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The Publishing Series

Publish Your Book

The Complete Self-Publishing Guide

Publish Your Book, by Richard Lowe

Three months of writing, and then two weeks of zero sales

BUY FROM INGRAMSPARKAMAZONKOBOREAD THE INTRODUCTIONTABLE OF CONTENTS

198 pages · Paperback ISBN 978-1-946458-98-8 · ebook ISBN 978-1-946458-23-0

198Pages 2016The first book 100+Titles published since 5Platforms compared

Three months of writing, and then two weeks of zero sales

I still remember the sick feeling when I clicked Publish on my first book in 2016. Three months of writing. Hundreds of hours of research. A cover I was proud of. Then nothing.

I had fallen into the trap every new author falls into. I thought writing the book was the hard part. The real problem was getting it in front of people who wanted to read it.

Back then self-publishing felt like throwing a bottle into the ocean. KDP was simpler and more mysterious. There were maybe five decent guides online, most written by somebody who had published exactly one book and decided that made them an expert.

I have since published over a hundred titles across multiple platforms, made every mistake available and several that seemed impossible until I found them, watched platforms change the rules overnight, and learned that what works today may not next quarter.

What is inside

Fundamentals

  • What self-publishing actually involves
  • Deciding what you are building
  • Costs, honestly itemized
  • Timelines that survive contact with reality

The platforms

  • Amazon KDP
  • Draft2Digital
  • Lulu
  • IngramSpark, and why it matters more than people think

The alternatives

  • Traditional publishing, fairly described
  • Hybrid publishing and where it goes wrong
  • Alternative platforms
  • Choosing between them for your specific book

Protecting yourself

  • Publishing scams and how they are structured
  • Contracts and rights
  • What a vanity press looks like now
  • Choosing your path and getting published

Who this is for

Worth your time if

  • You have a finished manuscript and no idea what happens next
  • You want the platforms compared by somebody who used all of them
  • You are weighing traditional against self-publishing
  • You want to avoid the scams aimed at new authors

Not for you if

  • You want writing craft advice
  • You have published widely already
  • You want marketing specifically, which is a different book
  • You want one platform recommended regardless of your situation

Why me

Richard Lowe, the Writing King

Over a hundred titles published across every major platform, starting with one in 2016 that sold nothing for two weeks. I have made the mistakes in this book and watched the rules change underneath me repeatedly, which is the only qualification that matters here.

Questions people ask

Do I need to read this cover to cover?
No. The book is designed to be used as a reference. If you’re committed to Amazon KDP, read the fundamentals chapter and the KDP chapter. If you want wide distribution through Draft2Digital, go there. If you’re evaluating IngramSpark for print, read that chapter before you commit. Each section stands alone.
Does this 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 broader chapter on KDP policies addresses what has changed and what kinds of content have come under increased scrutiny across platforms.
Is traditional publishing covered?
Yes, 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. The book 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 platform interfaces change constantly, this book deliberately does not cover those, since screenshots go stale in months. What it covers is strategic: how the economics work, what the policies say, how the algorithms prioritize content, and what decisions produce better outcomes. That framework stays relevant even as the details shift.

Also in The Publishing Series

The Day Your Website Died

Optimizing for AI Search

The Ghostwriting Advantage

How to Get Your Book Written for You

Sell Your Books

Marketing Without the Hype

Make a Living as a Self-Published Author

Build the Business Behind the Books

Writing the book was not the hard part

Getting it in front of the right people is, and that part is learnable.

BUY FROM INGRAMSPARKAMAZONKOBOREAD THE INTRODUCTIONTABLE OF CONTENTS

Paperback and ebook.

Filed underPublishingSelf-PublishingWritingAdvice

Introduction

Publish Your Book

I still remember the sick feeling in my stomach when I clicked “Publish” on my first book in 2016.

Three months of writing. Hundreds of hours of research. A cover I was proud of. And then… nothing. Zero sales for two weeks straight.

I’d fallen into the classic trap every new author falls into: I thought writing the book was the hard part. Wrong. The real challenge was figuring out how to get my book in front of people who wanted to read it.

Today, I’ve published over one hundred titles across multiple platforms. I’ve made every possible mistake you can make in self-publishing, plus a few that seemed impossible until I stumbled into them. Authors are still making the same mistakes I made in 2016. They’re still throwing their books into the void and wondering why nobody’s buying them.

Every self-publishing guide starts the same way: “Anyone can publish a book!” True. Those guides conveniently skip the important part: anyone can publish a book, but most people publish it wrong. They 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 zero chance of being discovered. And then they wonder why their book isn’t 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.

After publishing over a hundred books, here’s what I know for certain: there is no magic formula for publishing success. There are only better and worse decisions. The authors who succeed long-term aren’t necessarily the most talented writers. They’re the ones who understand how the business side works and make strategic decisions based on their specific goals.

My goal was to create a book that describes exactly, step-by-step, how to take a manuscript all the way through the process needed to publish on multiple platforms, without any diversions.

Table of contents

Publish Your Book

  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1: Self-Publishing Fundamentals
  • Chapter 2: Amazon KDP
  • Chapter 3: Draft2Digital
  • Chapter 4: Lulu Self-Publishing
  • Chapter 5: IngramSpark Professional Publishing
  • Chapter 6: Traditional Publishing
  • Chapter 7: Hybrid Publishing
  • Chapter 8: Alternative Publishing Platforms
  • Chapter 10: Publishing Scams and How to Avoid Them
  • Conclusion: Choose Your Path and Get Published