Anyone can publish a book on Amazon. Publishing one that looks like it belongs there is another matter.
Self-publishing has made it remarkably easy to put a book on the market. But readers can still recognize an amateur-looking book-and they make that judgment before they've read a single page.
211/2 Things to Know Before Self-Publishing a Book shows you how to bridge that gap.
211/2 Things to Know Before Self-Publishing a Book is a practical guide to the decisions authors face between finishing a manuscript and successfully putting a book on the market. It focuses on the details that can make the difference between a book that looks self-published and one that looks professionally published.
In this completely updated 2026 edition, you'll learn how to prepare and clean up your manuscript before formatting, avoid the common mistakes that make self-published books look amateurish, and create separate editions properly formatted for print and Kindle. You'll also learn how to choose a title, evaluate competing books, develop a professional cover, write a book description that sells, set an appropriate price, make better use of your Amazon presence, and market your book after publication.
The book also takes you through the practical side of working with Amazon KDP, including the important differences between print books and reflowable Kindle eBooks. Rather than simply telling you what buttons to push, it explains why certain formatting and publishing decisions matter so you can recognize and solve problems yourself.
You'll also discover how ChatGPT can serve as a publishing assistant throughout the process. It can help you proofread, brainstorm, research, evaluate titles and descriptions, identify potential problems, and think through marketing decisions. But AI isn't a substitute for an author's judgment. You'll learn where it can save you time, where it can make mistakes, and why you should never surrender your individual voice or final decisions to artificial intelligence.
This isn't a promise that publishing a book will make you a bestseller. In fact, one of the most important lessons in this book is that publishing is only the beginning. Successful independent authors continue to study their competition, improve their books, experiment with marketing, watch the results, and make changes when something isn't working.
Whether you're preparing your first book, correcting mistakes in one you've already published, or trying to make your next book more professional than your last, 211/2 Things to Know Before Self-Publishing a Book gives you a practical roadmap from manuscript to marketplace.
You already did the hard part-you wrote the book. Now learn how to publish it professionally.
