Indie author and entrepreneur Sacha Black has taken the concept of self-publishing to the next level by launching her own fulfillment center. Rather than relying on print-on-demand services like Amazon or IngramSpark, she now prints books in bulk, stores them in a dedicated space, and ships them directly to readers.
“Everyone gets freebies! I’m structuring it into small, medium, and large tiers, so the more books you buy, the more you get.” — Sacha Black
This move not only increases her profit margins but also allows her to offer a more personalized experience, complete with customized packaging and exclusive freebies. In this interview, Sacha shares how she made the transition, the challenges she faced, and why taking control of distribution has been a game-changer for her business.
While running a fulfillment center isn’t realistic for every indie author, Sacha offers valuable insights that any writer can apply—whether it’s leveraging TikTok to drive direct sales, enhancing the reader experience, or making strategic decisions about inventory. She also discusses the role of her team, including her mother’s invaluable help, and how she balances logistics with her writing career.
If you're curious about what it takes to move beyond traditional self-publishing platforms, this conversation offers a fascinating look at an author redefining what it means to be indie.
Howard Lovy: Most ALLi readers are probably familiar with your work, but can you give a quick introduction to who you are and what you do?
Sacha Black: Sacha Black is one of my two pen names. As Sacha, I write nonfiction books about writing craft to help authors improve their work. I'm also a podcaster, speaker, general rebel, and nuisance maker.
I also used to write young adult fantasy under Sacha Black, but that never really took off. So, I launched a second pen name, Ruby Roe, who writes spicy sapphic romance. That has become my main breadwinner—I’d say 98 percent of my time now is spent on that side of my business.
Howard Lovy: I didn’t even know that!
Sacha Black: Yeah, fun fact. Back in January 2023, fiction accounted for only 1.7 percent of my income. By July 2024, it was still below 2 percent. But then I did a complete 180. Now, I’ve almost entirely shifted from nonfiction to fiction.
Howard Lovy: Tell me about your fulfillment center. What exactly is it, and how does it work in the context of your business?
Sacha Black: I’ve basically taken over Amazon’s job—or at least a portion of it. When a reader orders a book from Amazon, the platform prints one copy and ships it. What I’m doing is a hybrid of traditional and indie publishing methods.
I use traditional offset printing, ordering hundreds or thousands of books at a time. They get delivered to me at my “warehouse”—which is really just a very large room—and from there, I handle all fulfillment. I receive orders, pack them, and ship them out using a shipping partner.
There were two main reasons I made this shift:
- Profit Margins – Printing through Amazon or Ingram costs about £4.30 to £5.30 per paperback. That means I have to charge at least £10-£13 just to break even after Amazon takes its cut. With offset printing, my costs drop significantly. One printer charges about £2.60 per book, and another as low as £1.50. Even after factoring in packaging and hiring help, I still earn more per book than I would through Amazon.
- Control Over Reader Experience – When a third party fulfills orders, I have no control over packaging or customer experience. I wanted to offer customized packaging, freebies, and incentives to keep readers coming back. With my fulfillment center, I can make each package special.
Howard Lovy: What kind of customizations are you offering?
Sacha Black: Everyone gets freebies! I’m structuring it into small, medium, and large tiers, so the more books you buy, the more you get. Some examples include:
- Art prints of characters
- Bookmarks and bookish stickers
- Leather bookmarks, keychains, or pins
- Sweets and annotation kits (sticky tabs, highlighters)
- Post-it note packs
I also include a customized thank-you card that encourages readers to join my mailing list. On top of that, I collaborate with other sapphic and queer authors by including their QR codes in my packages, leading readers to free bonus content from them. This helps both my readers and other authors in the community.
Howard Lovy: You keep saying “we” and “I” interchangeably. Who is “we”—do you have a big team, or is it just you and a few helpers?
Sacha Black: Right now, it's me and my mom handling the actual packing and shipping. That has to change fast, though—I just hired someone who starts in April to do packing for four hours a day.
Beyond that, I have:
- An operations manager – She handles logistics like ordering print runs, working with artists, and organizing Kickstarters.
- A social media manager – She tags products on social media, shares posts, and helps with engagement.
- An admin assistant – She handles customer service queries, which can be overwhelming if you don’t have help. If you don’t hire someone for that, you’ll never have time to write another book!
And I have to give a huge shoutout to my mom. She has been absolutely amazing, helping with packaging and shipping orders. I wouldn’t have been able to manage this transition without her.
Howard Lovy: At what point did you decide that running your own fulfillment center was necessary, not just something you wanted to try?
Sacha Black: When my Shopify store hit five figures a month, I realized there had to be a more efficient way to handle orders. At the same time, I was experiencing shipping and packaging issues that affected the customer experience.
To make the switch, I needed capital. I spent £9,000 on printing books upfront. That’s a big investment, but I had the funds in the bank. Once I crunched the numbers and saw how much I could save per book, I knew it was worth it.
Then TikTok Shop came into the picture. That was the tipping point. There were boxes everywhere in my house—it was chaos. That’s when I said, “This has to go somewhere else,” and I found a rental space.
Last month, between TikTok Shop and Shopify, we made £20,000. Having the space also made content marketing easier—people love watching packing videos! I can now show off the warehouse, the freebies, and the process, and it helps drive even more sales.
Howard Lovy: You’ve taken indie publishing to another level. Do you still consider yourself an indie author, or do you see yourself as something else now?
Sacha Black: That’s a tough one! I’ll always be an author first, but I’m definitely something more now. I guess you could call me an e-commerce author or even an e-commerce entrepreneur. I’m running a business in a way that’s closer to how traditional companies operate—creating a product and distributing it myself instead of relying solely on third parties like Amazon.
It’s a different way of thinking, but at the end of the day, I’m still indie. I’m just taking full control of the process.
Howard Lovy: With all of this going on, when do you actually have time to write?
Sacha Black: I’m a binge writer. I don’t write every day—I go through intense writing periods, then take a break. I was stressing the other day because I hadn’t written much in three months, but then I looked back over my track record. I’ve consistently published three books a year for almost a decade.
I lost about a month setting up the warehouse, but now that I have staff in place, I can batch content in one day and then not go back to the warehouse for the rest of the week. That frees up time for writing again. It’s all about balancing priorities.
Howard Lovy: What’s next for you? Do you see this model expanding?
Sacha Black: I think so. I’m treating my books like a product line, similar to what other businesses do. But instead of distributing to retailers, I’m selling directly to readers.
One key strategy is offering exclusive products. I have three novellas that are only available on my website. That forces readers to come to me instead of buying through Amazon. Once they visit my store, they see all the extras, and many end up buying more.
Howard Lovy: Any final advice for indie authors considering a more hands-on sales approach?
Sacha Black: Take it slow, and ask for help. If you try to do everything yourself, it will eat into your writing time. Writing always has to come first. If you don’t have the funds to hire help, think hard before committing to this model. But if you can make it work, it’s an incredible way to build a direct relationship with your readers.
Thoughts or further questions on this post or any self-publishing issue?
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