Question 1

Who is Author Automations Social for?

Accepted Answer

Indie authors who publish fiction or non-fiction and want to run
social media without it turning into a second job. Particularly
useful for authors who:

- Publish more than one book a year (backlist management pays off)
- Write under multiple pen names (the pen-name separation is a
  core feature)
- Already run some social and want to consolidate tools
- Want the option of AI help without being forced into it
- Publish direct, on Amazon KDP, or through a hybrid distributor

It is not a fit for: agencies managing 10+ clients (use a
dedicated agency tool), influencers without books (use a generic
scheduler), or authors who don't use social media at all (you
don't need this).

Question 2

Do I need to be technical to use this?

Accepted Answer

No. The dashboard is designed for someone who has never used a
developer tool. The one piece that sounds technical — "API keys" —
is explained in plain language when you get to that step. There
is no command line required, no code to write, no servers to
configure.

Most authors are set up and posting within 30 minutes of signing
up.

Question 3

What does it actually cost?

Accepted Answer

$29 per month for the tool itself. That includes two pen names,
all 14 platforms, unlimited scheduled posts, the AI campaign
builder, templates, queue management, calendar, failure alerts,
books library, and link shortener. Every feature is in the base
plan.

Additional pen names are $5/month each after the first two.
Most authors never add a third.

If you use AI, you pay the AI provider (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini,
FreePik) directly at their cost — usually $5–$15/month depending
on how much you use it. We don't mark up AI.

So the full stack for a typical author: **$29–$50/month total**.

Question 4

Is there a free trial?

Accepted Answer

No. Author Automations Social is $29/month from day one. We don't
offer a free trial because we think the fairer deal is a low
monthly price you can cancel anytime — no lock-in, no card-held-
hostage "cancel before day 14 or get charged" drama.

If you sign up and decide within the first week it isn't for
you, email support@authorautomations.com and we refund in full.

Question 5

How do I cancel? What happens to my data?

Accepted Answer

Settings → Subscription → **Manage Subscription** opens the
Stripe billing portal; cancel from there. Your queue keeps
running until the end of the billing period, then posting stops.

Your data (books, pen names, posts, links) is retained for 30
days after cancellation. If you re-subscribe within 30 days
everything is exactly as you left it. After 30 days, scheduled
posts and personal data are deleted.

You can export your books library and posts history to CSV from
Settings at any time, including after cancellation.

Question 6

Can I get a refund?

Accepted Answer

If you cancel in the first week, yes — email
support@authorautomations.com and we'll refund in full.

After the first week, refunds are handled case by case. If
something broke and we couldn't fix it, we refund. If you signed
up, never used it, and want out after 3 months, that's a harder
conversation. We err on the side of yes when the situation is
reasonable.

Question 7

Is the subscription annual or monthly?

Accepted Answer

Both. Monthly is $29/month. Annual is $290/year (a two-month
discount, saving 17%). Cancel either one anytime; annual doesn't
lock you in.

Question 8

Do I need to give a credit card to sign up?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Subscription starts at signup ($29/month or $290/year). No
free trial. If you want out within the first week, email
support@authorautomations.com for a full refund.

Question 9

What if my subscription payment fails?

Accepted Answer

We retry the payment a few times over several days. If it still
fails, the account goes into a grace period (usually a week)
where you can update billing without losing anything. If we
still can't bill, the subscription lapses — nothing is deleted,
but posting stops until you fix the billing.

Question 10

Does the price go up if I add features later?

Accepted Answer

No. Every feature in the tool is in the base $29/month plan.
There are no hidden upgrades, paid tiers, or add-on packs beyond
the pen-name-count pricing. We add new features without
increasing the price for existing subscribers.

Question 11

Why $29 specifically? Other tools charge more or less.

Accepted Answer

$29 is roughly the price of one pizza delivery per month in
most US cities. It's intentionally low enough that an author
who sells a few books a month easily covers it, and low enough
that you can say yes without a business-case meeting. We keep
it here by being honest about AI costs (no markup) rather than
bundling AI into an inflated price.

Question 12

Is there a lifetime / pay-once option?

Accepted Answer

No. The tool has ongoing server costs (posting to 14 platforms
365 days a year), so a subscription model is honest. Anyone
offering "lifetime" social media tools either is about to
change their model or is in trouble financially — we've
watched several such companies disappear taking customer data
with them. We'd rather be sustainable.

Question 13

Do you have a referral or affiliate program?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Author Automations Social shares an affiliate program with
[StorytellerOS](https://storytelleros.com) — 20% commission on
every paid customer you refer, recurring for the life of the
subscription.

Register and grab your tracking link at
[affiliate.storytelleros.com/program](https://affiliate.storytelleros.com/program).
Good fit if you teach author-marketing, run a book-community
newsletter, or have a podcast that overlaps with working indie
authors. Disclosure is your call, but we recommend it.

Question 14

Where is the company based?

Accepted Answer

Author Automations is a product of Athenia Creative, a Nevada
corporation. Payments are processed by Stripe; customer data is
stored on US-hosted infrastructure.

Question 15

Are you publicly traded / VC-backed?

Accepted Answer

Neither. Author Automations is independently owned and operated
by Athenia Creative. That independence means our incentives point
the same direction as yours: keep the tool useful, keep the
price fair, and ship features because authors ask for them —
not because a growth chart demands them.

Question 16

Who built this and why should I trust you?

Accepted Answer

Chelle Honiker and the Athenia Creative team, based on years of
running the Author Automations Newsletter (a Substack Bestseller)
and Indie Author Magazine + Indie Author Training. We built the
tool for authors we already serve, then opened it up. Our
incentive is aligned with your success; we don't need to
consume your data to make money because you're paying us
directly.

Question 17

How does Author Automations Social compare to Hootsuite?

Accepted Answer

Hootsuite is an enterprise social-media-management tool built for
marketing teams and agencies. It supports many platforms, has
strong reporting, and costs $99+/month per user on the
professional plan.

Author Automations Social is $29/month, single-user-focused, and
adds author-specific features Hootsuite doesn't have (books
library with Amazon import, pen-name separation with fully
walled-off calendars, cover-reveal and book-launch templates,
AI campaigns that reference your book blurbs and keywords).

Hootsuite is better if you're managing many clients' accounts.
Author Automations Social is better if you're an indie author
running your own brand(s).

Question 18

How does it compare to Buffer?

Accepted Answer

Buffer is a clean, minimal scheduler that starts at ~$6/channel/
month (about $30–50/month for most authors running 5-6
channels). It's simple and reliable but lacks AI campaigns,
books-library integration, pen-name separation, and
author-specific templates.

Author Automations Social is a single flat $29/month for unlimited
channels and all the author features. If Buffer's simplicity has
been enough for you, Author Automations Social will feel like
Buffer plus the author-specific tools you've been building
manually.

Question 19

How does it compare to Later?

Accepted Answer

Later focuses on Instagram-first visual planning — a grid preview
of your Instagram feed, drag-and-drop scheduling. It's $25–$80/
month depending on plan. Later doesn't have AI campaign
generation, doesn't have pen-name workspaces, and doesn't
understand books as entities.

If visual feed planning is your primary use case, Later is worth
a look. If you care about campaign generation, multi-pen-name
separation, or link tracking with UTMs, Author Automations Social
fits better.

Question 20

How does it compare to VistaSocial?

Accepted Answer

VistaSocial is an all-in-one social scheduler starting at ~$39/
month. Strong platform coverage, decent analytics, but generic —
it treats an indie author the same as a local restaurant or a
B2B SaaS. No books library, no pen names, no author templates.

Author Automations Social trades off some of VistaSocial's
breadth (enterprise features, inbox management, approval
workflows) for author-specific depth.

Question 21

How does it compare to Canva?

Accepted Answer

Canva is a design tool that added a scheduler. Great for
creating visual content; the scheduler itself is an afterthought
with limited platform support and no campaign generation.
Canva Pro is ~$15/month.

Most authors use Canva *and* Author Automations Social together —
Canva for designing carousel slides, quote cards, book
aesthetics; Author Automations Social for scheduling, AI
campaigns, and the author-specific workflow. They're
complementary, not competitive.

Question 22

How does it compare to Meta Business Suite?

Accepted Answer

Meta Business Suite is free and lets you schedule to Facebook
and Instagram. That's its entire feature set for publishing.

Author Automations Social handles those two plus 12 others,
adds AI campaigns, books library, pen names, templates, queue
management, failure alerts, and link shortening. If you only
ever post to Facebook and Instagram and are happy doing each
post manually, Meta Business Suite is free and sufficient. If
you want anything beyond that, this is the upgrade.

Question 23

How does it compare to SocialBee?

Accepted Answer

SocialBee is a category-and-queue-based scheduler starting at
~$29/month. It has solid queue management and category
organization. It lacks AI campaigns at the level Author
Automations Social offers (specifically: multi-day campaigns with
platform-specific captions), has no books library, and is
designed for generic brands rather than authors.

For authors who love category-based recycling, SocialBee works.
For authors who want launch campaigns, pen names, and book
metadata integration, Author Automations Social is the better
fit.

Question 24

How does it compare to Sendible?

Accepted Answer

Sendible is mid-tier social management ($29–$89/month) aimed at
agencies and small businesses. It has approval workflows and
team collaboration features. These aren't useful for a solo
author. It doesn't have books library or AI campaigns tuned for
authors.

If you have a virtual assistant managing your social with you and
need approval workflows, Sendible has that and Author Automations
Social doesn't. For solo authors, the overhead isn't worth it.

Question 25

How does it compare to Planoly?

Accepted Answer

Planoly is similar to Later — Instagram-first visual planning.
Same trade-offs: strong feed preview, weaker on everything else.
Starts at ~$16/month.

If Instagram is 95% of your social and you care about a
pixel-perfect grid, Planoly is fine. For authors with more
platforms or multi-pen workflows, not enough tool.

Question 26

How does it compare to Loomly?

Accepted Answer

Loomly is a collaborative content platform ($42+/month) with
content calendar features and team approvals. Oriented around
marketing teams, not individual authors. No books library, no
AI campaigns, no pen-name separation.

Question 27

How does it compare to CoSchedule?

Accepted Answer

CoSchedule is a marketing calendar + scheduler aimed at content
marketers and WordPress bloggers. Starts at ~$19–$99/month.
Decent for blog-social integration; weak for Instagram/TikTok
creative workflows.

Author Automations Social is more scheduler-and-publish-focused
with author-specific features; CoSchedule is more
editorial-calendar-focused.

Question 28

How does it compare to Publer?

Accepted Answer

Publer is a reasonably priced ($9–$21/month) scheduler with
broad platform support. Decent AI features (AI caption
assistance). No books library, no pen-name workspaces, no
author-specific templates.

Price-wise Publer is cheaper; feature-wise Author Automations
Social goes deeper on author-specific needs. If cost is the only
constraint, Publer is a reasonable alternative. If you want AI
campaigns tuned to your books and brand voice, this is the
better tool.

Question 29

What about Zapier + Make.com + custom automations?

Accepted Answer

This is how most of us used to do it (including me for years).
It works. It's also fragile — every time a platform API changes,
your workflow breaks. You're patching scenarios constantly.

Author Automations Social replaces most of that maintenance with
a managed tool. For the specific workflows that Make.com
handled uniquely well, you can still run those alongside —
nothing blocks them.

Question 30

Is there a "best" tool, objectively?

Accepted Answer

No. There's a tool that fits your specific situation. Author
Automations Social is built for indie authors running their own
brands. If that's you, we think this fits best. If you're an
agency, a corporate marketer, a lifestyle influencer without
books, or a team of 10 — pick something else.

Question 31

Can I try Author Automations Social and keep my existing tool?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Connect the platforms you want to test to Author
Automations Social. Keep the old tool running on the platforms
you haven't migrated. When you've validated this works for your
workflow, migrate fully. When you haven't, you can run both.

Question 32

Do you have a migration service from other tools?

Accepted Answer

Not an automated one. Most authors who switch use the migration
period as a chance to clean up — deleting old scheduled content
that was mediocre anyway and scheduling fresh. If you have
hundreds of posts scheduled in another tool and need help
migrating, email support@authorautomations.com and we'll figure
something out.

Question 33

How does the AI campaign builder work?

Accepted Answer

You describe what you're promoting (e.g., *"launch of Salt & Sky
on May 10, enemies-to-lovers at a lighthouse"*), pick your
platforms, pick how many days, and AI drafts a full campaign —
usually 20–40 posts depending on platforms and length. Each post
is tuned to the specific platform (Instagram gets hashtags,
LinkedIn gets a longer intro, Threads gets a punchier version).

You review every post before anything schedules. Edit the ones
that don't land; accept the ones that do. When you're done, click
Schedule All and the campaign goes live on the calendar.

The AI reads your brand voice guides from Settings so posts sound
like you, not like generic marketing copy.

Question 34

Can I schedule posts without using AI at all?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The scheduler, calendar, queue, and platform publishing
all work completely without AI. Write your own captions, upload
your own images, schedule. AI is opt-in in Settings.

Question 35

What's the difference between Compose and Create?

Accepted Answer

**Compose** (`/dashboard/compose`) is for single posts. Write
one caption, pick platforms, schedule. Fast, manual, no AI
required.

**Create** (`/dashboard/create`) is the AI campaign builder —
multi-day, multi-post, AI-generated, reviewed in bulk. Only
appears when AI is enabled.

Question 36

What's the difference between a queue and a calendar?

Accepted Answer

The **calendar** is the "every post, everywhere" view — scheduled,
published, failed, drafts — organized by date. You drag posts
around to reschedule.

The **queue** is a rhythm — you set, say, "post something to
Instagram every Tuesday at 10am and every Friday at 3pm." Then
you drop drafts into the queue and they fill those slots
automatically in order. You don't pick a specific time per post;
the queue picks based on your rules.

Both work together. Most authors use the calendar for
campaigns and specific moments, queue for evergreen-type content
rhythms.

Question 37

How does the books library work?

Accepted Answer

Paste an Amazon URL. We pull cover art, blurb, series info,
categories, and keywords automatically. Stored in your account,
tied to your current pen name. When you compose a post, you can
pick a book from the dropdown and the cover attaches
automatically.

Each pen name has its own library. Romance books don't appear in
the thriller pen name's dropdown.

Full details: [books library post](/blog/books-library-does-the-work).

Question 38

Can I add non-Amazon books?

Accepted Answer

Amazon has the richest public metadata so it's our primary
source. For books not on Amazon (Draft2Digital-exclusive, direct
sales, pre-orders that only exist on your own site), you can
manually enter the details — title, blurb, cover URL, categories
— in the books library.

Question 39

How do templates work?

Accepted Answer

Four author-specific templates ship today: **Cover Reveal, Book
Announcement, Available Now, Blurb Excerpt.** Pick a template,
pick a book from your library, and the post pre-fills with a
structured caption + the book's cover + the shortened link.
Edit, then schedule. Full details: [templates post](/blog/how-to-use-templates-for-evergreen-content).

More templates are on the roadmap: Series Recap, Review
Compilation, Release Countdown, Pre-order Pitch.

Question 40

What's a pen name workspace?

Accepted Answer

A pen name is a walled-off author identity with its own connected
social accounts, calendar, queue, books library, brand voice
guides, and templates. Switching pen names via the top-right
dropdown changes every part of the dashboard to that pen name's
context. Two included in your $29/month plan; additional pen
names are $5/month.

Details: [pen names done right](/blog/pen-names-done-right).

Question 41

Can a post go to multiple platforms at once?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Write once, check multiple platforms, schedule. Each
platform gets its own optimized version (hashtag placement,
caption length, image sizing) without you copy-pasting.

Question 42

Does it support carousels?

Accepted Answer

Yes, on Instagram (native carousel posts) and LinkedIn (document
posts that behave like carousels). Upload multiple images in the
post composer; they schedule as a carousel.

Question 43

Does it support reels/short video?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, YouTube Shorts, Facebook
Reels, and other short-form video formats. Upload the video,
pick the platforms, schedule.

Question 44

Can I add captions/subtitles to videos?

Accepted Answer

We don't add captions inside the tool — that's work for a video
editor (CapCut, Descript). Upload the finished captioned video.

Question 45

How does the queue decide what to post?

Accepted Answer

You configure time slots (e.g., Mon/Wed/Fri at 10am). You drop
drafts into the queue. When a slot fires, the next draft in the
queue publishes. You can reorder drafts in the queue; the order
is the publishing order.

Each pen name has its own queue.

Question 46

How does the UTM builder work?

Accepted Answer

Paste a long URL. Pick a source (Instagram, TikTok, etc.), a
medium (social, email, paid), a campaign name. The builder
outputs a UTM-tagged URL and a branded short link pointing at
it. The short link keeps analytics on the UTM without readers
seeing the ugly long version.

Full details: [what are UTM codes](/blog/what-are-utm-codes).

Question 47

How does link shortening work?

Accepted Answer

Every link you shorten gets a branded short URL on
`storylink.to` (default) or your own custom domain if you've set
one up. Stored in your Links dashboard with click analytics
(how many, when, from where). QR code included.

Full details: [how to shorten a link](/blog/how-to-shorten-a-link).

Question 48

How do QR codes work?

Accepted Answer

Every short link has a matching QR code auto-generated. Download
the PNG (1200×1200, transparent background), drop into a print
layout (Canva, InDesign), ship to printer.

Change the underlying destination URL later without regenerating
the QR. The QR encodes the short link; the short link redirect
is what you update.

Full details: [QR codes for authors](/blog/qr-codes-for-authors).

Question 49

What's the Claude plugin?

Accepted Answer

An official plugin for Claude Code and Claude Cowork that lets
you run Author Automations Social by chatting with Claude. Tell
Claude what you want promoted; Claude writes the captions,
shortens the links, schedules the posts — using your brand voice
guides and books library as context.

Details: [From automation to conversation](/blog/from-automation-to-conversation).

Question 50

Is there an API?

Accepted Answer

Yes. See [/dashboard/support](/dashboard/support) for API docs
and key setup. Most authors don't need it; the plugin covers
the same ground more conveniently. API access exists for
advanced integrations.

Question 51

Can I connect multiple Instagram accounts?

Accepted Answer

Yes, if they're on different pen names. Each pen name has its
own Instagram connection. Within a single pen name, you connect
one Instagram account.

Question 52

How are failures handled?

Accepted Answer

Email within 15 minutes of a failed post with the reason and a
one-click retry. Separate email for account disconnects.
Nothing fails silently. Full details: [when a post fails](/blog/when-a-post-fails).

Question 53

What's the difference between "scheduled" and "queued"?

Accepted Answer

Scheduled has a specific time and date. Queued is waiting in
line for the next open queue slot. Both show up on the calendar
once they have a time.

Question 54

Can I edit a scheduled post after scheduling?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Open the post from the calendar, edit the caption or image,
save. The scheduled time doesn't change unless you change it.

Question 55

Can I edit a post after it's published?

Accepted Answer

Editing published posts is platform-dependent. Some platforms
(Threads, X, LinkedIn) allow post editing; some (Instagram,
TikTok) don't. The tool surfaces whatever the platform supports.

Question 56

Can I bulk upload posts?

Accepted Answer

Yes. [/dashboard/bulk-upload](/dashboard/bulk-upload) takes a
CSV (caption + platforms + media URLs + scheduled time) and
creates the posts in bulk. Useful if you drafted a hundred posts
in a spreadsheet elsewhere.

Question 57

Does it support team collaboration?

Accepted Answer

Not in the current version. Author Automations Social is built
for solo authors (or small multi-pen-name operations run by one
person). Team workflows — approvals, multi-user access, comment
threads on drafts — are not a priority for indie author use
cases.

Question 58

What platforms are supported?

Accepted Answer

Instagram, TikTok, YouTube (regular + Shorts), X (Twitter),
LinkedIn, Facebook (Pages + Groups), Pinterest, Threads, Bluesky,
Snapchat, Telegram, Discord, Google Business Profile, Reddit,
Mastodon. Substack is not supported — their API isn't open to
third-party schedulers. See [the 14 platforms
explained](/blog/the-14-platforms-explained) for which matter to
authors.

Question 59

Do I have to use AI to use this tool?

Accepted Answer

No. Every feature — scheduler, calendar, queue, pen names, books
library, templates, links, QR codes, failure alerts — works
without AI. AI is opt-in in Settings. If you don't enable it,
nothing gets sent to any AI provider.

Question 60

How do I connect my first social account?

Accepted Answer

Open [your accounts page](/dashboard/accounts), pick a platform,
and follow the sign-in flow. Most platforms use OAuth ("sign in
with…") — a one-click popup that confirms the connection without
you sharing any passwords. Two exceptions: Bluesky wants an
app-password (generated inside Bluesky), and Telegram wants a
bot setup.

Question 61

How long does setup take?

Accepted Answer

Most authors are posting within 30 minutes: connect one platform,
write one post, schedule it. See [your first 30
minutes](/blog/your-first-30-minutes) for a minute-by-minute walk
through.

Question 62

Do I need to connect all 14 platforms at once?

Accepted Answer

No. Connect your primary platform first and use the tool for a
week. Add secondary platforms when you're comfortable. Most
authors settle at 3-4 connected platforms; nobody uses all 14.

Question 63

What's the onboarding tour?

Accepted Answer

`/dashboard/welcome` is a 4-step quick tour — welcome, connect an
account, optional AI setup, and what to do first. You can skip
any step, skip the entire tour, or revisit it later from
Settings → Onboarding.

Question 64

I can't see my posts after scheduling. What's wrong?

Accepted Answer

Check the pen name selector in the top-right. The calendar
filters by pen name — if you're on the wrong one, your posts
don't show. Switch to the right pen name; your posts will
appear.

Answers, not sales copy.

Before you sign up

How it compares to other tools

Features

Getting started

Connecting accounts

AI, campaigns, and brand voice

Campaigns and AI content

Pen names and multi-identity

Scheduling, calendar, and posts

Billing and plans

Links, QR codes, and UTMs

Claude plugin and API access

Data, privacy, security

Troubleshooting

For authors specifically