Self-Publishing FAQ

What is POD publishing? 

POD, or print-on-demand, is the technology that makes self-publishing possible for all of us. With POD, your published book is stored as digital files and not as physical copies. When an order is placed, a book is printed (on demand), packaged, and shipped to the buyer. This means no warehousing costs, no large initial print runs, and built-in order fulfillment!

When is my manuscript ready for editing?

Here’s the short answer: When you’ve taken it as far as you can on your own.

The long answer is a little bit more complicated. Before reaching out to a professional editor, here are a few ideas: 

• Put your manuscript away for a month or longer
• Come back to it with fresh eyes and do another round of revisions
• Run it through your Word document’s Spelling and Grammar editor or other editing software
• Send it to early readers who are willing to give you feedback
• Revise again

If you have the time, repeat this process as many times as you can until it’s the best it can be. Taking these steps can help you take care of a lot of the clean-up work before you bring a professional editor into the picture so you can get the most out of your professional editing dollars.

How do I know what kind of editing I need?

For most new authors, the ideal approach includes three rounds of editing:

1. developmental editing—to tighten logic, enhance presentation of information, and address any structural issues
2. substantive editing—to help with phrasing, and clean up after any developmental debris
3. copyediting—to fix spelling, grammar, punctuation, and syntax and to bring a manuscript in line with the Chicago Manual of Style, the publishing industry’s guide for editing most books

However, we recognize that three rounds of editing isn’t always in the budget for every independent author. If you still not sure about the best editorial approach for you, here are a few things to try:

• Ask your early readers if they have concerns about the organization of your book.
• Hire a professional editor to do an editorial assessment on your book, and let them know you’re looking for help identifying revisions you can make on your own as well as an editing plan moving forward.
• Check out our recent blog post, “What Kind of Editing Do I Need?”
• Publish your book with Spoonbridge Press. We recommend an editing plan for every book, and we also provide options that work within our clients’ budgets.

How much does self-publishing cost?

In large part, this depends on how long your book is and how much editing you’ll need. A very short book that’s very clean could be edited for under $1,000; a very long book could cost $10,000 or more for multiple rounds of editing. (That’s why it’s so important to revise your book on your own as much as possible!)

Your publication cost also depends on how much of the process you plan to take care of yourself. If you edit, design, and distribute your book directly to Amazon on your own, self-publishing may not cost you a thing. If you hire a company like us to manage the entire publication process for you—including editing—a publishing plan for a 50,000-word book will likely cost between $8,000 and $15,000. (Keep in mind that this cost doesn’t take your marketing budget into account.)

At the end of the day, publishing a high-quality book takes time and money that may not be available to all authors. If you can’t hire a company to help you manage your entire publication, at minimum, consider working with a professional editor who can recommend an editing plan and a professional cover designer to make your book stand out.

How long will it take to self-publish my book?

Technically, you can upload a first draft and publish it that afternoon—but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Remember, when you’re self-publishing, you’re in charge of taking care of all the steps a traditional publishing house would (and cutting corners at your own risk).

Depending on the type of editing you need, the complexity of your book design, what formats you’ll be publishing, and how you intend to distribute your book, you should plan on somewhere between 6 and 12 months from the start of the editing process to live book listings on Amazon and other retailers.

Why do categories and keywords matter?

Amazon is a competitive sales environment, with over 1.4 million self-published books released each year on its platform alone. However, new authors don’t always know how to optimize their book listings or select the keywords or categories that can help them rise above the noise.

The best keywords for your book listing are terms that readers are actually using to search for books like yours but a lot of other authors aren’t already using. Similarly, the best categories are accurate for your book but don’t already have a ton of competition. The right combination of keywords and categories lets you take advantage of Amazon’s algorithms to help your book show up for even more of your target readers.

Historically, KDP has allowed authors to choose up to 10 categories. Now, after a big pivot in 2022, authors can only select up to 3, and they aren’t guaranteed placement in those categories. This makes it even more important to choose the very best categories for your book and use keywords that support those categories.

Should I buy an ISBN or use a free one? 

We recommend that most independent authors buy their own ISBNs (one for each format or edition of your book). Owning your ISBN establishes you—not Amazon—as the publisher of record, and it allows your book to be distributed through the same system bookstores, libraries, and other retailers use to order traditionally published books.

Should I publish an ebook?

For most authors, ebooks are a good idea. Ebooks are often sold at a lower price point than physical books, making them accessible to more readers. Digital delivery means no shipping times, which means instant gratification for readers. And publishing an ebook on KDP lets you enroll your book in KDP Select and take advantage of other opportunities to connect with readers.

Will my POD book look like a traditionally published book?

Some industry insiders claim they can spot a POD book a mile away because of the binding, but most average readers won’t notice those minimal differences. Rather than any printing discrepancies, readers are more likely to mark a book as self-published if the cover design is poor, the book isn’t edited, or Amazon is the publisher on record. (That’s why it’s so important to consider your publishing path carefully and avoid making “rookie” mistakes that will mark your book as self-published!)

Should I pay for book reviews?

Many new authors wonder if they should pay a big-name book review company to review their book so they can use excerpts of that review on their book cover and in their marketing materials. On the one hand, these reviews can boost your confidence, and readers don’t always know that you paid for the review. But among the publishing industry, there are mixed opinions about the degree to which these paid reviews actually help to boost sales.

Instead of approaching a book review company, consider asking for reviews from top bloggers, authors, and other professionals in your field that your readers will be impressed by. If they agree, you can send them a watermarked PDF as an advance review copy (or ARC), and you can add any blurbs you receive to your cover design, a “Praise For” section of your interior, your online sales pages, and your author website.

Do I need an author website?

It’s a good idea to give readers a central location where they can find a link to your book, learn more about you, and take other actions. (While we don’t offer websites in-house, we are happy to put you in touch with web designers who can provide an easy-to-manage Squarespace website that is specifically designed to help authors promote their books.)

Is Spoonbridge Press right for me?

We aren’t a hybrid publisher, and we aren’t a vanity press. We offer self-publishing services to help independent authors create and distribute professional, high-quality books, and we empower our authors for individual success by putting them in charge of their own publisher accounts, royalties, sales reports, and ISBNs.

If it sounds like we’re a good fit, schedule a free author consultation to learn more about how we can help you publish a book you’ll be proud of.

“Sarah was awesome!

She put in many extra hours to deal with unexpected publishing issues that would have completely stumped me and she was always very available for all my basic questions as a first-time author.”

Jeff Johnson

Author of Boy Lessons: What I Learned from My Sons and executive director of Can Do Canines