How to self-publish a book

The short answer

1. Finish and revise the book, then pay for the editing you can't do yourself.
2. Get a cover made for the ebook and a full wrap for print.
3. Format a reflowable ebook file and a print interior at your trim size.
4. Decide on ISBNs: buy your own from your country's agency, or use a platform's free one for print.
5. Choose platforms: Amazon only (and KDP Select), or wide across several stores.
6. Set prices with each platform's royalty rules in front of you.
7. Write the description, choose categories and keywords.
8. Publish, then tell the readers you can reach.

Every price, royalty and rule below was checked on the platform's or agency's own page on November 8, 2026, and is listed in the sources. They change, so check again before you publish.

1. Finish and edit

Self-publishing skips the gatekeepers, not the work they do. Revise the whole book first; our guide on how to write a book covers drafting and revision passes. Then decide which kinds of editing you will pay for:

Developmental edit

The big picture: structure, pacing, character, what to cut. Done on the manuscript.

Copyedit

Sentence by sentence: grammar, consistency, repetition, facts, house style.

Proofread

The last pass for typos, done on the formatted files, not only the manuscript.

If your budget allows only one, many authors choose the copyedit, after feedback from two or three readers of the genre. Ask an editor for a sample edit of a few pages before you book.

2. The cover

Readers decide in a second at thumbnail size, so the cover has to signal the genre clearly. An ebook needs only the front. A print book needs a single file with the back, the spine and the front, and the spine width depends on the final page count and paper, so the print cover is finished after the interior. KDP has a cover calculator and templates, and a free Cover Creator. If you hire a designer, get the rights to every image and font in writing.

3. Format the ebook and the print book

The two formats are built differently. An ebook is reflowable: the reader changes the font and size, so there are no fixed pages. A print book is a fixed PDF at an exact trim size.

Ebook

KDP accepts Word (DOC, DOCX), EPUB and KPF, the file its Kindle Create tool makes. Other stores want EPUB. Check the result in a previewer before you publish.

Print

Choose a trim size first; KDP says 6 x 9 inches is the most common for paperbacks in the US. Set margins for your page count. KDP takes PDF, DOC, DOCX, RTF, HTML or TXT for interiors without bleed, and PDF only if images run to the edge of the page.

Tools

Kindle Create, from KDP. Draft2Digital lets you make and download an EPUB and a print PDF free, even if you don't publish through it. Or hire a formatter.

Proof

Order a printed proof and read it on paper. Errors you missed on screen show up there.

4. ISBNs, country by country

An ISBN identifies one format and edition of a book, so an ebook, a paperback and a hardcover each need their own. You buy them from the official agency for the country where you, the publisher, are based:

• Nielsen's prices include UK VAT. Thorpe-Bowker adds a one-time A$55 new publisher fee on your first order.
• ISBN Canada is for publishers in Canada; self-publishers must be physically located there. It warns that new accounts can take up to two months. French-only publishers apply to BAnQ instead.
• Elsewhere, Bowker and Nielsen point you to the International ISBN Agency to find your country's agency.
• On KDP, an ebook doesn't need an ISBN, but a paperback or hardcover does. KDP gives a free one, registered with Bowker under the imprint "Independently published", which you can only use on KDP. Your own ISBN can be used on every platform.

5. Choose platforms

The first decision is whether your ebook goes exclusive to Amazon or wide. If you enroll it in KDP Select, the ebook must be sold only in the Kindle Store for each 90-day term; in return it joins Kindle+, the subscription Amazon called Kindle Unlimited until October 2026, and you are paid from a shared fund by pages read. Print and audio can be sold elsewhere either way. Going wide means using the other stores directly, or through a distributor such as Draft2Digital.

Amazon KDP

Ebook, paperback and hardcover on Amazon. Free to use. Expanded Distribution can offer your paperback to other sellers at a lower royalty.

IngramSpark

Print and ebook distribution to bookstores, libraries and online retailers through Ingram. Free to sign up and upload. You set the wholesale discount and whether stores can return copies.

Draft2Digital

One upload, many ebook stores and libraries, plus D2D Print. A one-time $20 activation fee, then $12 a year for accounts earning under $100 a year with books in distribution.

Kobo Writing Life

Ebooks and audiobooks in the Kobo store and its partners. Free, and Kobo says it never asks for exclusivity.

Apple Books

Ebooks in Apple Books, published through an iTunes Connect account. Apple says there are no hidden fees or exclusivity requirements.

Barnes & Noble Press

Ebooks and print books on BN.com and NOOK. Free, no exclusivity. Its May 2026 update set a $14.99 minimum price for print books, a limit of 100 titles per account, and no public domain books.

Don't list the same ebook in one store twice, directly and through a distributor. And be wary of anyone who asks for money to publish you or to place your book in a store: Barnes & Noble Press warns that it never asks authors to pay for in-store placement.

6. Price and royalties

Each platform publishes its own rules. Here they are as stated on November 8, 2026, in US dollars where a platform gives thresholds by currency:

Two rules of thumb follow. Ebooks priced below $2.99 earn much less at Amazon and Kobo. And a print book has to be priced high enough to cover printing and still leave a royalty, which is why long books cost more. Look at what similar books in your genre charge before you decide.

7. Metadata and categories

Metadata is everything a store knows about your book besides the text: title, subtitle, series, author name, description, categories, keywords, age range and publication date. It decides where your book is shelved and which searches find it.

• Description: lead with the hook. Many readers decide from the first two lines.
• Categories: KDP lets you choose three. Pick accurate ones where similar books sit, not empty ones.
• Keywords: KDP allows up to seven keywords or short phrases. Use what readers type: setting, character type, theme, tone.
• Leave out of keywords what is already in the title or categories, claims like "best", and other authors' names, which KDP treats as misleading.

Stuck on a title? Our book title generator gives you a shortlist to test against what is already on sale.

8. Launch

A self-published book doesn't get a publisher's marketing team. A modest launch that works for many authors:

• Send early copies to readers who have agreed to read and review honestly. Don't pay for reviews.
• Put a mailing list sign-up in the back of the book and on a simple author page.
• Use one link that sends readers to every store; Draft2Digital gives each book a free Books2Read link.
• Tell the people who asked to hear: your list, your writing group, your local bookshop.
• Start the next book. A second title gives readers of the first somewhere to go.

Worked example: one novel, priced and published

Say you live in the US and have a finished 80,000 word novel. You want an ebook in every store and a 6 x 9 inch paperback. Here is how the steps above play out, using the numbers the platforms publish.

ISBNs

Ten from Bowker for $295: one for the ebook, one for the paperback, eight for a hardcover or the next book.

Route

Wide. The ebook goes to KDP, Apple Books, Kobo Writing Life and Barnes & Noble Press directly; Draft2Digital covers other stores and libraries. No KDP Select.

Ebook price

$4.99, inside KDP's 70% band and above Kobo's $2.99 line.

Paperback

$15 on KDP. That matches KDP's own example: a 333-page 6 x 9 black ink paperback that costs $5.00 to print.

What one sale earns

Per copy sold to a US reader, before any tax withholding:

The last row is why some authors also put the paperback on IngramSpark for bookstores and libraries as well, with their own ISBN, instead of relying on Expanded Distribution. At a 55% discount a $15 book leaves $6.75, before IngramSpark subtracts printing and fees; its calculator shows the exact figure for your page count. If the same book were enrolled in KDP Select instead, the ebook would have to come off Apple, Kobo, B&N and Draft2Digital for each 90-day term.

Free self-publishing checklist

Editing, cover, formatting, ISBNs by country, platforms, price, metadata and launch, as boxes to tick. Copy it into whatever you write in, or download it as a Markdown file that opens in Word, Google Docs or Feldar.

Common mistakes

• Publishing before the book has been edited, because the upload button is right there.
• A cover that looks fine large but says nothing at thumbnail size.
• Using a free platform ISBN, then finding you can't use it anywhere else.
• Pricing an ebook below a store's royalty threshold without meaning to.
• Enrolling in KDP Select while the ebook is still on sale in other stores.
• Paying a company that promises to publish, review or shelve your book for a fee.

Where Feldar fits

Feldar is a writing app. It helps you plan, draft and revise; it does not format, distribute or sell books, and it doesn't make EPUB files or print-ready interiors. When the book is done, export it as a Word (.docx), PDF, Markdown or plain text file, the whole manuscript or selected pages, and take the Word file into the formatting tool you choose. Before you export, the Checks panel runs five passes over a page, from spelling and grammar to dialogue and point of view, and every fix stays only if you accept it. It doesn't replace a copyeditor. If the book is not finished yet, see how Feldar works as an AI book writer that leaves every sentence your call.

Sources

All checked on the official pages on November 8, 2026.

Amazon KDP

eBook list price requirements, eBook royalties, paperback royalty, get an ISBN, ISBN and imprint

KDP files and metadata

eBook file formats, save your manuscript file, format your paperback, categories, keywords

KDP Select

How to enroll in KDP Select, Kindle+

IngramSpark

Pricing, selling to bookstores (updated May 27, 2026)

Draft2Digital

FAQ, Terms of Service (effective April 14, 2026)

Kobo Writing Life

Frequently asked questions, Kobo Writing Life

Apple Books

Apple Books for Authors, royalties and payments

Barnes & Noble Press

B&N Press, program updates, May 2026

ISBN agencies

Bowker, Nielsen ISBN Store, ISBN Canada and applying, Thorpe-Bowker, International ISBN Agency

Feldar

Pricing and the export options in the app (DOCX, PDF, Markdown, TXT)

Questions