New to Inland? A guide for authors

Inland is a home for live conversations with authors. A team (a publisher, a bookstore, a festival, or an author running their own events) puts an event on Inland. Participants register on its event page, then join from their browser to listen, chat and ask you questions. Many events have a replay afterwards.

Everyone who enjoys an event can follow you, and then hears about your next one, whoever runs it. Books are bought from bookstores, through the links on your page and the event page; Inland doesn’t sell them.

Most authors arrive on Inland by a link from the team they’re working with:

• A guest invitation to host one of the team’s events (see A team invited me to host one of its events).
• A claim link, to make the page the team made for you your own (see A team sent me a link to claim my profile).
• A host link, to host from one device without an account (see A team sent me a host link).

The team has already made the event, its page and its registrations, and usually your page too. You don’t need to set anything up, and you don’t join the team: you only see the events you’re a guest on.

There’s no password. Your Inland account is your email address, and we send you a 6-digit code when you sign in.

The first time you sign in, a Welcome to Inland card on Guest Events, Upcoming Events or Your Profile shows what’s ready for you: your page and the event you’re hosting. Got It puts it away for good.

Your page (for example inlandbooks.com/yourname) has your photo, bio, links and books, and your upcoming and past events. It’s also how you appear on the event page and in the live room.

If a team made it, they look after it until you claim it. If the photo or bio needs a change, tell them. Once you claim it, it’s yours: only you, and teams you choose, can change it, and other teams ask you before adding you. Open Your Profile from your account menu and click Edit Profile to change your name, photo, bio and links. There, too, you answer teams that ask to add you.

One page covers every team you work with, so you never need a second one. If you find a duplicate, message us in the chat and we’ll merge them.

• Check your page. A clear photo and a short bio help participants know who they’ll be talking to.
• Share the event page with people who’d like to come: on your newsletter, social media or website. Every participant who registers can follow you.
• Try your camera and mic on the computer you’ll use. A computer works best; screen sharing doesn’t work on phones. Audio, video and joining has fixes for the usual problems.

Sign in and open Guest Events from your account menu. On the day, a banner on Upcoming Events reminds you too. The room opens for hosts an hour before the start: click Join as Host. Participants wait in a waiting room until the start time.

In the room you’re a host: camera, mic, screen share and chat, under your page’s name and photo. The team runs the rest, such as recording and moving people on and off stage. Running your live event explains the room.

You stay listed on the event and its replay, if there is one, and the event stays on your page. People who followed you hear about your next event, whichever team runs it. As a guest you don’t get access to the team’s dashboard, participant list or recordings.

Yes. Host on Inland makes a team of your own in a few minutes, so you can put on events for your own participants: talks, launches, book clubs or workshops. If you already have a page, say so when you sign up and we’ll keep that one. Getting started walks you through it.

Questions about any of this? Message us in the chat on any page.