"This book is an important read and thoughtful guide for aspiring authors and booksellers alike, helping to foster mutually beneficial relationships between indie bookstores and the indie authors who write the stories on our shelves." - Natasha Meyer, Owner of The Well Red Damsel: A Romance Bookstore, Milwaukee, WI

"An invaluable resource for self-published authors searching for success with bookstores and beyond! If you're not sure where to start to get your books on the shelves, this is a must-read!" - Kealie Mardell-Carrera, Underdog Bookstore, Monrovia, CA 

"M.J. reiterates and validates everything I have been telling self-published authors for years.” - Arlan Hess, City Books, Pittsburgh

"A definitive guide on getting your book noticed and stocked on indie bookshop shelves." - Katie Gilliland, Owner/Editor, Finch & Fern Book Co, Sylvania, OH

"Solid and practical advice for engaging with bookstores without making it weird for everyone. This is how you approach (please)” - Danielle Trenneym, Owner of Vintage Max Mercantile, Bellevue PA 

"Drawing on her personal experience partnering with bookstores as an indie author, Etkind has created an accessible, empathetic, and business-savvy guide for all of us.” - Lily and Hannah Barrett, Read My Lips Boston 

Escaping the Algorithm: The Self-Published Author’s Handbook to Working Directly with the Book Community to Build a Business provides actionable steps to producing a marketable book. 

Selling self-published books doesn’t have to mean going viral on social media. Indie authors can work directly with the book industry to sell their books. 

M.J. Etkind, The New York Times Featured Author who’s never had a book deal, walks through her strategy for selling to bookstores and reaching partners within the book industry. Tired of expensive self-publishing courses that promise vitality (and yet oftentimes they lead nowhere), M.J. Etkind shares how she has sold over 1,000 books to bookstores and libraries and has had placement in over 100 bookstores with just three self-published novels. 

This book includes a replicable marketing strategy that directly reaches the buyers who decide what goes on shelves. Authors are no longer forced into a world where they are required to battle ever changing algorithms for book sales.