else fails.
So, Is This an Empire?
Not quite.
At the moment it's more of a small independent principality with ambitions above its station.
But the books are there.
The doors are open.
The payment system works.
And somewhere in the world there is hopefully a reader thinking:
"Oh, that looks interesting."
Every empire has to start somewhere.
Mine started with a 99-cent book, an argument with Amazon and the dangerous thought:
"I could do this myself."
Welcome to The Fiction Bookstore.
Please wipe your feet.
And if you happen to see a down and out author at the end of the ePub bar, mine's a pint.
Copyright © Tom Kane 2026