Every swap, group promo, landing page and smart link starts with a book in your library. Adding one takes a few minutes: the details readers will see, a cover, and, if you want BookSparker to deliver the book for you, the manuscript it converts into every format.
Before you start
- You need an author name. If you have none yet, the Author Name field lets you create one on the spot.
- The free plan holds up to 20 books.
Fill in the book details
Open Your Books in the dashboard and choose Add New Book. The first card, Book Details, covers everything readers see about the book.
- Book Title and Author Name are required. The author name is one of your saved author names.
- Is this a lead magnet? has no default, and you cannot save until you answer it. A lead magnet is a free story or sampler that exists to win subscribers. The answer decides which group promos this book can join later, so answer honestly.
- Series and Volume group the book with its siblings on your author website. Pick the author name first, or the series field stays locked.
- Book Link is the one link BookSparker uses everywhere this book appears: swaps, group promos and landing pages. Paste a store link, or pick one of your own landing pages instead.
- Description is the blurb readers see. Additional Details holds a note to readers and your Amazon ASIN.
Choose categories
Choose one to three categories that describe the book. Categories are how other authors find you for swaps and how readers find you on promo pages, so pick the most specific ones that fit.
Genres open into groups, and groups into specific categories. Every genre also has a general option for a book that fits the genre but nothing narrower. The picker stops you at three.
Add a cover
The cover is labeled optional, and you can save a book without one. But nothing converts without it: BookSparker embeds the cover into every format, so conversion waits until both the cover and the manuscript are there. Use at least 1000 by 1500 pixels, as a JPEG, PNG or WebP of up to 15 MB.
Upload your manuscript
Tick Distribute this book with BookSparker landing pages to have BookSparker host the book files. Leave it unticked and the book counts as external: you can still use it in swaps with your book link, but it cannot join group promos or back a download landing page.
- Upload a Word document or an EPUB of up to 25 MB. PDF and MOBI are formats BookSparker makes for you, not files you upload as a source.
- Do not include the cover inside the manuscript. BookSparker adds the cover you uploaded, so a second copy ends up as a duplicate page.
- Every file is scanned for security before it is used. A file that fails the scan is blocked and has to be replaced.
Let BookSparker convert it
A couple of seconds after both the cover and the manuscript are in place, conversion starts on its own. All four formats are made at once. Each card shows the step its format is on and is ready as soon as its own file is done.
- Standard EPUB for most e-readers, Kindle EPUB for Kindle, PDF for everything else, and MOBI for older Kindles.
- Prefer your own file for a format? Choose Upload Own File on that card. Your file replaces the generated one and is what readers receive. Own files can be 25 MB for EPUB and MOBI, and 50 MB for PDF.
- Most books convert in about 10 seconds. Big ones can take up to a minute, and you can keep filling in the details meanwhile.
- If a format can't be created, its card says so and offers Try again, or you can upload your own file for it. Your uploads are kept.
Save the book
Save Book stays disabled until everything it needs is there, and its tooltip lists what is missing: a title, an author name, the lead magnet answer, at least one category and, if you ticked the distribution option, all four finished formats. Without that option, a title, an author and a category are enough.
Common questions
Why has conversion not started?
Almost always because the cover is missing. Conversion needs both the cover and the manuscript, and the cover field being labeled optional hides that. Add the cover and it starts within seconds.
Can I remove the cover later?
Not while a landing page exists for the book. Delete the landing page first.
How do I delete a book?
From Edit Book, unless the book is in an active swap or on a landing page that is currently in use. Deleting a book also deletes its landing pages.
Who can see the Internal Note?
Only you. It shows on your Your Books card and nowhere readers look.