12-step self-publishing checklist for authors who want to make money selling books

You finished writing your book.

And you’re eager to get it into your readers’ hands. But the thought of switching gears from writer to publisher feels completely overwhelming.

Luckily, our self-publishing checklist makes it easier than ever to become a self-published author.

And we’re walking you through each step, so you don’t need to do it alone.

The pros and cons of self-publishing your book

Is becoming a self-published author actually the right move for you? Or should you consider a traditional publication method?

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.

Self-publishing upsides

• Retain your rights as the book’s creator: Traditional publishing houses often control every aspect of your book, including which retailers sell your book and which edits you can make to your book post-publication. But when you self-publish, you retain the rights to your work and don’t need to worry about limitations.
• Higher royalty payouts: Self-publishers don’t have a traditional publishing house taking a cut of each sale. This means more money from each book sale goes straight to your pocket.
• Faster timing to market: Most authors who work with traditional publishing houses finish their manuscript several months (if not years) before they get to see their book in print. But when you learn the art of self-publishing, you can publish your book much faster—we’re talking weeks, not years.
• Full creative control: Traditional publishing houses have teams to help you edit, design, and market your book. That may sound appealing, but the publisher gets the final say, and you may find yourself giving up aspects of your vision to appease your publisher.

Self-publishing downsides

• Harder to get into bookstores: Self-publishers can get into bookstores, but it tends to be more difficult. However, keep in mind that book sales are steadily decreasing at bookstores and increasing online with popular retailers like Amazon. So, just because your book isn’t in a bookstore doesn’t mean it won’t sell.
• You have to self-fund your book: A traditional publishing house takes care of funding your book in exchange for large royalties. However, funding self-published work doesn’t need to be expensive. Print-on-demand services allow authors to self-publish books with no upfront fees.
• You are responsible for marketing your book: All marketing responsibilities fall on you as you don’t have a publisher’s marketing team on your side. But things like an email list and an audience (even a small one) can help you market your book without any hassle.

Your step-by-step checklist for self-publishing a book

Our self-publishing checklist takes your manuscript from a file on your computer to a book on your bookshelf.

(If you haven’t written your book, do that first. We’ve got some handy writing exercises if you struggle with writer’s block.)

1. Polish your book manuscript (DIY vs outsourcing)

You have two choices for your manuscript: do it yourself or hire a pro.

Edit the manuscript yourself

Free writing tools help you catch errors and spot mistakes. And while they won’t replace the special touch a human editor provides, they are still valuable tools to polish your writing.

Here are a few we recommend.

DIY editing tools

• Grammarly offers basic edits and grammar advice.
• ProWritingAid reviews your work on criteria like pacing and sensory details to help you write stories that keep readers engaged and on the edge of their seats.
• Text-to-speech apps read your work back to you. Your ears may pick up things your eyes miss, like sentences that don’t flow or missing punctuation.
• OneLook Reverse Dictionary and Thesaurus helps tighten your prose by suggesting power words you can use to replace weaker phrases. A simple way to spot weak phrases is to search for “-ly” adverbs in your work, like quickly, slowly, or loudly. For example, typing “quickly run” into OneLook’s search bar shows us better words to use like sprint, flee, and dash. These words paint better scenes for your readers.

Hire an editor for your book

A good editor catches what you miss and shapes your book into the best possible version.

As for how to find an editor, the first step is understanding the different types of editors. Then, pick the type that’s best for you.

The different types of editors

1. Developmental editor: Sometimes, we have a great idea, but we need help organizing our ideas coherently. A developmental editor will give you general advice on the structure of your story before you start writing. They almost act as a coach to help with ideas and keep you on track.
2. Content editor: A content editor looks for sentence structure, clarity of thought, continuity of ideas, and overall believability. They ensure ideas flow logically, the narrative is engaging, and the content aligns with the intended audience and purpose.
3. Line editor: Line editors zoom in and comb through your book sentence by sentence, looking at the language and style used. They focus on improving the clarity, coherence, and precision of your writing, and authors on a budget should opt for a line editor at the very least.
4. Copy editor: A copy editor concentrates solely on punctuation, spelling, and grammar mistakes. Think stray commas, inverted quotation marks, improper use of numbers, and a whole myriad of other issues that, if left unfixed, diminish the value of your work.
5. Proofreader: A proofreader looks through the printed version of your book and checks for last-minute errors like typos, incorrect punctuation, and layout issues (incorrect page numbers, poor formatting, etc.). If you’re on a budget, consider having a close friend or a fan help with this stage.

How much does a good book editor cost?

Editors charge anywhere from 2 cents to 7 cents per word depending on the book’s genre and the type of editing they do.

But don’t be afraid to negotiate within your price range and work out a payment plan. That being said, make sure your budget is realistic and aim to allocate enough funds to fit into the above price ranges.

When it comes to editing, the question you should ask yourself is this: Do I want my book handled right the first time? Or do I want to go back a second time to get the job done right? The former is often cheaper than the latter.

How to recognize a qualified editor

Most professional editors offer a free assessment of a short sample of your book, which contains corrections, comments, and suggestions for improvement.

This assessment helps you get a feel for their editing style and can help you understand if this editor is a fit for you. Plus, you can use this sample to gauge their skill level.

A good editor will also usually ask you for:

• Your genre
• Word count
• What type of editing you need
• Your price range
• Your deadline
• A short synopsis of your book, along with either the entire manuscript or a sample of your work

This information helps the editor create a quote and develop a time frame for completion. Lastly, before diving into any work, they’ll put together a contract for both parties to sign.

Remember: An editor’s aim isn’t just to improve your work. It’s also to help you become a better writer in the long run. You should feel like an equal partner in the process.

2. Write your author bio

An author bio usually appears at the front or back of a book, your website, and any platforms where you sell your work. Use it to share your story, attract readers, and build a connection between you and your audience.

Include elements like:

• Credentials that help signal expertise in your topic
• Achievements, such as other books you’ve written (this also serves as a form of advertising)
• Personal facts like where you’re from or what you do in your spare time

You can find inspiring author bios by flipping through your favorite books. Make note of what drew you in to craft something similar with your own bio.

Example of Chevy Stevens’s author bio

When writing your author bio, use third-person—your name and she/he/they. Here’s an example from bestselling author Chevy Stevens:

Chevy Stevens lives on Vancouver Island with her husband and daughter. When she’s not working on her next book, she’s hiking with her two dogs on her favorite mountain trails and spending time with her family. Chevy’s current obsessions are vintage airstreams, Hollywood memoirs, all things mid-century modern, and stand-up comedians–not necessarily in that order. Her debut novel, STILL MISSING, was a New York Times bestseller and won the International Thriller Writers Award for Best First Novel. Her books, including THOSE GIRLS, which Stephen King called “incredibly scary”, have been published in more than thirty countries. Her novel, DARK ROADS, will be released summer 2021. Please visit her at www.ChevyStevens.com.

Author bio example by Tabitha Hibbert

Tabitha Hibbert uses her bio to direct readers to places like her newsletter (we love this idea):

Talia Hibbert is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of spicy, diverse romance. Known for her cinnamon-roll heroes, ‘difficult’ heroines, and epic dirty talk, Talia writes about deeply sarcastic people exposing each other’s wounds and accidentally falling in love.

Want to keep up with Talia? Follow her online:
★ Newsletter ➙ https://www.taliahibbert.com/viplist/
★ Website ➙ https://taliahibbert.com
★ Instagram ➙ https://www.instagram.com/taliahibbert/
★ TikTok ➙ https://www.tiktok.com/@taliahibbert

3. Put any dedications in writing

Your dedication is an optional one to two-sentence page that comes after the copyright page of your book (more on your copyright page later). It’s a nice way to credit those who supported you during the laborious writing process.

You can dedicate your book to whomever you wish:

• Family
• Friends
• Peers
• People who inspired you while writing your book
• People who offered insight or information to supplement the material in your book

Example of Ben Philippe’s dedication

Dedications can be heartfelt or humorous. Take Ben Philippe’s funny dedication in his book The Field Guide to the North American Teenager:

To my mother, Belzie.
I would have made a terrible doctor, mom. People would have died.

Book dedication example by Bryce Courtenay

Bryce Courtenay leaves a simple dedication for two important people to him in his book The Power of One.

For Maude Jasmine Greer and Edna Murphy.
Here is the book I promised you so long ago.

4. Put together your book acknowledgments

Your dedications page is your chance to dive into the specific reasons why certain people deserve a call-out.

For example, “thanks to my editor” isn’t specific enough. Try, “Thank you to Karla, my wonderful editor and sidekick. Without your keen eye and grasp on grammar, this book wouldn’t be where it is right now.”

Dedications are often several pages long and come before your author bio or after the table of contents.

But not all books contain acknowledgments, and you don’t have to include this if you don’t want to.

5. Write a blurb for your book’s back cover (book description)

Your blurb—or summary—is a mini-sales pitch to convince your readers to buy your book. If you print your book, the blurb appears on the back cover.

For ebooks, your blurb goes in your product’s description.

Great blurbs:

• are between 100-200 words;
• hook readers with the first sentence; and
• don’t give away the plot, but tell readers a general synopsis so they know what to expect.

Read blurbs and summaries of the top-selling books in your genre for ideas and inspiration.

Example of American Dirt’s book blurb

The blurb for American Dirt, a book with over 45,000 reviews on Amazon, grabs readers without giving away too much information:

Lydia Quixano Pérez lives in the Mexican city of Acapulco. She runs a bookstore. She has a son, Luca, the love of her life, and a wonderful husband who is a journalist. And while there are cracks beginning to show in Acapulco because of the drug cartels, her life is, by and large, fairly comfortable.

Even though she knows they’ll never sell, Lydia stocks some of her all-time favorite books in her store. And then one day a man enters the shop to browse and comes up to the register with a few books he would like to buy—two of them her favorites. Javier is erudite. He is charming. And, unbeknownst to Lydia, he is the jefe of the newest drug cartel that has gruesomely taken over the city. When Lydia’s husband’s tell-all profile of Javier is published, none of their lives will ever be the same.

Forced to flee, Lydia and eight-year-old Luca soon find themselves riding la bestia—trains that make their way north toward the United States, which is the only place Javier’s reach doesn’t extend. As they join the countless people trying to reach el norte, Lydia soon sees that everyone is running from something. But what exactly are they running to?

6. Create your copyright page

The copyright page comes directly after your title page (the very first page of your book that has your book’s title). This legal disclosure makes it easier for you to prove ownership of your book’s material, which is useful if someone plagiarizes your writing.

Sam Vander Wielen, a former lawyer turned legal entrepreneur, says:

It’s so important that authors assert their given copyright protection. By doing so, you’ll put readers on notice that not only are you the author and creator of this work (who therefore owns the copyright to it), but you can also guide them on how and when to seek your permission for sharing and distribution.

By giving clear direction, you’ll avoid any accidental misuse of your work AND make it hard for a ‘bad actor’ to say he or she didn’t know they couldn’t illegally share your work. – Sam Vander Wielen

Sam even has a free copyright disclosure you can use for your next book.

It’s best to reach out to a lawyer if you have any specific questions regarding copyright law.

7. Get a headshot

Your headshot accompanies your author bio and helps readers “put a face” to the book they’re reading.

Hiring a professional helps capture your personality—and your best angles!

If a professional photographer is out of your budget, take your own headshot with a high-quality camera. You can always hire someone to retouch your photo so it’s print-ready.

Example of Jasmin Guillory’s headshot

Jasmine Guillory’s headshot is sleek and simple:

Example of Anthony Horowitz’s headshot

As Anthony Horowitz shows us, you don’t need to take the word “headshot” literally, and you can still have a great author headshot, even if it includes your full body.

8. Select your book’s typography

The right typography improves readability, so more people read your book from start to finish.

IngramSpark, a publishing platform, polled their book designers for the best book fonts. The results?

• Caslon
• Garamond
• Jenson
• Minion
• Palatino

They also discovered that serif fonts—fonts with strokes or lines on each letter—improve readability, making them the best for books.

9. Edit your book’s layout

Like your font choice, the layout of text and images on your pages affects readability. For easy reading, remove windows, orphans, and runts:

• Widows are when the last line of a paragraph doesn’t fit at the bottom of a page and instead sits alone at the top of the next page
• Orphans are the opposite of a widow and occur when the first line of a paragraph sits at the bottom of a page by itself
• Runts happen when the last line in a paragraph ends with a single word

And if your book includes imagery, make sure the images fit properly on the page and aren’t cut off.

Finally, review your book’s layout before and after you upload it to your distribution platform to make sure your layout hasn’t shifted in the process.

10. Design your book’s cover, back cover, and spine

People will judge your book by its cover, so take the time to put together an eye-catching design. Here are some tips:

• Research competitors: Search through the best sellers on Amazon, Lulu, Kobo, and Google Play to see if there are any design trends in your genre. Look for colors, styles, imagery, and fonts that pop up time and time again.
• Create your cover using tools: If graphic design isn’t your forte, use a tool like Canva, BeFunky, or Snappa to bring your design to life. Those with design experience might prefer tools like Adobe Illustrator to fine-tune their book’s design.
• Select your cover fonts: Choose fonts that are easy to read. Again, refer back to your competition to see which types of fonts they use. Use Google Fonts to browse through an extensive database of fonts to find the perfect one.
• Use high-quality imagery: Find imagery for your cover on places like Unsplash or Pexels—just make sure it’s available for commercial use by reading through the Terms of Service.

11. Get an ISBN

An International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a 13-digit numerical identifier for your book.

You need an ISBN if you want to sell your printed book in places like libraries, bookstores, and retailers. Purchasing ISBNs is country-specific, so search on Google for “your country + buy ISBN” to help you find the right place to buy your ISBN. (Some print-on-demand services, like IngramSpark and also Lulu, offer free ISBNs. Check with your distribution platform before buying your own.)

You don’t need an ISBN if you plan to sell your ebook via your website or Amazon KDP.

12. Gather book reviews

The last step in our book publishing checklist is to get reviews for your book.

Other authors in your genre and readers are both excellent review sources. And gathering reviews from these types of people is easy.

How to get book reviews from other authors in your genre

As a new author, getting reviews from well-known authors in your genre helps build credibility and trust for potential readers. You can add these reviews after your book’s blurb, inside the front cover, or display one short review on the front cover.

It might feel intimidating reaching out to established authors, but if you don’t do it, they may never come across your book. It’s up to you to gather—and then show off!—these glowing words.

Here’s how.

Step #1: Make a list of your favorite books

To begin, make a list of all the books you love in your genre, especially any that inspired your book or deeply impacted your life.

Step #2: Find the authors

Head to amazon.com, search all the books on your list and write down the names of the authors.

Step #3: Search for the author’s contact info

Now, try to find an email for each author.

An author’s website is the first place to check for their direct email. But if you can’t find an email on their website, try to locate an email for:

• Their assistants
• Their publicists
• Their publishers
• Any info@domain.com email they might have on their site

If you still can’t find a direct email, follow them on social media (like Instagram, X, or LinkedIn). Strike up a casual conversation to build a rapport, and after some back-and-forth conversation, ask for their email.

Step #4: Get in touch with the authors

After getting contact info, it’s time to reach out to each author.

The below framework will help you write your review request. Try to keep it under 200 words. Anything more, and your request may feel too laborious to read.

• Intro: Start by telling them who you are and quickly dive into what you loved about their book. Be specific. The deepest dream of any author is that their book will impact someone else’s life. If you can show them how they’ve succeeded in doing that, you’ll get their attention (and make their day in the process).
• Middle: Next, state what your book is about, how their work inspired your book, and what it would mean to you if they would check out your book and write a short one-sentence blurb to be featured on the cover.
• End: State when you’d like to have their review by. Then, thank them and tell them that either way, you appreciate their work.
• Attachment: Attach a digital version of your book to the email so if they accept your review request, they can start reading right away.

How to gather book reviews from readers

Once your book is out in the world, it’s time to get reader reviews with these four ideas:

Idea #1: Invite your email list to join your launch team

Send off an email to your email list inviting them to join your launch team—a team of people who are kept in-the-know before and after your launch.

The people on your list are often your biggest fans and will devour your book on launch day, giving you near-immediate reviews that you can use as social proof throughout your launch week.

Idea #2: Offer a gift for reviewing

Gifts—like a signed copy of your book—can sweeten the deal and encourage people to leave an honest review.

Keep in mind that some platforms (like Amazon) prohibit incentivizing reviews. So if you want to incentivize reviews, keep these reviews to places like your website. Otherwise, you risk platforms banning you and removing your book.

Idea #3: Send personal messages to your audience

Email or direct message your most active subscribers one-by-one and thank them for being a dedicated subscriber.

Then, ask if they’d like to preorder your book and leave a review.

If you’ve spent time building rapport with these subscribers, it will feel like a natural ask. Almost as if you’re asking a good friend to review your book for you.

Idea #4: Ask people who have bought your book

On top of gathering reviews before launching your book, set up a system to gather reviews from people after they purchase your book through Kit Commerce or your online shop.

Kit integrates with many ecommerce platforms, letting you collect emails for those who buy your book (and opt-in to your list). Then, you can send an automated review request to any buyers. Here’s how:

1. Create an email tag that tags people who buy your book
2. Create an automation that triggers a certain number of days after the tag is applied to a subscriber
3. Within that automation, create an email that asks buyers for a review

Get the book review request automation

How to structure your book’s content (+ cheat sheet)

Up until this point, you’ve put together lots of elements of your book. Like your dedication, the cover, and the copyright.

Time to put it all together with this format:

1. Book cover (front)
2. Title page
3. Copyright page
4. Dedication
5. Table of contents
6. Your book
7. Acknowledgements
8. Author bio
9. Book description (back cover)

Following the above structure ensures your book is organized according to industry standards.

How to set a realistic self-publishing budget

Self-publishing a book is more profitable than traditional publishing, with self-published authors earning an average of $12,755 compared to $6,000 to $8,000 for traditionally published authors.

But to be a profitable self-published author, your book needs to hold its own against traditionally published books. Books with errors and poorly designed covers won’t outperform a traditionally published book.

So, set aside a small budget to whip your final book into shape. Typically, it costs a minimum of $2,400 to publish a book. Let’s break down those costs.

Book editing cost

The total cost of hiring a proofreader can total around $1,200 for a 60,000-word book (roughly 240 pages).

If you want more than proofreading, you’ll have to increase your budget. Keep in mind that proofreading is typically the cheapest type of editing. And you can expect to pay double what you would pay a proofreader for a developmental editor.

Book design cost

Hiring a designer is a valuable investment that can get more eyes on your book. Budget around $1,200 to have someone design your book.

This budget covers:

• Your book’s cover with the spine and back (~$800)
• Interior design and formatting (~$400)

After all, you don’t want to have a DIY-looking book cover that people pass over when browsing books to buy.

Cost of marketing your book

The cost of promoting a book varies. Some authors promote their books with a $0 budget, and others may want to invest $1,000 so their book receives a high amount of attention during launch.

Here are some ideas:

• Email marketing: Email marketing is a low-cost, high-value marketing strategy and should be the first place self-published authors look when marketing their books. An email list filled with people who love your brand will be more willing to buy your books than people who never hear from you. Before launching your book, create an email marketing strategy that warms up your list. Then, send emails throughout your book launch and encourage people on your list to buy your book.
• Social media ads: Ads can help you reach a wider audience faster. The caveat is they can be expensive, but they can also be incredibly effective when done right. If ads aren’t your forte, consider hiring someone to help run a social media ad campaign during the launch of your book.
• Newsletter ads: Newsletter ads let you leverage someone else’s newsletter to put your book in front of people who’d love to buy it. This strategy works great for authors who want to reach a large number of potential readers.
• A book landing page: Create a book landing page that details your book’s release date, where to buy it, and what it’s about. Share the link on social media, with your email list, and anywhere else you interact with your audience.

Thoughtful book promotion can help you achieve best-selling status, which can give you social proof to sell more books down the road.

How to create deadlines and meet them

If you want to self-publish a book you need a list of deadlines. Otherwise, you risk getting behind schedule and missing your intended launch date.

Certain dates to be mindful of include your:

• Manuscript editing and proofreading deadline
• Cover design and manuscript formatting deadline
• Book promotion start date
• Book release date

Sample deadline schedule for self-publishing a book

This simple schedule assumes that an editor and designer each need one month for their duties. So, if you want to release your book by June 1, you need to have your manuscript finished and off to your editor by April 1.

• Manuscript edited and proofread: April 1
• Cover design and formatted manuscript: May 1
• Promotion start date: May 15
• Release date: June 1

Keep in mind some editors and designers may work faster or slower depending on their schedule. And before you outline your schedule, reach out to any outsourced hires and ask for their timeline.

Inspiring examples of authors who self-published their books

Self-published author Jen Ruiz’s success story

Travel blogger Jen Ruiz has self-published five books. All five are Amazon bestsellers, and two are Readers’ Favorite Award winners.

She chose to self-publish because it had higher royalties than traditional publishing and it gave her more creative control.

But that doesn’t mean Jen is opposed to traditional publishing. In fact, as a result of her self-publishing success, she recently landed a five-figure book deal with a traditional publisher.

Jen dishes that if you want to become a bestseller, you need to learn author marketing. And that new authors shouldn’t rely on friends and family to get them to bestseller status:

I think authors make the mistake of thinking their friends and family are their audience and trying to sell to their inner circle. It may feel contrary, but your inner circle should get a free copy of your book and serve as your hype team. – Jen Ruiz

Self-published author Jenny Melrose’s success story

Business coach Jenny Melrose self-published her book in April 2020. She uses her book as a way to prove her expertise.

The result? Jenny landed more speaking opportunities and increased attendance at her virtual summit.

Jenny notes that it’s essential to have a marketing strategy in place for your book—especially an email list.

Your email list will be the top driver of sales so it’s essential that your list is primed and ready for the publishing of it. You also want to have a way for those that buy your book via Amazon (from searching on your topic) to get on your list. – Jenny Melrose

As Jenny mentions, you need a way to get buyers on your email list. One downside to self-publishing on external platforms like Amazon is that you can’t collect emails from people who buy your book. But Jenny found a solution. She created a free workbook that goes along with her book.

You can include the link to your lead magnet throughout your book so that readers will go to the URL and sign up to receive the freebie. Jenny uses a URL that’s easy to remember for her book: www.jennymelrose.com/book.

Then, readers can hop onto your email list even if they buy your book through a third-party platform.

Self-published author Chris Orzechowski’s success story

Chris Orzechowski is a copywriter who, like Jenny, writes books as a way to promote his services and products.

Chris encourages other service-based creators to experiment with the same strategy. He tells me that instead of focusing on the profits of his books, he focuses on the funnel:

My last book funnel has a 6.4x ROAS over an 18 month period. That means that on day 0, we were collecting about 80% of the cost to sell and deliver the book. But over the next 18 months, those customers kept coming back to buy and hire my team and I for services. – Chris Orzechowski

You’re only a few steps away from becoming a self-published author

You no longer need to imagine what it feels like to be a published author.

Through self-publishing, you can write, publish, and sell your own books. And our checklist for self-publishing a book walks you through each step of the way.

Ready to become a self-publishing success story?

Sign up with Kit for free and start promoting your latest book.