Every kind of book, in every format
Add a title once and tick its formats: ebook, audiobook, paperback, hardcover. Novels, memoirs, cookbooks, workbooks, picture books or poetry. If you write series, they show in reading order.
For independent authors
Sell your books direct. One store, built for books, with one bill.
Ebooks and audiobooks reach readers by email. Paperbacks and hardcovers are printed and shipped for you. Bundles, your reader list and your own web address come with it, with no pile of Shopify apps. From $35€29£25 a month, or free with a 5% fee only when you sell.
Lanternbee isn’t open yet. We’re letting authors in from the waiting list a few at a time. Free to join.
Selling books on Shopify
On Shopify, selling a book means paying for a stack of apps
Shopify sells shoes, candles and coffee. To sell a book there, you add an app to send the ebook, one for bundles and one to print paperbacks. Then an email tool and a reviews app.
Each one bills you every month, even in the quiet months between books. Each has its own login and its own settings to keep in step.
Shopify has no idea what a book is. Five books in ebook, audiobook and paperback become fifteen products to set up and keep in step by hand.
- Shopify Basic$39
- BookFunnel Mid List$20 + audiobook add-on
- A bundles appabout $20
- An email toolabout $17
- A reviews app$15
- A print-on-demand app$0 + print costs
About $111 a month before you sell a single book. Lanternbee Author is $45 (or $35 if you pay yearly), with all of the above built in.See where the numbers come from
What you get
Everything your bookstore needs, built in
One login and one bill. Every part knows about your books, so the parts work together.
Bundles and box sets, priced for you
A trilogy box set, an ebook with its audiobook, or a cookbook with its workbook. Readers who already own one of the books pay less for the rest.
Books delivered by email and to Kindle
Readers get their download links by email as soon as they pay. They can send ebooks to their Kindle and come back for their files any time.
Paperbacks and hardcovers printed for you
Set up your print editions for BookVault or Lulu and upload the files once. Sending each order to the printer is being built now. Selling copies from your own shelf works too.
Every buyer on your reader list
Each buyer’s email comes to you, tagged with what they bought. Send a release-day email from Lanternbee, or keep using MailerLite or Klaviyo.
Your own web address and look
Your store lives at yourname.lanternbee.shop or shop.yourname.com, in your colors and fonts. Privacy, terms and refund pages are drafted for you to check.
More on selling ebooks, audiobooks, paperbacks and hardcoversdirect, or see how it all works.
Moving from Shopify
Bring your whole Shopify store over in one go
The importer reads your Shopify store and rebuilds it as a bookstore. You check everything before a reader sees it.
Connect your Shopify store
Sign in to Shopify from Lanternbee. We only ask to read your store. Nothing in Shopify changes.
Check the preview
See your products grouped into books and editions, and into series if you write them. Fix anything we guessed wrong.
Import
Books, readers and what they bought, orders and discount codes come over in one go.
Look around your new store
Take as long as you like. Shopify keeps taking orders while you check.
Switch your address
Point your shop address at Lanternbee. Old product links land on the right book pages. Then cancel the apps you no longer need.
What comes with you
Your books and editions, your series, your readers and what they bought, your order history, your discount codes and your old product links.
What your readers notice
Nothing they have to do. Same books, same links. What they already bought from you is waiting in their library.
How you get paid
You connect your own Stripe account, and you are the seller. Readers pay you, Stripe Tax adds the right VAT or sales tax at checkout, and Stripe pays out to your bank. How Stripe works with Lanternbee
Keep your other stores
Your books can stay on Amazon, Apple Books and Kobo. Your own store sits next to them, for readers who would rather buy from you. What selling direct means
What Lanternbee won’t do
It won’t find you readers on its own. No store can, Shopify included. It makes sure the readers you already reach can buy from you, get their books and stay in touch.
Coming after launch
Signed and personalized copies, pre-orders and special-edition campaigns. Later, we plan to take EU VAT on ebooks off your hands.
Pricing
One bill instead of six
Start free and pay 5% only when you sell. Or pay from $35€29£25 a month and keep every sale.
Free
$0€0£0 a month
No subscription. You pay only when a book sells.
Sell direct with no monthly bill. Pay only when a book sells.
- 5% fee, only when you sell
- Up to 5 titles
- Ebooks, audiobooks and print on demand
- Your own store address
Author
No fee on sales$35€29£25$45€39£35 a month
Billed yearly, $420€348£300 a year. You save $120€120£120.Billed monthly. Cancel any time.
For authors who sell most months and want to keep every sale.
- No fee on your sales
- Unlimited titles and series
- Everything in Free
- Bundles, reader reviews and release-day emails
Studio
Coming soon$105€89£75$139€119£99 a month
Billed yearly, $1,260€1,068£900 a year. You save $408€360£288.Billed monthly. Cancel any time.
For authors who write under more than one name.
- Several pen names under one login
- Seats for your assistant or team
- Priority support
- Everything in Author
Prices are in your local currency: euros in the euro area, pounds in the UK, US dollars everywhere else.
Full price comparison with Shopify, or see how Lanternbee compares with other ways to sell books direct.
Questions
Questions authors ask first
Do I have to stop selling on Amazon?
No. Keep your books on Amazon, Apple Books, Kobo and anywhere else. Your store sits next to them, for readers who would rather buy from you. One thing to check: an ebook in Kindle+ (until October 2026 called Kindle Unlimited) has to be exclusive to Amazon, so you cannot sell that ebook direct. Its paperback and audiobook are not affected.
What kinds of books can I sell?
Any book you have the rights to: novels, memoirs, how-to guides, cookbooks, workbooks, children’s books, poetry, comics. Sell each one as an ebook, an audiobook, a paperback or a hardcover, or all four.
Will Lanternbee bring me new readers?
No. No store can do that on its own. Readers find you through your newsletter, your back matter, your ads and word of mouth. Lanternbee makes sure that when they arrive, buying is easy, the book reaches them, and they land on your list.
How do readers get their books?
Right after they pay, readers get an email with their download links. They can send an ebook to their Kindle, open it on a Kobo or any reading app, and play audiobooks on any phone or computer. Lost the email? They can get the links again from your store.
I sell on Shopify today. How do I move?
Connect your Shopify store and the importer brings over your books, series, readers and what they bought, your order history and your discount codes. You check everything in a preview, then point your shop address at Lanternbee. Old product links send readers to the new book pages. Shopify keeps selling until the moment you switch.
How do I get paid?
You connect your own Stripe account. You are the seller, readers pay you, and Stripe pays out to your bank on its usual schedule. Readers can pay by card, or with Apple Pay or Google Pay where Stripe offers them. On the Free plan, our 5% fee comes out of each sale. On Author there is no fee.
What happens to my readers if I leave?
They stay yours. Download your reader list and your orders as a spreadsheet whenever you like.
Is Lanternbee open now?
Not yet. Every sign-up goes on the waiting list. We are letting authors in a few at a time, so every store gets set up properly. Join the list and we will email you when your store is ready to set up.
Be one of the first authors to open a Lanternbee store
Lanternbee isn’t open yet. Join the waiting list and we’ll email you when your store is ready to set up.
You’re on the list
Thank you. We’re letting authors in a few at a time, and we’ll email you when your store is ready to set up.
Free to join. No card needed.