Stage 1: Finish the manuscript properly
A finished draft means the whole book exists from first page to last, including any front matter you plan to write yourself, such as a dedication or an author's note. Editors can only work on what is on the page.
Before sending it anywhere, do one read-through yourself, ideally after a break of two weeks. Fix what you notice, but do not polish sentences yet. Structural problems found later are far more expensive than typos.
- Save a dated backup of the complete draft in two places
- Decide on US or UK spelling and keep it consistent
- Write a one-paragraph summary of the book: it will become your description later
- List any names, places or invented terms with their spellings
Stage 2: Editing, in the right order
Editing is several jobs, not one. Developmental editing looks at structure and pacing. Line editing works on the sentences. Copy editing checks correctness and consistency. Proofreading happens last, on the typeset pages. Our guide to the four levels of editing explains how to tell which your book needs.
The common mistake is to pay for proofreading first. If a chapter is cut later, that proofreading was wasted. Start wide, finish narrow.
- Get a sample edit before committing to a full edit
- Keep a style sheet of every spelling and formatting decision
- Accept or reject tracked changes yourself so you stay in control of the voice
Stage 3: The cover and the description
Readers decide in seconds, and they decide from a thumbnail. A cover has to signal the genre clearly at small sizes, and the description has to confirm what the cover promised. Write the description before the cover brief; it forces you to be clear about who the book is for.
See our guide to preparing a cover brief for the exact information a designer needs. A good brief saves at least one revision round.
- Collect five comparable books in your category and note what their covers have in common
- Decide your trim size now, because the print cover depends on it
- Write the back cover copy and author bio while the designer works
Stage 4: ISBN, imprint and metadata
An ISBN identifies one edition of your book. Paperback, hardcover and ebook each need their own. Some platforms will assign a free ISBN that can only be used on that platform; buying your own gives you one identity across every store. Our guide to publishing files, ISBNs and metadata covers the trade-offs.
Metadata is everything the stores know about your book: title, subtitle, contributors, description, categories, keywords, price and age range. It is worth an afternoon of care, because it is what search engines and store algorithms read.
Stage 5: Formatting for print and ebook
Print and ebook are different products. Print needs fixed pages, margins that account for the binding, and a PDF to your printer's specification. Ebooks reflow to the reader's device and need a validated EPUB. Our formatting checklist lists every item to check before you upload.
- Proofread the typeset PDF, not the Word file
- Check the EPUB on at least one phone and one e-reader
- Confirm the spine width with your designer once the page count is final
Stage 6: Choose platforms and set up accounts
No single store reaches every reader. A common setup is Amazon KDP for Amazon's print and ebook customers, IngramSpark for bookstores and libraries, and an aggregator such as Draft2Digital for the other ebook stores. Read our platform guides before choosing; each one explains who the platform reaches and what it needs from you.
Create accounts in your own name, with your own payment and tax details. If someone sets up a platform for you, the account should still be yours.
Stage 7: Proof, publish and launch
Order a printed proof before you approve a print edition. Screens hide problems that paper shows. When the proof is right, set your release date, make sure every store listing matches, and run a simple launch: tell the people who already know you, ask early readers for honest reviews, and give the book a few weeks before judging anything.
- Printed proof checked cover to cover
- Price and territories set on every platform
- Author page claimed on the stores that offer one
- A short list of people to tell on release day