# How do readers in your town find your book?

You wrote a book, maybe set on streets your neighbors walk every day. But on the big online stores it’s one of millions, sorted by sales rank, and the readers most likely to love it, the people near you, never see it. A local bookstore might give you a shelf for a month, if you’re lucky.

## Readers here browse by place

LocalBooks is a directory of books by local and independent authors. Readers find books three ways: by genre, by where the author lives, and by where the story is set.

Every town, region and country has its own page listing its local authors, the books they wrote, and the books set there. The [book map](https://localbooks.app/map) puts a pin wherever a story happens or an author lives. So a reader who searches for “books set in Columbus” or opens their hometown’s page finds you, not the bestseller list.

## Every place in your story is another way in

You can add up to 12 places to a book: the cities and regions it uses, and specific spots like a lake, a park, a street or a fictional town. Places nest, so a book set in Sandusky also appears on the Ohio and United States pages.

Not set on Earth? Choose Outer Space, the Afterlife, Mythic Realms, Invented Worlds or Virtual & Dream Worlds, and your book appears under [Beyond the map](https://localbooks.app/places).

Your own hometown counts too: it puts you in the “Local authors” list for your area, even if your book is set somewhere else.

## Genres and keywords readers actually use

Pick up to 3 genres; the first is your main one. Then add keywords (a lighthouse, a small town, second chances) so search finds your book for the things it’s about, not just its title.

## Built to be found by search engines and AI assistants

Every book page carries structured data that search engines read, is listed in our sitemap, and has a plain-text version for AI assistants. When someone asks for “a mystery set in Toledo by a local author”, your book can be the answer.

## How to list your book on LocalBooks

1. **Sign in with your email**: Enter your email and click the link we send you. There’s no password to remember, and this also creates your free account.
2. **Create your author profile**: Your author name as it appears on your books, where you live (the city is optional), a short bio, a photo and your links. See [your author page](https://localbooks.app/guides/authors/author-page).
3. **Add your book**: Title, a description of a few sentences, the front cover, your genres, the language it’s written in, and every place the story uses.
4. **Add where to buy it**: Links to your book on any store, your own website or a local bookshop, up to 10. Readers follow them from your book’s page.
5. **Upload your ebook (optional)**: An EPUB gives readers a free sample in the LocalBooks reader. See [free samples](https://localbooks.app/guides/authors/free-sample).
6. **Publish and share**: Click “Publish to the directory”. Your book appears on its genre and place pages and on the map. Share its page wherever you talk about your book.

## What it costs

Your first book is free to list. Each further book is $1.99, paid once. No subscription and no renewals.

Launch offer: until March 31, 2027, your first 5 books are free. Books you list free stay free.

Readers never pay to browse or to read a sample. See [pricing](https://localbooks.app/pricing).

## Questions

### Does my book have to be set where I live?

No. Where you live puts you among your area’s local authors; where the story is set puts the book on those places’ pages. They can be different places, or the same.

### Can I list a book that a press published?

Yes, as long as you have the right to list it. If you upload the ebook, you confirm that you own the rights to publish the text here.

### Does LocalBooks sell my paperback?

No. Add links to wherever your book is sold, and readers buy it there. LocalBooks takes nothing from those sales.

### Can I change things after publishing?

Yes, anytime: description, places, genres, cover and links. A corrected ebook file replaces the old one at no charge.

### How long does listing take?

A few minutes if you have your cover, description and EPUB ready.

Canonical: https://localbooks.app/guides/authors/list-your-book