Can I mention my book at all in a regular post?
No. The self-promotion rule says posting a link, the title of your work, or any other identifier to your book is a clear violation, so keep it out of regular posts entirely.
Subreddit guides
r/selfpublish rules, stats, and what to post
A source-backed Rankhog guide to r/selfpublish: public rules, community context, posting fit, and startup-promotion risk before you publish.
By Anthony Riera, founder and operator of Rankhog.
Subreddit guides combine public Reddit source URLs, captured rules, visible verification dates, and Rankhog's account-safety workflow.
Current public stats
- Members
- 268,967
- Verified
- October 20, 2026
- Category
- Side hustle builders and solo income experiments
Rules can change, so Rankhog keeps verification dates and the original public Reddit sources visible.
Rule summary
- Self-promotion rule: Promo posts aren't allowed. We have a self promotion thread. Posting a link, the title of your work, or any other identifier to your book is a clear violation of this rule. Self promotion is also not limited to books. Promoting your service, marketing, website, etc. is also a clear violation. Please also see our rule regarding intent. Posts attempting to network are considered self-promotion. You may not ask others to join your subreddit, Facebook group, Discord server, etc.
- Posts About AI / Using AI to post: Posts specifically about AI are not allowed. Posts about publishing AI generated books and/or art are NOT allowed. You can mention AI in a post but it should not be the primary intent. We have many discussions already about the usage of it, what tools exist, etc. - use the search function. r/writingwithai is more appropriate for those types of posts these days. If you use AI to write your post or reply to people, that will result in a ban. We want human interaction. The self in self publish.
- No spam: No spam allowed.
- No low-effort posts: Posts along the lines of "how do I sell my book?" with nothing specific are not allowed. Read the wiki for general marketing advice. Posts asking "how do I self-publish?" are similarly prohibited. Additionally considered low-effort are topics such as “just published my book”, my first x” where x is “sale”, “one star review”, “five star review”, self congratulatory posts, etc. - those are better for the weekly chat thread. Low-effort posts include *anything* that is simply vague.
- Celebratory Posts Must Contain Points of Discussion: Posts celebrating personal achievements must contain either detailed breakdowns to show the steps that led to the success or questions/points of discussion for furthering said success. In other words, celebratory posts must add something to the sub. Posts that simply announce an achievement will no longer be allowed so that these types of posts don't flood the sub.
- Read the wiki before posting: Tons of great resources in the [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/wiki/index). Please read it before posting.
- Our subreddit is optimized for "old" Reddit: Consider [turning off "new" Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/help/comments/8ewxg1/any_way_to_permanently_disable_the_new_reddit/) to get the most value from our subreddit. It will also make it much easier to view AMAs and other sidebar information. **This is extremely recommended**
- Intent: Please note that the intent of your post is irrelevant in regards to violations of the rules. For example, a post asking about results for a marketing service that also contains a link to a book may very well be made with the intention of asking an honest, allowable question. However, that post is a violation of the self-promotion rule because it contains a link to a book. Intent will not circumvent the violation.
- RESOURCES: Subs for general writing advice: r/writing r/worldbuilding r/mapmaking. For help getting an agent or with trad pub questions see r/PubTips. Find beta readers or advertising those services at r/BetaReaders. For a more brutal critique of your work, try r/DestructiveReaders. Find artists for book covers or advertise those services at r/BookCovers. Discuss post-publishing issues with other authors at r/authors. Build your ARC teams at r/ARCReaders. Promote your books for sale at r/wroteabook.
- No surveying the crowd: We get it, you have the next best website idea... or you're conducting a study... or whatever other reason you're trying to use the subscribers of this subreddit for. But you'll have to go elsewhere for that as the users of this subreddit aren't meant as a source for you to use the wisdom of to enrich yourself.
- No Book Cover Reviews: There are subreddits specifically geared towards this and some people have tried to use book cover reviews as a means to promote their books. Use r/bookcovers instead.
Works well
- A detailed breakdown of a specific marketing tactic you tried on your own book, with real numbers, what worked, and what did not, posted as a discussion others can learn from
- A question about one narrow, specific publishing problem, like pricing a series or choosing between two ad platforms, asked after you already searched the sub and read the wiki
- A celebratory post about hitting a milestone that includes a full step by step account of how you got there, so the community can pull lessons out of it
- A genuine discussion post about an industry topic, like how a store change affects indie authors, where you share your own experience and ask others for theirs
- A comment inside the weekly self-promotion thread where your book links and titles belong
Avoid
- Posting a link to your book, your author page, or your website anywhere outside the self-promotion thread
- Naming your book title in a regular post, since the title alone counts as an identifier and a violation
- Promoting a service, a marketing offer, or a website, because the self-promotion rule is not limited to books
- Posting an honest question that happens to contain a book link, because the intent rule says intent does not save it
- Asking people to join your subreddit, Facebook group, or Discord server
- Posting about AI as the main topic of your post, or using AI to write your post or replies, which risks a ban rather than just a removal
What r/selfpublish Is For
This is a community for indie authors who want to talk about the craft and business of self-publishing. The description says it plainly, it is a place to discuss just about everything in the world of indie books, and it is not a place for self-promotion. The people posting here are writers who publish their own work and want honest discussion about writing, editing, covers, launches, ads, and sales. The rules make it clear the sub is built for conversation between humans, not for promotion, and the moderators even point people who want to promote toward other subreddits in the resources rule. If you show up here, show up as a peer who wants to talk shop.
Rules That Matter Before Posting
The big one is the “Self-promotion rule”. Promo posts are not allowed, and posting a link, your book title, or any other identifier to your work is a clear violation. It also covers promoting your service, marketing, or website, and it counts networking posts as self-promotion. The “Intent” rule backs that up, because your good intentions do not matter if the post contains a link to your book. The “Posts About AI / Using AI to post” rule bans posts specifically about AI and bans using AI to write your post or replies, which can get you banned. The “No low-effort posts” rule removes vague questions like how do I sell my book. The “Celebratory Posts Must Contain Points of Discussion” rule means a milestone post only survives if it includes a detailed breakdown or real discussion points. The “No surveying the crowd” rule blocks using members for research or ideas. The “No Book Cover Reviews” rule sends cover feedback to r/bookcovers. Finally, the “Read the wiki before posting” rule expects you to do your homework before asking anything basic.
What To Post
A good post here is a real discussion that helps other indie authors, not a pitch. If you hit a milestone, the “Celebratory Posts Must Contain Points of Discussion” rule says you need either a detailed breakdown of the steps that got you there or questions that push the topic forward. So a post that walks through exactly what you did, what it cost, and what you learned fits. A plain announcement does not. If you have a question, make it specific. The “No low-effort posts” rule kills vague asks like how do I sell my book, so read the wiki first and ask something narrow that shows you did your homework. If you want to share your book at all, the only home for it is the self-promotion thread. Everything else you post should read like advice from one author to another.
What To Avoid
The fastest way to get removed is any link, title, or identifier pointing at your book, service, or website outside the self-promotion thread. The “Intent” rule makes this worse, because even an honest question gets removed if it carries a link. Do not post about AI as the main topic, and never use AI to write your post or replies, because that is a ban. Do not ask people to join your group or server, do not run surveys or mine the community for ideas, and do not post book cover reviews. Skip vague questions, skip self-congratulatory announcements, and skip basic how do I self-publish asks, since the wiki already covers those.
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Common questions about r/selfpublish
Where can I promote my book here?
Only in the designated self-promotion thread, which the rules say exists for exactly that purpose.
I am not selling anything, I just want honest feedback on my marketing service. Is that allowed?
No. The self-promotion rule covers promoting your service, marketing, or website, and the intent rule says your honest intentions do not override a violation.
Can I write my post with AI and then share it here?
No. The rules say using AI to write your post or reply to people will result in a ban, because the community wants human interaction.
I just hit a big sales milestone. Can I post about it?
Only if your post contains a detailed breakdown of the steps that led to the success or questions and points of discussion, otherwise it belongs in the weekly chat thread.
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