How can you sell books direct to your readers for all formats without dealing with the pain of shipping print books? How can you automate sales with email? How can you earn 80-90% of the sales price and have it go into your bank account in days or even hours, instead of months? Katie Cross talks about the benefits of selling direct and practical tips if you want to use Shopify. In the intro, Spotify acquires AI voice company, Sonantic [Spotify]; and Return on Investment for Authors [roi-for-authors.html">The Indy Author]. Today's show is sponsored by ProWritingAid, writing and editing software that goes way beyond just grammar and typo checking. With its detailed reports on how to improve your writing, and integration with Scrivener, ProWritingAid will help you improve your book before you send it to an editor, agent or publisher. Check it out for free or get 25% off the premium edition at www.ProWritingAid.com/joanna   Katie Cross is the author of over 30 books across fantasy, chick lit, and contemporary romance. You can listen above or on your favorite podcast app or read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and the full transcript is below.  Show Notes * Why sell direct? More money, more quickly. Connection with readers and access to customer data* How to sell ebooks, audiobooks and print books direct* Shopify apps, including integration with Lulu for print-on-demand, and Bookfunnel for delivery and customer service* International shipping* Email automation and customer data* What about the tax?* The long game, control over your business, and a mindset shift You can find Katie Cross at KatieCrossBooks.com and on Twitter @kcrosswriting Thanks also to MorganaBest.com for her help with my Shopify store. Transcript of Interview with Katie Cross Joanna: Katie Cross is the author of over 30 books across fantasy, chick lit, and contemporary romance. Today we're talking about selling books on Shopify. Welcome, Katie. Katie: Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited about this conversation. Joanna: Oh, me too. I will have explained in the introduction that this is something I'm focusing on, but let's start with a high-level question. Why did you decide to start focusing on selling direct as a priority rather than an afterthought? Katie: I think at first the desire for a little more control over my career is what drove me into the arms of direct sales. I got really frustrated with looking at Amazon and trying to do everything I could. I had over 20 books,