Author Toolkit
Publish it yourself, without the expensive mistakes.
Free guides to the parts of self-publishing that trip people up. Kept current: each one shows the day its facts were last checked.
Publishing
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Publishing on KDP, step by step
How to publish an ebook, paperback and hardcover on Amazon KDP, what you'll earn, the current rules, and the mistakes that get books bounced.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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What self-publishing costs in 2026
What each part of self-publishing costs, from editing to ISBNs to promotion, with 2026 prices from the source, and which parts you can do for nothing.
Updated Sep 29, 2026
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KDP keywords and categories: how readers find your book
How KDP's seven keywords and three categories work, what KDP says to put in them and what it says to leave out, and how to choose them the way readers search.
Updated Sep 29, 2026
ISBNs
Distribution
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Kindle Unlimited or wide?
How KDP Select and Kindle Unlimited work, what page reads have paid over the past year, who KU suits, and how to switch either way without breaking the rules.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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IngramSpark: when it's worth it
What IngramSpark does that KDP print doesn't, what it costs in 2026, the ISBN catch, and how to run KDP and IngramSpark side by side safely.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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Going wide: Draft2Digital, Kobo, Apple, Google Play, Bookshop.org
Where to sell your ebook beyond Amazon, direct or through Draft2Digital, what each option costs in 2026, and the honest pros and cons of each.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
Protect yourself
Audio
Rights
Marketing
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Book promotion sites: what they cost and what to expect
What BookBub, Freebooksy, Fussy Librarian, review services and giveaways cost, what they realistically deliver, and how to track your own results.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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Build your email list first
Why an email list matters more than any platform, how reader magnets work, keeping your list healthy, and the Australian Spam Act basics.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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Advance review copies: running an ARC without breaking Amazon's rules
What an ARC is, what Amazon allows when you give free copies for reviews, how Kindle Unlimited affects it, and how to run one that readers finish.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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How to get ARC readers without paying for them
Where your first advance readers come from, how to ask without breaking Amazon's rules, and how to run the whole thing free on Bervet.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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ARC services compared: NetGalley, BookSirens, BookFunnel, StoryOrigin and Bervet
What each advance review copy service costs in 2026 (from their own pricing pages), what you get for it, how readers read the book, and when free is enough.
Updated Sep 29, 2026
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Getting Amazon reviews without breaking the rules
What Amazon allows when you look for reviews, what it bans (swaps, family, rewards, ARC teams that drop non-reviewers), and honest ways to get more.
Updated Sep 29, 2026
Craft
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Covers, blurbs and pricing basics
How covers signal genre, the thumbnail test, a blurb structure that works, and how KDP's royalty bands shape your ebook, print and series pricing.
Updated Sep 28, 2026
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Finding beta readers, and getting feedback you can use
What beta readers are for, how many you need, where to find readers who fit your book, what to ask them, and how to tell a pattern from one person's taste.
Updated Sep 29, 2026
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How to write a blurb that sells the first chapter
A blurb's one job, a structure that works for fiction, two worked rewrites, and KDP's own rules for the description box, including the things it doesn't allow.
Updated Sep 29, 2026
Getting published
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