Books.by Review: What Authors Should Know

While researching direct selling recently, the Kindlepreneur team came across many ads for Books.by — a new self-publishing platform for authors.

None of us had heard much about it within the author community, but after seeing ad after ad (after ad) on every social media platform imaginable, we investigated.

Turns out, we weren’t the only ones curious about it.

Here’s the current top search result in Google:

Now, I can’t answer the question posed in the above screenshot…

But what I can do is share what our team found out about it, present the information without bias or conclusion, and let you decide for yourself.

Let’s jump in.

We’ll start with the obvious…

What is Books.by (and What Does It Do)?

Books.by calls itself “the first publishing platform made by authors, for authors.”

It allows authors to:

• Create personal book stores,
• Print their books on demand using a global network, and
• Ship them directly to readers.

Not only that, but they offer tools to help you market and sell your books.

They pay you the same day that your book ships.

They do daily royalty payouts.

And the big one:

“100% of royalties stay in your pocket.”

It all sounds great, right?

Here's What It Doesn't Do

It doesn't do hardcovers (paperbacks only).

It doesn't do audiobooks.

It doesn't do eBooks.

It doesn't ship to countries outside the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, or Europe.

There are other things it doesn't do (or doesn't have) that we'll discuss in a moment.

If you’d like to learn more, click here to check out their website.

But before you do…

Here are 4 Items Worth Noting About Books.by

In no particular order, here are four things we noticed…

1. Their ‘Terms’ Page is Hidden (and There’s No ‘About’ Page)

For a business that’s selling a product or service, it’s typical to have a “Terms & Conditions” page inside your website’s footer.

Besides adding a layer of credibility to your business, it sets expectations around billing and renewals, and helps prevent potential misunderstandings.

It also helps visitors learn who’s behind the brand or business.

But, for whatever reason, Books.by hides its “Terms” page.

It’s not in the footer, and unless you know the URL, the easiest way to find it is by searching on Google.

(That’s how I found it. It’s very bare bones, but you can go here if you’d like to read it.)

More interesting than a hidden “Terms” page — at least to me — is Books.by’s “About” page.

It doesn’t have one.

Granted, the age of the website could explain both the “Terms” and “About” page.

It’s a new company (the Whois database shows the Books.by domain registered only on November 28, 2024), so the website is undoubtedly still a work in progress.

But it means visitors have to dig deeper in order to find who’s behind the business.

2. There’s a Link to Tablo Publishing

After a little more digging, we found this “Why” page:

It’s written by Ash Davies, Books.by’s founder.

His is a name our team recognized…

He’s also the founder of Tablo Publishing, which — like Books.by — is a platform for authors to print books on demand and sell them around the world.

Personally, I was unfamiliar with both Tablo and its founder, so I researched the former on Reddit and Trustpilot. (If you’d like to do the same, go here and here.)

As you can see from the screenshot below, the reviews haven’t been great:

Now, if you’re an optimist like me, you could see this as a situation where someone’s wanting a fresh start.

They’re starting over with Books.by and implementing lessons learned from the Tablo experience.

And, hopefully, that’s the case.

But it’s hard to ignore how similar Books.by and Tablo’s websites look.

For example, they both feature the same book — “A Dream Life” — on their homepage.

Here’s Books.by:

And here’s Tablo:

They highlight the same authors too.

Here’s Book.by’s homepage:

And here’s Tablo’s:

As “clean slates” go, it’s not the best.

But platform history isn’t the only thing to consider.

Let’s talk numbers — specifically, what it costs to print your book.

3. Surprisingly High Printing Cost

For a platform that advertises itself on low costs and higher royalty for authors, Books.by is higher than we thought it’d be.

According to its royalty calculator, it costs $6.41 to print a 200-page paperback novel with Books.by (at the time of this writing). We priced a similar book with Book Vault at around $4.

Yes, Books.by upfront annual charge (regularly $199 but $99 right now) is lower than “storefront” competitors like Shopify, which costs around $360 per year.

But since you’re still paying more per book with Books.by, the more you sell, the worse your bottom line compared to Book Vault.

Oh, and they can only print paperbacks (no hardcovers or other formats). Depending on your situation, that could be a nonstarter.

Before wrapping up, let’s look at one more thing we found.

(And it’s potentially a big one.)

4. Repetitive Reviews

On Books.by’s homepage, they showcase their 4.8 star rating from almost 400 reviews.

That’s very impressive…

But there are some oddly specific patterns we noticed in the reviews — identical phrases, repeated names, and similar claims.

Could be coincidence, but it's worth noting as you do your research.

Here are a few that we found. Of the 366 reviews:

• 5 called it “the best platform ever!”
• 4 claimed they “doubled” their income “overnight”
• 17 say they were able to “3X” their revenue compared to KDP
• Over 60 highlighted the platform’s “transparency”
• 3 came from someone named “Priya S” (“Priya” is a lovely name, but out of 366 reviews, what are the odds…)

You get the idea. There are more like these too.

This doesn’t mean the reviews aren’t legit, of course.

There really could be lots of people who value “transparency”, could have exactly 3X'd their income, and who have the first name “Priya” (and a last name starting with S).

But we’d still recommend you doing your due diligence before diving in.

Wrapping Up Books.by

If you’re an author who doesn’t plan on selling many books, Books.by’s pricing model could be a decent fit.

But if you’re not comfortable with vague policies, recycled content, or higher per-book printing costs, it might be worth waiting until they iron out a few kinks.

Is Books.by worth a shot?

Maybe.

Is it worth a closer look before you dive in?

Absolutely.

If you're considering it, proceed with caution — and make sure you've done your homework first.