Is Shopify still the way to go, to sell direct to readers? Which printer do you use?

If you price your book on Amazon WAY higher than your retail price on Ingram Spark, will Amazon discount your book a lot?

Many people say that writing a book is your magic ticket into automatic authority and speaking gigs. I haven't found that to be true. What else might I be missing? I'm trying to pitch the best I can.

I do not sell my book direct from my website. Currently I provide links to Amazon and Spotify. Should I also provide links to Walmart, Barnes & Noble, and Books A Million, and Bookshop, or no?

Have any of you paid for YouTube ads? Was it worth the money?