How do I know when someone marked as high spam risk is actually spammy? I want to be able to connect with people, but I recently had a hard fight evading an intense scam elsewhere, and it took a lot out of me. I'd rather not again so soon. I also understand that spam detectors can sometimes misflag people, and I don't want to miss a good connection. Are there any best practices that I should know to navigate this situation?

I'm about to purchase my ISBNs for my relaunch so that I have my own imprint. I'm wanting to use broad distribution through KDP and Ingramspark. Now, I'm having a little confusion. Will the ISBN I purchase from Bowker (Bowker labels it as US) work for this broad distribution to the UK? Will Amazon and Ingram handle the broad distribution issues if the Bowker ISBN is literally only for the US, or do I have to purchase the Bowker US ISBNs plus the Nielsen ISBNs? I can't afford to spend almost 300.00 on ISBNs and not get it right when I have the other expenses of publishing with which I must contend.

What's your biggest frustration? 😊 I'm genuinely curious, and it'll help me understand what authors are struggling with most right now. Feel free to leave a comment too

When I began building my online business, I believed success came from figuring everything out on my own. I spent countless hours learning, making mistakes, and second-guessing every decision. Looking back, I wasn't lacking effort; I was lacking the right guidance. Everything started to change when I learned from someone who had already achieved the results I wanted. That guidance saved me from unnecessary mistakes, gave me a clearer direction, and helped me make better decisions with confidence. I think self-publishing is very similar. Writing the book is only one part of the journey. Publishing, positioning, marketing, and reaching the right readers all come with their own challenges. The good news is that no one has to figure it all out alone. That's one of the reasons I joined Lessons in Self Publishing. This community is full of people with different experiences, and one shared lesson can save someone else weeks or even months of frustration. So I'd love to hear from everyone here: Where are you in your self-publishing journey? What's the biggest challenge you're facing right now? If you could get guidance in one area, writing, publishing, marketing, or getting reviews- what would it be? Don't keep your struggles to yourself. Sharing them might be the first step toward finding the answer you're looking for, and your experience could help another author move forward. Let's learn from each other. What's the one thing you need help with today?

Hi! I am trying to relaunch my children's book and creating my own imprint. The problem is this: I found a name I absolutely love. In the US, it is completely open so far as book publishers go. There is, however, an independent publisher in the UK that uses that name. I want to have wide distribution on KDP and Ingramspark. This would mean distribution to the UK. I understand that they are publishing novels while I would be using my imprint of the same name for children's books. I also understand that when people search for the name could get either my imprint or that of the UK publisher and that this could be good and bad. I also have a second possibility for my imprint name that, while I don't like it as much, I haven't been able to find any competition for it in the publishing world. Do you think I should go with the name that I like best, or will it cause more trouble than it's worth?