If you want to join Contact an Author, you need to read our terms and conditions and register on our website. You don't pay anything at this stage. We want you to be sure you are happy with our system before you part with any money.
The application process is an important part of maintaining the usefulness of the site to visitors. We will automatically accept you if you have had a book published by a mainstream publisher, even if you have switched to self-publishing later.
We are more cautious if you have only self-published or contributed to your publisher's costs. This is due to the lack of quality control in this sector rather than any antipathy towards self publishing itself. (In fact, we're very pro authors being independent)
In this case, we look at your Amazon rankings and other information we can find online, and we may ask you about sales. We also consider what you have to offer the people who use our sites so we might take you if you are an expert in an interesting topic, even if your sales are low. As a general guide, we will probably turn you down if you've only written one novel and haven't sold many. If we do turn you down, you are welcome to apply again later when sales have picked up or you have written another book.
Getting started
Once you've registered you can log-in to your profile section on the site. You can enter the information you want to show on your page, set the search criteria that's relevant to you, see how many times you've turned up on searches and access the articles in our hints and tips section.
We've made the site as easy to use as we can and there's plenty of advice to guide you through the process of setting up your page. But you are welcome to contact us if there's anything you don't understand or find difficult.
When you're completely happy with your entry you can ask to be approved by us and then pay the fee and your page goes live.