FAQs

gimmebook is for authors who already have (or are building) an audience and want to sell directly to their readers. That includes: indie authors selling fiction, nonfiction, poetry, illustrated books, or audiobooks; Substack writers who want to monetize individual posts or compilations as ebooks; authors who want an alternative to Amazon KDP; authors who want to give their existing fans an easier way to buy their work.

We’re authors and we hate that Amazon takes a significant cut of margin, direct contact with customers or a view of where they come from. So we built gimmebook to change that paradigm.

Yes. gimmebook is a tool for selling to readers you already have or are actively building through a newsletter, social media, a Substack, a podcast, or word of mouth. gimmebook doesn’t currently drive discovery on its own. You share your gimmebook link, and the people who follow you can buy directly.

Use the support form linked in the footer of any gimmebook page, or email the support address shown on your order confirmation. We aim to respond pretty quick.

You can publish up to 5 books. The limit keeps bots from flooding gimmebook with AI-generated books. If your epic fantasy saga needs more room, send a note to support and we can raise it.

No. gimmebook is the merchant of record: we’re the seller on every sale, so working out, collecting and paying sales tax is our job. Where sales tax applies, readers pay it at checkout on top of your price. It never comes out of your share, and you don’t register for sales tax anywhere. Income tax on your royalties is still yours, like any other earnings.

gimmebook accepts EPUB for ebooks and MP3 or M4B for audiobooks. You can offer either per title.
All files must be password and DRM-free.

Ebook covers: any book-shaped portrait cover at least 625 x 1000 px. 1600 x 2560 px (5:8) fills the store frame best.

Audiobook covers: square, at least 800 x 800 px. 3000 x 3000 px works best.

Both take a JPEG, PNG or WebP up to 10 MB. Readers see the shape you upload. It is never cropped or stretched. Too big? Save it as a JPEG.

Go into your KDP dashboard and uncheck the “Automatically renew this book’s enrollment” box. You can’t leave mid-term. Even after you uncheck renewal, your book stays exclusive until the current 90-day period finishes. Once that term ends, your book drops out of Kindle Unlimited and you’re free to sell elsewhere. So the move is to uncheck the box before your renewal date, then wait out the remaining days.

gimmebook takes 15% of each sale. There are no monthly fees, listing fees, or upfront costs and you only pay when you sell. Payment processor fees (Stripe) are deducted before the split.

Those add their fee to your reader’s checkout and charge you a monthly subscription to unlock the “100%.” We take our cut from your share, so your reader pays the clean price you set and there’s no subscription. You keep a little less on paper your reader keeps their trust in you.

Your royalty split estimate is shown in your dashboard when you set a price. Payment-processor fees are deducted before the split is applied. Payouts are issued by our payment processor, Stripe, after a 7 day return window hold, once your cleared balance reaches $20.

Set up payouts from your gimmebook dashboard. The onboarding checklist has a "Payout account" step, and your Books page prompts you to set up payouts until it's done. Either takes you to the Payments page, where you click "Connect with Stripe" and create a Stripe Express account. Once Stripe verifies you, completed sales clear after a 7 day refund window and are routed to your payout account once your cleared balance reaches $20. Under $20? Contact support and we can release your balance on request.

Stripe, our payment processor, has their own verification system and timeline. Often an account is approved in just a few minutes. Sometimes they may need more information from you if this is the first time you’ve set up an account. Check your email or click into the Stripe dashboard to see if there are open requests.

gimmebook currently sells to buyers in the United States and its territories, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We’re expanding from there, and other countries are on an international waitlist for now.

Authors can be based anywhere in the world. Right now gimmebook can sell to buyers in the United States and its territories, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Buyers outside those countries are on an international waitlist while we keep expanding.

Yes. You choose the price when you create or edit a book. Minimum is 99¢.

Yes! 10 per month / book. Enough to seed a few ARCs. Note: books must be available for sale and not in an unpublished state.

We’re still working through this. Books that use AI tools as part of the writing or illustration process are generally fine. Books that are entirely AI-generated with minimal human authorship aren’t what gimmebook is built for. If you’re unsure about your specific project, contact support before uploading.

1. In your Substack draft, open Settings in the bottom right.

2. Scroll to Secret draft link and copy it, then paste it into the Substack import field on your gimmebook dashboard.

Yes. How you get it there depends on your device:

On your phone or tablet: Tap the Send to Kindle button on your download page. When the share sheet appears, select the Kindle app — the book will load automatically. Be sure to have the Kindle app on your device. You can find it on the App Store.

On a computer: Use Amazon’s free Send to Kindle tool at amazon.com/sendtokindle. Sign in with your Amazon account, upload the .epub file you downloaded, choose your Kindle, and hit Send. It’ll appear in your library within a minute or two.

Ebooks are delivered as EPUB; audiobooks as MP3 or M4B. All files are DRM-Free. We believe that when you buy something, you own it. The available formats appear on your purchase email and on the download page.

Your download link is valid for 60 days, with a set number of downloads. The email and download page show how many you have left.

Visit the purchases page and enter the email you used at checkout. We will send you a fresh link to view all your purchases and re-download your files.

You can request a refund within 7 days of purchase (14 days in the UK and EU) as long as you have not downloaded the file. Refund requests can be made from the purchases page. Once the file has been downloaded, refunds are no longer available.

We take copyright seriously. If you believe a book on gimmebook infringes your copyright, send a takedown notice to dmca@gimmebook.com. Include: 1. Your contact information 2. A description of the copyrighted work 3. The URL or title of the infringing book on gimmebook 4. A statement that you have a good-faith belief the use is not authorized 5. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner 6. Your physical or electronic signature We review valid notices and remove infringing content.

If your book was removed after a copyright complaint, you will receive an email explaining why. If you believe the complaint was mistaken, reply through the support form with your explanation and we will review it.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a US copyright law. It protects copyright holders' rights while also protecting service providers (like gimmebook) if we follow proper procedures for handling takedown notices.

Yes. Under the Author Terms, we may show your cover, title, description, name, bio and author photo on gimmebook’s website, emails, social accounts, press material and ads, to feature you and your book. We may resize or crop, but we don’t alter your work, and we never pass it on to anyone else for their own advertising.

Yes. When you upload, you confirm you hold the rights to grant the license in the Author Terms, including for cover art from a designer or stock vendor. Some art licenses allow use on the book itself but not to advertise anything else, so check that before you upload. If you can’t grant those rights for a book, tell support and we’ll limit how that book is used.