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Publish Your Book: The Complete Self-Publishing Guide

Publish Your Book: The Complete Self-Publishing Guide
Author:Richard Lowe
Publisher:The Writing King
Published:April 9, 2026
Pages:198
ISBN:978-1-946458-98-8
Language:English
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Description:

TL;DR

Publish Your Book: The Complete Self-Publishing Guide. Publishing a book has never been easier, and never been more confusing. Dozens of platforms compete for your manuscript, each with different royalty structures, distribution networks, content policies and optimisation strategies. The wrong choice costs you time, money and readers. 198 pages, drawn from 113+ books published and 54+ ghostwritten.

Prefer the short version

The one-page overview: the argument, what the book covers, and where to buy it.

I have published over one hundred titles across multiple platforms since 2016. This book covers every major publishing path with direct, experience-based advice that most guides carefully avoid.

Anyone can publish a book, and most people publish it wrong

Every self-publishing guide starts the same way. Anyone can publish a book. True, and those guides skip the important part.

Authors choose the wrong platforms for their goals. They price their books to fail. They write descriptions that make their books sound boring. They pick categories where they have no chance of being discovered. Then they wonder why the book is not selling.

The breakthrough came when I stopped thinking like a writer and started thinking like a reader. Instead of asking how do I publish my book, I asked how do readers find and buy books online. Everything changed.

There is no magic formula. There are only better and worse decisions.

Keep reading

The Writing Hub: publishing, marketing and the business of being an author, gathered in one place.

What is inside

What each platform really is

  • Amazon KDP: the fastest path, and the algorithm, exclusivity and content policies that come with it
  • Draft2Digital: wide distribution to Apple, Kobo, Barnes and Noble and libraries, with the quirks that catch authors out
  • Lulu and IngramSpark: professional print and bookstore distribution, and the economics before you commit
  • Traditional and hybrid: the rejection rates, timelines and royalty structures nobody quotes

The fundamentals, wherever you publish

  • Professional editing as a non-negotiable
  • Cover design where genre expectation beats artistic vision
  • Titles built for search, not for cleverness
  • Descriptions that sell, and the keyword and category decisions that decide whether anyone sees the book

The business side

  • Setting up your publishing business
  • Copyright: what you already have and what to register
  • AI content disclosure, and what the platforms now require
  • Pricing across formats and territories

Deliberately not included

  • Screenshots of platform interfaces, which go stale in months
  • Step-by-step clicking, which every platform documents itself
  • The strategic framework instead: how the economics work and what the policies really say

Why it skips the screenshots

Platform interfaces change constantly. A book full of screenshots is out of date before it reaches you, and every platform documents its own buttons perfectly well.

What does not change as fast is the strategy. How the economics work, what the policies really say, how the algorithms prioritise content, and which decisions produce better outcomes. That framework stays useful while the details shift underneath it.

Who it is for

Worth your time if: you have a finished manuscript and no idea which platform fits; you are weighing exclusivity against going wide; you want print distribution and do not know what that involves; you are considering hybrid publishing and want to know what you would be signing.

Not for you if: you want a walkthrough of where the buttons are; you have not finished the manuscript; you want somebody to do it for you.

Ready to start?

The Ghostwriting Book Service: if you would rather not do it alone.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to read it cover to cover?
No, it is built as reference. Committed to Amazon KDP, read the fundamentals chapter and the KDP chapter. Going wide with Draft2Digital, go there. Evaluating IngramSpark for print, read that before you commit. Each section stands alone.
Does it cover AI-generated content?
Yes. Amazon KDP now requires AI content disclosure, and the book covers what that means and how to handle it. The KDP policies chapter also addresses what has changed and what has come under increased scrutiny across platforms.
Is traditional publishing covered?
Including the parts most guides skip. Rejection rates, realistic timelines, actual royalty structures, and what it means to sign over rights for the duration of copyright. It also covers hybrid publishing, and why most hybrid publishers are expensive vanity presses with better branding.
Will this still be relevant in a year?
The interfaces change constantly, which is exactly why the book does not cover them. What it covers is strategic: the economics, the policies, how the algorithms prioritise, and which decisions produce better outcomes. That stays relevant as the details shift.
Which platform should I choose?
It depends on what you are building, and the book will not pretend otherwise. What it gives you is each platform’s real economics, policies and trade-offs, so the decision is yours and it is informed.

About the author

Richard Lowe

Richard Lowe

Richard Lowe helps life coaches, storytellers, and creatives transform their powerful experiences into compelling books that build authority and touch lives. With over 20 years of corporate leadership experience, including Director of Computer Operations at Trader Joe's, Richard brings both business acumen and creative storytelling to every project. His unique background allows him to understand the entrepreneurial journey while crafting…

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