J K Mullins & Erica Ma share reflections on The Book Hook Online

J K Mullins (Jason) & Erica Ma share reflections on The Book Hook Online. Jason reflects as the site owner and developer; Erica reflects as one of the site’s featured authors.

Jason’s reflections

The Book Hook Online website has been running for 16 months, and it’s currently experiencing its strongest period of growth.

Why I started

When I started the site, I worried about the cost of advertising my early books on Amazon Ads. At the time, I was learning the ropes of self-publishing and typically started with journals. I had written Memories of an Elvis fan, which sold a number of copies and also some colouring books. But the royalties I received back were usually less than the cost of any advertising campaigns I ran. Being a software engineer, I thought I could create my own website. That’s how it started.

Other indie authors were in the same predicament, so I thought, why not invite them to list their works on the site for free? I figured it would help me build content and grow an audience. I got a little early traction from a number of authors. After a few months, a group of four indie authors took more interest in the site than others. These became my first four Featured Authors: Logan Firth, Lyra Wilder, Erica Ma and Sidonia V. Antal.

Funding

I also explored how I could cover hosting fees and other setup costs involved in running a website. So, I joined the Amazon Affiliate Programme and Commission Junction (CJ), hoping to earn commissions from advertising products on the Affiliate Products pages. To be honest, my earnings from both have been minimal. I think these programmes suit full-time influencers more than hobbyists like me. Even so, I am determined to keep the site free for indie authors. That is how The Book Hook Online Etsy Store came into being. I thought I could offer the featured authors some merchandise and use Etsy to sell my colouring books as digital downloads. This is also a slow burn. I think I am a bit late to the Etsy space, as most of the big Etsy sellers are from Etsy’s early days.

As a software engineer, I’m interested in AI, and I’ve taken on some short-term evening projects with companies in the States that pay people to participate in AI training tasks. This has provided the lion’s share of the site’s funding, and it’s also why the blog pages feature some of my thoughts on AI development.

Traps

Other blog topics include warnings to fellow indie authors about traps they can fall into. The temptation to respond to contact on social media from so-called marketers who promise to grow your reach, leading to greater book sales for various levels of fees, can be high. Now bear in mind that Amazon Ads, which are charged per click by a potential buyer, quickly eat up royalties; imagine how many books an indie author would have to sell to recover the costs of such marketers. Most indie authors write for enjoyment, maybe with some hope of being discovered, but most sell only a handful of copies a month. Millions of indie authors use the various self-publishing platforms out there, so the market is saturated.

Joys

However, what has brought me the most joy is connecting with appreciative indie authors from literally every continent who now list on my site. The numbers are growing faster as I have progressed the site’s development, starting by expanding content to include pages like Author Interviews, Free Reads, and Free Poetry.

Growth

The big breakthrough for the site, though, in terms of Google discoverability, has been optimising the pages for search engines. This does not necessarily mean having good keywords. The biggest win has come from cross-linking pages that feature related content. For example, linking my AI blogs together, linking my author interviews together and so on. This helps internet crawlers learn the site structure, because they typically don’t use site menus.

I used to get a new author listing maybe once a month; now that the site is more discoverable, it’s more like once a day. Some of the new participants have also become Featured Authors, while others are just happy with the extra exposure a listing can offer.

Now, I would like to introduce Erica Ma, one of my featured authors. Erica is from India and is passionate about poetry. This is Erica’s perspective on The Book Hook Online as a collaborator.

Erica’s reflections

It’s a beautiful thing to realise that despite all the differences between humans and the complications that sometimes make life sad, there is still something that connects us. And when like-minded people come together, something truly beautiful happens.

I came across The Book Hook Online through its founder, Jason, when I launched my first book. The rest is history, as you can see on the website and in the many indie authors who have joined this beautiful journey.

Appreciation

My honest reaction was pure, overwhelming happiness. I could hardly believe that a platform like this existed without charging a fee. But what touched me even more was the thought behind it. To me, The Book Hook Online is built on kindness, generosity, and the belief that good work deserves to reach people.

In a world where almost everything begins and ends with paying for a service, this platform feels refreshingly different. Its purpose seems simple yet meaningful: to help authors and their work reach the world.

As a first-time author, I know how overwhelming the journey can be. From publishing your first book to finding the right ways to share it with the world, the process is challenging, especially for indie authors who may not have the resources or savings to invest in every opportunity that comes their way.

For me, discovering The Book Hook Online felt like finding a little light along that journey. A platform that reminds us that not everything has to come at a price, and that kindness can still make a difference in helping someone’s work find its readers.

I would genuinely love to recommend this platform to other indie authors and hope to see many more writers become a part of this beautiful journey.

Because sometimes, all it takes is one person believing in your work to help it reach someone who needs to read it. ❤️

To conclude

For me, it would be amazing if a major talent emerged from the site. But actually, one of the joys of putting this site together, is having the opportunity to connect with people like Erica, who understand and appreciate the effort. This motivates me to keep coming up with new ideas and developing them.

J K Mullins
The Book Hook Online
My links

Erica Ma, Author
Erica’s links

October 26, 2026